Rocktron VooDu Valve On-Line

Ease of use..hmm.
Well..... I have had a Digitech GSP-2101..which was basically a computer. This does have a bit of a learning curve, but is fairly intuitive. The manual is not super long, relatively easy to figure out... not totally logical in the way things are laid out and not really the clearest cut explanation...for instance if you want to copy a preset to another location.. like if you have created a rhythm and lead patch next to each other so you can set up banks on your pedalboard you have to go to "storing a changed preset". It is still easy...you just have to actually read it. I would have preferred a listing like "Copy a preset". Durrrrrrrrr

Not exactly a pedal with 3 knobs..but nothing a little effort can't overcome. Version 1.30. Have no idea how new that is..lol. Got it used. Love it.

Using this preamp with a Mesa Simul 2:90, Alternatively with Marshall 1960 cabs, Peavey 5150 4x12 cab...also even run it thru a Weber 1x12 VST cab...Mostly strats with HS-3's n the bridge or EMG SA setups. LOVE those with this setup in particular. I am getting great high octane "Perfect Strangers" era Ritchie Blackmore to Gary Moore and early Van Halen tones...It can handle metal just fine as well. Not noisy at all. Hush kills all the squeal.
Stock presets are a bit crummy, but usually are with digital rack preamps. The difference with this unit is that it really does get some great, real tube tone when you dial it in the way you want. Great, great cleans and truly convincing high gain tones. Can get SRV grit to Twin cleans..any kind of bluesy spank to fat smokey jazz lines. EQ controls are refreshingly effective. The pre and post controls and variac effect really add flexibility, and this has loads of distortion.
I used to have a Voodoo Lab pre. Great unit..but I used to run a DOD-250 and TS-808 in front of it to get the gain I wanted. Hell, I run a TS808 in front of my 5150. I can still do that on this unit if I want different flavors, but not from any deficit in the amount of gain on tap.
Not thin or sterile (unless dialed in that way!) EQ options allow you to add warmth, flub, sharpness, brightness...whatever you want!

Effects are actually very convincing and natural. Love the reverbs. Pretty subtle and realistic..great phasing..clean delays..chorus is nice..nothing crazy. Have not really experimented much with the flanging....but really digging this unit.

I never fill this part out. Anything can fail. Never gig without a backup. No problems so far...and I bought this used....so...it's not brand new...and I guess it still works.. :P

Have had one brief encounter with Jim Chowning via email. I was missing a configure button when I got it. He answered my email immediately and put a couple in the mail for me. He rules in my book!! :)
No questions asked and backed up his product... even with just little things and not even purchased new. Customer service and product commitment makes a big difference... he convinced me.

I play shred, jazz, blues, flamenco, metal, rock, fusion...whatever! This covers a vast amount of styles. Been playing 25 years....have loads of gear. Have had Marshall, Mesa, Peavey, Digitech, Voodoo Lab, Rivera, Carvin...buttloads of stuff. The more gear I own or have gone thru has only convinced me that tone is in your playing. Obviously, if you play garbage equipment..you can still make it sound *ok* but you need adequate gear to sound truly polished. Yes, I'm running this into a great poweramp and cabs. It sounds totally pro. This sort of flexibility is what made me regret selling my Digitech GSP2101 and moving to more pedals/amps based rigs....since it had sooooo many sounds. The biggest drawback that had was it was sterile and digital sounding...no matter which tubes I ran in it or the poweramp or speakers I had it running into. Don't get me wrong..I tweaked and tweaked...but it was always missing something. The digital artifacts it produced could not be dialed out. THis has a much more natural sound..or maybe it is just the pre and post eq options..since the factory presets on this sucked just as badly as the Digitech. LOL!

The flexibility of this unit helps me make music. No doubt. No tap dancing on pedals either! :) Nothing I hate..per se. I understand this is a single space preamp with digital effects.I understand its limitations..I've been this route before, but love the tone from this unit. I had been interested in this unit for a long time...had a ridiculously low price offer on it and decided to make the jump. Would definitely buy it again if stolen! "Lost"..well that would be an interesting scenario.... :P

I have had the Voodu valve for about a month and a half now, and so far I am very impressed with it. Very open sounding unit, meaning the effects don't seems to squash the sound or have artifacts as the sound fades. I think this unit is definitely best for those who are not afraid to tweak. It has a very powerful EQ section (both Pre and Post) but along with that power comes some responsibility on the part of the user. You get out what you put in. If you like three knobs and are satisfied with that, you probably won't like this unit. For those of us that like flexibility and control, however, this unit is great. Tremendous clean tones... lots of spank and twang. Mammoth distortion tones. I did have to tame the highs a bit, but that's going to vary with guitar, pickup and power amp combinations. If you are going to play with the settings a lot, and I recommend that you do, invest in a midi to USB cable and get the sysex editor available for free from Rocktron. Real time control of the unit through your PC. Super easy to deep-edit patches this way. Front panel is fine for small tweaks, but the sysex editor is really the way to go to find your tones.

I am primarily using a Jackson superstrat... 24 fret, flame maple cap over swampash body, Floyd & Duncans ('59 in the neck, Quarterpound in the middle and a Screamin'Demon in the bridge - wired through a StewMac Megaswitch)and a Fender /Ibanez Heartfield with Dimarzios (HS3 in neck, HS2 middle, PAF clone in bridge).

Runs straight to a Peavey Classic 50/50 with EL84s and out to two ADA 2x12 cabs loaded with Vintage 30s. One cab has a vintage setting which is engaged.

The sound quality of this unit is very good. The HUSH works extremely well, better in fact than the HUSH on the Intellifex that I had been using with my previous preamp. Much quiter, and less compressed voice overall.

The cleans are quite good for an amp that runs this much gain... it's a little weird that you can get that much twang out of an amp that produces as much distortion as this one does.

On my rig, the highs were a little aggressive, but I've been able to tweak a bit, and now it cuts without being so over the top.

Very good reverb, echo and chorus. I don't miss the Intellifex at all, which I was a bit surprising. Having a built in solid-state distortion and fuzz, along with tube distortion without having to go to pedals is wonderful. The variac function is also pretty nifty. Nice for saturating the signal earlier.

The distortion can range from a Randall-style "bees in a bucket" chainsaw tone to very subtle warm tones. Very resonsive to the volume and tone controls. It's never so compressed that turning the volume down has no effect.

Very reliable... I think Rocktron has a well-earned reputation for building their stuff to be able to take a direct hit by a warhead. this is no exception. Obviously I don't recommend that you pitch your rack ove the side of a building to see, but in a decent rack, i think it'll be just fine.

Rocktron is great... I've emailed them a few times in the past and always receive prompt, helpfule emails back. Great folks. speaking to the last point as well, I've never had occasion to call about a warranty issue, so there you go. If I did, I am sure it'd be handled with the same professionalism that my other requests were.

Classical/ neoclassical/ metal

I've been playing for about 15 years.

I've own or have owned an Intellifex, and ADA MP2, Peavey Clasic 50/50, Peavey Triumph, Epiphone Valve Jr. I play with a friend that uses a Mesa Triaxis/ Mesa 20/20 rig, and often use that as a point of comparison.

I would definitely seek to replace this if stolen. I snagged mine cheap on eBay, and would go straight back to looking.

I love the versatility... anyone who says they can't get a decent tone out of this simply isn't capable of tweaking it, or hasn't tried. The tones are in there.

I compared this to the Utopia pedals, a Triaxis, and a Prophesy. Pound for pound, and dollar for dollar, this thing kicks butt.

I wish it had a tuner... that seems to be the one obviously missing feature.

the variety of sounds inspires me. It's great to just noodle around with. It's great to just pull up a preset and just see what you can get going with it. It has something like 128 of them, so you can cover a lot of ground.

Tremendous versatility and quality for the money.

Well, as I'm a long time user of Rocktron products (a "original" Chameleon user since 90' - I also own a ProGap -variety, the spice of life), the interface is as easy as any of their products. The only difference between a Chameleon's interface, and the Voodu Valve is which order they place their "editing blocks" (in a Chameleon the "preEQ" is before the "Preamp" block - in the Voodu, it's after). As far as getting a good sound - impossible to get a bad one, unless you have zero sense of tone. I've tried several poweramp/ speaker combinations with my Chameleon - and finally resorted to building my own speaker cab (over-sized with 1/2 closed and 1/2 open section) and powering it with a TubeWorks Mosvalve 2x90 ...Dead clean, no noise...great flexibility...
BUT YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND EQ TO MAKE THIS THING SING - OTHERWISE YOU SOUND LIKE EVERY OTHER IDIOT WITH A LINE 6 PRACTICE AMP!

My set up: G&L Legacy tribute - wired "Lifeson Style" s/s/h Duncan p/u's - hardtail w/ locking tuners : PRS SE h/h floating trem (blocked)locking tuners Duncan p/u's : Jackson Soloist w/ Chandler Floyd Rose - h/s/h Duncan p/u : 80's mim built 60's repro Stratocaster (refinished / bare wood / walnut stain) wired "Lifeson Style" h/s/h Duncan p/u locking tuners : Saga Strat s/s/s Torres SRV set - standard strat trem unblocked >>>> Morley Bad Horsey II >>>> Boss Volume Pedal >>>> Sabine 1601 Tuner>>>>Rocktron (Chameleon/ Voodu Valve/ Progap) >>>>TubeWorks MosValve 90x2/ Tech21 powercube 60 (head only - rackmounted) >>>> Custom Built oversize 2x12 vert cab. >>>> Behringer 1010 controller/ Roland Momentary for Tap Delay.

I played in cover bands for 18 years before embarking on a solo career - www.soundclick.com/digitalchemistry - so the flexibility inherent in the Chameleon was a huge plus - so many sounds, so little noise...

But as I started in on my quest for "real" tone, a few drawbacks became apparent... the original Chameleon, as good as it is, is digital... it has great converters (48 bit), but the digital "aliasing" was extremely noticeable in the mid range of drive levels, and the HUSH was eating up my tone on any notes that tailed off.
So in the quest for tone, I started looking for tube amps that wouldn't break the bank... NOT POSSIBLE...anything under 900 US is trash, and the good stuff...Engle, Egnater, Boogie, DR Z, THD, Budda...you get the point...are terribly expensive + I'd have to buy a G-Major (or similar) to get transparent efx... ahhhhh EVENTIDE....
Sooooo...back to the Drawing Board....
While pawnshopping (never know what you'll find), I spotted this unit - paid 300 us, and it's in brand new shape, not even rackmounted - I wonder where it came from ;-) no pwr supply with it.... Had to buy, Rocktron is a hell of a great company: My Chameleon died once, they turned it around in 1 day, fully repaired, and upgraded (but this was before GHS :( ...and I'm 3k miles away).
Well, got it home, and bread-boarded it in...worked fine...started looking at the presets (I'd tried a few presets before - the Chameleon will accept Voodu presets), found a clean sound I liked, and started editing...after turning the Hush almost all the way off, tweaking the preamp settings, I think I found nirvana!!!!
No "real" noise (tube amps hiss/ hum also), good dynamics throughout the guitars' range of volume, no noticeable digital "glitching"/ aliasing, a good firm bottom, transparent highs...excellent...now of course, a great tube amp will do that kind of tone without trying, but... the Voodu will do comparable tones 256 times... + effects that are as good as Motorola processors will give you...they're not as good as my VST plugins, but my DAW kicks butt on everything but a H5000...and how much is that? No takers?
Presets...Artist presets are usually overwrought with fluff, too much effects mix, usually too much gain, etc...But, transforming these "templates" into usable sounds is so easy, "even a caveman can do it"...as it's been said, somebody finally gave Rocktron it's props on the fact that their effects are dual voice (essentially like having 2 of everything-- into separate amps), and as clean as guitar effects go without breaking the bank + FULL MIDI IMPLEMENTATION thru' 16 channels of midi - morphing, switching, anything...

I did 17 years of covers (figure 30 weekends a year - 5 hours a night + practice and rehearsals) with the Chameleon as my only preamp - no backup --- rock solid - do that with a Marshall!

I have no experience with them since GHS ...but before, when they were hand built here...unbelievable.

I am as diverse in my music as the Voodu Valve is...but modern bluesy rock tones are my forte' - Scott Henderson's wail, Eric Johnson's clean, Larry Carlton's smoothness, Satch's scream, and Vai... it's all there.
If stolen...I'd get another...I upload the presets to my pc as backup.
The only thing I wish it had was spillover...

in closing ..BUY ONE...quit whining and bite the bullet, beats the crap out of a transistor Marshall, or overpriced Mesa.

I personally spent an entire saturday night enjoying the presets.
Only went as high as 91 out of 254 or so....
Connected directly to a mixer using two XLR's for stereo.
Very powerfull effects,gain,distortion,EQ!!!
Mind boggling tweak ability and only three rotory knobs to learn.
Online Manual is great and covers everything in detail.

Factory presets are enough to impress me before any tweaking.
Of course you will need to edit your own sounds!!
Some of the patches nail "Van Halen" (because of the included **PHASER** my favorite effect) and "Metallica" tones.
Clean tones are awesome!! Sparkle,sizzle,warmth,bounce,pluck are all in there.
The word "RAW" tone comes to mind, at least with the presets.
Very powerfull frequency range possible.
Effects are transperent (they do not interfere with the sustain and tone) and very professional sound quality.
The hush is UNBELIEVABLE. Short gated metal rythm stops are completely silent yet if a note or chord is held it follows the sustain very slowly and smoothly down until silent, no abrubt cutoffs!!!
It gets a 9 because it doesn't sound like a $15,000 rig LOL

Bought it used, its at least 4-5 years old.
No problems at all

They have a 1-800 number and it works in Canada!!!
I spoke to Jim Chowning at Rocktron regarding some usage questions.
He answered the phone in seconds and was more than happy to give me some advice as well as converse with me.
Very experienced and cool guy!!!

I play rock,blues,jazz,soul,reggae,metal,classical,etc
26 years experience
I own a 1977 marshall combo, Hughes & Kettner Switchblade 50 combo
Peavey Rockmaster tube pre-amp,Korg A3 effects rack.
I have played many amps over the years Marshall,Hi-watt,Peavey,
Mesa Boogie,Crate,Fender,Roland Jazz Chorus 120
This Voodu rack and a tube amp is all you need.....
BUY ONE!!!

Many of the presets sound incredible!!!
Within about 5 minutes I was hearing awesome tones just using the factory presets!!!
If it sounds that good with the factory settings imagine the sound after tweaking.....holy s#$t

I spent an entire saturday night (about 6 hours) auditioning it.
Connected using two XLR's into a mixer straight to monitors.
It has a "raw untamed" tone on the distorion patches, very similar to a miked "tube amp". The effects are transparent and excellent!!!
It has every effect I have ever used including the elusive "Phaser"
which most multieffects\amp sims do NOT include....(my favorite effect ever)BTW, each effect has many controls to tweak its sound.
YES, alot of the factory presets have too much effect level mixed in.
BUT, its not so terrible that you can't hear the quality of this rack.
Me and my guitarist were both awestruck by many of the presets and only made it to patch 90 out of 250+ or something (some patches were too good to move on to the next one and took an hour to test....lol)
There was NO DELAY in changing patches, the sound change was instant!
Because there are only so many hours in a night we did not tweak any settings, we literally just played some of the presets all night, they were that good.
Contrary to "tech spec gripe guy" down below, the grapple grommet DID mesh with the filbert flange!!!! lmfao
There was plenty of high end presence and treble, too much in fact!!!
We heard no digital noise from the converters and the unit is extremely quiet. Also the hush system works very well and metal muting and rythm stops were silent.
In fact the hush followed the sustain perfectly as it very slowly decayed into silence and quick stops were gated immediately. The whole hush system is quite immpresive!!!
Both clean and distorted sounds were stellar with so many different RAW and powerfull tones available, its very inspiring to hear.
Pinched and natural harmonics were SCREAMING out of this rack including the "Zack Wylde" low E signature pinched harmonic.
I can't wait to check this out on my 77 marshall MKII lead combo...
OR my Hughes and Kettner switchblade all tube programmable amp combo.
IF I can pry myself away from it to report back, I will....
Finally, the effects worked excellently with the distortion patches without compromising the tone and sustain.

No issues yet
Bought it used off a guy who had it for years....

I called the 1-800 number and talked to someone immediately with some questions.
He answered all my questions and was very friendly and knowledgeable.
I am suprised the toll free number worked in Canada :)

I like to play rock,metal,jazz,blues,classical,progressive,etc
I have been playing for 25+ years
I auditioned this rack using my LTD MH250 w/EMG LH300 passive pickups
Compared this with behringer Vamp2,Line 6 POD,many all tube amps... **NO CONTEST**
Very inspiring to play, didn't want to stop....
Nails many pro tones vintage and new!!!
Nothing gets a 10 here (it didnt make me breakfast the next day,lol)

It takes sometime to get it to sound the way you want. Just read the book and you'll figure it out. Its just like any other unit. Learn before you burn!

I was really blown away! This unit sounds great! I've sold my Roadking & my Prophecy. This unit sounds way better than anything I've pluged into. The factory presets are over saturated with effects, but you can turn them down or off. The distortion and sustain are GREAT! Very warm sounding. Some people say it sounds little thin. I use BBE 482 sonic max and run through a Carvin 100w all tube power amp into Legacy 4x12 cab. and it will rip your head off. Plenty of punch even with my Fender strat. I love my new tone and I'm pretty happy after 20 years of playing through lots of gear! This unit is much better sounding than the Prophecy especially for metal or rock. Go out and pick one up.....DONT forget the BBE 482!

NO PROBLEMS......yet

I've called Rocktron couple of times regarding other issues with my Prophecy and they have always been good.

I play rock and metal and this thing does it VERY well. I also play more softer stuff to. The clean patches work very well and very quit.

In lieu of all the features the Voodu Valve is pretty easy to use. However, it offers more tonal features than most people are accustomed to, like semi-parametric pre & post EQ, variac, tube class, etc. So there may be a learning curve involved, depending on your technical experience.

I consider this a good practice device, as it can get decent approximations to good tube sounds. Don't let the fancy effects & gazillion parameters fool you. There are a few serious shortcomings that prevent the VV from being a true "pro" preamp...

1. Digital convertor noise & distortion is very dominant in the tone. Rocktron uses cheap phillips 18-bit analog to digital & digital to analog convertors (16-bit on the original VV). These low cost convertors add undesireable distortion & noise to the signal. It's not so obvious on very clean settings, but add a bit of gain & you'll hear it. (Gain amplifies the convertor noise & nasty distortion.) Sure you can turn on the hush effect so you don't hear this noise when you stop playing, but you can certainly hear it as your signal level decays. Try turning off the hush on your favorite medium to high gain preset. You'll hear the nastiness that is mixed into your tone. It's true that high gain amps/preamps are inherently noisy, and a nice even hiss is normal. But the VV has a very high level of nasty digital noise. Sure you can turn the hush back on to mask it when your not playing, but the VV's hush adds its own zipper noise artifacts as the signal level crosses the hush threshold. SO WHY DOESN'T ROCKTRON USE GOOD 24-BIT PRO AUDIO CONVERTORS IN THE VOODU VALVE? Perhaps it cuts into PROFIT! It's too bad because good 24-bit convertors will provide 10dB to 20dB reduction in noise & THD, and that's HUGE! Rocktron, if you're listening, check out AKM's AK5392 & AK4396, which are excellent sounding, moderate cost convertors.

2. Real presence is lacking in the VV. There is a very steep roll-off of high frequencies in the VV, even when the speaker simulator is turned off. The result is a dullness in the high end. Compare the VV to any decent tube or solid state amp & you'll hear what I'm talking about. You can turn up the high EQ to try to fake some presence out of it, but you'll end up getting a peaky upper mid sound. The abrupt roll-off is most-likely an attempt to reduce digital noise, or to cover up some nasty dither technique. Again, better quality convertors run at a higher sample-rate (like 48kHz) would help, by eliminating the need to roll-off the audible highs.

3. The tube is run in starvation mode causing an abrupt overdrive transition. The 12AX7 is under-biased for the given plate voltage. This causes a relatively harsh overdrive characteristic, which is one of the reasons why it is difficult to get a good in-between sound out of the VV. So, the tone retains an aggressive edge regardless of gain setting. There are two ways Rocktron can address this: run the tube at a hotter plate voltage, or set the bias current correctly at the current plate voltage (ie: change plate & cathode resistor values).

The VV seems to be quite reliable, though I have seen data retention problems on the earlier version (with the witch doctor icon).

Fast, excellent response to questions & schematic requests.

The VV is a great idea, but it's in serious need of an update. As it is, it's okay to use when guitar is in the background of the mix. There are plenty of nice effects that may help mask its shortcomings.

Dear Rocktron:
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE update the Voodu Valve...
- Use good 24-bit convertors run at 48kHz
- Bias the tube properly
- Don't roll-off the upper harmonics
- Ditch the u-chassis design, it's terrible for service & tube changes!!!

Also, please try to add a tuner. You can mute the output during tuner mode to conserve DSP resources. The tuner display may be as follows:
"TUNER: C# 0" (C# in tune)
"TUNER: G +1" (G a little sharp)
"TUNER: D -3" (D quite flat)

I thought I'd take a (long) break from work and fill out some info about my recent purchase, an original Rocktron VooDu Valve...

btw I like to ramble, so you have been warned...

The Rocktron Voodu valve is pretty "easy" once you learn how to operate it. Fortunately I have a knack for making things work without reading directions, and in addition I have owned a Rocktron Replifex for like 8 years or something, so the format is exactly the same and was it easy for me to learn...but i already digress...there is a manual online in case you don't get one and while Rocktron's manuals are kinda bland, it is well detailed.

It's got Modulation, Delays, Tremolo, two EQs, noisegate, different types of distortion, and all the presets can be over-ridden for over a hundred settings. It might even be considered an overload of possibilties.

I just recently downloaded the program where you can make adjustments via PC (not for Mac apparently). This looks easy and theres a function to make changes in real-time which will be cool for the EQ section especially since I don't know how band width will change having a few octaves or a lot. This is handy altho the layout looks like it was made with Microsoft basic. If they could make it look like the plug-ins used in Protools this would be the coolest...

I give this an 8 because if you can function higher than turning pedal knobs you should be able to understand how to use this within an afternoon. I dock it 2 points, because a beginner guitarist (less than one year playing) would have no idea how to use this without a lot of learning of what things do (ie. Phaser vs. Chorus vs. Flanger, and the 2 sets of EQs), plus turning knobs and hitting the recall button after every preset change (without a midi pedal which isn't included) is a pain.

But...their presets are all over the maps with rockabilly, metal, blues, clean, etc. so even if you don't know how to get a good sound, there are a few familiar ones built in. Lastly, the power unit is a bit funky and bulky with the transfromer in the center of the cable, but for my purposes it won't be going anywhere. I could see it being an issue for people that gig with it with a 2-4 space rack--good thing there's duct tape to hold it in place...

This unit knocks all other "modellers" out of the water. Don't bother with Line6 or Boss unless you don't care about tone. The tube in this preamp makes a BIG difference. Read all the other reviews -- they agree.

I have the older version so I don't have the cool Metallica or Megadeth settings as the new Online version does, but the Accept setting is hilariously close to it, and the SRV tone is cool, but I beefed it up a little more for my tastes. I am currently using the Heavy Blues with more gain for my main tone until I can dial in a perfect sound. They have a Smiths clean-tremolo setting for "How Soon Is Now" and a Van Halen "Eruption" flange/delay tone that sound just like it. The acoustic setting doesn't sound bad -- very piezo sounding instead of "acoustic", but pretty true once I fiddled with it.

They have two gain settings too, low gain with Class A/B, Hard/Soft clipping choices and the high gain which I have to dial back because it's too buzzsaw for me. I always wondered what they meant as being a Class-A amp. Now I have a better idea.

My current set up is for late night home-use in a condo(ie thru headphones). I run it direct into a Berhinger 2-channel mixer and if needbe at low volumes out into my computer speakers (which sounds like poop, but it serves it's purpose). I use the headphones on the mixer which gives me a better idea of the tone thru a board instead of direct from the unit. I also bought a Tech 21 power Engine for hearing it as a regular rig. See the other reviews about tube power as the Tech 21 is solid state amp and almost takes away some of the tone. I can see where it would shine with a tube power amp. I also have an extra Behringer midi pedal that I use with it.

The effects are similar to my Replifex, but I agree with a few others--the configuration limitations are um, limiting and the speaker simulator doesn't sound like it does anything useful, but without the speaker sim the tone rocks. It is nice to have a wah to use and control with a midi controller. On my other rig I have two wah pedals (a Bad Horsie-1 for quick on/off and a CFH Dunlop for tone) and a volume pedal. I am happy I don't need all that and can use the Behringer's pedals. If you learn how to use the controller assignments you could even set up one pedal to control EQ movement (ie midrange) and wah on the same pedal. You can even recreate (Audioslave/Rage Against the Machine) Tom Morello's wah-pitch shifter this way. On that note I have a digitech Whammy reissue and the pitch shifter and whammy sound the same. Nothing spectacular but it does the job. If you want true tone for a whammy, get a double locking tremolo, otherwise live with the fact that pitch shifting is going to sound digital.

um...that was an essay...lets reiterate with "it's damn good" and move on.

Can I depend on it? Lets just say I've used the same Rocktron rig for years and have seen my bass player and my other guitarist burn through their effects and preamps. I believe I can truely say "I can depend on Rocktron".

I don't know if I would necessarily gig with it, because I prefer amps over rack preamps, but I would definitely use it for recording (the other reason why I got it) or to jam with buddies. My plan is to replicate my amp tone for home use, so if I needed to, I would bring it as a back up to my rig and run it parallel to my rig thru a DI.

Theres a guy named Jim Chowning who has always respond to my emails over the years. He has offered to help me out with questions/issues over the phone if needed and took the time to respond to emails within a day or so. I think this is great because it means he's there as customer support M-F answering emails and phone calls. He also told me there is no difference between the "online" version and the older version of the Voodu Valve. They both can receive midi from the online program. This eased my mind when accidently I bid on the older version instead of a newer one.

I also pushed the idea of endorsement, and he had no qualms of forwarding my info to the right guy (crossing fingers!). So props to Jim and Rocktron!

I consider myself a "musician" over a "guitarist". Sounds stupid, but to elaborate...I play tones for the song/genre/etc. I won't crank a Dimebag tone while playing ACDC or SRV just because that's my "tone". I know guys that crank the gain to 10, scoop the mids, use a guitar made of basswood loaded with EMGs that claim they know tone. And at the same time I know guys who don't deviate from a blues tone and a strat. Eh...to each his own... I played a 63 Strat on my last recording and have had my gain set on my Mesa at 4 for recordings. I may not own it, or like the settings, but I have a good idea of what good clear tone sounds like.

I have a Strat, a PRS McCarty Rosewood, a Les Paul Studio, and have owned Ibanez & Jackson guitars. I have been playing since I was 13 (now 30) and have done the whole heavy metal (Metallica, Anthrax, Megadeth, Pantera, Fear Factory, etc.) thing in high school, the alternative-rock (Korn Deftones) and the snobby "vintage guitars/tone only" attitude in college, and the hard rock meets reggae stuff as well as acoustic singer-songwriting in my new endeavor.

My influences are U2, Metallica, Bob Marley, folk music (Cat Stevens, John Denver, Peter Paul & Mary, etc.), rockabilly stuff like Stray Cats & Chris Isaak, singer-songwriter music (Sade, Sarah McLachlan, Prince), and acoustic bands (Ben Harper, Dave Mathews). Bands like Slipknot, Sevendust, Dredg, Radiohead, Tool, and Audioslave get a lot of spins in my cd player, and other times I rock old Lionel Ritchie, some classical guitar, or 80's new wave music.

Why bother you telling all this about me? Well my rig similarly has always had to be multifaceted--able to give me a good crunch that cuts thru bass and cymbal frequencies yet have another tone to play bluesy or low gain stuff. I don't just buy a distortion pedal because one day I want death metal chugg...no sirreee...I need the ability to pull off some country twang/grit AND rock out some Slayer out of the same unit...For those of you with similar guitar attention deficit disorder (G-ADD as I call it) you may want to listen to my opinion of this unit.

For my band Divided by Zero I've use my main beater git, a Les Paul Studio--customized with Duncan JB/Jazz pickups, thru a Mesa Dual recto 3channel thru a Rocktron Replifex, controlled by a Rocktron Patchmate and All Access. I run my distortion on 6 or 7 on the modern-red channel and 4-5 on the vintage-orange channel for my "indie" and bluesy tones. I volume down on my guitar for less gain sometimes and rely on the power of the amp thru the speakers to add that extra distortion.

With that in mind having a Voodu-Valve is like having my main rig plus a few Fender amps and a bunch of pedals at my disposal. I haven't found my perfect tone yet but I am confident it's in there once I figure out the PC program and the EQ settings. I do wish that they built in a tuner to the unit. That would have been very very useful. Good thing I have my Boss TU12...

I would feel horrible if it was stolen and would definately replace it with another. I need to sell my Tech21 and get a tube poweramp. Then I will be 100% happy with my home tone. Until then I'll be happy playing thru headphones.

If you doubt my claims of what I consider "good tone", have a listen to my band: http://www.dividedbyzero.tv or http://www.myspace.com/dividedbyzero

and then go buy yourself a Voodu-Valve, knowing that it has that tone, and a lot of functionality. Studios/producers, forget the Line 6 modelers--why cut scratch tracks with turd-tone when you can use this unit and get the same tone as a mic'd amp?

Anyway, this is forever long and I haven't done my work and it's almost time to go home. C-ya.
James

I was already used to rack mounted programmable effects, so using the voodu was no problem. If you have never had a unit like this it might take some time to get a hang of. It is harder than just twisting a couple knobs on an amp, but there are many more possibilities in the voodu.

I play a Ibanez Jem with Semyour Ducan JB pickups into the Voodu, into Rocktron's solid state Velocity 100 stereo power amp, which is connected to a Marshall 1960 4x12 speaker cabinet. Sounds great with the Voodu's speaker emulator off.

I am using the Voodu into a power amp, so nothing else is coloring the tone. And the tone is great and very natural sounding. The voodu doesn't emulate amps. It has a tube in it, and the more gain you use the more it distorts, just like the preamp stage on a normal amp. This unit can kick out some metallica/megadeth/pantera type sound no problem.

Most of the presets have the effect levels way to high, so you need to do some tweaking. As for the effects, there are more than you can shake a stick at. Most of which are of no use to me. The delay, reverb, and chorus sound pretty good, though I have seen other units where there are more parameters for each of these effects. But then again more effect parameters can just be a pain too. The Hush noise gate is excellent. Some guys here complain about the pitch shifter because it sounds retarded (which it does indeed), but regardless of the manufacture every pitch shifter I have heard sounds like crap

What makes the Voodu great is that it has excellent distorted tone and effects, which can be saved to one of 250 program numbers. To me this is very convient for doing gigs. The other guitar player in my band has a tube amp and an huge pedal board full of effects (which cost a bundle) to lug around and hook up for every show. I just plug in and I am ready to go.

The dual EQ sections are also excellent. One for the input and one for post distortion. The EQ's are also parametric, which means you can change the bandwith and frequency that you are boosting or cutting. Parametric eq's in generally are cool and is also alot of how Dime Bag got his tone from Randall amps back in the day.

One more thing the natural harmonic and artifical harmonic sqweels sound great on the Voodu.

I have not had a problem with the voodu yet. And I do indeed gig with it without a back up

I live near Battle Creek, which is were GHS/Rocktron is located. I went to the factory and delt directly with the compay to by the Voodu and the Velocity power amp. They were really helpful and cut me a great deal.

I have played hardrock/metal for about 10 years, from iron madien to testament to pantera to fear factory, van halen etc. I think the Voodu was made for hard rock and metal. I have owned a Digitech Valve Fx pre amp and peavy 100 amp in the past, the Voodu is way more natual. If this was stole I would replace it or look for the Rocktron Piranha, which I am told sounds similar but without the effects. The ability to program and save multipe different configrations is execellent. When I bought the Voodu I tried out different amps and set ups, but the
Voodu gave the best tone for its price range. Bogner amp heads sound better, but cost like 3000-4000 dollars, which is way out of my budget.

easy, but you need to understand signal processing and audio. If you don't understand the technical aspects of audio or DSP you'll never get a good sound out of it. I have to relate that I have alot of experience with sound design and acoustics, and my friend is a sound engineer who taught me alot. So I might find this easy but a newbie might find it intimidating.

I wrote a review before, wanted to make an update.

You really have to get in and seriously edit it. You can turn off the digital distortion and it will act like nearly any tube preamp I have ever heard. The tube is actually real, you have to get in and turn it on properly. You can get great dynamics too, like SRV playing, but you gotta trick out the eq's, tube settings and such, and I turn off the hush.

This thing likes tube power amps. But I play direct with headphones through an analog mixer. Makes a great direct box. Turn off the digital clipping and it will sound like a marshall or a fender.

The speaker sim kind of sucks though.

The effects are ok I guess, not bad for digital. The chorus and phaser are good. The tremolo is decent. Pitch shift sort of lags a bit at times from the note. Delay is decent. Reverb isn't too hot but useable.

You'll need a midi pedal for it if you want to control it. You can also bypass all the effects too.

It has two gain modes low and high. Low mode has digital clipping. I turn it off. High gain is metalhed tube distortion.

Hush hahaha. Well, I didn't buy it for the hush.

You can get alot of different sounds out of this. If you need one preamp that can do a wide range of sounds, and are willing to spend alot of time editing it it is worth the money. If you do not understand how to setup gear you will find this thing is not very good. This is a great box for people who understand how to tweak it out correctly.

I rate this even higher now, it is a good bang for the buck. It's cheap, so if it got stolen I could replace it. This thing can do a wide range of sounds with alot of tweaking. The factory presets mostly suck.

I play everything from blues and jazz, bossa nova, metal, hard rock. I like to play everything I can learn. I think that makes you a more versatile musician instead of being a one trick pony. I practice every day, scales and all. It's the only way if you want to seriously play and not be a tab tard all your life.

it's pretty easy unless you are a brain dead monkey. I didn't get a manual for it. But I didn't need it. Just twist a few knobs here and there, pain in the ass. It took me about 10 mins to figure it out. You can download some midi patch software instead of linearly editing with the knobs.

Just direct with a strat.

It's not too noisy. Has a dirty pot. HUSH? WTF? It doesn't give me any problems like other people complain about.

The effects. They are ok if you edit them. Most of the presets are way over the top and nasty.

Sound quality is alright. I traded for this with a real shitty digital gear I had. This thing sounds much better than that junk. But at the store they had it hooked up to some seriously nice tube power amp. I figured the reason they hooked me up to such a nice rig for a reason ;-)

I like the few bluesy/texas patches, the gain stuff sounds like sh*t mostly to me, but it does really good clean stuff. It has a few decent effects, a nice pitch shifter and few others. All the presets are massively nasty over the top super hyper processed junk to make it sound fat. It can sound very good if you take the time to remove all that over-the-top crap.

The thing that bothers me about this is that the thing is hardwired to certain effect patches, you can't choose what you want you are stuck to a few various effect chains. They should have made it modular. Really lame IMHO.

If you don't have much interesting gear, this will sound good enough. It's imho one of the better digital preamps around.

I have no idea.

I have no idea.

I mostly just mess around, blues, rock, metal.

If it got stolen I would just get myself a real tube preamp next time.

It's a fun toy. It's ok. I don't play professionally it's just for fun. It is the best digital guitar effects unit I have had so far.

I chose this mainly because I only had a real shitty digital box and needed something better. When I demoed it, it sounded much better than my old box, despite the trickery of the tube power amp. It sounds ok. But I don't play like eddie van halen, and I don't care much for the zillion van halen patches on it either. Stevie ray patch is decent. A few others. The rest get edited away.

Editing effects for me was a must, stock sounds are great but I am going to be using this as a replacement for my Digi Tech GNX3000 for live gigs, so im trying to get sounds that come close to my GNX3000 for my bands existing sounds, I like the sustain I get over the GNX3000, I still love my 3000 but the VooDu Valve has been a nice addition.
Software to edit a patch was easy, even pulling down a sound file from Rocktron web site and loading onto VooDu Valve was easy. I use the M-Audio USB Midisport Uno to connect the VooDu Valve to my computer. I highly recommend using the software over turning the knobs, everything is grouped nicely with the software, but learn to use the knobs as well, you never know what adjustments you might need to do during live gigs, sound systems from venu to venu always differ.
Manual is helpful, I have seen better, support has been great if I could not find it in the manual.

My setup is two processors, VooDu Valve running into TC Electronic G-Major(G-Major needs a preamp). I have also used the G-Major with my GNX3000(WOW). Using the MIDI mapping functionality between the VooDu Valve and G-Major is great. If I want to use an effect from the G-Major and turn off the same effect from the VooDu Valve i.e. Delay or Reveb it is easy to do. Using the G-Major for effects has made the VooDu Valve sound even better. Sometimes I use a combination of sounds from the two, having one processor with a higher level or even the same levels of an effect is amzing to hear. Granted you can have over kill but I found that can happen even if you use just the VooDu Valve effects or G-Major.
I use a Brian Moore i8.13 with MIDI/Piezo pickup. This guitar is a 3 voice so I can run my magnetic picups using VooDu/G-Major, then Piezo I run through a Yamaha Magic Stomp Accoustic processor, then last sound through a Roland VG8. This is great for clean sounds when you want to layer synth with the Roland VG8. I use a Marshall MG250DFX for live sound. I like the amp a lot, but I feel it is my weakest link in my sound. I mostly plug directly into a mixer for practice and recording. One day I would like to purchase a very good tube amp.

I have not had any problems.

Yes very helpful.

Mostly rock progressions, some very heavy sounds others are clean with slight distortion, I like the VooDu for this a lot. I have been playing for 20years. If it was stolen I would like to replace it but then I would like to with most of my gear, sentimental value I guess. My bigest reason for purchase of the VooDu Valve was one sound but I have been using combo floor processors for a long time, and wanted to try something different, but still trying to blend the sounds with other processors of higher grade like the G-Major. The VooDu Valve and G-Major setup does help me make new music, and has helped with my playing but there is no effect or processor that will replace ability to play, im always striving to lean some new technique, progression etc, but having the VooDu Valve and G-Major together has made learning even more a joy.

When I demoed this thing in the store I got it from, it sounded a bit better than when I (silly me!) plugged it into the Valvestate 8004 I was using it with initially. It likes tube power amps, especially the Peavey 50/50 it's in unholy wedlock with now. With a Valvestate, or any solid-state power amp I tried (maybe the Velocity has better voicing for this thing? Dunno yet. No got!), it sounds flat and scratchy, and the reactance control in the cab sim section just adds flub and flab, not anything close to resembling ballsy, chunky GA-GUNK! I had initially planned to use it as a two-space featherweight setup in a little Boss rack, but I wasn't really happy with the tone. Also, there seemed to be this really faint, scratchy, video game consoley, harmonic bleepity-bleep bleeding overtone attached to the distortion, and it was not giving me good vibes. The feedback dynamics sucked! The clean tones were flat, not round and juicy. I thought at first: "Made in Korea, eh...works until you get it home?" Uhh, well, that...umm...changed a bit, needless to say. I am, like, such a dumb-ass! Must have been due to all the marbles I pulverized during my past recreational use of controlled substances! For a dude who scored in the top 99% and was a Mensa member in spite of myself, sometimes I amaze myself with my stellar lack of common sense! I felt like someone had just slapped a $650 gold spray-bombed brick right upside my head! I should have known, because I demoed it with a Mesa tube power amp and it sounded fine. All that EQ-ing I did, then had to undo...D'OH! I actually RTFM, after intuitively figuring just about everything out, in a vain attempt to reconcile with my offended ear! To my credit (if I deserve any), before I fell victim to the Stupid Inanimate Object existential fallacy (UNK! THAG SMASH THUMB WITH HAMMER! BAD HAMMER! HAMMER NOW UNIDENTIFIED LOW-ORBIT RADAR SIGNATURE!), I hooked it up to the power stage of one of my tube practice amps and promptly felt like a certain flying elephant! This thing thrives on reactive loads! Anyone not liking this thing might try saving themselves the disappointment and learning from my error! When I put it in stereo with the 50/50, re-baselined it, and re-tweaked it, it was a very different animal, indeed! Butter and jam on the dry, white toast! A ray of dawn shines forth upon Marblehead!

The manual is very helpful and easy on the eyes. I like the included block diagrams, and the patch editing is intuitive and fairly straightforward. I'm not sure of the firmware revision, but it's one of the newer Korean units, and now I'm a little ashamed to admit I briefly undermined the manufacturing capacity of our Asian brethren!

I use it with many different guitars, with the aforementioned power amp. The scratch has been replaced with likeable happy-tone due to my realization of my erroneous assumptions! It isn't nearly as noisy as some other rigs I play thru, and I am much happier with it since I took the time to reconfigure it properly. Mine doesn't pop on channel change like in another review I saw here. I use an Art X11 as a footcontroller, though sometimes I use its little brother. The effects are very passable, enough that I just use it with the power amp and a rack-mounted Korg tuner. The pitch (dumb as a stump, and I don't mean Joe!) and wah aren't quite "all that and a bag of chips", nonetheless good enough for workable use. The variac, pre/post EQ, and cab sim sections allow a wide tonal range, and the Reactance control is just effing wonderful with a tube power section! Any cab can be made to sound good! GA-GUNK! Metal-heads, take note!

Most of the factory presets need Remedial Tone 101. Needs dialing of levels for live work. Going as light as possible on the compression and Hush is recommended. I dial in the base tone I want, then mix in the effects to my liking, then it's tweak time! It's all quite a bit easier to do on the fly than on my Digitech 2120. I prefer some things about the Digitech, some other things about the VV, but I'm more likely to be gigging with the VV, because I don't want to risk b0rking the "Barney Box". The extremely flexible preamp distortion modeling and tube response digital following are a little different than analog tube crunch (correct me if I'm Ron, but I think the tube is in the input buffer stage and one can get a similar result by running a tube mic pre into the front end of a Chameleon, unless perhaps it's there to give the digital pre a curve to follow...me not entirely sure), but I don't have much issue with this, because I run the power amp on the "brown" side of WFO and this works fine for me. It's really not much of a problem getting the sounds I like out of it, except for that "something extra" of old Fender Twin depth, but it's close enough for rock 'n' roll! I listen to and play a very wide variety of styles, and with a little tweaking, it's all right there in the box (who am I kidding! It's the guitars I use, they play themselves...couldn't be in the fingers...naah...couldn't be...)! I don't think any of the effects are "bad" per se: they're good enough that I'm considering throwing an Intellifex or Xpression in my main rack---it's all in how one decides to apply them. You can get good tones, and if you want to, some really stinky "tie rotting meat around your neck so the flies will come back" ones too---if that tickles the earlobes, more power to ya! I think if that was my aim, I'd have left it stuck to the Valvestate! In hindsight...this sounded like ass! Needless to say, I don't need any stomp-boxes with this rig. I'm rating it thusly because so far, I haven't quite yet approached the kind of clean or Texas grit tones I can get out of the 2120 or main rack (especially now that I've retubed the Twin Tube), but perhaps it's just me being noodgy and I should tweak it some more! Perhaps the ol' JJ magic may raise the bar a little. I haven't opened 'er up yet, but I suspect it's a Sovtek WA reliable piece of dry corn-flake in there running at low voltage. Overall, however, I am rather pleased!

It's been completely reliable since its purchase. I wish I could say the same about my initial setup idea WRT my expectations! I don't think I'd use it without a backup, but if I did, I wouldn't worry too much, it seems to be pretty road-worthy. I've gigged with it a few times (for a change of pace from my main rack), and it hasn't let me down.

I've never had to call Rocktron, and I've used and owned a few pieces of their gear. I have a beat-to-hell-and-back RX-20 in my main rack (still!) and it's kicking booty, and applying Wiccan white magic to the Digitech Twin Tube that I refuse to part with! So I can't rate the support, because I haven't needed it. That's a Good Thing in and of itself!

I play just about anything and everything except for gangsta rap, and I've been doing it for about 28 years, since I was a little nerdy, self-conscious, insecure beaner starting out on "Smoke On The Water" and "Iron Man" one-string melodies! I've grown quite a bit since then...(thank God!) For Pete's sake PLEASE don't make me list my other gear! I have major GAS pains! You should see my bass rig! It's a house-shaker! (I play a few different stringed instruments, although guitar is my main focus, and people tell me I can sing pretty well too, but I'm a little shy so I don't completely believe it...I'm also a halfway decent sound/recording tech...)I'll get around to reviewing the important bits and pieces in due time, I imagine! Four down so far---miles to go before I sleep...

I really, really like this site. Many of these gear reviews and other resources here have helped me add to my insights, and have helped me along with some tough choices, and I wholeheartedly thank those responsible for creating and maintaining Harmony Central! This Guinness (square meal in a bottle!)is raised in a toast for you good folks! May your strings never rust, your keys never stick, and your heads never split!

I think I've just about covered what I like/am not 100% satisfied with, so I'll not bore everyone with more disjointed ramblings about details, except to say that there isn't all too much about it that I DON'T like. It too gets hooked up to the 'pooter from time to time, because as with the 2120, it's a bit less time-consuming to have all the parameters available at a mouse-click.

If it got stolen or lost, please see my other reviews for appropriate guidelines...

Wishful things: Intelligent scalar pitch shifting. Two Motorola DSP's!More Fendery clean chime and "plonk"/Texas blues grit. Me try to fix the latter, first must wait until hammer lands from low orbit, or is shot down by Tricky Dick Cheney mistaking it for a Quayle, or a hunting partner.

I am really liking a lot of the tones that I can get out of this thing. I have a few one-trick studio ponies that give me more of the one specific sound I want, but I can't gig with all of them with all the different stuff I play---nobody would let me on stage around here, and I wouldn't have any room to stand, let alone for the drummer or bassist! I rely on my ear, my bandmates, and the audience to help me get the kind of noise I like. If it doesn't sound good to them, it likely won't sound good to me either and vice-versa! No showers of rotten vegetables yet...a few burned fingers on upheld cigarette lighters---I feel like I've jumped up a notch or two within the past couple of years. I suppose I'm doing SOMETHING right! Listening to others is important; a band is not a wank-fest or a swordfight, it's a communion!

I just wish I could find more people around here with similar experience and priorities, who would rather work at making things better than primp or pollute themselves! For some reason, it's usually the lead singers! Prolly why I never wanted to be one! Ah, well. Time wounds all heels, I suppose. I'll just keep plugging away, and hope for the best...

If you already used Rocktron stuff its easy, its always the same setup.(preset,parameter adjust,parameter select and function select.
If you never used rocktron you will learn quikly its very easy.
Not easy is to adjust the pre EQ and post EQ of the Voodu.
It can be a pain in the bud to get the right sound.
Very important is to use the speakersim with transistor poweramps
or also tubepoweramps.(if you don,t use it that way it will sound allways a little fizzy or fuzzy if you like)
In front of a combo or head you have enough EQ and you don,t have to use the speakersim.
Important also is with distorted sounds to cut of high EQ and presence.
Also cut low end for example in post EQ: bass lvl -15 bass freQ 310hz
bw 2.0 oct mid lvl -15 frq 569hz bw 1.3oct treble lvl -15 frq 1915hz 2.0 oct presence lvl -15 frq 8000hz 2.0 oct.
speakersim: Both/ spkr type 12/ mic pos -15 /reactance 0.
This is what i used with a velocity poweramp,it is a basic rythm
sound.
Another tip don,t use that much gain i used no more than 35
with a poweramp.
Adjust the input level to the maximum point for passive pickups,its all the way open and let the tube do the rest.

Sounds can be great for a digital tube driven preamp.
Don,t forget the voodu is created more than 14 years ago(chameleon)
Yes folks a Voodu Valve is a chameleon with a tube(some parameters settings have differences)
Again sounds can be great but can also be crap if you don,t tweak the Voodu as it should.
I have two complains: 1 The voodu has switching pops.
Between any sounds clean or distorted,sometimes it gets real anoying.
If you don,t use the speakersim it seams a little less but still
its there.
2 There are digital noises(Pacman digital computer sounds) when you don,t play even when you use the Hush(noisereduction).
That makes the Voodu less usefull one stage and i wonder why i don,t
hear and reed more about this problems from other users.
Maybe Rocktron solved those problems on later models??(i have an older model with the voodu geek on the front)
If anyone could thell me ??
Because if the Voodu didn,t have those problems i would give it a 10.
Now its a 10 for sounds but a 2 for practical use on stage.
that makes a 6.

I owne the Voodu for 10 years and only had one problem.(midi input defect),and it was quikly repaired.
Had always good experiences with Rocktron gear(intellifex,replifex and
midi mate).
Its pro stuff.

If you have questions they give a quik repley.(email)
Allways did my service with the local musicstore.

I play for over 30 years guitar and play various styles like old school hard-rock but also sympho rock and blues.
The voodu Valve is real good toneshaping tool if you take the time and tweak.
At this moment i only use it in studio recording setup(i find it not useable live due to its switchingpops and digital noises).
If you compare it to modern time digital preamps like line6 POD,
Vox tonelab and others than the voodu sounds more real and has better effects and you can shape the sound more to your personel needs.
(You can shape stereo direct sounds that are amazing).
But live I prefer a good tube preamp(hafler T3, Mesa Boogie studio preamp) with an effectproccesor(Rocktron Replifex,intellifex).
Again if the Voodu didn,t had those anoying digital noises and switchingpops it would be a real great live and recording multi effects preamp.
Now its only a great recording preamp with good effects.

My Voodu has just been stolen:(....I'm currently in the process of finding a replacement, either a new one or something else.
The Voodu has been my main-amp since 1998. I find it very easy to use, the interface is very intuitive and it's easy to make adjustments to your sound during live-performance. I have tried several other pre-amps that did FAR worse in this department.

I was using my Voodu with a Peavey Classic 50/50 Tube Power Amp, going into a Laney Vintage Stereo Cab, controlled by an All Access...Excellent! I play 2 strats(1997 Collectors Edition Strat with Texas Specials and an American Deluxe HSS) and a 1970 Les Paul Custom.
I have only good things to say about the Voodu, it can dial up all the sounds that I need for both live-work and studio. Furthermore it's very QUIET - the HUSH works like a champ! - I never had any problems with the Hush drying out my sound or killing the intensity.

When I first bought this preamp, I compared it to my old Marshall JCM 900, a Peavey Classic 50 and a Mesa/Boogie Mark IV. I was able to get all the tones that these amps could produce, and I think that some of the sounds from the Voodu were even better!

The effects are great too - it's like an Intellifex with a tube preamp. I mainly use the Delay, Chorus and Reverb(which are all great) - but after I bought the Voodu, I started to develop a fondness for the phaser-sounds in this device too...they are pretty cool:)

I had mine for 8 years...I played around 1000 gigs with it(including 3 winter seasons in a ski-resort in France and 3 summer seasons in a nightclub in Rhodes, Greece)...Never a problem!
I had it flown with aircargo several times to Greece, Italy and other parts of Europe(probably being bumped around by careless cargo-workers....Never any problems!
I have never experienced any kind of problem with this device!(or any of my other rocktron-stuff)
IT ALWAYS WORKS!!

I've never had to deal with Rocktron support, cos I never had any problems. So I wouldn't know.

I play Rock/Pop/Blues/Soul/Jazz/R'n'B, very different styles of music and my Voodu could do it all. I've been playing now for 20 years and have been a professional for about 10 years.
I have to say that it's the best piece of music-equpiment I've ever owned, it had everything I needed and more. It's easy to use and it just won't break...even if you want it to!
I've compared it to several other preamps over the years, like the JMP-1, PodXT Pro, Triaxis etc - and none of these were as great as the Voodu.(I'm sure lots of people would disagree though)
Now that mine has been stolen, it's even more obvious to me how great it was! - cos' I'm back to the terrible situation of tap-dancing on pedals with my old Marshall...and it doesn't even sound as good!...BUUHUU:(
I think I have to buy another Voodu....!

I wrote the previous review and am doing a follow up so most of the stuff is the same.Once you get used to it easy and versitile.Remember the most important thing is the pre and post Eq's .Master this and you have all most any sound at your disposal.The presets are pretty much over done with the effects but the give some wher to start.

NOW!!!! I WAS WRONG!!!!!here is where i'm going to eat my words.I still thought that the sound was digital right, in my pevious review.I was disappointed when i upgraded from the chameleon that the thing did still sound of digital.It was too bright kind of scatchy.If you Eq'd it out you lost your top end ,but then I saw a Mesa 50/50 power amp on ebay and bought it(supposidly the best power amp out, i've heard).
WOW !!Now this unit rocks!It wasn,t so much the voodoo, but the sound I wanted I would only get from 6L6's not EL34's.Very warm and nice bottom end.THe 50/50 has 3 AX7's in it also and now the scratchiness is gone.Before I had a marshall 9200 power amp and it was the reason for the bad review.I might add that that is MY opinion.I know that alot of people will say that there is nothing wrong with the 9200 but it just didn't do it for me.I've got some really great lead tones and ball tearing power chords now.Now this babys a 10
My set up is simple
Charvel 750 XL guitars with Emg's >voodoo valve >mesa boogie 50/50 (not to be confused with the 2:50(newer model))> to a laney quad with HDD speakers(more warmth than celestions).I control it all with a GMC ground control ,and there you have it 256 differnt settings at your dispoal.
Go out and buy one of these babys as it can give you any sound you like just make sure you get a good power amp.I read below a guy who says he used a gorrila amp and it sounded shit ,IDIOT!!

I've been using rocktron for over 13 yrs.I still use my original chameleon blackface for practice that i bought back in 92.They make good stuff.

I like to play alternative music ,which in corparates all styles.Thats why I like the effect processors.I had a stint with the a H&K triamp and all though it sounded good to achieve the sounds I wanted I needed alot of pedals(and I bought them)and it was too difficult to change .I was used to going from one sound to another with multiple effects in the stomp of a foot switch and sold the Triamp soon afterwords.If your happy with just one or two sounds then get a real valve amp .I would suggest a triamp ,but if you like to keep it simlpe and have alot of effects and vesatility then get a voodoo.
If it were lost or stolen I would get one in a second.The only thing i wish it had was that you could chain certain effects together like chorus and flanger but I'm happy with this.the other good thing is that this unit has phantom power so you don't have to run a separate power supply to your foot controller if it accepts it.

pretty easy to use once you play with it.i had the chameleon before this and they are identical to operate.

it still sounds digital!!!!.i bought this cause i thought id upgade my chameleon to a valve pre amp and it still sounds digital.i should have got the rocktron phirana which is a pure valve unit.but they are hard to find ,similar to the marshall jmp-1.i'm used to the effects of rocktron but the digital harshness is really starting to annoy me,ever since i started playing through my amps preamp(with out the voodu valve) you realize what tone is.if they can get rid of the schatchiness and make it more punchy in the bottom end it would be a good unit.i think if you want analog and warmth then you have to go valves and some good boss analog pedals.the hush though is good but does kill sustain and top end.Also it has digital sputters when your not doing any thing just like the chameleon did ,very annoying no mater how much you turn up the hush.It makes these weird computer sounds especially on the clean patches.I've realized that if you put digital any where in the chain then your sound is digital and defeats the porpose of the valve being put there in the first place.Digital yuk! please some body make a all valve and analog effects processor with the vesatility of midi switching.every review i read of any effects unit says the same thing"sounds didital"

my chameleon 2000 lasted me 2 years before i dropped it and shattered the dislay.my black face chameleon was much better than both,wish i hadn't sold it .havn't had it long enough to tell yet






i

garbage, took 8 weeks to get new dislay.

If you like the sound of digital 80s distortion then this is for you.I'm still waiting for a nice all in one valve and analog effects proccessor.I like the sound of my marshall amp but it sucks to stomp on 3 pedals to get a lead tone ,and repeat to go to rhythm sound .I like how you can change up tp 256 presets with one stomp and from one multiple effects patch to another with one stomp and not have to do a tap dance of boss pedals on stage to get every differnt sound.

Very Versatile. A MIDI foot controller is essential for fast patch changes and live sound editing. I use a Behringer FCB-1010.

The wah sound is weak. I use a CryBaby. BUT: Great gains and other effects. The tube sound good enough that I sold my Class A tube amp and simply run this through a Fender Stage 100. I wish it had an envelope filter. Factory presets are terrible, but it's great after editing. See below.

No problems. Seems well built. Its rotary knob editing is good, better than arrow up/down.

Unknown, though when mine did not come with a manual, I easily downloaded the latest PDF from the website. The manual is good, though learning MIDI took some experimentation.

I am very happy with the sound and versatility. When I first bought it (3 months ago), I was dubious due to the unimpressive reviews on this page. Indeed, the factory presets are dreadful. Not only is nearly every other preset in a super processed Van Halen style but ALL volumes are preset to maximum (127 in MIDI). This makes it unusable as such. HOWEVER, once tamed, this beast is outstanding! The tube drive has a good sound, even at low gain settings (of which I am especially particular). Here are my observations:

1. The cleaner the sound, the higher the volume needs to be for balance. Higher gain increases volume substantially. Clean sound volumes need to be set high (100-127), heavy distortion patches need to set very low (10-40)!

2. The Low Gain setting, with its option of Hard Clipping, Soft Clipping, Class A, or Class B settings, gives a wide variety of sound from clean to warm tube overdrive to intense distortion. The High Gain seems unncessary to me. Of course, the type of guitar and amp you use makes a BIG difference. I use a semi-hollow Epi Dot for warm, fat sounds and a Strat for harder, brighter sounds through a Fender Stage 100. I play mostly classic and alternative rock, but range from jazz-blues to old metal.

3. Turning Hush OFF is good for clean or warm sounds. That allows a much more subtle, softer playing style with more sustain.

4. I wish it had seperate stereo headphone and output jacks.

If you are a beginning guitarist, I recommend that you focus on a good guitar, a good amp, and your fingers alone. For experienced players who will not be ruled by the effects, the VooDu Valve can be a great asset!

This unit is not the easiest thing to use, its crammed with an awesome array of tweakage but if your not up on Eq's then this unit can be a bit mind boggling and although it may sound pretty weird i think it would benefit from having a better display so you can see how your tweaking the eq plus having a full sweeaper rather than preset frequencies, but maybe thats just me being picky

As for sound this unit kicks the living shit out of anything else ive ever used its not a 10 as there are some tweaks that could make it just that bit better. Ive only been using big rigs for about 5 years and in that time ive managed to try a lot but nothing seems to beat the VV matched up with a Marshall EL 34 power amp or the 9000 series marshalls. The only down point i would say about the sound it dont bother recording straight from its balanced outputs it doesnt doesnt have a very lively sound in my opinion it sounds much better run through a power amp and miked up (just remember to get that cab off the floor and onto some acoustic foam or something)

Ive gigged with this unit a fair amount and so far not one problem, a friend of mine also has one but its about 5 years older than mine and still never had a problem its a sturdy lil unit

I havent had to deal with rocktron so far.

This unit is awesome with a few more tiny tweaks rocktron have the holy grail of preamps i'd recomend this unit to anyone that wants a rack preamp.

I bought my Voodu Valve used on ebay about 7 months ago. I've waited til now to post my review since this unit does take a while to get your patches tweaked just the way you like them. I spent about 2 months straight fine tuning a few banks of presets that I could use with my Rocktron Midi Mate footcontroller. I've now got 3 banks (containing 5 preset patches each) of great sounding preset channels for live gigging. I plug my guitar into my wah, then into the VV. All I've got on the floor is the Midi Mate footcontroller and my wah pedal. Nice and simple...uncluttered and my sound is huge....with lots of versatility.

I think overall it is easy to use. Right out of the box, you can get an idea of how certain tones will sound using the many different factory presets. The presets are way over processed - too many effects and the levels of the effects are set too high - but I think they're trying to show you what's inside this box...and there's a lot there. As far as digital preamps go, the manual does a good job of explaining how to use the preamp and I found that I had the basics down in just a few nights of tinkering with it. Editting patches is fairly simple and once you've done it a few times, it gets very easy.

I use my Voodu Valve with a Mesa Boogie 20/20 stereo tube amp and run my signal into various stereo cabs...currently using a Marshall 4x12 cab split in stereo.

I think the basic clean tones are fantastic, as are the basic crunch and distortion tones. I think that's where this unit really shines...clean tones, medium crunch tones and high gain tones. I couldn't be happier with those sounds. The extremely high gain tones are just heaven...full, fat, thick, sustaining, perfectly compressed distortion! Love it! The unit comes up a bit short however on delivering convincing Texas blues types of mildly overdriven, just on the edge of distortion tones (as I knew it would). Asking a digital preamp to get you that pushed tube amp type of natural overdrive is asking way too much. Impossible really. But, after months of tinkering I have been able to dial in some decent Texas blues tones and other types of pushed tube amp type natural OD sounds (SRV - Buddy Guy - Tom Petty ). My Texas blues tones still don't sound great...but it definitely sounds good enough to get me by...and seeing how all the other flavors of overdrive, distortion, and clean tones sound so excellent, it's really not much of an issue. Now, if you mostly played Texas blues types of tones...then this would not be a great option for you...but then again, you wouldn't be playing thru a digital preamp anyway if that's the style of music you played.

I think the noise gate works great and most of the effects (reverb, delay, chorus, flanger, pitch shifter, tremolo, phaser) sound very good too. I just wish I could figure out how to set some of the effects so that when I turn the effect off with my Rocktron Midi-Mate foot controller, I wouldn't hear such a dramatic increase in volume. That's a real pain for effects like chorus and pitch shifting. Still got some figuring out to do I guess.

If the Texas blues tones sounded anything like the clean, medium OD, crunch and high gain lead tones......I'd give this category a 10...but I'm going with a 9.

I never gig without a backup. I'll bring a small tube amp and my small pedal board with me along with my cube...because you just never know. But I haven't had any problems in 7 months of weekly use and I bought the preamp used. Not giving a rating because I really haven't had it long enough yet, nor have I gigged out with it yet.

This preamp cranks! I love it. Before I bought a used one on ebay, I compared it against a few other digital preamps that I found in local music stores....the Chameleon, 2 different Digitech preamps, and a Boss GT something or other. This one sounded best to me and is jam packed with useful tones and effects. It does take a while to dial in the sound you want and capture that tone in patches...but once you've got a complete bank of tones at your disposal (clean, light OD, medium blues lead, classic rock crunch, and high gain lead)....that you can use with a footcontroller for live use....it makes it worth the effort. I would also think this preamp would be great in the studio. I look forward to using it at an upcoming recording project.

I've been playing for 30 years...I mostly play classic rock and hard rock, but I also dabble with blues and jazz fusion. I'm into Extreme, Steely Dan, Larry Carlton, Eric Johnson, Steve Vai, SRV, Satch, Al DiMeola, Beck, and tons more. I own lots of amps and guitars...the usual suspects: strat, tele, 335, sg, les pauls... amps: Marshall, Mesa Boogie, 3 Fenders, Peavey.

It was a life long dream of mine to own a great sounding rack cube. I always felt I missed out on something during the 80's when I used a Marshall JCM800 and Marshall cab. I didn't need to buy and build a rack cube....but now I'm really glad I sunk the time and money into it. The rig sounds fantastic. I would highly recommend the Voodu Valve to anyone looking for a 1 space rack preamp who plays music that leans towards harder edged rock tones.

This unit only has a few nobs and switches, so I cant see how anyone couldn't use it. Editing patches are fairly simple if you can have a basic to good understanding of guitar FX.

Right now I'm using 2 Marshall 1960's and I ran it through a 2400 watt (solid state) power amp. I will be switching to tube shortly. Ibanez and ESP 6-7 string guitars and thats it. The sound quality is good although the presets are a bit unrefined, you may need to spend a good deal of time tweeking this guy, there is a good amount of parimeters to adjust so I'm sure you can find the sound you looking for. And for those who say it has an over saturated sound or lacks crunch, try setting the Variac level to the top, not in the minuses, and then adjust the gain to your preference. Pre and Post EQ's are a good thing.

Not sure about reliability yet, I havent had it long enough (In my opinion) to give an answer.

Again N/A

I play a blend of classical and intricate metal, the effects are good for my all around sound. I run my rhythm preset dry with only gain and I like it. I'm hoping the tube amp will give it a bit more body. I can't say if there is a better unit in it's price range but what I do know is stacked up against other processors in its class, and floor units at high volumes (if you take time and adjust it) sounds pretty damn good.

Easy? Ok, I guess if you have been to sound engineering school and know all about EQ and Octave bandwidths you might think it was easy. The manual is real long winded and short on practical applications for the EQ and what not. Secondly if you want to factory reset or re-initialize or any of roughly 200 different utilities then you have to look up some secret "code" number in your manual. If you don't have have fun negotiating the Rocktron website. Lots of fanfare about all the people that use the HUSH and NOTHING ELSE from Rocktron. Horrible to use. I'll give it a 2 because at least the input jack was easy to find.

Uggh. Don't get me started here. When looking at this unit take the word "tube" very lightly. By lightly I mean as in a pilot light because that is all the tube circuit is good for. Sure looks cool to see that thing glowing through the vent doing nothing. I have tried this with 4 different tube power amps and 3 cabinets and nothing helps it. My Crate GX-900H has a better "tube" tone than this thing. Save yourself the money and get anything but this unit. Recently I was using it with 2 Randall 4X12 cabs with Celestion G12t-75's and a Peavey 60/60 power amp. The effects are great but if you want that get a friggin' Lexicon or a TC Electronic for what I paid for this thing new 5 years ago. If you want to sound like Eddie Van Halen playing through a late 80's Crate combo then knock yourself out and get one of these.

Oh boy! Well, after 5 years the buttons on the front began to stick so, since it was past warranty, I opened it up only to find that the way these jacka$$es mounted all the encoder knobs causes the PCB to warp over time. Too much pressure on one side of the board. The thing has never overheated so go figure. I wouldn't use this AS my backup. I'll plug my guitar into my dirthole first.I'll give it a 2 because it made it out of the friggin' store I bought it from. I have ADA MP-1 that not only sounds better than this thing but it was made in 1988 and other than new tubes every now and again and changing the filter caps after 12 years (standard maintenance for caps) it still works and sounds as good as the day I bought it.

I imagine it could be repaired but you know what? Screw that. Why should I pay for shipping and handling and whatever they want to charge me to fix their engineering SNAFU's. The bottom line is Rocktron things their crap don't stink and that's why you hear of SO many pro's using this thing live and in the studio ( That's sarcasm- no-one uses this damn thing). I'll give it a 2 because essentially I was so pissed and frustrated that I won't even bother to follow this thing to the end. I have another (WAY better) amp and don't need this POS. They could be most helpful by stgicking to making the HUSH unit and making NOTHING else.

I play melodic rock and metal and this thing sucks for it. Anyone who says this compares with a Triaxis or something like that has no clue what they are talking about. MY $125 MP-1 SOUNDS BETTER THAN THIS THING. If it were stolen I would thank that person if I could find them. Let's see, anything I wish it had? Oh yeah, I wish it had never been manufactured. Yes, it helps make music sound bad.

I have had the Voodu Online for about 2 weeks. I am still having trouble with all the parameter settings. I have however purchased a USB to MIDI connector and I am currently downloading patches from www.rocktron.com and testing them. This is a pretty simple proceedure to download and upload patches to my unit. The manual is pretty extensive so I am trying to learn as much on my own without it.

I am using playing a Fender USA Strat with stock pickups and a Les Paul Standard with the original pickups as well. I use the Rocktron Velocity 120, Rocktron Midi Mate with a Marshall 1960 lead cabinet. I like the distortion extremely well for the types of music we play ie. STP, Alice in Chains, more grunge. I did download the Chameleon patches and found there are more settings I like than there are in the Voodu as shipped from the factory. I have found that I have to almost max out the HUSH before I get any quiet, this is more so when I play my Strat, maybe a pickup problem with the guitar and not so much the unit.

I would depend on this unit and will gig without a backup. I haven't had the unit long enough to rate it's reliability.

I play mostly Alternative music and I think the Voodu Online and I are a good match. I have been playing for about 15 years and this is the first processor I have really liked. There is a popular band in my area who uses the Voodu and I really like the sound they have and the ability to completely change in a moments notice. I only wish the Voodu had more artist presets or the ability to download more from their website. If anyone has more artist specific patches to let loose of, I would very grateful. I plan to upload and trade presets when I get more familiar with this unit.

I'm the world's worst techno-phobe, so I read the manual cover to cover before I even plugged it in - it's very detailed & took me a while! Actually the VooduValve is quite easy to use - logically layed out - I could've probably dived straight in & kept the manual to hand for when I got stuck. Changing patches is quite easy, but not quick - you have to turn a lot of knobs to accomplish simple tasks - so I wouldn't like to try making "on the fly" changes mid-performance, but surely that's not the point of a programmable unit? After some experimentation, I've got a range of sounds that I'm very happy with (see below).

The VooduValve has 256 presets, 1-126 (127 is a "mute") duplicated 128-253 (254 is also a "mute") with the speaker sim on. Any can be modified. The presets are a good starting point for making your own sounds, however the person who made them must've been wearing earplugs, needed his/her ears syringing or had some very bassy speakers because almost ALL the presets have FAR too much treble. Having said that, once I'd turned the treble & presence down a bit, then experimented with other settings, the sounds are FANTASTIC. I run this through the power section of my Mesa Rectifier & since I got the VooduValve I haven't used the rectifier preamp stage at all - the VooduValve really is THAT good! The variety of sounds available is huge, the effects are very nice, there is a LOT of flexibility - I've not even touched the advanced pre & post EQs (just use the simple one in the gain section) & already have all the sounds I want. I don't have much use for the flange, phase & trem effects (though they sound good), but the Chorus, Reverb, Delays are gorgeous. In particular the speaker sim is superb - as well as sounding great, it can be assigned to just one of the two outputs so you can record direct while still using the amp as normal out of the other output. That's basically my setup - a variety of guitars, VooduValve, R-out plugged into FX return of the Mesa (to just use its power amp stage), Mesa 2x12", L-out with Speaker Sim plugged into my multitrack.

It's not broken yet, or shown any worrying signs. Seems fairly sturdy. I guess I already have a built in backup from the preamp stage of my Mesa (until I buy a rack power amp) - albeit not as versatile. I'd probably take the risk until it bit me :-)

Never called them, or had any cause to - let's hope it stays that way.

I play rock/metal & have all the sounds I could want from this: Brutal, BRUTAL distortions, some mid-overdrives, crunches, shimmering warm cleans - the whole lot. I've played for nearly 20 years & this is my first programmable unit - wish I'd got one years ago. For me, the VooduValve is a FANTASTIC recording tool - whether direct, or into a miked cab. It's perfectly useable live, as long as you don't need/want to tweak your settings. I'd buy another one without any hesitation.

It's kind of a pain in the ass to use... THREE eq sections gives a lot of flexibility, but DAMN you have to turn a lot of knobs to find it.

I have a replifex that I use in my rack (since I didn't keep this thing) and I really like it, but it too suffers from the ease-of-use factor.

For this, it would have been nice if (like on a POD Pro) they would have put knobs for the initial tone control stage of the preamp, and still allow it to be fully MIDI controllable.

Oh the Hush... it SUCKS TOTAL ASS.

My gear: Jackson USA Soloist (SL1) and Warrior (WR1) w/ EMG 81's wired at 18V. Running through VHT 2-90-2 power amp into two Marshall 4x12 Mode Four cabs (purchased after I ditched my Mesa Rectifier cabs).

Well, it's just ok. The guitar preamp sections uses a tube for initial gain stages and adds digital clipping on top. The digital clipping helps keep things clean, but you can't dial out enough of the tube to get it to sounds as clean as, say, their old MAXE preampe (which I use to this day). The clean tones, however, are pretty good.

The *HUSH* TOTALLY SUCKS ASS! Big ole piece of *crap*! When you have the gain high enough, it barely works at all. (By comparison, the active hush-type system on the old MAXE works GREAT, and it's a bazillion years old). This makes the thing almost unusable for me.

The effects... well, they're so so. Nothing spectacular. The reverb sounds kinda hollow, the chorus and flange aren't great. No pitch shift at all.

This thing has a number of factory settings but, by and large, most of the sounds seem too similar. This isn't the best example of a "preamp for all seasons"... though, that's not why I wanted it.

Depending on your style of music, it may work ok. If I couldn't find another MAXE if mine died, I might consider using this one. In the mean time, I sent this back.

dunno.

N/A

I play intricate, usually fast, death'ish metal. I love the set up I have (Rocktron MAXE->Rocktron Replifex->VHT 2-90-2->Marshall Mode Fours). I've been trying things out, and still haven't found anything to best this setup.

This VooDoo Valve is ok, but the fact that its HUSH sucks terribly, the effects are so so, and the preamp just sounds "decent", makes this thing not worth the price paid, even used.

I've tried everything from 5150s, to all Marshall Heads, Mesa Heads, VHT Valvulator, Mesa TriAxis... none of them I like, all because they're based on Tubes. Tubes preamps don't do it for me, and too much of the tube characteristic comes through on this preamp.