Roland VP-550 and other vocal/harmonizing keyboards

[RodWichita]

Does anyone use a Roland VP-550?

Are there other options besides Roland that you like better?

I am looking at using it for a church praise band.

 

Thanx,

Rod

[timwat]

Never laid hands on the Roland, but in a copy band I recently sat in with the vocalist was using some unit that mounted to the mic stand - I think a Digitech or TC - that sounded pretty nice in a live context. Could easily dial in different intervals and harmonies, sounded fairly natural, and the net effect was pleasant.

 

I think TC Electronics, whose bread and butter is vocal processing, sells a couple different units aimed at keyboard players.

[Mark Schmieder]

Download the manual and you'll know whether you want it or not :-). The manual told me far more than the user reviews. It is permanently off my potential buy list. There just isn't enough programmatic flexibility or setup flexibility compared to the V-Synth (which is still on my "maybe later" list). The implementation of all of the features, vocal and otherwise, is severely crippled vs. the V-Synth, yet the price does not reflect that. If it were $500 or so, it might be worth buying.

 

Too bad, because the interface is marvelous (on the whole).

 

At its going price though, you might even find a used VP330 for the same amount, and most people seem to prefer the sound of that older vocoder-oriented product (which also included a string machine).

 

Go to vintage synth explorer to read reviews of related machines. The best ones are pricey and rare, so I've given up on hardware vocoders. Even Sennheiser made one (considered the best ever, but around $8000).

 

But you are more interested in the harmonising features, which are also tempting (as is the string machine feature).

 

For that, there are also additional options, depending on what else you own. Yamaha's MOTIF XS line is pretty strong in that department. The PLG100-VH card for the older Yamaha units is also quite good in spite of 12-bit resolution (maybe even 8-bit; I forget). I used that plug-in for a few years.

 

TC-Helicon has recently retrofitted their lineup, as has Digitech. The latter tends to be less reliable a brand overall, and I personally find their stuff a bit harsh sounding. But the Helicon stuff won't work miracles either; it is best applied in small doses vs. as an attempt to create an entire believable choir out of one voice. YMMV.

 

Having owned the TC Quartet for awhile, I can vouch for ease of use and flexibility for many different contexts and ways of working (live, studio, MIDI, audio input, chord mode, etc.). TC undersells their Helicon line by making it sound complicating and by not doing a good job of explaining how intuitive and direct the interface really is, and how idealised it is for live use and not just studio use.