DIGITECH VOCALIST LIVE 2 - NOW WITH CONCLUSIONS AND VIDEO CLIPS!

[jfwong]

I just received a VL4 so I know it exists It will of course take a while longer to fill the pipeline of stores, this one was sent direct from the factory.

Thank goodness! Do you know if that means they just began shipping them to stores? Or was yours a pre-release "press" copy of the VL4?

Also, post impressions!!! I'd love to see a new megathread on the VL4, you write the best reviews

[Terry Allan Hall]

I'm guessing that the V4 I played was an advance or prototype, as it wasn't for sale at that time.

[KBiggZ]

Great resource here - read it all and am excited about picking one up.

I am a drummer - and would like to use this in a live situation. I realize I can take a signal from my guitarist or keyboard player and have it work like a champ - but I'm curious as to the quality of this without an input signal at all.

Surely someone has used this with just the mic and nothing else. What can I expect? Will it learn anything from the progression I'm singing, or will it just do straight 3rds or 5ths.

Thanks! I really am looking forward to a detailed response - I want to pick one up!

KB
www.onehandfree.com

[fuzzball]

I looked at the new TC helicon units, they seem nice but they do not have a Harmony unit that also has pitch correction (remember I am talking about the new units that just came out).

[Chumly]

I looked at the new TC helicon units, they seem nice but they do not have a Harmony unit that also has pitch correction (remember I am talking about the new units that just came out).

Wrong, the VoiceWorks plus does and it’s new.

[Chumly]

Great resource here - read it all and am excited about picking one up. I am a drummer - and would like to use this in a live situation. I realize I can take a signal from my guitarist or keyboard player and have it work like a champ - but I'm curious as to the quality of this without an input signal at all. Surely someone has used this with just the mic and nothing else. What can I expect? Will it learn anything from the progression I'm singing, or will it just do straight 3rds or 5ths. Thanks! I really am looking forward to a detailed response - I want to pick one up! KB www.onehandfree.com

Nope you cannot use it with only a vocal input, get a TC unit if you want it use it with just a vocal input.

[fuzzball]

Wrong, the VoiceWorks plus does and it’s new.

I was talking about their new floor units, not rack gear.

[geckoland]

Nope you cannot use it with only a vocal input, get a TC unit if you want it use it with just a vocal input.

 

 

Wrong, you can also buy the vocalist live 4, which, according to the manual, does have the option of using scales instead of the guitar input to drive the harmonies . Then you also have the option of using guitar input if you want.

 

geckoland

[bromo999]

when it's supposedly being released at the end of THIS MONTH.

 

 

I pre-purchased mine from ZZounds back in March, at that time the release date was being touted as May...

 

...then late June....

..then mid-August.....

.....

[Chumly]

Wrong, you can also buy the vocalist live 4, which, according to the manual, does have the option of using scales instead of the guitar input to drive the harmonies . Then you also have the option of using guitar input if you want. geckoland

Wrong this thread is about the VL2. KBiggZ was asking about the VL2. You cannot use it with only a vocal input (well you can but it would not be overly successful). If you are going to refer to other units there are a number of other units that have scalic modes.

 

How do I know this? He asked “Surely someone has used this with just the mic and nothing else”. Well guess what geckoland, the VL4 is not out yet!

[jfwong]

Great, let's not start a flame war and act like adults. Wait it's the internet, screw that.

In any case, I'm still waiting on Anderton to post some new thoughts or reviews or pictures or anything from his supposed pre-release version of the VL4... because I'm dying to hear it.

[orbm1]

Great, let's not start a flame war and act like adults. Wait it's the internet, screw that. In any case, I'm still waiting on Anderton to post some new thoughts or reviews or pictures or anything from his supposed pre-release version of the VL4... because I'm dying to hear it.

I agree...

I am looking forward to hear about the VL4!

Anderton, please let us know about it...... Pronto!!!!!

Thanks

Omar

[Ontariomedic]

Anderton,

Come on !!! ..... Please give us some info and audio clips of the VL4 !!


Anxiously waiting.

[Chris2007]

Hi, I have received the LV2 yesterday and immediately have tried it with my guitars...According to the setting instructions, the guitar LED should be green most of the time.....unfortunately none of my active piezzo guitars could reach the green light ( I own a Martin, soome acoustic from luthier). It was the same with the Gibson les Paul and an archtop Vega E-201 from mid 50th...the green almost permanent signal could Only be obtained with a Gibson ES-150 from 1954...does it means that I have to use this guitar only..?? Is there anyone who have experienced it with acoustic guitars....now I am a littler bit disappointed since the harmonies are based on guitar chords...some help for a belgian guy working in Italy would be greatly appreciated...please share your experiences in this field
grazie

Chris

[GlennGalen]

Chris2007,

 

Would some sort of active direct box boost your signal enough to get you a green?

 

Others may know more about this.

[FocusPlayer]

any singnal boosting device would work... as long as you don't OVERdrive it.

My variax works - but it's powered. My passive Switch electric works too, but I do have to have the volume way up on the guitar.

My Breedlove acoustic works great... but the acoustic guitar bleeds into my vocal mic and the unit tries to add harmony to it too

Not a problem with my live sound mic( small tight glow) , just my studio Large Dia. Cond.

[FocusPlayer]

Oh, Not sure anyone mentioned this yet but....

Let's say you want to do the chorus from "7 Bridges Road" A Capella.

If you've got a mute or an A/B switch on the guitar POST VL2 .... you can switch off your guitar to the speakers but still feed the shords to the harmonizer... thus, strum ye 'ole 6-string.... sing the mellody , get the rest of the Eagles singing with you , and no guitar in the house mix.

I have a whole song that was written as a 'round' (yes like row row row your boat) that works with a single strummed chord before I start singing. I don't use a looper so it's not a round anymore, but it is a percussion and Kalimba tribal beat thing A Capella 3 part harmony now.
I strum the guitar once hard, then mute it and put it on the stand.
The VL will keep the chord structure for as long as it stays turned on.

[Terry Allan Hall]

Chris2007, Would some sort of active direct box boost your signal enough to get you a green? Others may know more about this.

 

 

I plug my passive UST-equipted Guild or Taylor into my V2 w/o going into a pre-amp 1st and it works fine into my Crate Taxi (mini-PA)...when I plug into my regular PA, I go thusly: guitar -> V2's guitar input -> V2's guitar thru -> Baggs PADI -> PA.

 

No green light, but the guitars sounds great. No green light when I tried my Tele, either, but still everything sounds fine.

[Anderton]

Regarding using only mic: The only way it will work at all is if you play a chord into it first, and then the unit will remember that chord. But this makes sense only if you're playing a song that requires no chord changes So unless you set consists of "Land of a 1000 Dances," I wouldn't recommend it!

Regarding acoustic guitar: The VL2 expects the kind of levels generated by an electric guitar. Adding a preamp or anything else capable of boosting gain should help out. But in my experience, the VL2 tolerates a wide range of input signals. Before you go to the trouble of adding the preamp, check to see if you're getting consistent results - you might not need the pre, regardless of what the LEDs say.

Regarding the VL4: That will need to be a separate Pro Review as it's quite different from the VL2...I don't want to muddy the waters in this thread, which is about the VL2. I will be away most of next week doing a video shoot so I don't want to start anything and then have to stop in the middle of it.

Re TC Helicon: I had mentioned earlier that I always thought of TC Helicon units as being more for the studio, because that's how I've always used them in the past. However, I wasn't thinking about the VoiceLive, because I've never played with one but when I was going over HC videos, was reminded of it. It doesn't do the "track-the-guitar-chords" thing the VL2 does, but it definitely is intended specifically for live use.

[Chumly]

Storage, I had no trouble getting the green LED to trigger when I tested the VL2 in the music store with a new Les Paul Standard straight into the VL2. This is purely speculative mind you, but DigiTech may have not calibrated the signal strength LED the same on some of the early units.

BTW the TC Helicon VoiceLive and the TC Helicon VoiceWorks share essentially the same architecture.

[Anderton]

Hey Chris...you do have volume all the way up on the guitar, right? It makes sense to me that an acoustic guitar might not drive it to full strength, but surely a standard Les Paul would do the job.

I think the speculation about calibration being off on the initial units is bogus, I have one of the very first ones and all the level indicators act exactly as expected/described in the manual.

[Chumly]

“Purely” means free of empirical elements and “speculative” means theoretical. I said it was “purely speculative” not “speculation” there is a difference.

Nevertheless Chris2007 says his Les Paul can't "reach the green light", whereas as discussed above, when I tried it with a new Les Paul Standard I could get it to do so easily. Of course there are many more plausible (less purely speculative) reasons why Chris2007's Les Paul cannot make the green LED engage with regularity, not the least of which might be lower PU output.

He also goes on to say the his active acoustics can't "reach the green light", so your suggestion that the Les Paul volume pot is the culprit may be....for want of a better word....

But then to say his "Gibson ES-150 from 1954" could do so perhaps suggests an intermittent condition such as cabling as it would be doubtful if a Gibson ES-150 from 1954 would have higher output than active acoustics or a Les Paul.

[jfwong]

Regarding the VL4: That will need to be a separate Pro Review as it's quite different from the VL2...I don't want to muddy the waters in this thread, which is about the VL2. I will be away most of next week doing a video shoot so I don't want to start anything and then have to stop in the middle of it.

 

 

Noooooooooo! In any case I look forward to next week then, and according to Woodwind and Brasswind.com (wwbw.com), they have a potential release date of the VL4 set for September 10th. Any idea if this an official date or just their speculation?

[bromo999]

they have a potential release date of the VL4 set for September 10th. Any idea if this an official date or just their speculation?

 

 

For what it's worth, I ordered a VL4 back in March from ZZounds.com and I just got an email from them Friday (8/17) indicating that it had been "shipped". If true I should have it in a couple of days...(like an idiot I selected "2-day" shipping"....er... 5 months ago). Anyway.. I am just a regular customer, no reviewer, etc.. so if it actually appears at my door, I'm guessing they are officially "shipping" (although they are still listed as "on order" on the ZZounds web page).

 

Bob

 

Oh.. and to ZZounds credit, they honored the $399 price that was in effect in March.

[Anderton]

He also goes on to say the his active acoustics can't "reach the green light", so your suggestion that the Les Paul volume pot is the culprit may be....for want of a better word.... But then to say his "Gibson ES-150 from 1954" could do so perhaps suggests an intermittent condition such as cabling as it would be doubtful if a Gibson ES-150 from 1954 would have higher output than active acoustics or a Les Paul.

 

 

Regarding the acoustic thing, it's hard to say because a lot of the "active" electronics are really there to convert impedance, not so much to add gain, and depend on something else to take the signal higher in level. Granted, not loading down a piezo can cause an increase in gain, but it might not be enough.

 

According to one of the people involved in the design of the VL2, there have many instances of people turning down their guitar, therefore not presenting enough volume to the VL2, then wondering why it doesn't work reliably. So, it seems that would be the first thing to check. Your cable suggestion is a good one too, although I'd think that any problems with the cable significant enough to affect the VL2 would be audible.

 

As far as I can tell the only realistic way to alter the guitar sound over a wide range when using the VL2 is to put a volume pedal after the Guitar Thru jack. I can do small volume variations, though, and the VL2 copes.