"Best" pitch correction/vocal processor?

M

mrx

New member
I have the original digitech (VH-5?) which is quite dated. I recall reading claims that the latest generation of these units can radically change the sound of a vocal, to the point where Celine Dion could come out sounding like Springsteen.

Any suggestions for a product that not only corrects pitch, but provides control of the character of the vocal? (I can demo a song until the cows come home, concentrating on hitting correct notes, but my voice just has an unappealing quality that would illicit astounding insults from Simon Cowell)
 
mrx said:
Any suggestions for a product that not only corrects pitch, but provides control of the character of the vocal?
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Voice lessons.

I don't mean to be snarky, but you're money is better spent there. A good instructor can teach you not only to sing on pitch, but also how to control the character of your voice. Your voice is an instrument, just like a guitar. You can play country and death metal on the same guitar if you know the technique - your voice is the same way.

I spend $40/week on voice lessons. With the kind of money you're going to spend on that processor, you could get some very good training.
 
I have owned 3 voice processors - the original Digitech VH-5, a Digitech Vocalist and recently the Helicon Voice Prism.

At the end of the day, when used with due discretion you can improve a good vocal sigmal, but you can not work wonders.

Regardless of what marketing hype you've heard - you can not make a guy sound like Celine Dion and you can't make a chick sound like Barry White.

I know some people claim you can solo the Voice Prism and not be able to hear the mechanical processing - well I don't agree. You can hear the mechanical process - how much depends on how little was used.

Now, I do use the Voice Prism to add multi part harmonies - and it can make my voice sound "different" so the machine harmonies sound like some females (although the harmonies must be blended with so real voices to achieve the best affect.

I don't think these processors work best on a lead vocal (other than to provide compression, etc) but they can help add different sounds to harmonies

No machine will ever be better than a well recorded sound of a good singer. Cnadidly, if you don't have a good voice, a machine will not make that huge of an improvement.

Some vocal lessons could be money well spent. I've been a rock and roll singer (a croos between Springstein & Joe Cocker) for many, many years. A few years ago I started vocel lessons - which improved my range, helped me soften my tone and all in all made me a better singer.
 
vocals lessons are cool too, but what good is that gonna do you when you are recording someone else?
 
and don't buy a reverb unit.......

just build a few big rooms and a big steel plate........:D :rolleyes: ;) :p :)
 
Gidge said:
and don't buy a reverb unit.......

just build a few big rooms and a big steel plate........:D :rolleyes: ;) :p :)
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Classic!

Regarding lessons, I'd have to take the opposite position of that given here. I've worked with writers who suffer from the same affliction - with care they could give a perfomance that got the quality of the song across - assuming someone with experience and imagination was listening. Several of these folks started getting pro vocal training and it was like these kids that get suckered into buying time-shares. The only person who could say it "sounds great" with a straight face was the vocal coach. If you don't have a voice that sounds "good", for lack of a better term, lessons are just money spent polishing a turd.

The singer I work with now is incredible - no training, yet when she has a cold, or is recovering from bronchitis, she is able to use different parts of her "vocal system" to still be on key, and with a quality that would get her past Simon. In her case training might add a few tricks, but for those of us who were born with six dollar pipes, no dice.


Anyway, back to the topic at hand, the TC Voice Prism Plus seems to get the best reviews. I've seen comments similar to those above, saying that it's ok for adding addition harmony mixed in with "real" vox, but no more. Others claim that for a single voice it makes the difference from "never leaving the house", to having the confidence to gig as a solo act. I guess only a trip to GC to demo the unit will tell...

Thanks for the feedback!
 
arcaxis,

The Voice Prism (I have the Plus) is a step up from the Digitech. However, the harmony processing still has some of the machine sound you know from the Digitech.

The preamp on the Voice Prism is pretty good and the compression and reverbs are very decent.

I would not recommend the Voice Prism simply to improve the harmony functions of the Digitach (machine harmonies are still machine harmonies) However, if you are looking for a good mic pre/channel strip - that can also provide harmonies, then the Voice Prism make be worth your consideration.

Now that I have the Voice Prism, I never use my Digitech and I often fire up the Voice Prism as my preamp (rather than some of my other pre's) simply because I have it wired in all the time for the harmony processing.
 
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