STOAKES’ GEAR TALK – OVERLOUD GEM VOICE
The world of audio plugins is a wonderful place to be, but sometimes the more plugins you discover, the more confused you get. Which compressor should I use for this? What type of EQ do I need for that? Imagine an all in one vocal chain plug in that takes all the hard work out of that choice. From selecting the mic pre amp, to choosing the perfect compressor to picking the best EQ for the job, the Overloud Gem Voice plugin does just that. Ideal on vocals, but also works well on guitar and super for voiceover work. This plugin is an absolute ‘Gem’.
Boasting an impressive set of presets, over 70 infact, this is where the Gem Voice plugin really shines. Ideal for people who aren’t 100% familiar with the ins and outs of studio recording, they can just pick a preset and just like that, you’re off. If you want a little bit more control you can then tweak the various parameters. It is absolutely ideal for the less experienced sound recordist and allows you to get a great sound almost instantaneously.
With Presets created by multiple Award-winning engineers like Joe Barresi (QOTSA, Tool), Brian Vibberts (Audioslave, Metallica) and John Paterno (Robben Ford, Bonnie Raitt) plus a great collection of factory presets, the sonic possibilities are almost endless, and if that is as far as you want to go, then that’s ok. But, if you put a little bit of work in and learn the basics, you have a vintage emulated channel strip at your disposal, that sounds great.
The first stop in the chain is the mic pre amp. There are four to choose from and all have the same characteristic that you would expect from their hardware counterpart. The S400 is based on the SSL and is very clean, the N80, based on the Neve is a little smoother, the T88 is based on the Trident and has a warm rich sound and finally, my favourite, the Sun 69, based on a Helios, is more forward and obnoxious! Next up in the chain, is something that I haven’t used too much of – the tape sim. Designed to give the feeling that you are recording on old tape, you can use it to get a little more grit in your recording or to add fuzz or a little vocal distortion. A really cool effect and nice to have, but not something I think would get used all the time. And that is the great thing about Gem Voice, you can bypass certain modules, without it affecting the rest of the chain.
The vocal enhancer is a great module, just giving vocals a touch of extra sparkle. With one dial, you can just add that bit extra to a vocal take. It serves to boost around the 3K range slightly, it’s not drastic, its rather subtle, but just lifts the vocal a tiny bit in time for the vocals to hit the compressor and EQ. These are both interchangeable, the multi-band compressor is first, and this has a great autocue feature, which allows you to hunt and find problem frequencies really quickly and easily. After the Multiband comes the main compressor, modelled on the classic 1176 and the LA-2A and both sound great. There is no ‘Threshold’ or ‘Make Up Gain’ dial, that is all controlled internally within the ‘compressor’ dial. Perhaps this may be limiting for some as you don’t have as much control, but you will get in your desired ball park. Again, you get a number of options, and the compressor can be used as a hard compressor or for mild harmonics
The EQ is really intuitive. I like EQ’s that give a visual cue as to what is happening. I like to see what is going on and the Gem Voice EQ does just that. Overloud love their hardware and this is really apparent in the variety of choices we have for EQ. EQ options include a British EQ, I’m guessing its modelled on a Neve and a German one, a Neumann maybe? It’s only a three band EQ, but it sounds ok. You can’t get really precise, you can’t alter Q width like you can in other dedicated EQ plugins, but you know what, it’s simple and it works!
After EQ, comes the space (reverb) and delay modules. Again, you get a huge choice. I really like the vintage Reverb combined with the slapback delay. That just works so well together and sounds great. Finally, the Master module includes a limiter for that extra boost, plus a channel volume.
In conclusion, Gem Voice is a great plugin for not just vocals, but other instruments too. I have used it on guitars and drums as well. I like that you can bypass certain parts of the channel strip too, which then allows you to use it on effects tracks, or perhaps just the limiter on the master bus. You can also make your own presets and this is what I have done for my Stoakes Media Live Shows and some of my interviews on Stoakes Media.
Personally, this is where I think it really shines, on Voiceover work. The issues I raised about the 3 Band EQ are no longer a problem, because you don’t need to be as precise for voiceover and you can get a really nice compressed vocal sound which as you can hear on this interview I did with Suzi Quatro, just sounds the business!
Would I buy it? Absolutely. It’s great as a complete vocal chain, but works just as well with other plugins as you can easily bypass what you don’t need. It is so easy and like I said earlier, you can get a great sound in seconds! A must have for the novice and seasoned pros alike!
