Hobbyists or producers who need quick, effective pitch correction without deep manual control over vibrato or formants. 2. Melodyne 5 Assistant: The Vocal Professional
Melodyne 5 Assistant is arguably the biggest leap in quality over the previous tier. Going from Essential (No drift/formant) to Assistant (Drift/Formant) changes the software entirely. Going from Assistant to Editor only adds polyphony. If you don't edit polyphonic audio, Assistant is your final destination.
Melodyne 5 Essential is the "gateway drug" to pitch correction. It is frequently bundled for free with hardware interfaces (like Focusrite) and DAWs (like Studio One Artist or Cubase). It is surprisingly capable, but heavily restricted.
Audition the demo, check your DAW's ARA compatibility, and be honest about whether you ever tune a guitar recording. If the answer is no, save your money and stop at Assistant. If the answer is yes, Editor is your new best friend.
The flagship version designed for full production houses and professional mixers.
Before purchasing, verify your hardware matches the specs recommended by Celemony :
However, the tools available to manipulate those blobs change drastically depending on your wallet.