# PEARL VOX — the vocal presets

**Everything here was measured, not described.** Every stage of every chain was loaded
into REAPER and read back parameter by parameter on 2026-08-20. The exact numbers are in
[SETTINGS.md](SETTINGS.md).

That measurement also corrected the count. There are **five real presets and one variant**, not seven — several files that looked
distinct turned out to be the same preset saved twice, and two more had never been dialed
at all (both since fixed):

| File | What it actually is |
|---|---|
| **PEARL VOX** | The flagship. 10 stages, fully dialed. |
| `Pearl Vocal` | **Identical to PEARL VOX** — zero differing parameters. |
| **Future Vocal HARD** | Partially dialed — see the note below. |
| `AXIS PEARL VOX` | Identical file to Future Vocal HARD. |
| **VOX TRACKING** | 8 stages, fully dialed, zero added latency. |
| **VOX PRINT** | VOX TRACKING with the headphone verb + slap bypassed. |
| **VOX SHIP** / `Post Malone Vocal` | Was unconfigured — **dialed in 2026-08-20**. |
| **VOX Crisp Auto** | Was unconfigured — **dialed in 2026-08-20**. |

---

## 1. PEARL VOX — the flagship
Ten stages, every one dialed. This is the finished lead vocal.

Compressor (LA3A style) → low-cleanup EQ → mid-control EQ → presence EQ → de-esser →
multiband (C6 style) → glue comp → peak catch → delay → big plate

Highlights from the measurement:
- **97 Hz high-pass**, then bells at **240 Hz −3.3 dB** and **520 Hz −3.2 dB**
- Presence **+5.0 dB at 4 kHz**
- Front compressor **−18.1 dB, 3:1, 9.9 ms attack, 159 ms release**
- Glue **−21.1 dB, 1.75:1, 60 ms / 1500 ms** — slow and invisible
- De-esser on **5.9 kHz and up, −26.5 dB threshold, 7:1**
- Delay **250 ms, −24.7 dB wet** · Reverb **−26.2 dB wet**

Note how *quiet* the delay and reverb are — about 6% and 5%. That subtlety is the
whole trick, and it is the thing people get wrong when they guess.

## 2. Future Vocal HARD — partially dialed
The aggressive one. **Be aware of what is and isn't set** in this chain:

- **Real:** Graillon 3 hard tune, 100 Hz high-pass, peak comp **−18 dB 4:1 1 ms / 250 ms**,
  glue **−16 dB 2.5:1 7.5 ms / 900 ms**, delay **−5.2 dB wet**, reverb **−6.9 dB wet,
  room 200, damping 50**. Genuinely wet and forward.
- **Not set:** its three ReaEQ stages are flat (bands parked at 24 kHz, out of hearing),
  and its multiband and de-ess stages are at ReaXcomp's defaults — 0 dB threshold, 2:1,
  every band. They pass audio through untouched.

So it works, but it is a tune-comp-wet chain, not the ten-stage monster the stage names
suggest. Fixing those stages is a real to-do, not a mystery.

**Needs:** [Graillon 3](https://www.auburnsounds.com/products/Graillon.html) — free version works.

## 3. VOX TRACKING — the monitoring chain
**Zero samples added latency.** Sing through it while recording and hear no delay.
Gate **−42 dB, 1 ms attack, 249 ms release, 40 ms hold** — dialed properly.
Leveler **−20 dB 2.5:1**, peak catch **−9 dB 6:1 at 1 ms**.
The reverb and slap are *cans wet* — for the singer's headphones, not the record.

## 4. VOX PRINT — the same chain, committed
Byte-for-byte VOX TRACKING with exactly two changes: the cans verb and cans slap are
**bypassed**. That is the correct idea — monitor with the headphone candy, print without it.

---

## The two that were never dialed — now fixed

`VOX SHIP` (also saved as `Post Malone Vocal`) and `VOX Crisp Auto` shipped for a long time
with the right plugins in the right order, the right stage names, and **every knob at a
rail**: compressors at threshold 0 with ratio, attack and release maxed; EQ bands parked at
24 kHz; gates at +6 dB threshold, which would choke a vocal to silence. Their stored
compressor state read literally `[0.0, 1.0, 1.0, 1.0]`. They were saved before they were
dialed.

**Both are now dialed properly**, built in REAPER and verified parameter by parameter —
each value was set by bisecting until the plugin's own readout hit the target, and all 50
parameters landed. Their stored state now reads in the same numeric range as the presets
that always worked.

### VOX SHIP — commit now
Gate **&minus;42 dB, 1 ms / 248 ms, 39 ms hold** · light tune · surgical EQ (**90 Hz
high-pass**, 300 Hz **&minus;2.6 dB**, 2.8 k **+2.0 dB**, 10 k shelf **+2.0 dB**) · control
comp **&minus;20.1 dB, 2.49:1, 10 ms / 149 ms** · de-ess **6 kHz+, &minus;26 dB, 6:1** ·
density **&minus;12.1 dB, 2.99:1, 3 ms / 80 ms** · safety limiter **&minus;3 dB threshold,
&minus;0.3 dB ceiling, 15 ms**.

No sends, nothing parallel — the printed file *is* the record.

### VOX Crisp Auto — hands-off
Gate **&minus;45.1 dB, 1 ms / 199 ms, 30 ms hold** · crisp EQ (**95 Hz high-pass**, 250 Hz
**&minus;2.1 dB**, 4 k **+3.4 dB**, 11 k shelf **+2.9 dB**) · control comp **&minus;18 dB,
2.99:1, 8 ms / 119 ms** · de-ess **6 kHz+, &minus;24 dB, 5:1** · automix **&minus;28 dB,
2:1, 60 ms / 1199 ms** · safety limiter **&minus;3 dB, &minus;0.5 dB ceiling, 20 ms**.

That automix stage is the whole point: a low threshold with a gentle ratio and a very long
release rides the level instead of squashing transients. Set it and never touch a fader.

---

# Getting these into YOUR DAW

**REAPER** — drop the `.RfxChain` files into your resource path's `FXChains/` folder
(Options → Show REAPER resource path), restart, then right-click any track's FX list.

**Everything else** — three ways:

1. **The PearlVox plugin.** One macro, VST3 + AU, with these presets built into its
   preset menu.
2. **Free ReaPlugs — Windows only.** Cockos gives the
   [ReaPlugs suite](https://www.reaper.fm/reaplugs/) away free, but the last build is
   v2.36 (2016) and it is **Windows / WINE only — there is no macOS version.** On Windows
   that gets you ReaComp, ReaEQ, ReaXcomp, ReaGate, ReaDelay, ReaVerbate and ReaLimit:
   the *exact* plugins these chains are built from.
   **On macOS you don't need them.** Logic, Live, Studio One and Pro Tools all ship an EQ,
   compressor, gate, de-esser and limiter that will do every stage in this document.
   The numbers are the preset. The brand of plugin is not.
3. **Your own stock plugins.** Any EQ, any comp, any gate. SETTINGS.md gives frequency,
   gain, Q, threshold, ratio, attack and release for every stage. Nothing is proprietary.

## Why we publish the numbers
Because there is no hiding the sauce. Everyone selling a vocal preset is selling ordinary
plugins in a particular order at particular values. The skill is the **dial-in** — riding
those knobs on *this* voice, on *this* song — and that part cannot be zipped. So here is
the order, here are the values, and here is an honest note about which ones were never
finished. Take it, learn it, beat it.
