Ken Reviews the TC Helicon VoiceLive Touch/Play

Furious_Phil

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ez9zTjMb4HY

I have the Helicon VoiceLive Play, and can attest to what Ken is saying.
Mine is basically the guitarist's version, sits on the floor and has pedal button foot controls
Either version is definitely worth checking out!

I really didn't expect him to get so excited over it, I mean I knew it was good, but to impress @Ken Tamplin, that is a significant seal of approval!

Furious_Phil

A few notes from my experience with it over the last month; and I have a few recommendations to help get you to that huge wall of sound more quickly:

1 - Run dual XLR outputs from the Helicon into your board
2 - Pan the 2 channels hard left and hard right respectively
3 - Turn down the gain on the board channels
4 - Control the gain from the Helicon unit itself

Mess with the presets and create your own versions with headphones on so you can really nit pick the sound. There is also a ton of extra DLC (downloadable content) for it!

*** Note: You can use headphones into the Helicon to use it as your training studio, as there is an Aux input where you can jack in your iPhone containing your KTVA training. There is also an onboard function that can (sort of) remove the lead vocals from a mix and allow you to practice singing against that. So the device becomes a full-on rehearsal/practice studio!

In my opinion this device line goes a long way to putting the power back into the hands of the singer and not leaving him/her at the sole mercy of the sound guy

bentk

It seems to be very useful for control as you say. The delay sounds alright and some other things. But the doubling and the harmony really do not sound good in my opinion. Harmonies can be slightly dissonant it seems, and gives of this creepy vibe now and then. Do you know Mr. Blobby? he was a character on english television, it reminds me of his voice. Now having that said, some of the harmony parts sounded pretty good, especially when he sings Wayward Son. It's just the tone and sound of the harmony that still doesn't quite cut it for me. But hey, it's a digital effect, not real people. I still think it's cool.

I guess you could improve some of these things if you mess with the settings, but those features would not sell it for me. For your own control, i can definitely see its use, and settings such as reverb, compression and delay are very useful and most of them sound good these days anyway.

For a solo performance i would probably use my acoustic Fishman amp which has 2 channels with separate EQ's en effects etc. @Furious_Phil you use this when you perform? Do you also regulate your volume etc. with it?

Furious_Phil

The harmonizer on this is about the best I've heard, not perfect, but the best in a box for sure.
The doubler is fantastic! I've compared and tuned it to a few of my favourite singers and the vocals-only recordings I've heard. My favourite gag pitch change part is what I call the "Barry White Voice" as it makes me sound like him quite convincingly LOL

I do in fact use this to perform now, and gives me a huge stereo sound that I can punch in a separate setting for more impact when I hit the chorus of a song etc.
I've simply never had this level of control over my vocal sound before and am in love with it

bentk

I don't mean to down-talk this device, but what i heard in the video wasn't very convincing.
However, you can probably play with the settings. I am actually interested in it, is it expensive?

Sorry to ask this again, but do you also use it as your 'private monitor' or something? where you can control your volume as well.

Thanks for answering by the way!

Furious_Phil

No worries at all :-)

You can use it into a PA system, or straight to headphones for private practice.
The settings are highly configurable, and there is a ton of DLC for it (Downloadable Content)
There is a gain dial on the side of it to raise or lower volume
You can also use it as a looper if you are a one-man band

$250 US (I bought mne used for considerably less from a guy that wasn't tech savvy)
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/VLPlay

bentk

Hey Thanks Phil! Good to know for my future endeavors

Alyona

Cool!