Hmm, I have to say off the bat that I truly dislike all sorts of tuning devices on the vocals. I'm a firm believer that you continue to track the vocals until you have a solid take. This is my stance 2020 and have been for a lot of years. To me, it makes for greater life in the recording.
Now, with that said, once upon a time when I did work in the industry, I was an avid user of them all. To the degree that I feel I was part of the whole downfall of what I think the recording process is all about today. When auto-tune first arrived we all just freaked out!!! You know, suddenly you could fix it in the mix?!! Today, it's way too much devices fixing average to downright awful performances. I don't think it's good, and absolutely not necessary, not on a personal level and not for the business. This is just how I personally feel.
In the beginning, it was supposed to help you fix stuff that wasn't fixable, in that sense I can understand and approve of it, a note here and there fine, but today it sets the standard for what we believe is normal. It's used on everything. On whole takes. Even on takes that absolutely needs no fixing. Today you can hardly release a song without having the vocals tuned or tampered with, because listeners expect it to be that way. Their ears are accustomed to it.
I believe we're going in the wrong direction, and I believe music is taking the hit for it.
Hehe, damn, apparently I feel strongly about this subject.
So in summary, if it's used sparsely and where need be, sure, but that's not where we're at as of today unfortunately.
I give you an example. Here's a great singer and a great song. One acoustic version and a studio version. In the studio version, there's absolutely no need for his vocals to go through auto tune and whatnot, the overall result and all it's doing is taking the life of his natural performance. On the contrary, they would 've benefitted far more if they'd stayed away from all unnecessary effects, the usual suspects, and been brave enough producers to boldly capture his natural performance which is stunning. Please do compare the two versions, I believe there's a significant difference.
FWIW, my 0.2
//Peter
Studio:
Acoustic: