TC Helicon Voicelive or Voiceworks - worth it?

[quadrajet]

I've read some great reviews from different singers on these units and was considering in investing in one myself. Doubling is a huge part of my vocal sound, moreso than harmony, but it would be nice to have a good harmonizer for live situations.

Still - both of these pieces are pretty expensive. I guess I'm wondering are they really worth it especially since I already have a behringer preamp, a presonus compressor, a TC helicon multi-effects rackmount, and an Antares auto-tune pitch correction unit, and for my live mic I use an SM87A condenser.

Any takers?

 

[VirtualSamana]

I have the TC Voice live. I think that with the gear you already own (pitch correction, TC helicon effects) you wouldn't be getting the most for your money.

Doesn't the TC helicon rackmount you own have harmony capability?

I like the unit. When the effects are used sparingly they sound good. What I like about it is that you can control harmony and effects with the foot switch. It is pricey though.

 

[quadrajet]

I have the TC Voice live. I think that with the gear you already own (pitch correction, TC helicon effects) you wouldn't be getting the most for your money.

Doesn't the TC helicon rackmount you own have harmony capability?

I like the unit. When the effects are used sparingly they sound good. What I like about it is that you can control harmony and effects with the foot switch. It is pricey though.

None of the rackmounts I own have a harmonizer or good doubler on them. The pitch correction machine is the ATR-1 from Antares, the newer version (called the "Vocal Producer") is the one with the harmonizer, mine is the old stripped down model.

I was wondering if it was worth the investment if I sold off all the current stuff I had and went with this one piece. I like the fact that it's set up like a pedal board, putting you in control of your sound from on the stage.

Quick question Virtual - if you have a chance, please listen to the song clip of track #1 on my CD in my signature link. Can you tell me if the Voicelive's doubler can effectively duplicate the vocal sound I have there? I got it by simply double tracking my voice, yet it's become a staple of my vocal sound and I cant seem to find a good chorus or doubler that reproduces it very well.

 

[steve350]

I also own a Voice live. There is a setting for voice "thickening" on the unit. I think it works just fine. I use it in my band on some songs. You have to spend a lot of time setting the thing up. The presets are horrible. The Voicelive video tutorial is pretty good.

 

[GmanJeff]

The lead singer in my 4-piece classic rock band has one. As VirtualS says, it's best used sparingly. It works as advertised, but the harmony generation feature can be almost too perfect. That is, it's clearly synthetic at times, especially when only one person is visibly singing but several voices are coming out of the PA! It lacks the authenticity of several real singers who are slightly imperfect. That may or may not be a drawback, depending upon your objective. Within my band, there is a divergence of opinion: the singer loves hearing himself replicated in the form of multiple harmony voices; the rest of us tend to cringe a bit! I'm not sure the audience notices or cares, though.

 

[sajs]

We use it in our band. I think the trick is to not have that many harmony voices with the lead. We only use 1 above and that's it. There are many settings that allow for the harmony not to sound so processed.

 

[quadrajet]

How many rack pieces could potentially be eliminated by this one unit? Does it have a noise gate? Compressor? Reverb/delay? Feedback eliminator? Are there noticeable level jumps when you switch effects on and off?

Also, how exactly does the pitch correction work? With my ATR1, you set the key of the song, then the speed of the correction with a jog wheel. The lower you set the speed number, the faster the correction comes in. You have to be very careful to avoid the "Cher" effect here. Is the voicelive the same way?

 

[sajs]

I can't answer the pitch correction question because we don't use it. I don't notice any level jumps. That's because I've adjusted all of the voices at the proper levels. It does have all of the dynamic and effects you mentioned.