Electro harmonix V256 vocoder, mini review

[Tobias Åslund]

Ok, I've written a lot about the A-station (Novation) vocoder. I still think it's great and has a nice vintage sound, but when I used it at rehearsal and live I had feedback issues and also found that it was not that it was not as intelligible as I first thought. At home it worked much better and I still think it would work great for recording. I also have the Use Audio Plugiator, which also sounds great, but find it too unreliable (buggy sofware, with occational crashes) to use it live. My first vocoder was the Alesis Metavox, which sounds good but requires an external carrier, plus only has line level inputs so an external mic preamp would be required - too much hassle for a live rig.

 

A month ago I bought the Electro Harmonix V256 - now this is a great vocoder! Works like a charm at rehearsal, no issues yet with feedback and you hear every syllable - very intellgible!

 

I will be using it live tomorrow evening - and I'm quite exited!

 

http://www.guitareffectspedals.com/v256.jpg

 

Mini review:

 

At first I was using another synth as carrier and it worked fine. Then I tried using it with midi input instead I was really impressed - the internal synth has a really nice fat analogue sound and works great. You can't do much to change the character of the synth - it's a basic polyphonic saw wave type sound, with quite fast attack and release. It responds to velocity, pitch bend and modulation (vibrato). A strange thing, which is kinda a cool - when changing preset from the "vox-robo" type to the "xxx drone" type the character of the internal synth changes to more of a pulse/square type sound. But if you want a wider variety of characters from your vocoder I strongly suggest using an external carrier instead.

 

There's a lot more "hidden" functions in this unit - there's actually two internal carriers (synths) - one with a fixed pitch (single note or a triad for the minor/major drone) controlled by the pitch knob, and the midi controlled one - and both can be used at the same time. By turning the pitch knob fully anti-clockwise you disable the fixed pitch one and the midi controlled carrier seems to always be active. The fixed pitch synth carrier can be ring modulated by turning the "tone" knob (which otherwise works as a you would expect from a tone knob...) to make metallic sounding robotic type voices. There's a few other hidden functions as well - some by midi control, like internal synth vibrato speed, pitch bend range. Another "bonus" is that the instrument output can send out only the raw internal synth sound, if you would like to use it for something. Also there's a few options of how to use the outputs - if the vocoded signal should come out from the "inst" (jack) or "effect" (XLR)output. (more info here in the instrucions manual) I use the XLR output. When the effect is bypassed I get the unprocessed mic output instead - seems to work if you want to use your microphone for both vocoder and occasional lead/backing vocals (or sent to another vocal processor). I guess that vocoder from the "inst" output would make more sense when used in a chain of guitar effects.

 

Then there's the "reflex tune" and "instrument control" auto-tune modes - that also seem to work great - both controlled from an instrument by audio, or midi. I haven't used them much but it could be a nice crowed pleaser, perhaps..?

 

I still don't think I've fully explored all the possibilities of this unit - it's interesting and quite illogical at the same time... (like the "hidden" functions)

 

Most of all it's a really nice, very intelligible vocoder aimed for live use.

 

pros - a lot of bang for the buck, VERY intelligible, the midi controlled internal carrier works great! So far - no problems with signal levels and not much feedback issues. Programmable presets. Cool gender bender!

 

cons - many "hidden" functions, which might be confusing. The user manual could be more detailed. No stereo output for that nice stereo spread type vocoder. The character of the internal synth has a fixed character - for a wider variety of you might want to use an external synth as carrier.

 

If you're in to vocoding - I strongly recommend checking out this one!

 

Here you find the V256 instruction manual in HTML.

 

 

I'll probably write another line or two after using it at the gig.

 

I might also upload an audio demo if anyone's interested. Any suggestions on where to host mp3's for this?

[NewImprov]

I played with it briefly at a music store, and I was pretty impressed. Didn't buy it because my buddy, who works there and orders all the effects for they carry, said he'd sold 4 in the first week of carrying it, and in a town this size, that means we're gonna see a LOT of vocoding soon.

[mate stubb]

Cylon would approve of this thread.

[Mark Schmieder]

That's funny -- this is the opposite of my review, which concluded that it is OK as an in-line audio processor/vocoder but not very functional for MIDI use. :-)

 

Glad it's working out for you, at any rate, and interesting to see the comparison with the Novation A-Station, since the new Novation synth is built in a Vocoder form factor and going head-on against the MiniAK and the MicroKorg.

 

I tried driving the V256 with guitar as well, for TalkBox effect. It came pretty close, but I think I'd still go for a Banshee for that. Have you tried the TalkBox feature yet?

 

The manual is complete, but can be confusing. I had to put a disclaimer in my eBay ad so that the buyer wouldn't think the unit was non-functioning. :-) I don't really think it would be a problem at a gig though, as it's pretty obvious once you get past the initial hump of having to engage the switch in order to enable most of the function knobs to activate.

 

Oh, and though it's been awhile, I think I DID conclude that it's the best HARDWARE vocoder currently available for under $600 (if not under $1200 or so). I simply didn't feel it measured up to the SOFTWARE Eiosis ELS Vocoder. If I was going to gig with a vocoder vs. pure studio use, the V256 would probably still be my current recommendation. I also suspect it has a bunch of Sweet Spots that take awhile to discover.

[Tobias Åslund]

The gig turned out just great! And the vocoder was a crowd pleaser - I got many positive comments.

 

I should add - the band is a 9 piece, 70s style funk band - think Meters, Sly and the family stone and stuff like that. We're not doing Kraftwerk (but I like 'em too) or any Cylon imitations...!

 

 

I'll probably add a few other comments of the V256 on sunday - and maybe some pics of my live rig.