Auto-Tune Evo users...

[Aaron Smith]

When I got the Mac Pro last summer I had to fork out to upgrade my Auto-Tune 4 to Auto-Tune Evo, and although I haven't used Auto-Tune a whole lot since then, there has always been one little issue that bugs me!

If I select a region, and do any kind of Audio-Suite processing whatsoever using Auto-Tune (even just "track pitch"), the waveform within the region is shifted roughly 10 samples to the right. The right and left boundaries of the region remain in the same location, but the internal waveform data has moved. It also seems to move segments of the waveform even further than 10 samples if I am actually adjusting the pitch.

I actually submitted a ticket the other day to Antares, and this was their response:

Hi Aaron,

If you are experiencing a shifting of the audio track after processing
with Auto-tune, it may be necessary to adjust your delay compensation
settings.
Auto-tune does introduce variable delay to be able to determine the
pitch of the note. This is usually quite a small delay (usually 2- 3 ms
depending on the audio being tracked) but, it can result in a shifting
of audio if your host recording software is not setup to compensate for
audio processing delay.

If you are unable to resolve the trouble using delay compensation, you
can simply slide the tuned audio track back into its correct place in
the timeline after processing.

Please let me know if this information is helpful or if I can provide
any further details.

Thank you,
Allen

I am well aware of the lack of delay compensation in Pro Tools LE when using RTAS plug-ins, but since when should processing a region with an Audio-Suite plug-in have anything to do with delay compensation!? Is there an option in Pro Tools that I'm not aware of that will remedy what Auto-Tune is doing to me? None of my other plug-ins impart this delay either, so why should Auto-Tune have to? Also, this is an issue that I did NOT have with Auto-Tune 4 on my old machine (PowerMac G4/Pro Tools LE 6.7).

I really don't like his suggestion to "simply slide the tuned audio track back into its correct place in the timeline after processing" (as if I didn't know that already), and I'm hoping someone on here has some insight into the matter!

 

[AudioPhile777]

I've actually heard about this issue before... but for the life of me, I can't remember where/who it was... sorry...

at least this will let you know you aren't the only one...

 

[Aaron Smith]

Just an update on this situation... Is it just me, or is Antares being really, really incredibly stupid?
(Read from the bottom up):

Hi Aaron,

Since Auto Tune must conduct real-time processing, delay compensation is
not something we can control within the plug-in. There is no possible
method of looking ahead, processing the audio, then placing it back in
its original position without the host allowing the capability for that
compensation to occur. As I mentioned before, Digidesign has made a
conscious decision to leave automatic delay compensation out of the LE
package most likely as a marketing method to have you upgrade. We would
have no qualms adding a feature such as a self-contained automatic delay
compensator within our plugin if this were possible. The technology and
flexibility of Pro Tools LE won't allow that at this time.

Thank you,
Allen



Digidesign, to the best of our knowledge, has consciously omitted the
automatic compensation feature in their LE package. This was a marketing
choice on their part

Aaron Smith wrote:
> Allen,
> I am aware of the Mellowmuse plug, and although it is a nice complement to Pro Tools
LE, it will do nothing in the case of AudioSuite processing.
> I am also well aware that audio effects generally have latency issues, and I
completely understand why the latency exists. However, as I tried to state before, there
is no reason that latency should exist when processing is not done in real time. We're
talking about selecting a region, loading it into AutoTune, letting AutoTune process it
through whatever algorithms and graphing functions it wants, and then printing that file
to the track. Advancement in hardware processors and memory should have absolutely
nothing to do with AutoTune sliding the audio data to the right when it prints. Even if
it's an issue that only exists in Pro Tools LE, it cannot be very hard to design AutoTune
to self compensate! This issue also did not exist in version 4; I'm sure you've made the
engine more intensive in EVO, but it still does not excuse it. I would honestly rather
use version 4 if there's no way around this, but from what I understand, that's not even
possible since I had to surrender that license to upgrade to EVO (and version 4 does not
work on Intel Macs).
> Anyway, here is a thread I found on the Digidesign forums, where others are
discussing this very issue (post #8 is where the issue is first mentioned):
>
> http://duc.digidesign.com/showthread.php?t=226966
>
> Aaron,
>
> ________________________________________________________
>
>
> I was advised of a ATA RTAS plug-in from Mellowmuse designed for time
> adjustment of plug-ins within Pro Tools LE which is available for $49.00
> at:
> http://www.mellowmuse.com/ATA.html
>
> Hopefully this will aid in any delay compensation frustrations.
>
> Thank you,
>
> Allen
>
> Allen Papouban wrote:
>
>> Hi Aaron,
>>
>> Audio effects generally have latency issues and Auto Tune is no
>> exception. With more complex algorithms and graphing functions, Auto
>> Tune Evo does display a latency issue that will need adjusting. This
>> is nothing that we can control and remains in the hands of the
>> advancement in hardware processors and memory. Pro Tools HD does have
>> a built in function to compensate for this delay but Digidesign has
>> opted to keep this out of their LE package. There is an article on
>> manual delay compensation for Pro Tools LE that you might find helpful.
>>
>> http://www.gearslutz.com/board/tips-techniques/186501-plug-delay-compensation-protools-le-mp.html
>>
>> I apologize for the inconvenience. If this was something we could fix,
>> we would.
>>
>> Thank you,
>> Allen
>>
>> Aaron Smith wrote:
>>
>>> Allen,
>>> I appreciate the reply, but unfortunately your answer wasn't really
>>> very helpful. I am well aware that I can slide the audio track back
>>> into place after processing, but this interrupts my workflow. Also,
>>> to do this without losing audio beyond the edges of the selected
>>> region, I have to make sure I leave ample room where the region
>>> selection is made, which is an annoying extra thing to have to think
>>> about. It also still irritates me that this is not an issue I had to
>>> deal with when I was using a previous version of AutoTune. It seems
>>> to me that AutoTune should be moving forward in every aspect when a
>>> new version is released, and this issue is a definite step backwards.
>>> To my knowledge, there is no way to adjust Audio Suite delay
>>> compensation in Pro Tools LE (or even HD for that matter), so I
>>> basically am helpless until you guys decide to muster up a fix. Am I
>>> correct?
>>> I don't mean to come across wrong and I'm not as angry as this e-mail
>>> may seem, but at the same time I AM annoyed at the issue...
>>>
>>> Thank you,
>>>
>>> Aaron

 

[LydonB]

When I did some auto tuning recently I made a new audio track. Set the output of the vocal track to a bus 1-2 (or another bus) Make the input of your new track bus 1-2 or whatever bus you are using.

Use auto tune as an insert on the old vocal track and just record the tuned vocal on the new track. It will shift 1380 samples...so you need to press option+h and nudge it earlier 1380 samples and everything should be peachy. Really annoying and slow workflow though. But at least you can hear the tuning in context with the song instead of audiosuite where you can only preview the changes by themselves.



But yeah, Antares is being stupid. Try emailing them again and maybe you will get a different tech guy?