How To Record Zero Latency Vocals With Reverb

I love how so many audio interfaces these days allow you to monitor with zero latency when recording. With no lag on the signal, it feels and responds like you’re working with an analog console. But I get this question a lot: “Can I monitor my zero latency vocal recordings through reverb?” It’s a great question because many singers perform better with a small amount of reverb in their headphones. And the good news is that you absolutely can do this.

The Problem With Zero Latency

Just so we’re all clear, this is how zero latency recording works in most modern audio interfaces. Because it takes time for your audio to be converted to a digital signal in your interface, run through your software, and then converted back out to analog audio so you can monitor it, by the time sound hits your headphones it’s off slightly from what you’re hearing in real space. This creates a chorus like, doubled effect that is distracting and annoying for the performer.
 
The workaround for this problem is to simply make the interface take the incoming analog audio signal (let’s say your vocal) and not only send it to your DAW, but to also immediately route it back to your headphones via a software mixer of some kind. It never leaves the analog domain so you hear it with no delay. The only problem is now you have to mute the track in your DAW so you don’t hear both the real time signal and the signal coming from your DAW. This is generally not a problem. Unless you want to hear that recorded track with a bit of reverb, in real time.

The Reverb Workaround

Fortunately there is an incredibly simple solution to the reverb issue. Because putting a reverb plugin on your vocal track in the DAW is pointless (that track is muted, remember?) you’ll need to simply send the vocal to a different track. I typically setup a stereo auxiliary track (or bus) in Pro Tools and place the reverb plugin on that track. Then I take the vocal track and use a send to route a copy of the vocal to the reverb track.

Now, the key here is to make this vocal send PRE-fader. By default in Pro Tools sends are set to POST-fader. What this means is that the send follows after whatever the fader does. In our case the fader is muted, so the send would be muted if it were post fader. When you make the send pre fader, it will send as much or as little of the vocal to the rever as you want, even though the vocal track is muted in your DAW. Make sense?

My Vocal Tracking Workflow

So, with all of that being said, here is how I typically track vocals for myself or clients. I create the audio track in my DAW and arm it for recording. I make sure it is muted of course because I’m listening to the zero latency version of my vocal through my software mixer. Next I create a “reverb” track that is made up of an available bus with a reverb plugin inserted in. I make sure this reverb track is outputted to my headphone mix.

On my vocal track I create a pre-fader send to the reverb track at full volume. I can then control the amount of reverb heard in the headphone mix by turning up or down the reverb track’s fader. If the singer needs more verb, I simply grab that auxiliary track and turn it up. If things are too wet, I turn it down. I can even adjust the type or amount of reverb on the plugin itself. Voila!