DigiTech Vocalist Live 4

Very easy to get it working controls are obvious enough as long as you don't overdo the output setting - it really does boost the vocal volume. We're only really talking 4 cables plus power lead.

Line 6 Acoustic 700 going into it and a Shure SM58 mic. It goes via a 12 track mixer into a Yamaha Stagepas 300. I haven't really noticed a noise problem. Someone mentioned a hiss, possibly true, but a gate or a bit of eq - ing should shift that. I've used it for recording and it satisfies my (perhaps low) standards. I think the fx are very good. I played/sang The Eagles 'Hotel California' last week using the double high harmony setting - it sounded so convincing I had to stop 'cos I started laughing. Its great when you just strum a chord and let the harmonies flow in.

I think the presence/shine(?) effect has to watched as it can get a bit bright. It is adding a layer of complexity to your rig and if you're on your own it can give difficulties of you don't set this up right. I'd switch that bit off actually.

I've not had a problem with reliability. I'm not gonna pay another ??200 quid for a back up - its a gizmo not the show.

N/A

I use it on my open mic night, so I play a range of stuff; singer songwriter, country, folk, pop, whatever. IT'S A REAL WINNER. It is an extra trick up my sleeve and helps me create a wider range of vocal sound. As long as you don't over use it, it is a really good addition to the solo performers act.

Plug and go. Just by pass the guitar settings, unless your a solo.

Hey, it's 500 bucks, don't get drunk, is on time, and it makes you BETTER. This IS NOT A 4000 dollar Evintide.

Couple of things. I use a y cord on the mike so I can eq and adjust volumes as were playing. one channel for the mike, one channel for the vocalist 4. Plus you don't have to have it so loud in the monitors it distracts you. Something I like it also works with keys. Too easy to use all the time, use it as a backup singer not the CSN band. One person said there's a hiss. Another use for the Y. Gate it off with the unit but the mike goes direct to the board so no gate on that. This is the cats Behind. Makes me sound great, HMMMMMM what would a good singer sound like? Maybe we hear it but don't know it. Is CSN really a Vocalist 4 with Neal Young doing the Trigger????????? NO WAY HOSE

The Good
Pretty easy to use right out of the box. Must refer to the manual to understand what some of the settings mean, but they are explained well. Programing presets is pretty easy, as is copying existing presets to a setting you can make changes to.
The Bad
1.The unit has a stereo setting, but this only splits the signal. If it were to separate the lead and harmony, they could be mixed remotely. As is, every level change must be made by kneeling down on stage, and hoping for the best.
2.The unit has a guitar effects loop that can be programed with some decent effects. Problem is the effects are only sent out with the vocals. If you use the 'guitar through' to your amp (which you would do live), you loose the guitar effects.
3.I had hoped to also use this for recording. Problem is the background hiss adds too much noise to the track. It also is quite annoying live through the PA.
4.The timing of the guitar strum is important to maintain harmony on key changes. With some strum patterns the harmony has to catch up to the key change - it takes some practice to avoid those.
5. The stomp pedals are decent, but it is pretty easy to accidently change effects instead of turning the harmony off or on. It would be nice if the Harmony pedal was offset, or out front.

The harmonies are decent. Some of the effects add good body to the lead voice, and some of the effects add variety. Some are just a novelty (such as the elf sound). The ability to tailor wich harmonies to add along with effects is very good. You need to experiment with the effect settings on the system (PA) that you will perform with - I found they sound quite different, with practice monitors or in the studio.

Have had the unit a month. No problems as of yet.

Have not had to contact Digitech.

I have being playing live for 30+ years - Classic Rock, Country, Blues, and everything in between. I am a Gibson guitar, Fender amp, and Shure Mic fan. If this unit had to be replaced I would look to see if there were other options avilable that would provide quality and the vesatility needed for live performance. Digitech makes a good product, and with a few changes this would be a great live vocal accessory.

The fundamentals are foolproof. Changing patches during performance is a simple foot-tap, access to the tuner is standard press-and-hold, and there are LEDs on the top for everything you may need to know at a glance. Adjusting pre-sets and creating custom patches will be a cinch for anyone who has adjusted foot pedals, keyboards -- anything with patch editing capabilities. This is easier than many other effect databanks I've had to work with. Manual is clear and concise, with good illustrations of a variety of setup configurations.

The sound of the harmonies is good, most of the time. Lead vocal input needs to be strong -- perhaps even hot -- and you will find that some singing styles lend themselves to digital harmony more than others. If your lead vocal is clipped, or full of vibrato, or you tend to slide quickly, you may find that the harmonizer isn't keeping up. This can be remedied with experimentation of some of the harmonizing parameters. Pitch correction works fairly well, but of course it won't help if you can't carry a tune! :)

Lightweight materials SEEM less durable than heavy metal, but I have found this lightweight to be rock solid. There are no protrusions to snap off, all the electronic connectors fit and hold snugly, and there is no hum introduced to the system from this unit. I've used this 7 months now, and have no problems with reliability.

N/A - Website is great, and has been all I've needed so far.

I use this with a small country band (3 person) to add vocals. Also use it as my only effects for my acoustic guitar (usually ONLY a slight chorus -- i've lightened up the pre-set chorus slightly). Also use this with a bigger worship band in a church. Only difficulty in set up is that I havent yet figured a way to send a signal with just harmony and lead vocals - no guitar - to the mixer. I'm sure its just me....

It's very easy unit to use. if in doubt read the manual,it's clear and easy to understand. At first I was taken aback by the editing scrolling through but once I read the manual it was clear how the unit works. I have a fairly complex system and I play electric with of course distortion, I didn't know how the unit would react but it works great. As long as you go straight in with your guitar signal and use the thru its fine

Like I said i have a complex system but the unit works flawlessly.It's not noisy at all. I use a spiltter with a Boss GT 8 and a tonelab se with a sans amp tri ac running through a mixer then out to powered speakers. Of course the vocal mike goes to our PA. I at times looked at getting a harmonizer for vocals but did not have the desire to program the previous units for each and every song and i don't play keyboards. Sound quality is very good and the average joe in a bar, would be hard pressed to realize how this unit works. I had the live 2 which was great but you have to set it and I like the fact that you can pick different patches as your playing along. Also the live 4 has more to tweak and the ability to change on the fly is great. I was surprised how good the guitar sounds are in this box ,it's not a eventide but don't sound too bad although I don't need this feature so I just bypass it.

It seems fairly sturdy but I wouldn't throw any of my gear around anyway. I would think that if you look after it should be fine. I may look for a case for it since I use it in a live situation.

Haven't had to deal with this company yet so...

I play rock and harmony vocals really add much to a band sound.The live 4 is very easy to use and is much more reliable than bandmates who may not hear themselves or are having an off night. The big thing that must be stressed and other reviews have touched on this, is to NOT overuse this effect, use it when the song calls for it which for the most part will be in chorus to songs etc..It's like sugar ,a little goes a long way. I like the extra tweaking you can do on this unit and be able to patch change is great. Also I don't always use 4 voices sometimes just one harmony can make a big difference and if other bandmates are covering the low voices why double up?

This thing is a no brainer. The factory patches are very good and editing is a snap. The Manual is an easy read. I had it set up in five minutes.

I'm using this in an acoustic band w/ 2 Bose pas and a Mackie mixer. Two guitars mandolin and bass. I use a Collings guitar with a Fishman Aura into the vocalist. Two of us can sing harmonies anyway but now we have the third part and the Mando player can double one of the parts of the vocalist. Sometimes leaving both the 3rd and the 5th on and doubling the parts sounds great. Very realistic. The bass player came up last night, didn't know about the box and heard us singing and was completely fooled, Thought we had been practicing a lot. I'm not too crazy about the effects so I leave them off and use my Lexicon effects unit thru the Mackie. I didn't buy it for the effects so for me it's a non issue.

I'm a little skeptical about the plastic casing, knobs, footswitches, etc and how they will hold up after time.

We play an eclectic mix of music and have all been playing music of some type for at least 30 years off and on. There is nothing I realy hate about the product and I love the harmonies. I had a TC Voice Prizm a long time ago and this thing is way easier to use. All in all we all like this thing. One word of caution though. I can see how you could use this unit to much and it will overwhelm your sound.

I was a bit daunted by all the features of this unit after reading several reviews, and viewing the product info on the DigiTech website, but being the adventurous sort, when I received it, I just decided to hook it up before referring to the manual. This thing is so easy to set up, I was up and running in about five minutes! Having years of experience in setting up electronic instrument gear probably helped, but even a rank beginner could quickly figure out how to get this puppy set up.

As far as coaxing a good sound out of it. You don't have to do any coaxing. The MusIQ technology just plain works. There's no tweaking necessary; that is, unless you're just a marginal singer and have to dial in some pitch correction, but even that's real easy.

As far as creating custom patches, again, it's a total piece of cake. I put four patches together in less than ten minutes: A turn of a dial here, a press of button there, and you have a working patch.

I love the fact that the Vocalist Live 4 has both vocal and guitar effects built in. Even though I'd normally route the guitar signal through my pedal board, then into my amp, in a pinch, I could use the on-board guitar effects. They're adequate, but most of all they're subtle, which is real nice.

Vocal effects include pitch correction, pre-amp, compression, gate, reverb - just what you'd expect. They work as advertised, and you can dial in a variable amount to have the effects as strong or weak as you desire.

As far as harmonies are concerned, the MusIQ technology is nothing short of amazing. For a box to be able to instantly respond to the chords you play combined with the melody line you're singing, is totally worth the money you pay for it. There's literally no programming, and you almost always get an accurate harmony. I say "almost" because if you mess up a bit on your pitch, the machine gets a bit confused. But that's rare occurrence, and only happened within the first hour of use. After practicing a bit, I haven't had any machine confusion happen at all.

A friend of mine asked if it will work with jazz chords and different modes. The answer is an emphatic yes. It even works with alternate tunings! As long as your guitar is in tune, the MusIQ technology will pick the appropriate voicing. Again, simply amazing!

Admittedly, the harmonies sound a bit processed, but not so much that they sound robotic. And frankly, I'd suspect that only a trained ear will notice that the vocals are processed anyway.

Note that since the harmonies work while you're singing, you have to do some adjustment to how you sing. I found that I have to sustain notes a little longer to create a smoother effect, but it's still awesome! I also played around in my custom presets with the harmony decay, and that helped eliminate the cutoff effect significantly.

I've only had it for a couple of days, but it has a solid metal case, so I think it should be fairly gig-worthy.

Haven't had to deal with DigiTech support - ever.

The fact that the Vocalist Live 4 also acts as a mixer is a real boon. As a gigging solo musician, adding four part harmonies is going to add a lot to my performance. I just love this machine, and recommend it to anyone in search of creating harmonies but not having to hire backup singers.

Of course, the big advantage is that you can't do counterpoint harmonies like you could with backup singers, but for what this box does, it can't be beat!

THE DESIGN OF THIS UNIT IS YOU PLUG IN AN ELECTRIC GUITAR, TUNE IT, THEN THE CHORDS YOU PLAY ARE "HEARD" BY THE HARMONIZER AND IT CREATES UP TO 4 HARMONY NOTES TO ACCOMPANY YOUR LEAD VOCAL. SO FAR I'VE MOSTLY USED IT FOR PITCH CORRECTION AND VOCAL DOUBLING, AND "TUBE MIC" EFFECTS AND THE EASE OF USE AND SOUND IS VERY GOOD.THE
HARMONIES ARE A BIT TRICKIER, BECAUSE WITH THE NEW SOUND TRACKING
TECHNOLOGY, THE GUITAR NEEDS TO BE VERY WELL TUNED FOR OPTIMUM
HARMONIZER PERFORMANCE. MY OLD DIGITECH VHM5, FOR CONTRAST, USED MIDI
KEYBOARD VOCODING, SO THE CHORDS YOU WOULD PLAY PRODUCED SPOT ON
HARMONY;BUT THE PLUS SIDE FOR THE LIVE 4, IS THAT YOU CAN DETUNE THE
STRINGS (ie, I PLAY AN "E CHORD", BUT SOUND AN "E flat") THE VHM5
COULD NOT DO THAT. PATCH EDITING IS AS EASY AS IT GETS, PUSH AN EDIT
BUTTON, SCROLL DOWN TO AN EFFECT, TURN ROTARY KNOBS TO ADJUST THE
PARAMETERS, PUSH A SAVE BUTTON, EDIT THE PATCH NAME, PUSH IT AGAIN TO
SAVE. THE MANUAL IS GOOD, CLEAR, EASY TO FOLLOW ENGLISH INSTRUCTIONS.
THE UNIT IS A NEW PRODUCT, I DON'T KNOW IF THERE ARE ANY UPDATES YET.
I LIKE THAT IT HAS BOTH XLR AND LINE INPUTS AND OUTPUTS, ALSO THAT
THE VOLUME/BALANCE LEVELS ARE ALL SIMPLE ANALOG POTS. VERY EASY, AND
INTUITIVE. I BOUGHT IT TO REPLACE A HARMONIZER, MIXER, REVERB, AND
VOCAL PROCESSOR/NOISE GATE THAT WERE STRUNG TOGETHER AND ITS ALL-IN-
ONE EFFECTS COMBO MAKES MY LIFE A LOT SIMPLER. THE LIVE 4'S "SOUND"
VOCODING (INSTEAD OF MIDI) IS CALLED MUSIC IQ, AND I THINK IT IS
GROUNDBREAKING.

I HAVE MOSTLY BEEN TRYING TO DUPLICATE "CLASSIC ROCK" VOCAL SOUNDS
LIKE "TUBE MIC" SIMULATION AND "REVERBY" VOICE DOUBLING, THAT WORKS
GOOD. THE DOUBLING WITH PITCH CORRECTION SOUNDS GOOD, AND HARMONY
SOUNDS VERY GOOD WHEN I CAN GET MY GUITAR WELL TUNED(AND OF COURSE IF
I AM NOT TOTALLY OFF KEY). I USE IT FOR DIRECT STEREO HOME RECORDING.
I HAVE NOT NOTICED ANY SIGNIFICANT NOISE, ALTHOUGH IT DOES NOT SOUND
AS PURE AS MY PREVIOUS SETUP WHEN I USED A BEHRINGER 2496 WITH A VHM5
DIGITECH SEND/RECEIVE LOOPED. IT'S MUCH EASIER TO USE,HOWEVER. NONE
OF THE EFFECTS SOUND WEAK, BUT THE REVERB IN MONO DOES SOUND A BIT
PHONY UNLESS YOU WORK WITH IT; IN STEREO IS MUCH BETTER. IT HAS MANY
VOCAL SPECIAL EFFECTS (MALE TO FEMALE,ie, or DEEP BASS/HIGH SOPRANO,
MONSTER VOICE, etc.) BUT I HAVE NOT HAD USE FOR THOSE YET.

I HAVE NO IMMEDIATE PLANS TO GIG WITH IT, NOR WAS THAT THE REASON I
GOT IT: I WANTED AN ALL IN ONE UNIT, VOICE PROCESSOR WITH NOISE GATE,
REVERB,EQ, TUBE SIMULATION,MULTIVOICE HARMONY,AND MIXING TO REPLACE
FOUR SEPARATE UNITS THAT WERE TAKING UP A LOT OF ROOM IN MY STUDIO.
THE UNIT DOES NOT LOOK OR FEEL EXCEEDINGLY RUGGED, ABOUT THE SAME AS
MY OTHER DIGITECH DEVICE, AN RP 300 GUITAR PEDAL, THAT I ALSO WOULD
BE WARY OF GIGGING HARD. FOR MY PURPOSES HOWEVER, HOME RECORDING, THE
SOUND QUALITY AND VERSATILITY IS NEAR PERFECT. BUT IT WAS DESIGNED 4
LIVE APPLICATION, STOMP BOX STYLE, SO IF TREATED WITH RESPECT, IT
PROBABLY WOULD DO VERY WELL, ESPECIALLY FOR SMALL VENUE, ACOUSTIC
TYPE PERFORMANCES. FOR ROCK, I THINK YOU MIGHT WANT SUPER CARDIOID
VOCAL MICS TO INHIBIT LOUD SOUND FROM EFFECTING THE HARMONY .

NO OPINION, NEVER NEEDED THEM YET FOR ANY DIGITECH PRODUCT I HAVE HAD.

I HAVE BEEN WRITING AND PLAYING ORIGINAL COMPOSITIONS IN A VARIETY OF
ROCK/POP STYLES FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS. I HAVE LONG CRAVED A VOICE
PROCESSOR THAT WOULD DO WHAT THIS ONE DOES (IN FACT, I WROTE AS MUCH
ON THE "WHAT NEW PRODUCT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE" ENTRY ON MY GUITAR
PEDAL'S WARRANTY CARD). THIS UNIT ALLOWS ME TO DO VOICE DOUBLING AND
HARMONY FILL EFFECTS ON THE FLY WHILE RECORDING, WHILE PLAYING MY
GUITAR CHORDS WITH THE INTENSITY AND VARIETY I INTENDED LIKE A "LIVE
PERFORMANCE", INSTEAD OF JUST LIKE "TRACKED IN" OVERDUBS. I USE IT WITH MY OVATION BALLADEER ACOUSTIC/ELECTRIC, RAVEN RG 450, AND EVEN
HAD SUCCESS USING MY RAVEN RG-12 STRING, AS LONG AS MY HARMONIZER
SETTINGS WERE KEPT SIMPLE. I LOVE THE LIVE 4'S SIMPLICITY OF USE AND
VARIETY OF EFFECTS IN A COMPACT UNIT, ESPECIALLY THE EASE OF PATCH
CREATION WHICH IS THE SAME AS MY GUITAR PEDAL. I DO WISH THE MUSICIQ
WAS A LITTLE MORE FORGIVING OF GUITAR STRINGS NOT PERFECTLY PITCHED,
BUT IT IS A PROTOTYPE, AND FRANKLY REMARKABLE. IT REPLACED A OLD VHM5
WHICH COULD DO A LOT MORE THINGS, BUT WAS MUCH HARDER TO USE. I CHOSE
THE LIVE 4 OVER THE LIVE 2 BECAUSE IT CAN DO MUCH MORE FOR NOT MUCH
MORE MONEY INVESTED. USING THIS HAS ACTUALLY HELPED ME RECOGNIZE THE
FAULTS AND SLOPPINESS IN MY SINGING AND GUITAR PLAYING I WAS LETTING
SLIDE BEFORE. ONCE I TRULY MASTER ITS LIVE APPLICATIONS, I THINK I
WILL BE A BETTER MUSICIAN AND SINGER.

For starters, this thing is cake to use. It took me all of 10 minutes from the time the FedEx guy rang the doorbell to get this thing up and running and making great harmonies. It does get into some complexity when you start editing patches to taste, but that is to be expected with any unit like this. I hear it is still far simpler to use than the TC Helicon alternatives. The manual has quick start instructions as well as more detailed step by step coverage of all features.

I've been waiting for this thing for 5 long months and was worried my expectations would be too high once it arrived. I was wrong. This thing sounds great. There are a couple of presets that are a bit "Alvin and the Chipmunks" sounding, but most of them are really quality sounds. The guitar effects are good, but nothing compared to the PODxt I run through already. They will be nice to have when I'm going acoustic only and won't have to carry my PODxt and pedalboards with me.

The pitch correction feature works pretty well, but I'm still figuring out how to balance getting the best correction without having it "fix" my intentional vibrato and slides. This can be done, but it takes a little getting used to the feel of the unit.

The other great feature I have found is the ability to make the harmony voices sound more masculine or feminine in nature. This is really cool and helps make the overall vocal seem warmer and more real.

Seems rugged enough. This is my first Digitech product I've ever owned. I will say it doesn't seem to be as durable as my Boss pedals or Line 6 pedals. We'll see, but no complaints from the first impression.

No idea. Great website with demos and easy downloads. For that reason, I'll give them a 10. Hopefully I never have to contact them for any other reason.

I lead worship at my church. We do a lot of rock and blues style music with acoustic and electric guitars, drums, no keyboards or piano. We have some great female vocalists in our band, but the men, including me, are just average. I'm hoping the Vocalist Live 4 will help beef up the male vocals and also "fill in" for the ladies when they are taking a day off here and there. I also hope to expand into some solo acoustic stuff from time to time and this unit will be a great help for that.

I honestly feel a little funny about using it, like I'm cheating, but I've never pretended to be a great vocalist and, at worst, it gives me more confidence to perform better.

One potential problem I can see is overuse of the harmonies. It will take some discipline not to use this on every song. You can't make everything sound like circa 1978 Eagles tunes, otherwise, it will really get in the way of what we are trying to do. I plan to really make use of the vocal preamp models and the doubling effects more than anything.