Melodyne vs Performative Ear

Melodyne analyzes recordings and samples note by note, letting users adjust pitch, vibrato, volume, sibilants, note length, timing, and formants. Its four editions cover different editing needs: essential handles basic pitch and timing, assistant adds formant and dynamics editing plus audio-to-MIDI export, editor adds DNA Direct Note Access for individual notes in chords, and studio adds simultaneous editing across tracks in one window. DNA is available in editor and studio for material such as piano and guitar. Melodyne runs standalone or as a VST3, AU, or AAX plug-in, with ARA integration for compatible DAWs. Version 5 supports 64-bit macOS 10.12 or later and Windows 10 or 11; version 5.2 or later runs natively on Apple Silicon Macs. There is no free plan, but a 30-day trial offers full functions and can be used once per computer.

Performative Ear is a paid pitch-correction plug-in designed for low-latency singing on Windows and macOS. Performative Ear listens to a song and sends its detected key to the pitch-correction plug-in automatically, while passing audio through unchanged without files or network use. Four correction modes are listed: Live at 1.3 ms, Crisp at 18 ms, Voice at 25 ms, and Full at 40 ms. Users can choose chromatic, major, or minor scales and toggle notes to create a custom scale. The maker lists tested support for Ableton Live 11 and 12, Cubase, FL Studio, Fender Studio Pro, Bitwig Studio, REAPER, Audacity, and GarageBand. Formats include VST3 and CLAP on Windows x64 and macOS Universal, plus Audio Unit on macOS. The price is $199 as a one-time purchase, with no free plan and a free Windows demo. One license supports three active machines.