Vocoders are nothing new - they've been around for over 70 years, in fact - but with Matrix, VirSyn is claiming that it's offering something different to what's gone before.
The new plug-in differs from the norm by offering analogue-modelling 8-pole filters and "extremely fast" envelope followers. These are said to make for high-quality resynthesis.
New voiced/unvoiced detection and pitch extraction algorithms have also been implemented to improve intelligibility, while the stereo synthesis filter bank promises to preserve the spatial characteristic of the replacement signal.
VirSyn claims that Matrix can be used latency-free and that the software's interface is easy to use.
Matrix is available now for Mac and PC and supports the VST 2.4, Audio Units and RTAS plug-in standards. The standard price is €199, but you can purchase it for €129 until January 31 2008.
For further details and audio examples, make your way over to the VirSyn website.