Your "GO-TO" lead vocal EFX chain

So...the same (funny thing) happens all the time I'm about ready to mix a lead vocal...and it can be summarized as follows:
 
On my EFX bin, I grab a dozen different compressors, 100 different reverbs, 200 different delay settings, warmers, limiters, subtractive EQing, etc., tweak tweak tweak, send to bus, try some other things, clone the track, try again...A/B the results...try blending them, parallel compression, etc., etc., to find a sound I'm happy with...and that takes about a week...and I still second guess myself the entire time...ha!
 
I was just wondering if y'all had your GO TO starting point with lead vocals.  I know it's VERY subjective, but I really wanna get a good template going so I can save time, headaches, and more importantly, achieve decent results.  My small home studio consists of a Miktek C7 going into my UA Solo 610.
 
What specific EFX can you NOT LIVE WITHOUT on your lead vox?  Thanks in advance!
 
Rizzo

My standard chain tends to be PC76, Quad EQ, CA-2A, VX-64, Sat Knob, Breverb.

I call this the dream channel:
 
Wave Arts Hum Removal
Slate VCC
IK T-Racks Custom Shop British Channel for Lo-Cut at 93.5Hz.
Sonnox SuprEsser
Melodyne
Softtube CL-1B
Fab Filter Pro Q
Antress Modern Compressor
UAD Pultec Passive EQ
NuGen Visualizer
Camel Crusher
 
*output to vocal bus
 
*send to Exponential Audio Phoenix Reverb bus
 
*send to Kjaerhaus Chorus Classic bus
 
 

does anyone of you use Izotope Nectar? I am still wondering if I should buy it...

LDC --> La2a --> DeEsser --> EQ.
 
Verb and or echo to taste via sends.

I could never make myself like the Lexicon Pantheon.  There was a period where I kept giving it chances, but eventually I just gave up.  Haven't even installed it the last couple of updates.
 
I usually put an eq on the bus with a low cut and then use the plate setting on Waves TrueVerb and tinker with the decay time until I'm happy.  The way you set the eq going into the thing makes a big difference to my ears.
 
Seth

I use a Sm57 for more aggressive vocals and an Apex 360(?) tube mic for everything else into a Golden Age project Pre73. I use DMG EQuick for hpf and cuts followed by the CLA LA2A and then the Softube FET Comp, both with gentle gain reduction. For EQ boosts I may use the Maag EQ4. Sonitus delay or Supertap as a send and verb on a send as well (ValhallaRoom vs Tsar1 vs EOS vs Breverb. Sometimes I also have a slapback echo type delay as well.

My best experience with time and pitch correction has been to make them do it again.  I can reach for Vvocal if there's a note here or there.  If it's any more than that, do everyone a favor and do another take or 10 or 20 or whatever it takes and comp them.
 
Come to think of it.  The best vocal chain starts with a good singer.

It would be nice to easily share track templates for us to view. 
 
Typical vocal chain: 
akg 414 -> peavey vmp2 -> proch 1176 -> quad eq -> haas -> console emulation module -> vox gliss -> CA-2A
 
sends (stage 1):
Camel crusher
Stillwell Oligarc Chorus
room verb (sonitus)
hall verb (Vallaha Rm or Breeverb)
Stereo spread delay - (sonitus)
 
Then I split buss sends L/R (from stage 1 to stage 2)
 
sends (stage 2)
Old timer - parallel compression 
boot eq or thrillseeker
 
Note: All sends are lightly used, if used at all. Striving more to hear the natural sound of the voice vs being able to hear the fx. I use Melodyne as needed to tune the raw vocal and then bounce to track.
 
 
 
 
 

For me, the only thing that goes on vocal tracks by default is a compressor. I'm a big fan of parallel compression on vocals, which I apply in-place using a compressor that has a mix knob rather than via a separate bus.

Vocal Rider. Nectar.  Period.  (Usually).

 
I'll almost always use Waves SSL Channel (for the EQ and high/low pass filters).
If I want soft/smooth dynamics control, I'll use a LA-2A style compressor.
If I want a more aggressive "clamped down" type of sound, I'll use an 1176 style compressor.
 
If the track needs intonation adjustment, I'll use Melodyne.
If the track needs de-essed, I'll do that manually and only process the offending sibilant sections.
If the track needs noise-reduction (not typically necessary), I'll do that via Samplitude or Audition.
 
For reverb, I'll send to Pheonix Verb
For delay, I'll send to my favorite delay of the month (haven't settled on THE delay)
 

Recording myself is different, but recording other people, I find you can only hit the stop button or ask for a redo a certain number of times, and you have to feel where that point is.  There are some things you can say like, "That was great.  Now that you're warmed up, let's try another for fun," or "Let's keep that and do another for a back-up" or "Oops. Sorry, technical screw-up on my end—my apologies," or "Why don't we keep that one and, if you're up to it, maybe you can play around with a different feel and see if you like it," but at some point you have to let it go.
 
And, by the way, if you hate Meldoyne or AutoTune or V-Vocal, that is totally cool.  Each artist has his/her own light.  I'm just throwing out my thoughts for whatever they may be worth.  All the things we use are just tools.

konradh
To each his own, but if anyone cares, I do not agree with that comment about doing the vocal over 20x until it is right.
 
I recut and punch in vocals all the time—no problem getting the best take you can;  but when the feel and phrasing are right, I don't believe in wearing out and discouraging the singer by redoing ad nauseum.
 

Yup, totally agree with this.  It's no fun to work with a disgruntled vocalist.  Although, I have found that most vocalists I work with are more concerned with getting the pitch right than I am, and less concerned with getting the phrasing right then I am.
 
I start with a Shure SM7B, GT66, or AKG 414 XLS > Focusrite ISA Two or SSL Xlogic Alpha Channel w either Drawmer DL241 or RNC on the insert for gentle compression and/or expansion.
 
Melodyne as necessary to fix intonation/timing
 
My typical vocal tracks' FX chains looks something like:
- FabFilter Pro Q (for hi/lo-pass only)
- FabFilter Pro G (if necessary)
- Sonnox Suppressor
- FabFilter Pro C
- FabFilter Pro Q (for surgical EQ)
 
Send to reverb (usually 2C Aether or Valhalla Room) and delay (usually SoundToys EchoBoy) buses.
 
Route all main vocals to a Vocals buss where I usually use either the Waves SSL channel strip or RenChannel.

I think part of my thing on the 20 times bit comes from being classically trained.  I know there's a thing among a lot of pop/rockers (which I am at heart, despite two classical music degrees) that the first take is usually the best take.  While I have had that happen to people I've recorded, it has been extremely rare.  I find that I get much better results from musicians when I actively coach them through their takes.  This is true for singers and instrumentalists, and I've worked with some really good ones. 
 
It helps in this that I am a sought after and successful teacher in my area; I'm used to improving performances without smashing egos.  I've studied with some of the best teachers out there (Larry Hurst recently retired from Indiana University - if I can grow to be half the teacher he was, I will count myself as a crazy success), and one of the great lessons I've learned is that energy in music can and must be planned.  Any less is the sign of a hack. (<-- this is a harsh statement and probably overdone in the spirit of an internet rant)
 
A very common process I find when working with singers is that we take a couple of full passes at the song to get warmed up.  I may make a few general comments at this point, but usually nothing too much.  Then we starting going through the song phrase by phrase examining the articulation and dynamic structure of each one in much greater detail.  I find that most singers have not done this - they're used to giving run-throughs.  Any good music teacher can demonstrate readily that this is ineffective practice and misses a lot of the detail that leads to a great performance - in any style.
 
By the time we work through the song to the end, I usually find that the singer has found a new groove that manipulates the elements of musicality a lot more effectively.  They are usually singing in a slightly different style by the end of the song than they were from the beginning.  At this point, we will usually go back and redo earlier verses and choruses to match the final style.  What results has been, in my experience, always superior to what those first couple of takes were.  With a reasonably good singer this whole process takes about an hour or so.  Bear in mind, this is not an hour of constant singing - voices can't stand up to that.  It includes discussion, analysis and some rehearsal.  There are also a lot of takes built up.  The editing usually isn't bad, though, because the keeper is almost always immediately apparent - they hit that interval that was giving them trouble, they lock in with the groove, the articulations and accents are there to give it energy, etc.
 
I've had it happen where no matter what I've tried it just hasn't clicked.  I had a session recently where I had to send the singer home to practice.  He took it well, though, because I was helping him understand why his takes weren't getting what he wanted.  He came back a couple of weeks later and nailed it.
 
A caveat here on the "do it again until it's right" comment that started all of this.  Just doing it over and over without the coaching to improve it each time is a waste of time and will leave everyone frustrated and defeated.
 
I'm not usually given to internet rants like this, but I guess I needed to get it out.  I'll shut up now.
 
Seth