I don't know Audition in and out, but the answer to your question is that you would never apply Autotune pre- anything.

Putting aside the fact that its so processor intensive it would glitch up and possibly wreck a take, you want to use it sparingly if at all, and so applying it in touches where it is needed will keep your vocal tracks natural.

Applying post-tracking allows you to decide where you will use it. Applying pre- means you have to set it and hope. With something as destructive as Autotune you would never want to do that.

"With something as destructive as Autotune"

:O I was under the impression it was constructive!
I mean, really, how could anyone think autotune is bad!

You can use it during both. The manual should explain this better. Auto-mode is used while you're tracking and graphic mode is used for fixing an already recorded performance.

I would agree with Jeemy about tracking with autotune. It can be dangerous, especially if you don't know how to use it properly. Although for vocals it can be done. It would be wise to have two tracks recording, one dry and one with the effect. Provided your comp can handle it, I've never had a problem. I've heard people say it's good to track with it. Their opinion is if the singer is off a little they'll hear the corrected notes and adjust to them. Though I'd be afraid that the singer keeps singing off with it on.

You're better off using the graphic mode, especially if you're new to autotune. It's meant to be used sparingly(unless you're using it as an effect which has become popular again, argghh) and can be handy when you have time restraints. Don't expect it to make an awful singer sound good, it won't. Hilary Duff may have sold a lot of records but the vocals still sound like garbage!

Respectfully,
Christopher

Codemonkey - i don't know if you were joking or not; you would think us Scots would understand what the other meant a bit easier!

By destructive I mean literally that - Autotune changes your sound and even pitch in a way that you then cannot recover from.

While you can beef up the bass in a thin track, or add compression to a track with too wide a dynamic range, or pare off some treble from an overbright recording, or even use EQ to restore lost dynamics (joke joke joke joke joke don't flame me) - you cannot perform any operation to remove a glitch, "computerisation" or artefact added by Autotune.

Therefore much like engaging a massive bass cut by accident in tracking, I would term it a destructive process in that you cannot amend its effects afterwards.

Yes, you can argue that all audio processing is to some extent destructive in this context, but that is why I said "as destructive as Autotune" - I'd count it as a very destructive process and recommend it was used after tracking where you can judge your effects.

I certainly don't believe in using it to give feedback to an out-of-tune singer.

In fact, I'll be honest, I don't own or use it - they keep asking me to buy it for the studio for all the "karaoke superstar" sessions and hen parties that unfortunately are a big part of us being in business these days - but even given its a business need of mine to correct the mistakes of amateur hacks, I'd rather spend my money on something else than Autotune.