Black Rooster Audio has announced the release of the PS-VC1 Vocal Chain, a complete vocal channel strip and the first release of the company’s Professional Series.
The PS-VC1 brings six processing modules – Low End, High End, Compress, Reverb, Echo and Width – onto a single panel and into one signal path. The chain runs in a fixed, mix-ready order that mirrors the way a vocal actually gets mixed: clean the low end, control the dynamics, shape the top, then place the voice in a space. Every module carries its own preset selector, fader and bypass, so any stage of the chain can be evaluated on its own.
Where the company’s vintage range models specific pieces of classic hardware component by component, the Professional Series takes a different route. Fourteen years of that modeling work informed which moves in a classic channel genuinely earn their place on a vocal – and the PS-VC1 rebuilds those decisions as a precise modern design rather than an emulation of any single unit.
Key features:
- Six modules on one panel: Low End, High End, Compress, Reverb, Echo and Width.
- Four calibrated presets per module, each with its own fader and bypass.
- Low End and High End filtering covering the full problem range of a vocal take.
- Compressor with selectable peak or vintage detection and automatic makeup gain.
- Efficient reverb algorithm from small-room ambience to cathedral decay.
- Tempo-synced or free-running echo.
- Three stereo width algorithms (All-Pass, Haas and Hilbert).
- Input and output gain from -30 dB to +15 dB, phase invert and pan.
- High-resolution LED metering with a dedicated gain reduction readout.
- Seven interface sizes from XXS to XXL with HighDPI support.
Automatic makeup gain in the compressor is what changes the workflow: because the module compensates for its own gain reduction, bypassing it compares character instead of loudness.
Price: $79 – The PS-VC1 is available as AAX, VST, VST3 and Audio Units for macOS and Windows, built as a universal binary with native Apple Silicon support. A free 14-day trial license can be created from the Black Rooster Audio license manager.
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