Bobby Owsinski's Inner Circle Podcast Episode 591 - Inside Neural DSP’s Mantra Plugin with Francois Barrillon
In this episode of Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle podcast, I sit down with Francois Barrillon, Neural DSP’s plugins product manager and product lead for their new vocal plugin Mantra.
Francois shares how he went from building guitar pedals in his spare time to leading development on one of the most innovative vocal tools available today.
We talk about Neural DSP’s expansion beyond guitars, how Mantra was designed to be an all-in-one studio solution, and what it takes to create plugins that blend analog feel with digital power.
In This Episode:
• How Francois got into music tech through analog gear
• Why Neural DSP made a vocal plugin
• Mantra’s tracking mode and low-latency design
• How Sculpt uses spectral EQ to fix vocals fast
• Quad Cortex gear and crossover into non-metal markets
• Francois’s journey from L’Oreal to Neural DSP
• The company’s global team and HQ in Helsinki
• Combining analog modeling with new DSP possibilities
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Additional Resources:
To learn more about Mantra, visit https://neuraldsp.com
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Key Takeaways:
00:00:00 - Coming up...
00:00:28 - Meet Francois Barrillon from Neural DSP
00:01:18 - Why a guitar company made a vocal plugin
00:02:08 - Expanding DSP tech beyond guitar
00:03:10 - Inside Mantra’s tracking and mixing modes
00:04:20 - Latency issues and performance design
00:05:08 - Real-time effects boost vocal confidence
00:06:34 - The full Mantra plugin vision
00:07:22 - Quad Cortex and gigging with compact gear
00:08:51 - Francois’s path from L’Oreal to music tech
00:10:15 - Why the vocal plugin was the next big move
00:13:19 - Who Mantra is built for
00:14:17 - Latency: myths vs. real-world use
00:17:47 - Why all-in-one design reduces latency
00:18:13 - Home studio users and smart EQ with Sculpt
00:21:02 - Sculpt’s compression, de-essing, and normalization
00:23:52 - Neural DSP’s team, HQ, and remote setup
00:25:05 - Francois’s non-metal roots at Neural DSP
00:26:20 - From metal plugins to mainstream expansion
00:27:08 - Mantra’s clean demo and audience feedback
00:28:08 - DIY gear nerd to product lead
00:30:07 - Modeling analog vs. creating new tools
00:31:57 - Final thoughts and wrap-up
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In this podcast, music guru Bobby Owsinski shares his personal insights on the music industry, covering news, reviews, analysis, and tips, as well as offering amazing interviews with prominent industry movers and shakers.