prime:vocal

The location where prime:vocal saves its analysis data depends on how the tool is being used — whether as a standalone application or as an ARA plug-in.

Standalone Application

If you want to continue working on a session created with the standalone application at a later time, you can save the session as a prime:vocal session file (*.pvocproj) under “File > Save Session.” The session file saves the parameter settings of all currently opened audio files. Besides, all analysis data will be saved to a separate folder called “analysis” next to the session file.

If you’re not planning any further editing steps after ­exporting the files, you can simply close prime:vocal and the temporary session will be deleted.

ARA Plug-in

When saving a DAW session, prime:vocal stores its analysis data in one of two locations:

DAW Project’s Media Folder

This is the default option if your DAW supports it. Storing analysis data in the project’s media folder ensures that all data remains tied to the DAW project, making it easier to manage and share sessions with others.

Music Folder / Custom Folder

If your DAW does not support storing analysis data in the media folder, or if you’ve disabled this option (see below), the data will be stored in a custom folder. By default, this folder is the “Music” directory in your user account:

• Mac: ~/Music/sonible/primevocal
• Windows: C:\Users\<YourUsername>\Music\sonible\primevocal

You can customize the location of this folder in the plug-in settings.

Customization Options

On the plug-in's settings page, you can adjust where analysis data is stored:

• Disable "Store Analysis Data With Project"
  • When this option is disabled, the analysis data will always be saved in the specified custom folder, regardless of whether your DAW supports project-specific storage.
• Change the location of the custom folder (Analysis Data)
  • You can specify a different folder for storing analysis data, such as an external drive, to better fit your workflow.

HINT: The analysis data can be quite large - approximately 90 MB per minute of audio. For this reason, it can be helpful to export a track that has been fully processed with prime:vocal, import the optimized file, and then remove prime:vocal and the analysis data from the project.

prime:vocal uses neural networks to detect and correct issues in the audio file. These networks require relatively high computational resources, which means that the complete analysis of an audio file (depending on the target system’s hardware) will take approximately the length of the analyzed file (for example, analyzing a 1-minute file can take about 1 minute).

The good news is that you can start working on the audio file (or the audio clip in the ARA version) while the analysis is still in progress. Sections that have already been analyzed will turn green in the track overview and are ready for processing.

prime:vocal requires access to the entire audio file to perform its advanced clean-up and enhancement processes. Standard plug-in formats like AU, VST3, or AAX operate in real time, processing audio as it plays back. While this works well for effects like EQ, compression, or reverb, it poses limitations for tools that rely on analyzing the full audio signal.

To address this, prime:vocal is available as a standalone application and as an ARA (Audio Random Access) plug-in (Beta). ARA technology allows prime:vocal to access the complete audio data of a track or clip at once, enabling precise, offline-style analysis and processing. This ensures a seamless and non-destructive workflow within compatible DAWs.

• For a guide on how to use prime:vocal as an ARA plug-in, please check out this page.
• To learn more about ARA technology in general, visit this page.

Unfortunately, we cannot make the ARA AAX beta version of prime:vocal publicly available, as Pro Tools deliberately restricts the use of ARA to certain tested plug-ins.

Note: prime:vocal v1.0.0 supports ARA only in a beta version. As a result, processing may occasionally be unstable and could lead to unexpected crashes. For a detailed list of known issues related to prime:vocal's ARA support, please visit this page.

In Studio One, ARA plug-ins are not added as traditional insert effects for a track; instead, they must be applied as “Event FX” on specific audio events (audio clips).

1. Create a new audio track in your Studio One session.
2. Add one or multiple audio clips to the track.
3. Drag prime:vocal from Studio One’s “Effects > Event Editors” menu and drop it onto the desired audio clip. You can also right click on a clip and select "Event Effect > prime:vocal".
4. prime:vocal will now open up in the Event Editor window and the audio data of all clips of the track where prime:vocal was selected as Event FX are visible.

For general information on how to use prime:vocal as an ARA plug-in, please refer to this blog post.