Voce V5+

I would like to have reverb. I had to buy a guitar stomp box reverb that sits on top of controller next tp the V5+ It's always on.

I use a Hammond XB-2 as a controller only. I like the touch, and it does change presets and other useful things on the Voce. Best of all, The V5 sits perfectly on top above the Hammond drawbars. I use the V5 audio output only to a Treck floor petal, to a "Super Stock" Leslie 122 from Keyboard Spectialties. This thing Screams! I've played many of the other clones. The Voce has a fatter, more accurace sound and chorus. I have never owned a B-3, but the V5+ is the sound. It must be run through a tube leslie to test drive. Set the Leslie amp on 10, and let it growl.

I bought a V5 in 2000, no problems. Traded up to a V5+ after hurricane Ivan, no problems with replacement v5+ to date.

The V5 or the V5+ are both "thick, fat, and accurace." Get a good leslie, the Voce provides great Hammond sounds, the hammonds you hear on hit records, new or old.

If you use the V5+ by itself w/ one keyboard, you hardly even need a manual. It's that straightforward. If you want to use it with two keyboards for which the 2nd keyboard would control the lower manual drawbars through MIDI, you need the owner???s manual to map those drawbars through specific continuous controller (CC) numbers to be able to control those drawbars. The owner???s manual lists the MIDI settings CC numbers. Setup time to do the latter can be significant. However once setup and configured, you no longer have to touch the configuration again. My rating is based on the two keyboard MIDI configuration and the attempt at controlling both sets of drawbars in real time. For one keyboard w/ a split point it would be rated higher.

Unlimited polyphony, has chorus/vibrato v1-v3 and c1-c3. 9 individual drawbar controls on the unit, no built in effects and you can create up to 7 preset configurations. The one set of drawbars can control the upper manual in real time. The lower manual and pedals cannot be controlled in real time other than through MIDI. This could have been easily avoided by simply installing a 3-position button that chooses the manuals/pedals you want to control with the drawbars. Voce chose not to go this route. Instead you must create a preset for the lower manual configuration including a split point. When a preset is called up the lower manual defaults to the drawbar settings for the lower manual while the drawbars can control the upper manual in real time. If you need to change the drawbar settings of the lower manual you create that drawbar setting into a different preset and switch to it. Points off for this design. Just so happens that my keyboard has sliders so that I can control the lower manual???s drawbars via midi so I can control the lower manual and its related drawbars w/ my 2nd keyboard???s sliders in real time.

Somewhat disappointing and here's why. I currently own a Generalmusic Equinox, both the 76 key and the 88 key versions. The equinox has 8 sliders which can independently control 16 MIDI functions. I use the equinox to control the 9 drawbars for the lower manual. I bought the Voce V5+ because from what I had listened to on various websites (voceinc.com, motion-sound.com) as well as what I read in various literature, it sounded like the real deal. I purchased the Voce and set it up with my equinox, playing it through a Motion Sound Pro 3T/LowPro combination.

I observed the following:

1) percussion sound (tone) was spot on (perfect), although I thought that the soft percussion was just slightly too soft (but acceptable) while the normal percussion was just slightly too loud (but acceptable). The drawbar volume reduction when in ???normal??? percussion mode reduced the drawbar volume more than a real B3, therefore this is the true source of the slight percussion exaggeration in normal mode.

2) V1 to C3 were very good. My understanding is that on the Voce V5, the V/C was understated. Looks as though they now have corrected vibrato/chorus on the V5+.

3) Drawbars: the tone sounded very good, but surprisingly not significantly better than the Equinox???s own hammond samples. I went so far as to A-B the Voce and the Equinox's Hammond tone. When I turned the percussion and vibrato/chorus off on both units, there were some notes I could not tell apart. The Voce sounded better in the lower register and the upper register but otherwise pretty much the same in the middle. I couldn't believe it. I had a friend over who owns the Electro and a 145 tube Leslie. He wanted to hear the Voce. There were some cases where he guessed wrong which Hammond tone he was listening to. Overall, the Voce sounded a better than the Equinox but I quickly realized the incremental difference was small.

4) The last 4 drawbars of the Voce seemed underpowered especially 2??? and 1???. In some cases even with the 1??? drawbar fully drawn it was difficult to hear that tone in the mix. The 1??? drawbar at the foldback points was almost inaudible. My B-3 isn???t that inaudible at the foldback point. I tuned the volume of each of the Equinox???s drawbars across the keyboard to the volume of my B-3 (a tuning luxury you don???t have w/ the Voce). The Equinox???s 2??? and 1??? drawbars are slightly louder than the Voce overall and especially at the foldback points.

There is a much larger difference between the Voce and the Equinox with the vibrato/chorus and percussion turned on. The Voce blew away the Equinox when both of these keyboards had v/c and/or percussion engaged. I knew that was going to be the case and wasn???t surprised; this was the reason why I pursued the V5+ because I knew the Equinox's v/c and percussion were lacking. What I didn't realize was how well the Equinox's hammond tone stood up to the V5+. The Voce's hammond tone is better but not tremendously better. I thought that it would sound significantly better from a Hammond tone point of view. I was somewhat disappointed that the Voce???s hammond tone didn't ???blow away??? the Equinox???s raw Hammond tone.

Don't know the answer to this but here is what I learned: A second-hand purchase of the Voce voids the warranty. Also the way Voce handles repairs is to send the unit to a designated tech who removes the printed circuit board and sends it to Voce for a replacement. The customer will pay for a new Printed Circuit Board. That???s right, no bench time to find the bad component, the customer pays for a replacement board (and it is an expensive replacement board, i.e. several hundred dollars for the board alone, plus bench/installation time). Keep this in mind when you buy one used.

When the V5+ came out, the only improvements over the V5 were vibrato/chorus and percussion; when I inquired to Voce, Inc. about getting a V5 upgraded to a V5+ I was told by Voce that they don???t offer an upgrade. In reality this is as simple as taking out one PCB and putting in another PCB. Then the old boards could be upgraded and returned to stock by Voce. The ???no way??? attitude is a shitty one. They could learn a thing or two from companies like Motion Sound, who are spot on customer focused

I was expecting a step change up in sound from what I had. The V/C and percussion were a large step change but the drawbar ???tone??? was more incremental than a large step change. I can sample my B3 percussion and insert this into the Equinox. That would mean the only step change remaining is the Vibrato/Chorus shortfall which could be remedied with the purchase of a Boss vibrato and chorus pedal ($150 cash outlay). I guess the good news is that I learned that the Generalmusic Equinox has a pretty good sounding hammond organ tone. Also the Equinox allows control of all 9 drawbars in real time with the use of the sliders on the top panel of the keyboard so I get full control of the drawbars (same feature as a Kurzweil K2600) Also I???m finding that in some of the Motion-Sound videos, they are using the Generalmusic Genesys Pro as the Hammond sound source for their Pro-145 demos. Might want to check out the Equinox. Can be bagged cheap. Here are some reviews of the Equinox outside of Harmony-Central. Note the one reviewer who says??? ??? .. It had a drawbar organ section too ! This is fantastic. Sounds as good as my Native Instruments B4 ! ..)

http://www.sonicstate.com/synth_reviews/generalmusic_equinox.cfm