Tc Helicon Voicelive Touch 2 Auto Tune

07.01.2021

TC's latest processor makes it easier than ever before to manipulate the sound of your voice.

TC Helicon's VoiceLive Touch 2 is the company's latest live vocal processor, and it does just about everything you'd expect such a processor to do, including effects, three-part harmonies and pitch correction. It also offers looping and a number of more off-the-wall features that give vocalists 'DJ-style' control over their performance. All this is packaged into a reassuringly heavy but compact unit. Auto tune access vst.

VOICELIVE TOUCH 2 automatically takes care of vocal tone with adaptive EQ, compression, de-essing and gating. This frees you up to focus on your performance with a full suite of vocal effects including reverb, doubling and those uncanny TC HELICON vocal harmonies. TC-Helicon Voicelive 2 User Manual. Also See for Voicelive 2. Locate the step you want Press the PITCH button to add subtle Auto Chromatic to remove then enter Step programming mode. Tap pitch correction which helps you sing more in tune. SHORTCUT to delete the current step. If you have a guitar connected to the GUITAR IN jack. TC-Helicon VoiceLive 2 is a very popular option at the top of the price range. It's in the top 3 bestselling vocal effects processors and has quite a few popular alternatives in the same price range, such as TC-Helicon VoiceLive Rack or Tascam TA-1VP. TC-Helicon VoiceLive Touch 2 includes Free Wireless Earbuds - Stereo Bluetooth In-ear and 1 Year Everything Music Extended Warranty. A Produced Vocal Tone - Anywhere. Producers spend more time on perfecting vocals than any other instrument; the number of layered vocal tracks on a studio recording often run well into the double-digits. VOICELIVE PLAY makes this studio magic available to every singer - everywhere.

You can determine which harmony lines the VoiceLive Touch 2 adds in a number of ways. One is to simply enter a musical key and let the process run automatically, although the harmonies sound better if they can follow chords. Second, a MIDI In socket allows for the inputting of note data to control harmonies in real time. Finally, a guitar input with a thru connector allows the harmony pitch to be taken from guitar chords, which works particularly well. The unit also has built-in microphones, which pick up sound on stage and can work out the correct harmony intervals based on what surrounding instruments are playing.

Getting Physical

The VoiceLive Touch 2 is built into a curved, rubber-coated metal plate, which has slots allowing it to be hooked securely onto the vertical pole of a conventional mic stand, keeping it in easy reach during performance. The top panel features a touch surface with nine large button areas, a 'Slider FX' control strip, and a clear, back-lit screen showing all the relevant information.

Those touch buttons enable effects to be brought in or out during performance, while the slider can be assigned to various effect functions, from activating delays and sweeping filters to creating stutter effects. A button marked Hit allows different effect combinations to be toggled during a song (between verses and choruses, for example). Holding this button down gets you into Talk mode, so that you can mute the effects or tune a connected guitar in silence.

Deep effects editing is available, for when you have the time to experiment, but when you're on stage, you can rest assured that everything is presented as simply as possible, with the touch panel giving fast access to the performance functions. A tap-tempo button provides a quick way to match delay and tempo-critical effects timing to live beats, and metronome and guitar-tuner functions are also present.

All the main connections are on the rear panel. These could be a bit awkward to access once the unit is fitted to the mic stand, though, so cables are probably best taken care of before mounting it. Power comes from the obligatory external PSU (the only part of the product that doesn't feel fully professional), and there's a stereo mini-jack socket on the right-hand side of the case for connecting headphones. A stereo mini-jack input is provided for feeding in backing tracks.

A standard XLR is used for the mic input, and there's a mono XLR line out, plus a pair of TRS jacks that allow for stereo operation. Jacks are also used for the guitar in and thru connections, but any guitar pedals used should be connected after the VoiceLive Touch 2, otherwise they could interfere with the unit's ability to track pitch. If a guitar is plugged in but the thru connector is not used, the guitar signal is mixed in with the voice signal, with a little reverb and chorus applied by default (though this can be changed in the settings).

That leaves a jack socket for an optional footswitch, a MIDI input connector for MIDI keyboards or other controllers, and a USB cable for hooking up to a computer, for transferring software updates, managing presets and carrying MIDI data. The USB port also allows for audio streaming, so you can play backing tracks from, or record performances to, a computer.

Because the VoiceLive Touch 2 is also your mic preamp, there's a level control on the right-hand side of the case to set the preamp gain. This needs to be adjusted during singing so that the middle of three LEDs forming the level meter comes on.

What's On The Menu?

The rear panel houses the Touch 2's audio inputs and outputs, as well as a MIDI In for harmony scale detection, and a USB port that allows for MIDI and audio streaming to and from a computer.

In addition to the nine touch buttons, which change function according to what is on the screen, there are dedicated buttons marked Edit, Store, Setup, Mix, Home, Effects, Voices and Loop, plus record and play buttons for when the looper is active. Holding down Home shows the 200 available presets. Huge preset libraries can be both a blessing and a curse, as it can take forever to find one that suits the song you're working, on or that is close enough to be easily editable. Fortunately, the preset browser allows you to search by genre, so irrelevant presets are hidden. TC also plan to make additional artist presets available each month that can be downloaded free of charge. Once you've loaded a preset, tapping the Effects or Voices button lets you edit that preset's effect and harmony parameters.

The Tap button, to the right of the ribbon controller, is used for inputting song tempo in real time. Pressing Edit displays the preset-editing screens, where small arrow buttons at the end of the ribbon switch between edit pages, and the slider changes the selected value. Tapping Edit again gives access to a more advanced level of editing, but there's nothing too scary here. Store is used for the storing or renaming of presets, while pressing Effects displays any effects being used, and lets you assign on/off switching to the nine touch buttons. Voices shows the harmony voice intervals, and, in a similar way to effects, each voice may be turned on or off using the assignable buttons. Tapping Loop brings up all the main loop settings on the keys (other than Play and Record, which have their own buttons), and these include erase, clear, reverse, and double-speed playback.

The Setup key takes care of all the pre-show housekeeping stuff, such as selecting mono or stereo out, activating phantom power on the mic input, setting the receiving MIDI channel, and so on, while Mix accesses the global audio level settings. In general, the operating system is very clear and easy to use, with the quick-start guide telling you most of what you need to know.

In Use

TC's established adaptive EQ, compression, de-essing and gating is present, of course, and this takes good care of optimising your voice's tonality (though with some voices, this can push up the high frequencies sufficiently to aggravate feedback, so a little counter-EQ on the desk may be needed). The general effect quality is impressive, particularly the reverbs, delays and modulations, and even the distortion effects sound right on those songs that demand them. Some tempo-sync'ed chopping and stutter effects are also available, which offer extreme tremolo-type sounds.

How realistic the harmonies sound depends very much on the type of voice being processed. Singers with a clean, reasonably pure vocal tone are treated more kindly than those with a lot of vocal 'character'. Low and growly voices produce the least musical outcome, but even they can benefit as long as you pick the harmony voices with care and don't specify low harmonies for a voice that's already scraping along the bottom. When you need tuning powers, you can globally determine the strength of any pitch correction, from subtle to extreme. A separate, pop-oriented hard-tune special effect is also available, and this can be switched in on a per-preset basis.

The looper here is actually something a bit special — not only because it is stereo, but also because it can layer up to six tracks, with loop-specific effects. These effects include Reverse, Filter, Slow Speed and so forth. If you've ever tried using a looper, you'll know that one of the challenges is getting the loop end points in exactly the right place, and in the VoiceLive Touch 2, TC have incorporated a feature called Loop Assist, to help you keep everything in sync using a metronome and automatic quantization of loop start and end points.

Final Thoughts

Alhough this unit can do a lot of clever stuff, TC must be commended for keeping the operating system as simple as possible. It's really only the Looper that requires a bit of thought, because of the creative options it offers. I particularly like how effects can be assigned to the slider and then used to treat the loop as it plays back, to create filtering treatments and the like, while the unprocessed 'live' voice sings over the top. The rhythmic chopping effects are certainly fun, while the click track has a very useful kick-drum setting, which makes a good back-beat for acappella performances. The ability to work out convincing harmonies in real time from guitar chords is particularly impressive.

Overall, then, the VoiceLive Touch 2 seems to be very well thought out, whether you simply want to add appropriate effects and the odd harmony to live performances or are a creative solo artist building multi-layer tracks in real time, complete with rhythmic vocal sounds and stutter effects. The unit is solid enough to stand up to stage use and is very performer-friendly, so it should have broad appeal.

Alternatives

To date, the most advanced voice processors that also include harmony generation come from either TC Electronic or Digitech — although the physical format of the VoiceLive Touch 2 seems particularly well suited to on-stage use.

Pros

Flexible, yet easy to use.
Very solid construction.
Generally excellent sound quality.

Cons

The realism of the harmony voices depends to some extent on the tonal characteristics of the voice being processed.
Lightweight external power supply doesn't match the solid construction of the unit itself.

Summary

TC have distilled their existing voice-processing technology, combined it with some DJ-style processing and given it a practical physical format for live performance.

information

£459 including VAT.

TC Electronic +44 (0)800 917 8926.

$599.99.

TC Electronic +1 519 745 1158.

The VoiceLive Play offers powerful vocal processing with simple footpedal control.

TC Helicon, who specialise in vocal processing, offer products in a variety of formats. I've previously looked at their VoiceLive Touch and VoiceLive Rack, which both use capacitive touch control for accessing a wide variety of voice-optimised treatments.

For those who aren't familiar with TC Helicon's current range, the company's goal with these products is a noble one: to bring studio-like vocal processing to the stage. They aim to do this by providing a comprehensive set of effects tailored for the voice within a single unit, including preset-based adaptive compression, de-essing and equalisation; pitch processing in the form of correction, doubling and hard tuning (think Kanye West-style Auto-Tune); and conventional effects such as reverb, flanger, delay, chorus, rotary speaker, distortion and so on.

The VoiceLive Play's chassis and control system has a lot in common with TC Helicon's stomp boxes, such as the VoiceLive 2 and 2 Extreme. These units squeeze a lot of power into a multi-pedal format, giving the singer the same effect-changing freedom that guitarists will be used to. Housed in a sturdy metal shell, the VoiceLive Play's controls are somewhat stripped down as far as multi-effects units go, comprising just three footswitches, a continuous rotary encoder and several rubber buttons, and the device is a little less intimidating too.

Tc Helicon Voicelive 2 Software

Fit & Finish

The footpedal controls themselves are pretty easy to grasp. The upward- and downward-facing arrows scroll through patches (and activate the simple looping function when held together), while the 'Hit' footswitch adds a second layer of effects to the current patch. Holding the 'Hit' button down for a while activates a 'Talk' mode that leaves the signal dry, allowing you to address the audience. Since these are the only footpedal controls, editing patches on stage is quite impractical. It's fair to say that the Play works best if you programme the effects patches before your performance.

Above the pedals is a continuous encoder that allows you to input changes to parameters, with left- and right-facing arrows for menu navigation. The Back and Store buttons do exactly what you'd expect: go back a menu step, and allow you to store and name the current patch. All except the encoder are illuminated in blue or white depending on the status of the unit.

Tc Helicon Voicelive 2 Demo

The main display is flanked by six rubber buttons, which are also illuminated. As well as selecting adjacent parameters in menus, these buttons each have a discrete function. An LED on the upper left of the chassis gives an indication of the microphone input level by changing gradually from green to red. The level is controlled by a thumbwheel on the left-hand side of the VoiceLive Play.

Ins & Outs

The VoiceLive Play features a USB connection for computer-based patch management and audio streaming. It also hosts two small side-mounted mics designed to detect the key of your song.The main inputs and outputs are as you'd expect: a mic input and a stereo XLR output. As well as these, there's a USB input for uploading new firmware, patch management via computer software, and streaming stereo audio to and from a host computer. There's also a headphone mini-jack output, while the mini-jack 'Aux' input allows connection of an MP3 player or similar device. You can use this to sing along to MP3 tracks while the VoiceLive Play attempts to filter out the track's lead vocal.

Two internal 'Roomsense' microphones can listen to surrounding instruments through slits in the side of the chassis. Odd as it may seem, these listen for the key of your song, and can follow its chord progressions to help ensure accurate harmonies. How successful this is depends on the sound sources you're near to, plus how close their tuning is to the fundamentals of the current chord, so it's a shame that the usual jack or MIDI socket isn't included for direct instrument following.

The option is there to use the TC Helicon MP75 Modern Performance microphone to control the activation of a single parameter in the VoiceLive Play, as defined in the Setup menu. I used this microphone when reviewing the VoiceLive Rack, and found it to be a worthwhile alternative to the standard SM58.

Software Style

Editing patches is pretty easy once you get your head around the layout of the unit, and if you're used to TC Helicon devices the parameters will be clear to you. If not, it doesn't take too long to pick up the terminology.

The 'Genre' button allows you to scroll through patches by genre of music: all of the presets are based on a famous song or artist, and are designed to make your voice sound similar to the vocal of the song. They can be a good starting point for inspiration within a particular style, but I also found the 'Favourite' genre useful. Daisydisk alternative linux. Using the 'Favourite' button, you can easily add any current patch to this list, limiting the available patches to the Favourite list.

The 'Effects, 'Setup' and 'Mix' buttons let you craft the current patch using seven effect categories, as well as parameters such as the key for harmonising and the mix balance of effects. You can also assign each of the seven effect categories to activate when the 'Hit' button is pressed, for a nice effect boost in the chorus, for example.

The mainstay of other members of the VoiceLive series is their intelligent harmonising, which uses two voices in the VoiceLive Play. That's not quite as many as the VoiceLive Touch or Rack, but it will give you a three-part harmony. Since melodic harmony tracking is so dependent on either the 'Roomsense' mics or your song staying in a single key, I found the fixed-note harmonies to be the easiest to work with. Realistically, you won't be fooled into thinking that there are two more actual people singing, but once the sound is in a mix (and balanced subtly) the effect is more convincing.

As well as the karaoke-like MP3 sing-along mode, there's 'Practice' mode, which has a dedicated button. It's actually quite good fun, as you can see just how the pitch detection is working (as well as how far off-key you are) using the on-screen display. I don't tend to sing staring at my feet, though, so I balanced the pedal on a music stand in front of me to try this out.

Of course, nothing beats a bit of good old-fashioned passion in a performance, but the practice tool is quite a useful aid, and can give you an idea of how you may need to improve, as it tracks your 'problem notes' and whether you're usually sharp or flat.

It's Playtime

The VoiceLive Play occupies a nice spot in the TC Helicon range: it offers a lot of different processing options for the live vocalist, but is sufficiently robust that you won't feel worried about using it in the average venue. Compared to some similar products, it doesn't look at all out of place alongside guitar pedals, amps and other such stage gear, and the footpedal control works well.

Aside from using the 'Favourites' genre to tag a playlist quickly, I found the genre selection useful only as a starting point. This feature, combined with the MP3 vocal removal, were a bit too 'karaoke' for me, though they might find some use with other less experienced users who are looking to learn to make a chart pop sound with no fuss at all.

As with most processors of this kind, successful use in a real-world situation relies on you preparing your patches beforehand. You'll be able to use the VoiceLive Play's software to shuffle patches around and put them in the correct order for a set-list, after which you'll have one or more named patches for each song. Using the Hit control for a boost is a perfectly natural feeling, too, like kicking a guitar distortion pedal for a big chorus.

If you like the idea of the processing in units like the VoiceLive Touch and Rack but don't want to spend quite so much, the Play is a robust way of acquiring this type of a sound for less cash. The hard-tune mode and the noticeably digital sound of the doubling and harmonies are especially suited to urban, chart pop and electronic music, while singer-songwriters will be likely to find the subtler effects and a lower mix of harmonies useful, since a less obvious effect sits much more comfortably in the mix.

Despite the fact that it's more limited than some other models in the range in terms of customisable effects, I found the footpedal format easy to use when actually singing. Although the VoiceLive 2 and its 2 Extreme stablemate provide both greater and more direct control over tone shaping and effects, the Play rewards careful programming beforehand and — most importantly for a singer lost in a performance — keeps things simple on the stage.

Alternatives

As well as other products in TC Helicon's VoiceLive range, alternatives include Digitech's Vocalist Live series, which are a direct competitor in the footpedal vocal effects market.

VoiceLive Roundup

Be sure to check out the reviews of the VoiceLive Touch and Rack in SOS October and December 2011 respectively.

Pros

Robust, stage-friendly unit.
Plenty of processing power.
'Hit' button is great for boosting choruses.
Easy to program and operate on stage.

Cons

Limited effect tweaking.
The inclusion of patches based on popular songs and an MP3 'voice removal' function feel a bit 'karaoke'..

Summary