Vocoder Roundup - Roland Boutique VP-03, MicroKORG, Xils V+, Digitech Talker 

One great solution to make any vocoder sound so much better is: A real mic preamp, an eq and compressor BEFORE your mic goes into the vocoder. In other words a standard vocal mic setup. But that would require lots of heavy expensive equipment. Especially if your doing a live gig. My solution to this is the TC-Helicon Voice Tone T1. A small pedal doing all of the above. Then you get a good vocal sound into your vocoder. There lot's of different "all in one box" mic preamps but this one is the smallest (cheapest) and best I've found so far The vocoders included microphones aren't any good. So i connect a ordinary vocal mic into the T1 and then into the vocoder. If you play live you don't want to carry that extra mic+cables+micstand; these things are standard PA equipment stuff that's already available at the venue. In most cases anyway. I just ask for an extra mic+stand on my rider and then just bring my vocoder( ultranova ..Jdx1 or whatever) and the little Voice tone T1 pedal. Usually most clubs have a whole bunch of, for example, Shure Sm58 mic's. I often see people mumble into the microphone. Maybe cause they don't want to hear their own voice/uncomfortable as a singer. It just sounds muffled and bad. But that's the whole point isn't it, its the vocoder signal that goes out. You can be way out of pitch as much as you want :) I often see that when someone demos vocoders on You tube. A bit unfair to the product which maybe actually could sound really good. Just speak(sing) loud and clear into you mic. Keep a little bit of distance from the mic. That way you get a better sound in and out of your vocoder. In a live situation you also avoid feedback problems when you are surrounded with drums and guitars just blasting away all around you Happy vocoding :)

Digitech sounds very very similar to daft punk's vocoder, probably the closest one to them

Damn, the Digitech Talker sounds amazing!

The talker is definitely clearest. I'm from the states and the talker was the only one with enough definition for me to hear your accent. It sounded amazing!

Wow the video is exactly what i searched. Thank you!

The third vocoder we see at the start is cool! Sounds like daft punk RAM vocoder style

listening to black metal as a kid helps me not only to distinguish what you say on vocoder but also helps a lot understanding people with weird accents

months and months of watching videos, reading the manual and I could not make the vocoder of XILS work. FINALLY, thanks to your video I realise the problem: wasn't pressing playback on my DAW. Why on earth would they do that??? Anyhow, forever indebted to you Starsky! Now I can play the choruses on Duchess by Genesis. Love the subtle use of the Vocoder Plus by Tony Banks. Also, made for a passable mellotron choir in Los Endos live.

Digitech Talker at 11:47. You're welcome.

Wow - Digitech Talker sounds great!

I got my VP03 just last weekend I traded some gear that did not fit my setup so I almost got it for free! This roundup is excellent! It makes me wonder where my music would be if I had bought a microKorg years ago. I understand the VP03 is modeling a old vintage machine, but I wish it had more options to change the sounds with a computer like the MicroKorg!

Something I've gotten away with has been MIDI controlling the V256 Electro-Harmonix pedal through whatever keyboard I'm using at the time--I find that the variable number of bands with a dry/wet mix for the price is pretty great. However, I find the Microkorg's band panning pretty interesting. Of course panning 256 separate bands isn't perhaps the best use of a stereo field (unless it's totally isolated). I wish more companies considered the possibilities of this instrument; blown away that there aren't more options at a higher quality. Great video! So glad to find someone who presents things clearly and side-by-side with this stuff.

I originally bought a VP-03 as I already have the Roland Boutique JU-06A and thought their range must all be damn good. Plus, as a youth, I bought a second hand Roland RS-09 (remember them?) Organ/String Synth which the VP-03 keys are modelled on. Sadly, my RS-09 has a tendency to go out of tune and is pre MIDI. So, I thought with the VP-03, not only do I get to play my old string ensemble and lovely "Vox like" organ sound, I would also get a vocoder to boot! Yay! However, after I got one, I didn't feel that the string synth sound very convincing, the organ was pretty cool, like the original, but the ensemble was just not the same as my vintage RS-09. I think that that the addition of the Step Sequencer was nice and you could get quirky semi percussive vocoder sequences out of it. Unfortunately, it was pretty underwhelming overall, way overpriced at around £600 and the transformer on the circuit board blew after just 2 days using it. So, I got a Microkorg II+ which is absolutely brilliant at close to half the price brand new (£360). The vocoder is nice and the software makes changing settings pretty easy. The other patches on it such as the Mellatron Strings and Flute are amazing, there's some handy piano sounds and organ plus several useful pad sounds and other wierd and wonderful presets too. In fact, I don't miss my old RS-09 anymore. Korg wins by a country mile over the Roland.

Of course you do have the option of using another mic on the VP-03 to get around the small size of the supplied one, so for gigging, another mic on a stand would be the preferred option! also you can also adjust the mic level internally on the VP-03 >> Press Memory >> 12 then adjust the mic level up/down using the numbered buttons, this works well for tweaking volume levels. You get a far better vocoder sound from the microkorg than I ever did, the microkorg XL+ was another good vocoder.

I think the beastie boys track was an analog single space rack unit, I can’t remember the name right now, let me check. Next vox II

You can't get a Digitech Talker cheaper than £600 these days, and you often see them for sale for £1,200...

Thanks for a great walk-through !

Great Demo! Have you considered a demo of the Microkorg 2 as a vocoder? Would be amazing another shootout including it? Am I crazy or the Digitech sounds way better than the others? At least in terms of intelligibility?

Digitech hands down is the clearest. What microphone are you running with it?

I love roland vp7 . Superb device

Behringer have an analogue vp-330 on the way.

I would pay money for a hardware vocoder synth just to be able to sing 1969 by Boards of Canada... The Microkorg seems to do a decent job for the price.

Digitech sounds more better , than other. Very robotic, clear.

You could do an updated version of this video now with the Arturia MicroFreak and Behringer VC340 included :)

You shouldve just stopped the video at the prophet part, I melted, and can not go back.

VP-03 mic input is standard XLR.

Digiteck talker is really hot! Still looking around to buy one. I would have liked to hear it without moogfooger to see if it's always sounds so impressive?

You can plug a regular XLR mic into the Roland, right? I know that increases cost, but would certainly help the main complaints, I'd think.

Intergalactic is Mam vocoder

A great comparison (as always). I am interested mainly in the strings of Xils / VP-03, and to some extent - in the human voices, and not so much in the vocoder. Currently Xils have finally a 30% discount, and I also found locally a used VP-03 for 250 EUR. From the results in this video I would choose VP-03, but in the Xils video where they compare their plug-in to the original VP330, they sound quite close together with the exception of the release tail on the high notes. There is also another comparison of the original, the Behringer's copy and VP-03 where VP-03 is obviously different than the original where the Behringer's is indistinguishable. So it seems Xils sounds worse than VP-3, but on the other hand very close to the original, and VP-3 is far from the original, so is it possible that although here VP-03 sounds better, the Xils version to be actually closer to the original? Behringer's is the obvious choice actually, but as it being a two-trick pony in general (for me), I am not sure whether it's worth it to pour 830 EUR in it, and sacrifice also both my limited physical space and inputs on the audio interface, or go with Xils for 100 EUR and forget about space limits (plus multi-instance support).

that chorus effect at 12:46 is so much out of phase that it almost totally cancels the signal if your switch to mono, FYI.

whats your thoughts on the TC-Helicon Talkbox Synth Pedal?

Even though it is in no way a justifiable piece of budget gear, but if you want a nice Blofeld keyboard with an improved streichfett engine and a bonus vocoder, I think the STVC by Waldorf is nice.just too expensive for the niche it fills It’s kinda funny a microkorg, the microkorg XL, Korg R3 Novation mininova, and Alesis micron/Akai miniak can each be had for less than or about as much as the vp-03 or the vt04

After my life long search for a decent vocoder, I finally ended up shelling out the cash for a Roland VC 350, nothing I have tried could come close.

Digitech is way better sounding.

thank you!

11:54 What about the other vocoder presets on the Digitech Talker than just Nuvo?

Brilliant shoot out ! You get great results from the korg. Much better than I have. Can I ask where you picked up the foam cover ?

Jd-xi 'voc esemble' vocoder (first one) is quite good.

I used have a ROLAND SVC-350 VOCODER it sounded great, I now have Propellerheads reason 10 and the vocoder in that sounds just as good as the old 350 :)

Can you make more videos with Digitech talker? I have one but don't know how to use very well. 🙏🏼

Great video ! Id love to know which mic you used on the digitech talker demo ! :-)

Thanks for this!! Despite getting a decent vocoder track....I found the most difficulty in sitting it in the mix. Do you have any comments on mixing? Again, great video..Thanks!!

My favorites were the VP-03 and the Talker. They both have different characters which makes it useful to have both. I really didn't like the sound of the Korg, it sounded kind of muddy and would probably be a nightmare to have it sit in a mix. And the Xils also sounded flat, not that exciting compared to the VP-03 and Talker.

Digitech's the best!

Need a recap vs Behringer Vocoder VC 340

Do you have any opinions on the Boss VO-1? I'm torn between that and the DigiTech.

You could've used a full sized keyboard and your own condenser microphone with the VP03. The VP03's XLR socket provides phantom power so you needn't have strained with the bundled gooseneck. How come you can't use the strings/voice sounds on the CP03 as a carrier? Seems odd. The Microkorg lets you use several diferent waveforms/patches as the vocoder's carrier so why not the VP03?

Can you let us hear the synth signal that goes in to the digitech talker? So I can have some help with setting one up.

Can this pedal provide phantom power to a condenser mic?

Hi Starsky have you ever tried the Virus TI vocoder?

WOK VSMINI is a nice character freeware VST vocoder.

vp03 is love vp03 is life. i want one. so cool

EVERY DAY I regret selling my Digitech Talker

For the Digitech Talker, does the output sound depend on what synth or instrument is connected to it or can you just connect any instrument and it will give the same sound?

Great Video dude!! I own a digitech talker myself but i am struggling with the right carrier sound. I use virtual instruments for that (routet into the talker from my line out of my ur 44 interface). Could you tell me the preset of the prophet? I would try to emulate that sound. Thanks in advance and cheers from germany!

It seems to me that the Roland Boutique sounds just like all those REAL vocoders from 80's. I mean, Eletric Light Orchestra, Kraftwerk and so on...

Digi now at a GRAND 😳

I've never been able to make the vocoder on my microkorg work right

What about the Roland JD-XI 😔

can you a tutorial to use them on logic pro X please ?

Hello Behringer!

I thought the Microkorg only had 8 bands

13:10 is basically Microsoft Sam

Can't decide between the VP-03 and buying something like the EHX Voice Box (my first time buying a vocoder). The VP-03 would be less hassle since everything is there: vocoder, carrier, etc. But I'm wondering if the hassle is really much of a concern. The price would be about $130 more for the VP-03. I would get a real mic with either vocoder. Don't really care about the sequencer or the strings on the VP-03.

could you make a video on setup on the digitech i just bought one and i am having trouble. :/

Synthesizer Patel, Synthesizer Patel, Synthesizer Patel, Synthesizer Patel, Synthesizer Patel!!!

It depends.. digitech is great if you like a daft punk style.. but the roland vp-03 is great for choir sounds.

Roland SVC-350?

Just saying that there is the Behringer which is better than all 3 of these and it comes with full size keys! Why wouldn't you have that as an option also?

Roland VP-03 sounds "the best" to me. Since they all sound very different, that will be very subjective. But there you go. If I was to buy one, that would be my decision, solely based on the sound.

Use a Mike stand and a nice conducer.the vp 3 even has phantom power

Just use a better quality microphone plus a longer lead with the vp-03 and then this becomes the winner.

Shame you didn't have a MiniAK too. Nice little 8 voice synth. Built like a tank, bit of a b/+ch to progamme but loox grwat too.

Its called a sock :P

Vp03 is very very intelligible. As close as it comes in hardware to the mighty svc350. Ensemble on or off on both. Sadly the synth input is missing on the vp03 unless you use a daw. That stinks but its internal sound does a very good job coming close. Using a external XLR mic is so much better then the crappy included consider mic

worket

Wot? No RADIAS ?

I can hear what your saying and hear your accent too.

1. Digitech 2. Vp-03 3. Microkorg 4. Xils (ass vocoder tbh)

you forgot the best: Novation Mininova

Am I the only one that likes the Xils best? The digi sounds clear, but super sterile. Suppose if that’s what you want, it’s perfect. I just love the swampy vibe of the xils. My impression is that the Roland and the xils sound like real analog vocoder and the others are much more modern.

bruhh

I suspect all the people saying that the Digitech sounds best don't know what traditional vocoders actually sound like. It's way too clean, very little vocoder effect and too much unaffected vocal in the mix. The Roland sounds most authentic, and the Microkorg sounds good as well but with a different tonality. But the Digitech really doesn't sound like vocoder at all, which is probably why they named it a "Talker" rather than a Vocoder.