Agree. I had to overcome my "meh" feeling towards Nectar because of this. But one of my mixing "mentors" kept saying how good it was, so I finally picked it up and started using it. BTW, Nectar 2 was very "meh" also. But Nectar 3.... ?
I emailed support about this. It would be sooo kewl to be able to use the individual pieces as separate plugins. I'm only now realizing how good the Neutron 2 plugins are separately. I never used the plugin before because of the CPU hit. But individually, they seem a lot better.
Briefly - and generally - when I mix a vocal track, I do basic tonal and HP EQ, then leveling, then Melodyne for tuning and more leveling. Then I go into the Nectar 3 "black box"... I'll typically use the Assistant to get to a starting place. I also usually ignore the AutoTuner and the Gate.
Here's the N3 chain I used just last night:
0. Run the Assistant based on the song style. I have yet to use the AutoTuner and wish I could delete it, same with the Gate, which I can delete. (But I just need to learn to use this one better, no doubt.)
1. EQ - corrective, suggested by Assistant. Tweak if needed. The "Frequency Follower" on the N3 EQ is amazing! *
* Check out a tutorial or two. It's great for getting rid of boxiness for example.
2. Peak Compressor - I add a VCA Peak Compressor here to shave of more peaks and do some leveling.
3. De-Esser - this is another one I really like. I usually just double-check the settings after setting up my 1st compressor. Such a great UI!
4. EQ - This is the Assistant's "sweetening EQ". I'll check here and see if I want to change anything, but generally it's pretty good!
5. Character Compressor (or not) - I use N3s original Assistant suggested compressor as a starting point. I never hit these as hard as N3 suggests though.
6. Reverb - I dial it waaaay back to like 3-5% just to give some fullness.
7. I almost always add a 1/4 delay to the vocal to give it some depth, also dialed way back.
That's it. I haven't really used the Harmony or other sweetening features much yet. I've got other plugins like Melda and SoundToys for those things, but they are likely pretty good. It is also fairly CPU intensive which is why I wish they'd break up the plugins like Neutron and Ozone.
For good measure, here's the rough mix using the above. The song: It Must Be Voodoo by West End Blend. (Tracks from Telefunken/Cambridge-MT)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JNSlGtrqbZRik-D02emqUPWwWNRQANmL/view?usp=sharing
The core sound of the vocal is Nectar 3 as I described above. I didn't even run this through Melodyne, which I WILL to help with the leveling some more because this is a HUGELY dynamic vocal. Of course it helps that she is a totally badass singer too!
The big verb you're hearing is Hyperspace. I'm getting more familiar with that one and wanted to do some referencing, so the reverb is a bit over the top...
