Vocal Remover (DirectX)

Vocal Remover (DirectX) is a plugin developed with DirectX, which gives you the possibility to reduce vocal tracks from songs using the stereo channel, in order to prepare them for karaoke.
It doesn't contain customizable options, so there's nothing to adjust. The tool automatically identifies the audio track to remove vocals using optimized settings.

Ad-supported plugin with prerequisites

The installation procedure doesn't take long. However, because the plugin's ad-supported, it offers to download and install a third-party program that it doesn't actually need to work properly. But you can decline the offer to make a clean setup.
Just keep in mind that you must have DirectX 6 or greater installed, DirectX Media, a DirectX application compatible with audio (such as WaveLab, Paris or Cakewalk), along with a two-channel input, whether it's at 16 bit or 32 bit.

Easily remove vocal tracks

In the installed directory you can find two DLLs for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows. After accessing Vocal Remover (DirectX) from the host application, you're greeted by a small window with a plain and easy-to-use structure, where you can click a button to remove the vocals from the currently played song.

How it works

According to the developer, it should work with most stereo recordings available on the market. It uses the same technique as hardware devices, by assuming that the vocals are recorded on both channels, while the instrumental music exists on only one.
In this case, identical content from both channels can be eliminated by modifying their phase relationship by 180 degrees and by combining both channels. If the left and right channels are not specified, the utility cannot process the stream it receives, so it passes through it instead.

Conclusion

Too bad that it hasn't received updated for a long time. Nevertheless, Vocal Remover (DirectX) offers a simple solution for reducing vocal tracks to a barely audible level.