A blindfold shootout between three popular talkboxes. And then an explanation of how talkbxoes work. From Creative-Audio-Production.com Quick links to the last phrase of each talkbox: 1) 2:55 2) 3:36 3) 4:16
Quick links to the last phrase of each talkbox: 1) 2:55 2) 3:36 3) 4:16 I thank you very much for making this video. The choice is very easy after listening to the samples and weighing the chance for amplifier damage. Cheers!
I really appreciate this video! Been looking for some actual comparisons rather than "obviously banshee is the best" and this really clarifies things. Thanks!!
Daft Punk uses both. Talkbox is used in Digital Love. Vocoder in time of your life. For the most part Daft Punk is talkbox. They record without helmets, doing 100's of takes to get it perfect and pitch shift and edit everything... and live it's all samples and pre-recordings. If you want a greater clarity then stick an adapter on the end of the pipe to go to a thinner size - as long as you can close your mouth around the pipe you should get full clarity. Good video though, but you never showed the last sound clip?!
I used the Rocktron Banshee for years. I always thought it was a little harsh sounding. Then I tried the MXR Talk Box. Wow! The MXR is way smoother than the Banshee, and sounds way better. I've now been using the MXR for years. My 2 cents. :-)
I have the MXR and play on a Yamaha DX-100 synth. That combination hits HARD and it gives that classic Roger Troutman sound! I recommend the MXR for synth AND guitar players! It has it's own driven speaker so no amp needed! Just go straight from your instrument and jam! You won't be disappointed!
Nice homie! I got a question. I ordered that MXR. My understanding is I can just plug it into my keyboard and I am good to go? I have speakers hooked up to the keyboard by the way. Sorry but I'm new at this.
Wow thanks so much for it man! There are not much talkboxes comparisons, but those 3 definitely sound different from each other, I seem to like the Heil more, it has some juice in it.
Pretty much every tube supplied with modern talkboxes are too big to make the best of the device. I tried loads of sizes and ended up with a pair of 5mm id tubes on both the banshee and mxr (cheap fishtank air tube) and the clarity is massively improved. I actually made one from some cheap inner ear headphones, fishtank tube and a headphone amp that ended up clearer than any of the commercial ones.
I wish Dunlop would reissue the heil talkbox with a built-in amplifier and have the feature of using a separate amp like the original heil talkbox like the best of both worlds.
It is a struggle. The talk box I think can give an artist a pin point, whereas the vocoder has a broader spectrum. I guess as most things in life personal preference & what you want to accomplish?
Daft Punk might have used a talkbox on Around The World but later recordings don't seem to use one. For the Discovery era, they primarily seemed to use the VP9000 with the "robot" function on. On One More Time, that effect is quite obvious but on other songs it's a little more nuanced. Digital Love has a more natural tone to it because of subtle pitch shifting with (probably) the VP. That was absolutely NOT done on a talkbox. HBFS is definitely a case where they sampled the individual words, triggered the audio through an sequencer and pitch shifted it by using midi. That crazy pitch shifting and gate effect at the end of the track is done that way. In their later work, a Digitech Talker is the effect of choice. There's a great post on Reddit by the artist Home where he shows his findings. There's some speculation that they might have used a Sennheiser vocoder but there's no confirmation on that.
Heil is meant to be driven directly by the guitar amp so the sound you get into it is what you would use otherwise without effects. It is simply a matter of dry sound and sound with effect. Obviously you can use another amplifier just for the talk box and a/b switch to vary the sound more.
Daft punk used a talkbox. It was Byron Chambers. Mrtalkbox himself that played on the recordings with Daft punk. So yes it was a talk box called the Talk star. The one you didn't have in this comparo.
Hi Patrick, I saw the info somewhere and I know for à that they didn’t use the Talkstar. They use something which is discontinued and only second hand products can be found online: Digitech Talker which is, despite its name, is a vocoder
The Heil must receive a speaker signal strong enough to drive the speaker inside, not a line signal from an audio interface. That seems why here it sounds much thinner than the othe two, these two both have a power amp inside driving its own speaker.
The HT-1 is built to last...FOREVER! No controls because there is no onboard amp. I didn't like connecting it between my amp head and cabinet so I drive it with an EHX 44 Magnum amp pedal.
Thanks for that video. What is appropriate driver for amplifying Heil HT-1? I connected it to the headphones input of 10W combo and it sounds very softly.
@@PeteBuchwald i don't think fidelity is that important anyways, since it's being shot through a tube into your mouth. More just playing with the tone until it translates the way you want.
PeteBuchwald www.thedaftclub.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-11061.html this is a forum about this. I forget where I stumbled upon the info (maybe Vintage Synth Explorer?). I also heard they used the Ensoniq DP 4, as most French Touch artists reportedly do (Alan Braxe and Fred Falke do, that's on a music radar article... I think?). I'm trying hard not to bs, but I would have to sit down and gather the info. That's not happening at 4am unfortunately.
PeteBuchwald in this shitshow thread, all three (talkbox, VP, and DP) are discussed. www.gearslutz.com/board/electronic-music-instruments-electronic-music-production/602514-daft-punks-mysterious-vocoder-2.html I wouldn't be surprised if all three have been used in various parts of Discovery. In their newest stuff, I assume either Ableton's vocoder or the VP.
Listen buddy I think you are so wrong about Daft Punk. It's obvious that on Discovery (and all releases excluding RAM) they are using a talkbox, not a vocoder. If you listen carefully the way they get clarity is by making the click and vowel sounds with their mouth while using the talkbox (like the 't' 'ff' and 'ss' and 'k' sounds in Harder Better Faster Stronger). If it was a vocoder, these sounds would be modulated by the synth carrier, but if you listen they clearly are pure, atonal mouth noises. It is very obvious they are using vocoders on Random Access Memories because of the distinct sound (which funnily sounds nothing like their previous vocal work ha ha). Thanks for this shootout though I found it really helpful. I'm so glad I heard this before I bought a Banshee because now I know the MXR is better!
