[BbBoy]

Am considering a TC-Helicon Voicetone Create XT and/or a Voicetone Harmony G XT.

Any comments from fellow sax players - they really look impressive on all the VOCAL examples I can find on the web, but not heard/seen anyone play sax through one yet.

I'm especially interested in how effective the harmonies are on the Harmony G, both WITH AND WITHOUT a guitar input (it is supposed to work either way, so I believe).

Many thanks.

 

[gmelhaff]

Any feedback from sax players using the TC Helicons? I'm about to buy the Create XT but there are so many models.

The built in phantom and usb seem somewhat unique to this one.

Seems like idea of playing sax through effects pedal isn't very popular so hard to find advice on which to use. Many purists out there who poopoo this sort of thing. They also poopoo my use of WX5 even though Michael Brecker used to use the EWI and no one argues he was one of the greatest players who ever lived. Guess they forget about that. For me, it's all about sounding good, no matter how you get there. Ironic too since saw his brother Randy use a pedal on his trumpet couple years ago (which btw I think really sucked - it distorted his beautiful sound!). I should have written down what he was using - looked at it but forgot which unit it was - believe it was for guitar though and not a voice box. I definitely don't want to distort my sound - I've tried guitar pedals but they did just that so I gave up - going after voice effects sounds like the way to go and seems like tc helicon is better quality than many of the competitors in terms of added noise.

 

[ottoko]

I own several TC Helicon VoiceTone Singles boxes (reverb, distortion, harmonizer), used them extensively for about half a year and then phased them out of my fx setup.
not sure if all applies to the Create but here's what's up with the singles ...

pros:
- XLR inputs
- phantom power
- basically ideal when the sound you want to process comes from a mic

cons:
- they work with presets mainly, so for a large part you're stuck with what TC Helicon thinks works for vocalists
- and that's the main con: these boxes were designed with vocalists in mind, not saxes. that's reflected in the options you get end the sounds you can make (no problem for me for the reverb, the other two I just couldn't get what I really wanted)
- they don't mix too well with other (guitar) effects boxes
- construction is not really that awesome and I had some trouble there, but I didn't really treat them all that gently.

so now I'm back to a pre-amp into guitar/bass effects ...

 

[BrianMitchellBrody]

I agree with the post directly above. The product gets a great sound but presets makes it difficult to dial in your own unique sound. I have been working upgrading my efx and sound system and I have come to the conclusion individual pedals are the best way of achieving a personal sound using efx.

 

[ottoko]

Hey BrianMitchellBrody

what are you using?

 

[BrianMitchellBrody]

Hey BrianMitchellBrody

what are you using?

I am currently using a Digitech 300 vocal processing unit. It does allow one to break down each effect and program the sounds the way you want but this unit is already 6 years old and does not have the best overall sound anymore.

 

[ottoko]

I'm assuming you mean it's older tech and there's better stuff on the market now, not that the sound you get out of it has gotten worse

do you use it to combine a lot of effects at once to make a complete new sound or one effect at a time?
always wondered if it's practical to make complete presets, I'd probably end up tweaking every time I'd play, and forgetting what the 'good sound I had last time' was. and end up making presets with 17 effects all over each other.

 

[BrianMitchellBrody]

I'm assuming you mean it's older tech and there's better stuff on the market now, not that the sound you get out of it has gotten worse

do you use it to combine a lot of effects at once to make a complete new sound or one effect at a time?
always wondered if it's practical to make complete presets, I'd probably end up tweaking every time I'd play, and forgetting what the 'good sound I had last time' was. and end up making presets with 17 effects all over each other.

Lol. No the sound is the same as when it was new and yes digital efx have become very good of late.

I only use reverb, delay, chorus and wah and I want to add harmony so my set up is simple and although the old Digitech continues to do its job I need cleaner, quieter and simple so I might go pedals.

 

[progmr]

I've used several FX units over the years including the TC Voice live 2. I ended up selling it to our lead singer as it was a LOT more than I needed. I used the digitech 300FX but didn't like how it sounded. Finally ended up with a Boss VE-20 vocal processor and have never been happier. Simple yet very effective for my needs.

 

[bwanab]

I'm auditioning a TC-H Harmony G-XT. I've found when I play guitar through it for it to get the chord structure and sing, it's harmonies sound great. With sax, I'm still on the fence. Obviously, I can't play the guitar and the sax, so I've got to use manual mode. That's relatively easy and I've gotten some really nice sounds from it, but I've found I really have to play in a very restrained, precise manner or it sounds really shrill. Interesting, since that doesn't happen when singing through it.

 

[JCBigler]

You have two choices...

Buy now and get one produced by TC Group.

Or wait a while and get one built by Music Group for super cheap after they ruin TC's quality and reputation.

(Music Group (owners of Behringer) just bought up the whole of TC Group including TC-Electronic, Tannoy and Lab.Gruppen)

ETA: Never mind. I just realized this OP was 5 years old.

 

[Andrew D]

Check out the Voicelive play, For live use it works well If you just use what you need and don't use the compression and some other options.

I just use for a little reverb and delay. The pre is sufficient for live use and it uses XLR. I tried some other units including the Boss and TC mic mechanic. I still sometimes go dry for more jazz based gigs but the voice live is good for the funk/pop gigs.

Andrew

 

[bwanab]

After having played with my TC-H Harmony G-XT for a couple of months, I've gotten the kinks out of my set up and I'm sold! Really nice. I've played it live a couple of times and people come up and ask me where the other saxes are! I've stayed away from the built-in FX, preferring to let the sound operator take care of that, but I really love the harmony and doubling capability.

 

[synthead]

Please could you tell me what mic set up you use. I am getting harmonies with vocal but nothing with the sax. Was considering a pre-amp or sax mic rather than standard vocal mic many thanks

 

[Vader]

I'm assuming you mean it's older tech and there's better stuff on the market now, not that the sound you get out of it has gotten worse

do you use it to combine a lot of effects at once to make a complete new sound or one effect at a time?
always wondered if it's practical to make complete presets, I'd probably end up tweaking every time I'd play, and forgetting what the 'good sound I had last time' was. and end up making presets with 17 effects all over each other.

I'm on the same path as Brian. The vocal 300 in a pinch does a lot of things well. Unfortunately they don't make them any more. I'm still using, and pretty happy with the 300, but I am on the way to an individual pedal board..and this is a long road. Everyone wants something from their pedals, and there are so many of them that it takes a lot of research and time. I've heard players use MXR Carbon Copy delays and TC Hall Of Fame reverbs on their horns, and sound good. I however, wasn't happy with my sounds with them. So I currently use those on my guitar. it's fun but seemingly endless at times.

One of my student uses a voicelive and it's pretty cool. I've been meaning to have him set it up for me so I can play around with it.