Since I joined, I think I've gone through every major vocal processor out there trying to record vocals... ranging from the: * Antares AVP-1 * TC Helicon Voiceworks * Digitech Vocalist Live 4 * TC Helicon VoiceLive * TC Helicon VoiceLive GTX * TC Helicon T1 * TC Helicon Mic Mechanic * Digitech Vocalist Live Pro (Rack Unit) * TC Helicon VoiceLive Touch * ... and recently traded for TC Helicon VoiceLive Touch 2
I've bounced back and forth between Digitech and TC Helicon and have concluded that the Helicon gear just works better in my home studio environment, is easier to use and provides better results.
The Digitech Vocalist Live 4 has the MusIQ, which would allow vocals to change based upon the chords you were playing on guitar. Up until that time everything I owned required a MIDI keyboard in order to understand pitch. This was a great feature, but even with it's pitch correction turned on, if you weren't spot on, your background vocals would do weird things. (You even notice this on the videos.)
I tried to use the AVP-1 to pitch correct before going to the vocal processor but ended up with over processed vocals.
Honestly, I could have stopped with the TC Helicon T1. If you're having issues with vocals, this will solve most of them. It listens to your vocals, then adds compression and EQ for your voice in a way that always makes it sit right in the mix.
I liked it so much that I upgraded to the Mic Mechanic, which does the same thing, except it adds reverb and pitch correction! Pitch correction worked good for me because it only pulled you to the closest note in the chromatic scale. Not a big help if you're really off vocally but worked great for me.
I still wanted backing vocals, so I dumped these for the Vocalist Live Pro. The biggest feature was the ability to send the vocal harmony voices to individual tracks. Navigation and programming was a pain, and I never was able to dial in what I was looking for without going through cryptic menus so it sat mostly unused.
That's when I decided to try to VoiceLive Touch, by far the easiest to use in terms of turning on/off backing vocals... even the looping function helped with working out vocal lines or changing guitar lines. It was easy to record guitar, and vocals, then send them through the VoiceLive in post... I loved it. You can find them used for $249-$299 USD.
The VoiceLive Touch 2 is essentially the same but easier to navigate. Went to Banjo Center (as MSG who is still missed) would call it, and found a used one across the country for the same price! Since it was within the 30 day window, I was able to exchange it. I didn't even mind paying the $8 to ship it cross country.
Look for new tracks with vocals soon!
_________________ Could you show that to me again... slower?
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