Vocal effects: Racks or stompboxes?

S

Smashor

New member
Hi there! I have to choose what to buy to get my vocals ready for a good live performance! I think i mainly need Eq/Compressor/reverb/delay. The budget is around 300-400 euros. I don't know if i should go with the racks or the stompboxes. Basically i got told that the best thing is to use the effects in the aux send of the mixer so that the sound person can adjust them and balance the dry/wet signal, and the effects for this use are usually racks.
But i have the impression that all the new products in the market are designed in the stompbox format and that racks are a bit outdated and bulky, are they worth it for a live use? I'm opened to suggestions..i thought about the tc helicon voice live2/3 because it sends out both a dry and wet signal but those models sound really fake/artificial to me...maybe i have problems :P Help :-)
 
Getting your vocals 'ready' for a performance will be pratising singing, rather than buying fx units.

You'll probably want to use a compressor as an insert rather than an aux (jus sayin....). You can use either rack units or stompboxes in either way providing you know how to cable it up.

If you're playing gigs the sound man should have this kit and be able to set it up for you.
 
Hey jake, thanks for your answer! I completely agree that singing in the right way is the absolute priority but devoloping your own sound and stick to it with consistency it's also a performer's responsability. You're right when you say that both racks and pedals can be used in different positions no matter what but they are not designed for it because certain effects are designed to operate at line level, certain at mic level so mixing things up would mean facing unnecessary problems with connections, i would rather choose the easy way :P Anyway, as for the products, do you recommend any model? I saw one that seems cool, it's the nanoverb2 by Alesis, it was released in 2011 so it's fairly new, the sound was spot on for me, and it's way smaller than the other racks which is a huge factor and it costs 1/4 of the voice live 2 :P I'm open to any other ideas!
 
For what you are asking for, it would seem you would want a rack so that the sound guy can control them (at least on compression and EQ) since you will be trying to adjust to what you hear, verses what sounds good to the room.

On reverb and delay, using it as an effect (not the subtle get a room type reverb effect) but but when you want to punch in a hard reverb or delay type effect. That I would use a stomp box, since when you use it, it will be more "on demand" than a fixed setting.

That would be my 2 cents.
 
The stompboxes are ok but for "quality" I prefer racks - but they are way out of your budget.
When you get more money, this is the chain we use for live vocals and it does everything we need.
ART EQ 341
DBX Compressor 1066
Lexicon PCM80
Lexicon PCM90
 
When the plumber comes to fix your faucet, do you provide the tools? He knows what he's doing and he has the right tools. Offering yours is not only unnecessary it's a little insulting. And if he isn't that good replacing his tools with yours isn't going to help.

Focus on your craft, which includes things like communicating with the crew and performing in adverse situations without letting the audience know. More gear is not really going to help. If you can fill a 500 seat house at $10 a head you may be in a position to push for special treatment. Short of that just go with what they provide.
 
If you have your own sound guy, you can use yours stuff, get rack gear. However, if you cruise up to a club that has a full compliment of gear, the house guy will take a dim view of unplugging all of the house stuff so you can plug your nanoverb in.

If you don't have a sound guy, the stomp boxes would be the only answer. However, then you will be feeding the effects to the vocal channel on the board, which will feed the monitors. Some effects almost guarantee feedback. Since no two rooms or systems are the same, trying to predict what problems will be caused by what effects is impossible. It's simply more stuff to go wrong. If your band are using in ear monitors, none of this is a problem.

Most house systems have all the effects you will need. Your best bet is to find a sound guy that knows your songs and what effect you want where. It's really the only predictable way to make it work well.
 
Hey ido1957 you've got some good stuff in there ehehehe I'm sure it sounds awesome, thanks for listing the models. Well i guess that if a venue has got better equipment than what i have there is no point using my stuff, it comes down to common sense at one point :P The thing is a lot of smaller venues might not be as professional and well equipped as the bigger ones and i have the feeling that you might find yourself in deeeeep waters if you don't have certain equipment with you sometimes. I used to work in a small bar in London where we used to call solo musicians to play but we didn't have for instance reverbs/delays in the mixer or monitors because we used to be more focused on DJs and the musicians had to adapt to that. For instance now i'm Italy and here the small venues expect you to bring your own PA, mixers, effects etc... I have been to countries like the UK and Australia where it's true that in most cases you can simply show up, plug your guitar and worry only about performing and having everything else taking care of, but you don't get that everywhere in the world and i don't wanna be in the position where i have to turn down a paid gig for lack of equipment or even worse realize at the last minute that i'm missing stuff and having to perform with a bad sound or without hearing myself. I guess that it never hurts to bring with you an extra reverb, some cables, maybe your favourite monitor, worse case just leave it in the car :P
 
Smashor said:
The thing is a lot of smaller venues might not be as professional and well equipped as the bigger ones and i have the feeling that you might find yourself in deeeeep waters if you don't have certain equipment with you sometimes.
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But this is about effects, not microphones or speakers. Not having effects is not a show stopping problem.

Many small mixers have reverb and other effects built in, and some of them even have compression. If you have to provide your own sound consider going that route. It will be cheaper and simpler to operate than dedicated outboard effects.
 
+1 on the lack of effects being a show-stopper.

Reverb, for example, is used to make it sound like you are singing/playing in a large room. If you actually are singing/playing in a large room, it may not be that necessary.
 
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