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Pros:
- Wide range of features
- Great tracking capabilities
- Guitar tuner
- Amazing harmonies
Cons:
- Finding the perfect settings is a bit time consuming
There was a time when effect pedals were the luxury only guitarists could enjoy. Those, who played different instruments had to suffer. But the most discriminated group has always been of singers. For some reason, human voice was considered as an organic sound – something that didn’t need any modification. Many purists enjoyed the inner perfection and the pristine character of their voice.
Yet times changed and modern music appeared to have different requirements. I’m not trying to say that we don’t appreciate natural vocals – that’s something we can never say no to. But technological development brought with itself changes to the way we look at singers and their sound. Before, you had to be absolutely perfect to be taken seriously, but now it has become more acceptable to modify the imperfections in your voice.
It has also become more common to add some sort of sonic effects to it, meaning that you can turn yourself into a robot or a singing machine if that’s what you desire. If you want to try something new and diversify your singing capabilities, then VoiceTone Harmony-G XT will be your best friend. Do you want to know what are its virtues? Then stay with me, pay attention to all the details and I’m sure you’ll get all the information you need. Let’s get this journey started!
Features
TC Helicon VoiceTone Harmony-G XT was designed with live performance in mind. This means that it has all the features that are needed to assist any artist, regardless of their needs. Just like its contenders, this puppy has an auto-chromatic pitch correction, which means it can set the key according to your guitar, or modify it manually in case you’re simply singing. This way you can basically forget about everything and let your voice overshadow everything else on the stage.
But this is a sort of unit you shouldn’t forget about since it has some more virtues up its sleeves. The versatility of Harmony-G XT derives from the two harmonic voices it offers. Voice 1 and Voice 2 both have similar options to choose from (higher, high, low, bass), but there’s one exception: the former provides us with octave up, while the latter is equipped with octave down.
Moreover, this pedal comes with a number of effects to choose from: Hall Reverb, Room Reverb, Echo, Slap, Combi and SFX. Effects can be added to your guitar as well, just in case you’d like a bit more texture in your sound. Of course, there’s a diverse doubling effect for your voice, which offers four options. They can be utilized in combination with harmonious voices. With the help of an A/B switch, you can easily navigate through available effect options and select the desired one in no time.
Additionally, Harmony-G XT comes with 5 presets that are designed with various effects and settings. You can choose the number of presets, rewrite factory settings, and store your own combinations in the pedal. The feature that really makes a lot of difference here is the Tone button, which is basically a set of different controls: it takes care of EQ, compression, de-essing and gating simultaneously. TC Helicon did also include a mic preamp to make sure your gear wouldn’t get in the way of your performance. We’re dealing with a diverse beast, don’t you think?
Controls
Surprisingly, Harmony-G XT comes with detailed controls. Generally, vocal processors aren’t the most crowded units in terms of knobs, since they usually have an LCD display and internal menus that let you modify desired properties. But with this particular device, you have to turn to an old-school tweaking process and mess around with several encoders to get the desired effect.
When you start singing, the first thing you should set is Input. You should make sure that the complementary LEDs are green or orange, and avoid red flashing. Tone has dual responsibilities: it either triggers the mixture of tonal controls, or activates Auto-Chromatic Pitch Correction (with double-clicking). Guitar enables you to set the volume of your instrument according to your voice (in Auto mode, this will happen automatically). FX Level does the same thing for your effects, while Harmony adjusts the level of harmony and doubling effects. Preset Select makes it possible to scroll through available presets, Manual will lead you to the advanced menu, Double Voice will copy your voice and create the illusion that you’re singing with yourself, FX navigates through available effects, Stereo toggles between mono and stereo modes, while Voice 1 and Voice 2 take care of the harmony. When it comes to footswitches, the first one can be set to shift between your two favorite sounds (or all 5 presets), while the second one can either trigger doubling and harmony effects, or toggle between tuner and bypass modes.
TC Helicon Harmony G XT Sound
TC Helicon Harmony-G XT won’t have a surprising sound quality for those who have dealt with VoiceLive processors before. I don’t mean this in a negative way, rather, I’m trying to imply that this bad boy follows the quality we’re used to. It has beautiful tracking capabilities and is pretty neat whether you set the key manually or automatically.
The combination of harmonies and effects can lead you to some interesting results. No matter which settings you utilize, your voice will always remain thick and rich. This is especially true for doubling effect as it adds a lot of dimension to your performance. The knobs it has can be hard to navigate through when you’re getting started, however, you will get used to them eventually and tweaking this puppy will turn into a piece of cake. On the whole, Harmony-G XT is a wonderful piece of equipment.
Conclusion
All in all, TC Helicon VoiceTone Harmony-G XT is one of the best vocal processors for those, who love messing around with their sound. If you hate the idea of complicated menus, then this puppy will be your lifesaver. Its sound will compliment your voice beautifully and steep it with interesting textures. Experiment with this fella and let’s see where it takes you. Good luck!
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