I bought a Digitech Vocalstation EX. I kinda liked it, but after just 2 days of EXTREMELY light use (no more then a couple hours total) the thing stopped working. It'd power up, but freeze while loading. I sent it back.
I ordered
the VoiceLive. I must have been one of the first people to get a hold of one because NO ONE seemed to have them in stock. I got it, opened, plugged it in to my crappy practice PA, and at first was kinda disapointed. I mean here was a unit costing twice as much as the EX and I didn't hear all that much difference. I fiddled with it, learned the basics, then I brought it to a band practice with my better PA. All I could think was .. WOW. This thing sounds great! I use a headset condensor mic, Crown. I wireless out to a rather cheap AT VHF unit. From there I was running into the Voicelive. Not the best set-up to get the most out of the thing, but I must say the sound was fantastic. Not just the harmonies that came out of the thing, but also the lead voice effects. It made a big difference.
Stupid me, my band took a hiatus shortly thereafter. I'm watching the thing sit around. So I sold it and started buying more studio stuff (as I'm trying to put together a place to practice record). I went out and picked up another Digitech EX, because it was cheap(er). I plugged it in once and realized after trying the VoiceLive there's no going back. I boxed up the EX and shipped it back.
Long, long story short.. I loved my VoiceLive. It adds a LOT to lead vocals. It may seem kinda overwhelming at first, with all those foot operated buttons, but in reality it took virtually no time for me easily to flip through pre-sets, playing guitar or keyboards live. And the harmonies? They are awesome. If you have a full band and everyone sings really well, you probably don't need it (though it is seriously fun to play with - The Eagles Take It Easy presets are sweet!) But if the background vocals are weak (as they were in my band) this thing is a godsend. Audio snobs aside, the harmonies are as good as digital reproduced vocals can get. And Joe Audience will have NO CLUE that the background vocals aren't actual people singing, unless they notice it's just you up there with a guitar... makes for great conversations during breaks as well
-Krag
ps. I'm going to be picking up another VoiceLive once I start playing out again.
