I have been using this for 2 years or so. Izotope offers it as a free download if you go to their website and register, so for value, you obviously can't beat free. It is a very specific application in that it makes whatever source you put through it sound like it's being played off a record. I love how they let you modify that intensely - such as the amount of scratches on the record, if it is dusty or not, different types of records from different decades, etc. You can really put a professional touch on a production if you use this right on an appropriate song. It's cool to make it go from lo-fi with this on it to hi-fi when you remove the effect. I have no complaints about this plug-in because it does exactly what it says, and it does it well, and it's free! The value is obviously great. I would of course get it again, I use it pretty frequently. I'd even pay for it.

I have had this for over a year. It really does a great job at de-essing. Nothing can ruin a vocal recording with really harsh overly bright S's and T's. This plugin is like magic on those consonants. It requires relatively little tweaking, and you can start to tamp down on those sounds poking out so much. You do have to be careful though, because you can quickly turn a performance that is overly sibilant into one by someone who sounds like they have a lisp. That is my only real problem with this plug-in, that it can be easy to overdo it. If you use it right though, it can really make a vocal recording sound much better and smoother without a lot of fuss, since it works automatically over the whole track after you give it some guidelines. It is a great value if you do a lot of stuff with vocals that need to be right up front. I would definitely get it again, I use it all the time still.

I have been using auto tune for years. Obviously the benefit is improved pitch for singers, and really, most singers could use it. Unless you are Mariah you could stand to have a bit tighter pitch a lot of the time. If you are singing close enough, auto tune is even hard to hear. Of course, if used in an evil way you can make an effect out of it, like that famous Cher song. My least favorite thing is that sometimes it picks the wrong notes to try to tune to, and you have to tell it that it's wrong, which can be kind of time consuming considering how often this happens. The better the singer, the better this program works. You obviously can't record someone singing way off and expect this to solve all your problems. It can sound very digital and robotic if you have to tune it too far. Overall, it is very easy to use. There are advanced features for more time consuming, but more perfectionist editing. For people like me I just want a quick fix, and that's where auto tune shines compared to the competition. It is kind of pricey, but since vocals are so important it's worth investing in making them sound better. Considering that it's a fair value. I would buy this again.

I've owned Auto Tune 5 for about 10 months now but I had been using an earlier version for about a year and half before that. I love the interface of the software, both in graphical mode and in automatic it is easy to configure and to tune things up with. The sound is pretty smooth, along it really depends on the singer. If a vocal is relatively close this thing works great for just making it that much better. However, it can definitely sound computerish if you try to stretch its limitations on a poor singer. Although I have yet to use Melodyne, it seems some of their new products (Direct Note Access) may have Auto Tune beat at this point and when Melodyne releases their new software I may have to switch over to that simply because it has more features, although I'm sure Antares will have a response to it. Auto Tune is a bit pricey, but for me it is essential to have when working with clients. I will probably stick with this unless I try out Melodyne and decide to start using that.