DigiTech Guitar Talker

this thing is the best once you get used to it!

are you kidding?? it makes guitar, bass or anything unique and magical!

never have had a problem

never had to deal with them

this thing work like a dream and it also can be used as a trigger too! i can't believe they still don't make it. the quality is unmatched in construction and sound. if you come across one of these rare birds it is worth ever penny spent!

Digitech Talker Repair -

I bought this new about 7 years ago and got shocked violently many times. But when it worked, it was magical.

Also it would sometimes not kick in until I wore socks across the carpet and "shocked" it into working. One day it stopped, but since I am a packrat I threw it in a drawer.

Tonight I googled "Digitech Talker Repair" and found John Lange's fix in this forum. I followed these instructions:

"add resistors from the outputs to ground. I used 100Kohm but other values should work. 3 resistors are required - one for the 1/4" jack, and two for the XLR output (the XLR output is of course balanced and one resistor is required from each side to ground). This worked very well for me, but your results may vary."

(when he says wire to ground, use the ground of the same jack, i.e. pins 2 & 3 to pin 1 in the P.A. output). I soldered in the resistors on the back side of the board (the side with the pots) so it was a piece of cake.

When I plugged it in though, there was still a horrible buzz that appeared to come from the instrument input, but I could faintly hear the effects working.

I then put a resistor from the "instrument input" ground to the P.A. output pin 1 [ground] and voila! It works again!!!

Thanks a million to John Lange for his post. There are no other vocoders on the market like this. Believe me, I have scoured the net and wasn't about to buy another Talker.

With the fix, it plays like a dream.

Now don't blame me if you don't get the same results. I am just telling you my story.

If you have nver soldered, practice on something else and google "how to solder" for a quick lesson. If you bridge the contacts, you are screwed.

When properly grounded as detailed above and in John Lange's post below, it is magical.

I will let you know.

never bothered

As far as selecting patches and switching live, it is very easy. That's why I give it an 8 despite the following:
The key is to spend some time on setup to get the correct levels and figure out your routing options. It's very flexible, but a bit tricky. It's crucial that you follow the instructions and set your instrument and mic levels properly, otherwise it will clip (although these levels will have no effect whatsoever when the talker is bypassed). Also, after some twiddling I found the only way to have both my mic and instrument work when the effect is bypassed is to send both outputs back out of the talker. It also takes some technique to master. Stick with it, and you can coax some of the best sounds out of it.

I play keys and send my mic and instrument through the talker to the same mixer. The effect is really good, much better than just about any vocoder I've heard. The intelligibility is really good. The only one that comes close is prosoniq orange, which is a software vst. I can really closely approximate that Roger Troutman sound. The noise is minimal as long as you set it up correctly. Also the "popping" issue is way overblown. Yes, there is a subtle "click" when switching, which I would prefer not to have, but it is nowhere near the pop heard when a guitarist pulls his plug without muting the channel. I could hear it in the quiet of my home, but never heard it live. The reason for this click is actually kind of a good thing?It is a true hardwire bypass switch, so when it's off it's really off.

A note to guitarists: if you are looking to really get that talkbox sound, it's very good, but not %100 accurate. You may still want to look into a Heil Talkbox or equivalent for the straight up Peter Frampton.

This thing seems to be built like a tank. the switches, knobs, i/o, and housing are all rock-solid. They don't make 'em like this anymore (really, since this product was discontinued).

Again, the product is discontinued, but digitech has the manual online and the power supplies are still readily available.

Excellent product, but not for everyone. I have been a pro keyboard player for 10 years and I play alot of funk. I use this primarily to approximate the Roger Troutman sound heard on songs like "California". Troutman used a custom talkbox with a smaller tube for better enunciation, and I believe a cleaner sound than what you get from a standard Heil Talkbox.
Bottom line: If you want a relatively simple and flexible way to do vocoding and talkboxing effects, this is probably the best unit on the market.

not much to it...manual gives some good ideas for "alternative applications"

awsome! and freaky if you make it so

solid as a rock

its a tank...i wont need support

I'd be devistated if it were stolen as they are not made anymore...already looking collectable. I have an electrix vocoder too...but this is easier to deal with. I play with about 10 ancient synths, a couple of guitars, a rhodes, drums (elec and accoustic). GT5 tubefex

the control interface is very easy...
this is the simplest and wackiest vocoder I've every slept with....

three knobs; trim for mic in and guitar in, and level out (when effec is on),
two switches; one bypass, one to cycle through the 6 presets,
one bypass light (that is ON when effect is bypassed...mmm).

there's also multicolor indicator lights to let you keep the inputs in check.

xlr mic in (balanced), 1/4'' guitar/instrument in, xlr PA out (balanced), 1/4'' amp out (and a switch to select how effect output is routed)...

just talk/hum/coo/growl into the mic while playing, and the instrument comes out in the talk/tone-shape of the mic input. (that's how a vocoder works)...some of the other patches do crazier things...

while the mechanical interfacing is very simple, but tasteful applicaion of the sounds that this bastard is capable of is quite a challenge.

I was very cautious about the POP issue that people mentioned.
when I was bidding on it, I asked the seller if he'd ever had a problem with popping.
he didn't. I bough it, it sounds fine.
...I AM VERY LUCKY....

other than the risk of switching noise, this thing has
amazing sound quality....
vocoders are not about "pristine", because theyr'e all about having their own character.

the freqency range is quite wider than guitar;
the manual instructs you to use it on anything from guitar to bass, but it starts to sound a little drop-out-y on kick drums.
(...oh well, if I'm going to munge, I GUESS I can do so in low-fi...sigh).

this vocoder has six very distinct characters (4 vocoder programs, 1 auto-wah program, and one face-corroding death growl program).

this is a one-of-a-kind vocoder, because it doesn't work by using a bunch of band-pass-filters,
it works by composite voice modeling,
so that the tone-signiture of the modulator signal can be much smoother and less "pixilated" than most vocoders.

however, each of the six presets makes a different use of the vocoder engine, and how instruments are used.

nuVo gives a normal vocoder sound,
talkbox gives a more mouthy bright tone, really strong on vowels "EEEE" and "UUUU"
autotalk gives a nice twitchy vocoder sound, but only engages when you talk; so that your instrument passes, but when you talk into mic, the vocoder kicks in.
this gating feature is also on the Taz and Alien patches,

most of the patches are rated at the same level, but there's some jump up/down on the gating patches.

Taz is sub-octave version of mic in modulating internal white noise; I use this sound to as an all-natural substitute for groupie-repellant spray...amazing sound...
Alien (octave up modulating instrument) sound patches; I use this sound to laugh so suddenly they blow a snot into their Pabst.

the auto YA is an amazing bloc of formant filters; modulated by combination envelope following and LFOs, this thing will give you wacky "voicy" talking...be careful using this with too much reverb, it makes you think you're hearing voices INSIDE YOUR HEAD...
I had learn not to use this patch when I play down at the ward.

solid metal body, solid foot-switches, decent XLR an d 1/4'' jacks... no battery compartment (psa only).
it's tough enough that I could count on it to help me win a fight.

...but that's not all... it's also the most STYLING goddamn pedal I've EVER seen.

go to digitech's website and download the manual RIGHT NOW... the pdf has a shitty grainy picture of it, and you can KIND OF get an idea of how awesome it is.

it's trapezoid body has sharp corners (DEFINITELY good for self-defense),
the three knobs are vintage chicken-heads,
it's got a big round chrome badge on the front,
a big curving row of six LEDs, one per patch.
and it's god GRILL VENTS on the upper corners.
this thing struts some serious hot-rod attitude, and its performance backs up every ounce of the game that it brags.

reliability?...
I bought this used on ebay, from a guy who bought it used on ebay.
that speaks for itself.
it's too fucking cool ...it's not going back on ebay.

N/A...
i called digitech; they don't have any of these in stock,
but they remember these...fondly...

this is the awesomist fucking pedal I own.
it's big, cumbersome, mean, and require you to be extra thoughtful to use it just to make really un-stable wacky sounds.

...and it' s got sharp edges.

this thing REIGNS SUPREME...

this thing earns me one more fit!
this thing taught me how to make GOLD...Biatch!

I've reviewed the Talker once already telling how crappy it was due to the loud popping issue when it the bypass button is pressed. I'm submitting another review because I FIGURED OUT A FIX TO THE BYPASS POP PROBLEM, and it has radically changed my view of this product! Before the fix, the Talker was worthless due to the loud pop caused whenever it was bypassed or un-bypassed. I sent it in to Digitech support at least 3 times (I lost count) to fix this problem, but they never fixed it. Given so many of the reviews mention this problem, I think this is a design flaw with the Talker. I've asked their tech support about the underlying cause, but they have yet to admit a design flaw OR a repair botch. The problem is that there is DC VOLTAGE on the 1/4" and XLR outputs!!! Furthermore, the DC voltage level changes when the bypass button is pressed. I observed over a 1V DC level at times. It can easily be seen and measured with a multimeter or oscilloscope. When the effect is engaged, it causes the instantaneous switching of DC voltage at its two outputs, which is heard as a loud pop. This problem can easily be overcome by adding resistors from the outputs to ground. I used 100Kohm but other values should work. 3 resistors are required - one for the 1/4" jack, and two for the XLR output (the XLR output is of course balanced and one resistor is required from each side to ground). This worked very well for me, but your results may vary.

I use only the Talkbox setting, and it's awesome!

Built like a tank. But...Requires the resistor fix mentioned above to be useful. Otherwise, you risk blowing speakers. LISTEN CAREFULLY - NEVER USE THE TALKER WITH PHANTOM POWERED MIC SIGNALS!!! Once you do, you will likely have to send it in for repair, and you really don't want to have to do that! The resistor fix won't protect the Talker from damage caused by phantom power. Note - it wouldn't have been difficult for the Digitech engineers to design the Talker to be compatible with phantom powered mic inputs; this is just another indication of a poor design. But if you wanna make your axe talk, all in all, it's not a bad deal. It wouldn't be a bad idea to have a backup for those cases when the soundman says convincingly "No there's no phantom power on that there mic cable". Maybe you can get him to pay for the cost of fixing the Talker once it's broken.

I sent my Talker in at least 3 times. They never fixed the popping problem or suggested how to do so. They have not admitted to a design flaw or botched repair, and probably won't for liability reasons. If you happen to mess up your Talker due to inadvertent hooking to phantom powered mic input, you don't have much choice but to send it in. To their credit, they will fix that for you.

Without the resistor fix, this product is less than worthless!!!! It can damage PA and guitar amp speakers with DC signals being switched on its outputs. With the resistors on outputs, the DC signals go away and the effect actually becomes usable. My rating reflects the usefulness of the effect with the fix in place.

Ez to use, But The Mic input can be a little quirky sometimes. Much easier than using a vocoder or talkbox live. I mainly wanted to comment on the the "Thump" situation.

I'm using with keyboards, and it's fun and funky. For keys I've found it best to have presets that are tweaked for the different Talker sounds. Regarding the "thump" problem see below.

After the first week of owning mine, I too thought there was a defect with the thump/pop issue. I sent mine back twice as well, and it was never fixed. It was actually comical to find out others here experienced the same thing.

After giving up on DigiTech ever resolving it, I finally came up with some simple solutions that I use depending on the gig, maybe this will help you too:

I use a Mic cable with a switch for the PA send and turn it off before I engage the effect. (not all that elegant, and fast on your feet, but keyboard players are used to twiddling knobs, singing, changing things at the same time. I've talked to our road crew about the possibility of making the switch on the cable into a footswitch, but it seems kind goofy to have to go through all that. Whirlwind makes cables with switches. I've tried splitters as well but the Talker never seems to work right with those.

Second solution: if I'm on a gig with different production and sound people- I let the soundman know about it and have him/her mute my vocal channel when I give them the signal---not too effective, because the sound guy often forgets to look, or forgets to un-mute me afterwards. So this one works best: I pop the damn thing on a downbeat, and hope I don't fry the guy's system in the process..

I've also done gigs where we've setup another Mic just for the Talker, and that works fine, other than me looking like I'm doing a press conference.

As to friendliness and being helpful I'd give them a 10, as to competence I'd give them a Zero.

They've got great and sincere people who talk to you to set up the repair, but I'm convinced when it actually arrives to the "tech" (who probably has no clue how this thing is to be used live)- he checks it with a meter and says "this switch works fine", and back in the box it goes.

Been playing since Nixon was in office. (you do the math) Professionally for the last 30 yrs or so... I work with a couple of different name acts. Used with taste the talker is a fun thing to use on a couple of tunes.

If I was making the decision to buy it again, I'd probably buy a nice wah-wah and woodshed with some Parliment instead.

Very easy...

OK, I found my holy grail sound with this thing, and not using the settings I expected at all...!!!

I have a guitar strung w/ heavy guage strings and tuned down to "B", so it's a standard guitar tuning but BEADF#B. I have a Chicago Iron Octavian which is a clone of a Tychobrae Octavia and sounds truly wicked (better than Fulltone Octafuzz). I ran this into the Talker and the best sounding setting when used with this pedal was the Alien setting! really surprised me because the Alen sounds pretty silly by itself and everyone here is saying the only decent settings are Nuvo or Talkbox. Maybe because the octavian makes the signal so LOW but anyway Alien was the ticket and I am getting big fat moogish Vocoder sounds especially down on the low strings of the guitar. just thought I'd share this in case anyone else decides to give it a try!

Ease of use is great! Just 2 signals in (instrument and mic) and 1 or 2 signals out (amp).

Use a good mic (sure 58 or something) and a FAT synth-sound for the optimal result (a synth-brass sound works best!)

The Digitech Vocoder can create some nice 'Talk-box'-like sounds, but without the dribbling an sour teeth.
Of the 6 effect-presets only 2 are realy useable in my opinion; the standard effect and the talk-box-effect.
I use mine with keyboards. It sounds great for leads and funky rifs but it also sounds excellent for making choruses under the lead vocal in a band. The quality of the imput sound and the quality of the used mic have GREAT influence on the sound quality!!

What bothers me is that if I connect a good sounding synth on it, I can bypass the digitech talker effect, but then the output is in mono. That shows it probably was designed for use with guitar. By the way; the guitarplayer of my band and I agree that it sounds better with synthesizer than with guitar.

Dropped mine a few times, but it's a rock!! No problems yet. The knobs look stirdy and the steel frame can take some foot-stomping.

didn't need it yet. ( i have it more than a year now)

I like this machine A LOT!! it makes me a real 'funk machine' and it works great on studio recordings and live!!! (you should see people's reaction if they here a computer voice shout out their names , haha!)

Very easy to use. It has a Bypass LED which lights when the effect is not being used. This seems backward to me. Also, it is too easy to hit the left button to engage the effect, making it necessary to press the left button a bunch more times in a row to get back to Talkbox, bascially the only useful effect in the box.

Excellent Talkbox effect. The rest aren't useful to me.

Damn thing has broken several times. It's built like a tank, but maybe my sledge hammer can get it open (which I am considering at this point, given all the trouble I've had with it). Even when I first got it, I noticed that it caused a popping through amp and PA outputs when pressing the right button, but it didn't seem unusable. After a few uses, something went way wrong and it wouldn't work at all. I sent it to Digitech and they did fix the "way wrong" problem, but the popping problem was still there even though I had asked them to look at it. It was usable at this point. However, after a few more uses, the popping got so bad that it made the PA sound like it was exploding every time the right button was pressed. I sent it to Digitech, but they didn't fix the problem. I sent it back to them again, and they sent it back to me promptly claiming it was fixed, but unfortunately, it still gas the loud pop problem. That's where I'm at now. I'm going keep sending the f*cker back to them until they fix the piece of sh*t, godd*mnit!!!!!!

See above comments. They say they can fix it. I don't know why the hell they can't seem to get it right. Your results may vary, but for me, this product has been ONE MAJOR PAIN IN THE *SS.

It would be my favorite effect if it actually worked. So far, it's been a $300 paper weight.