Talkback Audio Plugins Comparison

The idea for Big Talk Button was born during The Great Apple Silicon Migration that began in 2020. Up until that point, audio engineers and producers who wanted an all-in-one plugin talkback solution had two choices:

Sound Radix's Muteomatic

Source Elements' Source Talkback

When Apple released their Silicon chips, plugin manufacturers could choose to port their products over to Silicon, or remain with Intel. Sound Radix ported Muteomatic; Source Elements didn't do the same for Source Talkback.

In my Discord server of former coworkers and colleagues-turned-friends, this became a topic of great frustration. As we each moved to Silicon-based computers, we had to abandon Source Talkback, and Muteomatic didn't quite meet our individual needs. We were left without a talkback plugin, fingers twitching with muscle memory but absent a valuable tool we'd come to rely on as part of our daily workflows.

My brain kept buzzing around it, and I convinced myself I could create an audio plugin despite no experience whatsoever. In April of 2024, I dove right into the deep end.

And then four months later... Source Elements released Mute-On. It has all the functionality of Source Talkback and was Apple Silicon-compatible. Well, crap.

But that's ok! That's the beauty of having choices. Each plugin offers different things.

Let's look at a comparison between the currently available talkback plugins: Big Talk Button, Muteomatic, and Mute-On:

Talkback Audio Plugins Compared

If what you need is transport-controlled talkback, Muteomatic is the perfect solution. And Sound Radix generously offers it for free. You can't beat that!

If what you want is more control of talkback as part of an industry-leading package of remote session software, Source Elements has you covered with Mute-On, one element of its Source-Nexus Suite. You can buy a month's access for $11, or go big with an annual subscription for $132.

Big Talk Button fills the gap between those two options. It has Global Keyboard Key & MIDI Controller key trigger options; Toggle, Latch and transport-dependent Auto/Rev-Auto button modes; and custom output dimming capabilities, all at a low one-time purchase price of $39. And it has the innovative Menu Bar Status Icon so you always know when your talkback is active.

The move to home studios from the big studio facilities like the ones I got my start in has been an absolute boon for anyone who wants to make great audio, music, podcasts, ads, etc., and I'm all for it. The more people who are able to express their creativity, expand their client bases, save on studio space overhead, and fulfill their dreams, the better. If Big Talk Button can be a small part of that, then I've achieved my goal.

Happy creating!