iZotope VocalSynth 2 – Biovox, Vocoder and Talkbox Processor for Designed Voices

There is a category of vocal sound that no microphone technique can produce: the voice as synthesizer. iZotope VocalSynth 2 is built entirely for that category, processing a vocal through five specialist engines that can shape it organically, robotise it, glitch it, funk it or harmonise it. For composers and sound designers it fills a particular scoring need. Games, science fiction, trailers and electronic scores regularly require voices that are human enough to connect with and altered enough to belong to another world, and this plugin is a dedicated workshop for building them.

Five Engines, Five Personalities

Biovox emulates human vocal tract characteristics for natural, organic vocal shaping, the subtle end of the range, where a voice is modelled and adjusted rather than obviously effected. Vocoder delivers the classic robotic and electronic vocoder sounds with rich harmonics, the voice carried on synthesised tones. Compuvox aims at lo-fi, glitchy, computerised vocals suited to EDM and experimental work. Talkbox recreates the iconic funk-inspired talkbox effect without needing the physical apparatus, putting that expressive, synth-driven vocal sound under keyboard control. Polyvox provides auto-harmonisation and vocal doubling for lush, layered textures, turning a single performance into a stacked arrangement. Each engine alone justifies experimentation; combined and blended, they produce the hybrid voices, part sung, part machine, that define a production’s sound world.

Pitch correction and formant shifting support instant voice transformation, while advanced modulation with built-in LFOs and envelopes, stereo widening and custom filters give the results movement and scale. An expansive preset library designed for pop, R&B, EDM, film and hip-hop supplies starting points, with macro controls for quick adjustment and deep editing, plus a customisable effects chain, for building signature textures.

In the Mix and in the Score

VocalSynth 2 communicates with other iZotope tools, working with Neutron, Ozone and Nectar to enhance the overall mix workflow, so a designed vocal can be created inside a production environment that understands it. Sidechain mode allows any sound to be processed through VocalSynth 2’s effects, extending its engines beyond vocals to other material that needs a vocal, formant-like character. In scoring use, the applications are direct: robotic and otherworldly voices for games and science-fiction film, harmonised vocal textures under trailers, pitch-shifted and widened voices for title themes, and glitch treatments for electronic cues. Singers and vocalists use the same tools for harmonies and transformations in song production, and the processing is described as warm and analog-inspired in places, futuristic and digital in others, with minimal CPU usage keeping real-time work practical.

The interface is presented as intuitive for beginners and professionals alike, which matters in a plugin whose results are discovered by playing rather than by calculation. Most designed voices begin as happy accidents during experimentation, and a fast, preset-rich surface encourages exactly that.

Technical Specifications

VocalSynth 2 runs in VST, AU and AAX in 64-bit, with seamless compatibility across Ableton Live, FL Studio, Logic Pro, Pro Tools, Cubase, Studio One and other major DAWs. Operating systems are macOS 10.8 or later and Windows 7 or later, in 64-bit. Minimum requirements are 4GB of RAM and an Intel Core i5 or equivalent, with 8GB or more and an SSD recommended for optimal performance. Five engines, harmonisation, formant and pitch tools, modulation, stereo widening and inter-plugin communication in one vocal processor make VocalSynth 2 the specialist you open when an ordinary vocal treatment would be the wrong answer, and a voice needs to become an instrument.

For a composer building a sound world, the five engines also work as a quick casting system for voices. A character, a narrator or a sung motif can be given a recognisable treatment, organic through Biovox, mechanical through the Vocoder, fractured through Compuvox, expressive through Talkbox or multiplied through Polyvox, and that treatment can return across a series or a game as an audible identity. Because the settings are saved with the session and can be automated against picture, the design stays consistent and can intensify exactly where the story does. That is designed vocal work of a kind that once required a rack of separate processors and considerable patience.