NCH Software

Voxal Voice Changer

This user guide has been created for use with
Voxal Voice Changer Version 1.xx

©NCH Software
Technical Support
If you have difficulties using Voxal Voice Changer please read the applicable topic before
requesting support. If your problem is not covered in this user guide please view the up-to-date
Voxal Voice Changer Online Technical Support at
www.nchsoftware.com/voicechanger/support.html
.
If that does not solve your problem, you can contact us using the technical support contacts
listed on that page.

Software Suggestions
If you have any suggestions for improvements to Voxal Voice Changer, or suggestions for
other related software that you might need, please post it on our Suggestions page at
www.nch.com.au/suggestions/index.html
.
Many of our software projects have been undertaken after suggestions from users like you.
You get a free upgrade if we follow your suggestion.
Voxal Voice Changer
Contents
Introduction..................................................................................................................................... 2
Getting Started................................................................................................................................ 3
Building and Editing Voices ............................................................................................................ 4
Creating a New Voice..................................................................................................................... 5
Import/Export voice......................................................................................................................... 6
Muting and Bypassing.................................................................................................................... 7
Applying a Voice to a File ............................................................................................................... 8
Troubleshooting .............................................................................................................................. 9
Effects ............................................................................................................................................ 10
Shortcut Keys ................................................................................................................................. 13
Synthesize Text to Speech............................................................................................................. 14
Preview Voice Effect....................................................................................................................... 15
Record Voice Effect ........................................................................................................................ 16
Noise Reduction............................................................................................................................. 17
NCH Software Suite ....................................................................................................................... 18
Software License Terms................................................................................................................. 19

General
Find and Play Recordings .............................................................................................................. 20

Screen References
Backup Audio.................................................................................................................................. 23
Option............................................................................................................................................. 24
Voice Pronunciation........................................................................................................................ 25
Background Noise.......................................................................................................................... 26
Options ~ Preview Audio................................................................................................................ 27
Options ~ Voice Hotkey .................................................................................................................. 28

1
Introduction
Voxal is a state of the art voice changing application designed to enhance any application or
game that uses a microphone. You can change your voice in many different ways by choosing
from the supplied preset voices, or you can create your own custom voices by adding effects
such as a pitch change, echo or flanger. Effects can be stacked in any order and combination
you want, providing nearly unlimited voice changing possibilities.

Voxal works seamlessly behind the scenes to automatically intercept all audio from your
microphone before it reaches your applications. This means that the applications do not
require any configuration, and you can start using Voxal straight away.

Features

l Simple and intuitive interface

l Works with all existing applications and games
l Low CPU usage will not interfere with other running applications
l Comes with some great existing preset voices
l Preview your voices before you use them for real
l Process files with your favorite voices

System Requirements

l Windows XP and above

l Mac OS X 10.4 and above

Voxal is just one component of the NCH Software suite of audio, video and business software.
If you have not done so already, please visit www.nch.com.au to download many other related
programs.

2
Getting Started

Getting Started

Voxal allows you to create, save and load different effect chains which it refers to as "voices".
When you first load Voxal you will see on the left hand side a list of available voices for you to
use. To select a voice simply click on the name of the voice you wish to use.

To preview how your voice will sound, click on the Preview button in the toolbar at the top of
the screen. Speak into your microphone and you should be able to hear your voice with the
effects applied. You should also see the colored volume meter on the main screen showing
you the current level of the microphone. If you can't hear your voice, or there is no colored bar,
then you may need to change your settings. Click on the Options button in the toolbar and
then select your preferred microphone and speakers. Note, these are just the microphone and
speakers you will use for previewing your voices.

Making a Skype Call

Once you are happy with the voice you have selected, you can apply the voice in other
applications such as Skype/VOIP or other audio processing programs which take an audio
input. For example, these are the steps you would take to make a Skype call with your new
voice:

1. Make sure Skype is closed. Voxal must run before the application you wish to use your
voice in.
2. Run Voxal and select the voice you wish to use.
3. Run Skype and make a call.
4. If everything is working properly you should see that Voxal displays the text "Status:
Successfully processing!" and the microphone volume meter will be moving.
5. If it is not working then refer to the troubleshooting section of this help file.

3
Building and Editing Voices

Editing an Existing Voice

Available voices appear in Voxal's left panel. To edit one of these voices, click the Edit button
in the main toolbar. This will open the voice editing window which shows you how the selected
voice is currently constructed. The editing window has three main panels:

Available Effects (Left Panel)

These are the effects from which you can construct voices.

Applied Effects (Middle Panel)

These are effects which are currently part of the selected voice.

Effect Settings (Right Panel)

This panel shows the current settings of the effect selected in the middle panel

To edit a voice select the effect you wish to change and then adjust the sliders in the Effect
Settings panel. You can leave Voxal in preview mode while you do this to hear your changes.
You can also edit the currently selected voice from the main panel by clicking the Edit this
effect... button.

In addition to changing parameters, you can also add new effects to the list of currently applied
effects, change their order by dragging and dropping the applied effects or temporarily
bypassing effects by de-selecting their checkboxes.

4
Creating a New Voice

Creating a New Voice

Once you have used Voxal for a while you will probably want to get creative and build your
own custom voices. Doing so is easy and follows pretty much the same path as editing voices
described in the page before this one.

Start by clicking the New button in the toolbar. You will need to supply a name for your effect
and then use the effect window to add a series of effects to create your new voice. Once you
are happy with your voice, click on Save and your voice will appear in Voxal's left hand panel
ready for you to use.

Tip: It is helpful to add an Amplify effect to your voice so that you can have good control over
its volume level. This will help to reduce the need to keep adjusting the output level on Voxal's
main screen. You will see that all the effects which are built into Voxal include an Amplify
effect.

Note: Your computer only has a limited amount of processing power which means there will be
a limit to the number of effects you can add. If you start to notice that Voxal is not performing
well and you are getting breaks in your microphone audio, then you may need to decrease the
number of effects applied to that voice.

5
Import/Export voice
This feature provide an easy way for the users to share their voice creations by simply passing
the .voxal files around or sharing via social media.

Export Voice

Export the selected voice to a .voxal file.

Import Voice

Import a new voice from a .voxal file.

6
Muting and Bypassing

Muting the Microphone

At any time while you are using Voxal you may wish to mute your microphone. You can do this
quickly by clicking the Mute button on the main toolbar. Once this button is clicked, Voxal will
not play any microphone audio to any of your applications. If you are currently on a
VOIP/Skype call then the person you are talking to will no longer be able to hear you.

Bypassing the Current Voice

You may find that you want to revert back to using your normal voice while using Voxal. To do
this click the Bypass button on the main toolbar. Doing so will instruct Voxal to still pass the
microphone audio to the application you are using (eg. Skype), but it will no longer apply any
effects to it.

7
Applying a Voice to a File

Processing a File

A file can be processed through the effect chain in a similar way to the microphone data.

1. Select the voice you would like to apply.

2. Click the Process button in the toolbar.
3. Choose the file you would like to process.
4. Choose where you would like to save the file (the output is always mp3 format).

If you would like to preview how the file will sound once the voice has been applied, then you
can use the Preview File button from the toolbar and then select the file you'd like to preview.

8
Troubleshooting

Driver Connection Failed

If you receive the following error message in your log window: "Driver connection failed. Did
you make sure to restart your computer after installing Voxal?", it is because Voxal is unable to
communicate with the driver it needs to capture the microphone audio data. Make sure you
restart your computer. In some rare cases it may be necessary to reinstall Voxal if this problem
persists."

Unable to Detect an Audio Stream

If you receive a message saying that Voxal is unable to detect an audio stream while you are
using Voxal's preview mode, then you may not have the correct audio device selected to work
with Voxal. Go to Voxal's Options and make sure you select the the correct preview devices in
the drop down lists.

In some rare circumstances, the microphone you are using may not be compatible with Voxal.
If you continue to have problems try using a different microphone to see if that fixes the issue.

Output Level is too High

You may sometimes get a warning at the bottom of the screen that your microphone level is
too high. If the output level of your microphone is too high then the audio will be distorted. You
should aim to keep the peak of the microphone level somewhere in the area markes as "Good
Mic Level". You can lower or raise the level of the microphone output by adjusting the volume
control in the top panel. Alternatively, you can add an "Amplify" effect to the voice and use that
to control the volume. The term "Amplify" is a bit misleading because it can also be used to
reduce the volume of the audio as well as increase it.

Stuttering or Glitchy Audio

If your selected voice has too many effects applied then you may notice a degradation in
Voxal's performance and the audio stream may break up or distort. This is due to your
computer no longer being able to process the chain of effects quickly enough. In order to
rectify the problem you will need to remove some effects from the selected voice. If this still
does not fix the problem then please contact our support area for help.

9
Effects

3-Band Equalizer

An 3-Band Equalizer is a special equalizer which can change volume level at band 100Hz,
900Hz and 2500Hz.

Echo

An echo is a repeat of the sound after a short time (usually 400 - 1000ms). It sounds a bit like
the person speaking is in a large stadium or is shouting between two mountains.

Pitch Shifter

This changes the pitch of the audio without changing the speed.

Voice Pitch Shifter

This does the same job as the normal pitch shifter except it keeps the vocal formants in tact
creating a more realistic result.

Reverb

Reverb is many small reflections of the sound that come after a set time. It usually occurs
when someone is speaking in a room, hall, etc. More reverb is called wet, no reverb is called
dry.

Low Pass

A low-pass filter (sometimes called a high cut filter) keeps frequencies in the audio below a
certain value.

High Pass

A high-pass filter (sometimes called a low cut filter) removes all low frequencies below a
specified Hz. This is useful if you want to make your recording sound 'clearer' or less 'muddy'.
It is very usual to use a high-pass filter of about 300Hz on all voice recordings to improve
intelligibility.

Chorus

The chorus sound effect is used to make one voice or one instrument sound like 3 voices or
instruments by playing the original with variably delayed and slightly pitch changed copies of
the original.

Note: Chorus is a very useful way to make a mono source sound more stereo.

10
Distortion

While normally we do everything to reduce distortion, sometimes you want to add it. For
instance, it is popular for use with guitars. Distortion is measured between 0.0 (off) and 1.0
(clipping). You also specify the level where it kicks in dB (default -8db).

Flanger

A Flanger sound effect is created by mixing a slightly delayed signal with the original, with the
delay being slowly modulated over time. You can specify the starting delay time (default 5ms),
the frequency of modulation in times per second (default 0.5Hz(500mHz) which is 2 seconds),
the depth of modulation (default 70%), and the wet dry gain (75% for wet, 0% for dry).

Amplify

To 'amplify' is to increase the loudness or volume levels of the selected region. To make a part
of the recording softer or louder, select it and then use the menu Effects -> Amplify. The
volume is entered in percent (100 being no change, 50 being -6dB softer or 200 being +6dB
louder).

Vibrato

The vibrato sound effect is a pulsating of the pitch at a depth and frequency specified by the
user. The higher the Frequency (Hz) set, the more often the pulses will be heard, and the
higher the Depth (semitones), the wider the fluctuation in pitch will be.

Tremolo

The tremolo sound effect is similar to the vibrato effect, except that the amplitude pulsates
rather than the pitch. The higher the Frequency (Hz) set, the more often the pulsation will be
heard, and the higher the Depth (%), the deeper the fluctuation in volume.

WahWah

As the name suggests, the effect modulates a specified frequency band within the sample,
which results in the characteristic "Wah wah" sound. The effect is a bandpass filter with its
center frequency (not to be confused with the center frequency parameter, below) alternating
between a min frequency and max frequency (specified by the center frequency and depth
parameters) and from max frequency to min frequency. The frequency of alternating direction
is represented as a triangular wave with a frequency specified by the wah frequency parameter.

Resonance: also known as Q or emphasis, this parameter controls the resonant peak of the
bandpass filter. This value determines the sharpness of the wah-wah effect. Higher values
produce more resonant/peaky tones.

Depth: this parameter determines the frequency range swept by the bandpass filter. Its range
is specified as a percentage of the range (0 to center frequency). If the value of the percentage
of the range (0, center frequency) is specified as X, the min and max frequencies are (center
frequency - X) and (center frequency + X).

Center Frequency: This parameter is the center frequency of the bandpass filter sweep, and is
used to determine the min and max frequencies as mentioned above.

11
Wah Frequency: This is the frequency of alternating the direction of the sweep, or the
frequency of the wah-wah sound. It is the frequency of the triangular wave described above.

12
Shortcut Keys

l Ctrl+N New Voice

l Ctrl+S Save Current Voice
l Delete Delete The Selected Voice
l Ctrl+Shift+H Set Hotkeys For Voices
l Ctrl+Shift+P Preview Current Voice
l Ctrl+Shift+M Mute The Microphone
l Ctrl+Shift+R Reduce Background Noise
l Ctrl+Shift+B Toggle Background Noise
l Ctrl+O Options
l F1 Help Contents
l Ctrl+Shift+N Add a new category folder in the sound effects library
l Alt+F4 Exit
l F3 Toggle Bypassing of Effects

13
Synthesize Text to Speech
Synthesize is designed to assist in listening to texts. Its text to speech functions can be
controlled using the keyboard (Hotkeys). Text can be read in the Voxal program as a
Text-to-Speech converter, or in applications as a screen reader.

l Synthesize can be used to read aloud any text and save it as mp3 or wav files for future
listening.
l Synthesize features hotkey control and variable voice playback.
l You can copy text from any application and Synthesize reads it for you. It runs in the
background.
l Synthesize can read text from any application without switching away from that application.

Features

l Sit and relax while your PC reads the text to you

l Save text to MP3 or wav
l Proofread your own writing
l Find help for someone with a reading disability or a slow reader
l Take some reading along for your daily walk or run
l Listen to an eBook during your journey
l Help someone with low vision or a senior citizen
l Prepare for a big speech by hearing your words read aloud
l Hotkeys help to use keyboard keys to do special jobs as you want
l Find a great new tool to study for exams

14
Preview Voice Effect
This Preview Voice Effect window allow user to preview the currently selected voice effect. To
open this dialog, you need to make sure you have selected the "Speak a sentence, then listen
to the result" in Option->Preview Mode.

Sample

Click this button if you want to sample(record) your voice with the current selected voice effect.
This function is active by default when the Preview Voice Effect window is open.

Listen

Click this button to stop sampling and listen the selected voice effect.

Stop

Click this button to stop listening the selected voice effect.

Edit

Click this button to edit the current selected voice effect.

See Live Mode Preview if you want Voxal to playback the voice as you are speaking.

15
Record Voice Effect
This Record Voice Effect window allow user to record themselves with the currently selected
voice effect.

Record

Click this button if you want to record your voice with the current selected voice effect.

Listen

Click this button to stop sampling and listen the selected voice effect.

Stop

Click this button to stop listening the selected voice effect.

Open

Click this button to open the folder with recording files. The recording files have names with the
datetime they are created.

To listen to all recording files, click "Recordings" in the tool bar.

16
Noise Reduction

Noise Gate

A noise gate is a filter which controls the volume of an audio signal. Any part of your audio
which is below the Threshold will be attenuated by the amount you specify.

-Threshold
-Audio falling below this threshold will be attenuated.
-Hold
-The period of time (in milliseconds) to wait before applying the attenuation.
-Release
-The period of time (in milliseconds) taken to fully apply the attenuation.
-Attack
-The period of time (in milliseconds) taken to fully remove the attenuation.
-Attenuation
-The amount to attenuate the audio signal when it falls below the threshold.

17
NCH Software Suite
This is a useful way to browse all the software available from NCH Software

You can see a set of products by type like Audio, Video and so on and view the product. From
there you can try out the product and it will download and install it for you to trial. If you already
have the product installed then you can click "Run It Now" and the program will be launched for
you.

There is also a list of features for products in the category. Click on a feature, such as "Edit a
Video File", to install a product with that ability.

Search

Search our website for products matching any keywords you type.

See more of our software

Browse our website for more software.

Subscribe to our newsletter

You can subscribe to our newsletter for announcements of new releases and discounts. You
can unsubscribe at any time.

See the latest discounts for purchase

See the latest discounts we are offering for purchasing our products.

18
Software License Terms

1. The copyrights in this software and any visual or audio work distributed with the software
belong to NCH Software and others listed in the about box. All rights are reserved.
Installation of this software and any software bundled with or installed-on-demand from this
software is licensed only in accordance with these terms.

2. By installing, using or distributing this software you, on your own behalf and on behalf of
your employer or principal, agree to be bound by these terms. If you do not agree to any of
these terms, you may not use, copy, transmit, distribute, nor install this software - return it
to the place of purchase within 14 days to receive a full refund.

3. This software, and all accompanying files, data and materials, are distributed "as is" and
with no warranties of any kind, whether express or implied except as required by law. If you
intend to rely on this software for critical purposes you must test it fully prior to using it,
install redundant systems and assume any risk.

4. We will not be liable for any loss arising out of the use of this software including, but not
limited to, any special, incidental or consequential loss. Your entire remedy against us for
all claims is limited to receiving a full refund for the amount you paid for the software.

5. You may not use this software in any circumstances where there is any risk that failure of
this software might result in a physical injury or loss of life. You agree to indemnify us from
any claims relating to such unauthorized use.

6. You may copy or distribute the installation file of this software in its complete unaltered
form but you may not, under any circumstances, distribute any software registration code
for any of our programs without written permission. In the event that you do distribute a
software registration code, you will be liable to pay the full purchase price for each location
where the unauthorized use occurs.

7. Use of statistics collected by the software is subject to the NCH Software Privacy
Statement which allows automatic anonymized collection of usage statistics in limited
circumstances.

8. The contract arising out of this agreement is governed by the laws and courts of the
Australian Capital Territory.

19
General - Find and Play Recordings

Find and Play Recordings

Open the Find and Play Recordings dialog box from the Find & Play menu item, or pressing
the Find & Play Toolbar button.

All recordings in the specified recording folder will be listed.

This Program lists the columns associated with each recording file.

Playing a Recording

To play a recording select it and press F9. When the Play Control Box opens you can move
back and forward within the recording using the left and right arrow keys. To pause playback
press the spacebar. To stop and go to the beginning press Esc. To move to the beginning
press Home. To move to the end press End. To go back to the list of recordings press Enter.

Edit Audio

This will open the selected recording in Wavepad: A full featured professional sound editor for
Windows. When editing audio files you can cut, copy and paste parts of recordings and, if
required, add effects like echo, amplification and noise reduction. WavePad works as a wav
editor or mp3 editor but it also supports a number of other file formats including vox, gsm, real
audio, au, aif, flac, ogg and more.

The program is designed to be a very easy and intuitive to use for audio editing. Within
minutes you will be able to open or record a file and edit it. But if you take time to explore the
other features you will find many powerful tools for editing audio designed with the professional
sound engineer in mind. Wavepad comes in two versions a free basic version and a masters
edition. Downloading this software will provide you with a free trial version.

Save As

This will save the selected recording to a different position in a local or networked folder.

To save the recorded file on your hard drive, select the recording and click the "Save" button.
Enter the file name and click OK.

Send to Email Now

The selected file will be attached to a default email and sent to the address you specify.

Burn to CD-ROM

The selected files will be imported into Express Burn. Express Burn is also the fastest CD/DVD
writing program in the world using proprietary optimizing systems. It will also create an index
file which it will begin burning immediately to a data CD.

20
Compress and Backup

Are your file sizes getting too large, or do you wish to ensure you have a backup of your
audio? Compress and Backup will provide you the choice of burning straight to a CD after
compression or to a Backup Folder. It can compress in 3 different formats. The choice of
compression depends on the particular audio settings that determined the quality of the sound
file that was recorded. Please test that the compression type is sufficient in size and quality of
audio for a sample file. Compressing and backing up does not effect your original audio
recording.

Convert Sound File

Converts the audio file(s) to a different format using Switch. Switch audio file converter is very
easy to use. With the selected files added into Switch, select the format you want to use, and
then click the convert button. Switch supports converting to wav (PCM, ADPCM+, aLaw+,
uLaw+, and others), mp3, au, aif/aiff, gsm, vox, raw, ogg, flac, .rss, .amr+ and more.

Transcribe

Allow simple and easy dictation of files using Express Scribe. This computer transcriber
application features variable speed wave playback, foot pedal operation, file management and
more. This program is free.

Deleting a Recording

To delete recordings, select them and click on the Delete button. You can select more than
one recording by holding down the Shift key while selecting.

Folder Tab

By default, Find and Play lists only recordings in the local record folder.

You can change the default folder for holding your audio files or you can change the alternative
folder to suit your needs .

If you want to play files over your local area network, install this program on the other computer
and point it to the folder that the Find and Play Window is referencing.

View Filter Tab

The View Filter Tab allows searching and filtering on what is displayed in the list view.

You can search or filter what is shown by the text in each column, by the duration of the audio
or by the date of the recording.

Speech Search Tab

21
On the 'Speech Search' tab you can choose to search for keywords in the recordings. You
must select an installed Speech Recognition engine (eg. Dragon Naturally Speaking, IBM Via
Voice). Microsoft supplies a free 'Speech Command and Control' engine (filename actcnc.exe)
and this can be located using an internet search engine. Please note any speech engine used
must support Context Free Grammars. You can also optionally select a trained speaker for the
engine.

If multiple times are found on your speech search clicking on the file will provide a list of the
"key found at" times. Speech searching places a bookmark to hold the place in the audio when
multiple times are found so you can jump to the keyword.

Play Options Tab

Set the sound device you use to play your audio file, also set 'Variable Speed Slow' and
'Variable Speed Fast' to vary the speed of playback.

Clicking 'Update Now (Rescan for new recordings)' will add or remove any recordings that
have been made or deleted since the last update.

22
Screen References - Backup Audio
The "Backup Audio" dialog can be used make a backup copy of an audio recording to a
recordable CD or a selected drive or folder.

Note: Other data associated with the audio will not be backed-up with the audio.

Compress and Copy Selected Files to

Select where to backup the audio:

l CD (using Express Burn)

The compressed audio will be recorded to a CD, as data files, using Express Burn. If
Express Burn is not already installed on your machine, it will be automatically
downloaded and installed for you.

l A shared network or local folder

The compressed audio file will be copied to the selected drive or folder.

Audio Compression

Select the file format and codec for compressing the audio.

23
Screen References - Option
Save Speech Settings

Prompt for format settings

Select this option if you want Voxal to prompt for format settings when you save a text file to an
audio file.

Use these default format settings

Select this option if you want to use the default format settings when saving a text file to an
audio file.

To change the default format settings click on the button "Choose format". This allows you
save the text file as either mp3 or wav audio file.

These saved audio files can be played suitably by downloading our software
Wavepad Audio Editor
.

Our software Switch Audio Converter is recommended to convert any saved audio files saved
by Voxal to other formats.

Change Voice Pronunciation

Click this button to open the Voice Pronunciation window, where the characteristics of the
reading voice can be altered to your preferences.

24
Screen References - Voice Pronunciation
This dialogue allows you to globally alter the way the voice speaks the text you have input. You
can alter the speed, pitch and volume of the voice.

Voice Selection

The voice and engine to be used.

Globally alter voice recitation

Example Text:

The text to be recited.

Speed:

Speed at which the voice will recite the text.

Pitch:

Pitch or tone of the voice as it speaks the text. Some text to speech engines have a limited
range of pitches (especially SAPI 4 voices). If you exceed their allowed range then the pitch
will revert to the voices default pitch.

Volume:

Base volume of the voice as it speaks the text.

25
Screen References - Background Noise
In addition to directly manipulating the voice data, voxal allow you to mix in a stream of
background noise to make it sound like you are somewhere else. For example "Busy at the
office", "Waiting for a train", "Windswept Plain", "Forest" etc.

Background noise file:

Select a sound file for background noise. A valid sound file is a .wav or .mp3 file.

You can adjust the volume level of background noise.

26
Screen References - Options ~ Preview Audio
Preview Recording Device: Select the recording device (such as a microphone) you wish to
use for previewing your Voxal voice effects. This is the microphone you will speak into when
the "Preview" function is switched on.

Preview Playback Device: Select the playback device (such as your headphones) you wish to
use for previewing your Voxal voice effects. This is where you will hear your voice when the
"Preview" function is switched on.

Preview Mode: You can choose one of two methods for previewing your Voxal voices. The Spe
ak and Listen method is selected by default and allows you to say a sentence into your
microphone and then when you are finished play it back and listen to how it sounded. The Live
method means that Voxal will playback the voice as you are speaking. Some types of
hardware don't work well using the second method, so if you are having troubles, try changing
to use the Speak and Listen method.

27
Screen References - Options ~ Voice Hotkey
You can assign hot keys to voices for switching between voices while gaming or chatting
without having to open the Voxal window. There are 4 hotkeys you can set for 4 different
voices.

Set Hotkey

Set hotkey for the selected voice.

Select voice

Select which voice to use for the hotkey.

28