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Digitech Vocal 300 processor for sax?

21K views 47 replies 28 participants last post by  progmr 
#1 ·
Hi all,
I'm looking for an effect box so that my sound doesn't sound different every single time we have a different sound engineer. Our band play at different settings/places and I have had so many different sound engineers that doesn't know what I'm looking for... I was browsing around and found the Digitech Vocal 300, it seems to be the one that I've been looking for... I want to set up a preset of effects/delay/reverb/ etc... and so that the sound engineer doesn't need to do anything on the mixer but the volume so that I can have the sound that I want... Have anyone been using this effect box or something similiar to this? It's kinda big, I would love to have a box that's smaller but if this processor do the job, I'm sold.

http://www.wwbw.com/Digitech-Vocal-300-i36517.music

Thank you very much,
Kenny.
 
#5 ·
Looks like a good unit from the description, and I trust Digitech equipment as they make some excellent guitar processors. BTW Kenny I'm getting the mpc out tomorrow, had to accumulate some packing material.
 
#6 ·
DigiTech Vx400

Hello, I have been using a DigiTech Vx400 now for about a year on my sax and pennywhistles n stuff and have been very happy with it. It's similar to the vocal 300. All the effects are the same I think. The main difference being the 400 has a usb port so u can hook it up to your computer. making it function like a sound card. Also very handy for backing up and editing all your presets. It takes a little bit of teeking to get the effects ya like cuz quite a few of the factory presets aren't necessarily great for sax. But its really quite easy to program. It's not a lexicon when it comes to verb but its still pretty good. I've been pretty happy with it.
Happy hunting
Joe Young
 
#7 ·
Thanks for the info., I got mine for about a week now but didn't have time to use it... I'll be using/tweaking it tonight and hopefully, it will be a great unit.

Thanks again,
Kenny.
 
#9 ·
I didn't have a chance to try it on a live gig, but the effects are good when I use them for practice... You really have lots of control over it, and the effects are easy to adjust too... I definately like it.

Kenny.
 
#11 ·
I use one. As said before, the effects are a little cheesy, but they can be tweaked fairly easily. You have to watch out with the levels though, as some of the patches come out a lot louder than others. Also, the EQ is huge when it comes to making it sound right through a horn. You've got to boost the bottom end, but not enough to make it feed(because it sure knows how to do that). I'm still figuring it out actually.
The only real complaint I have with it, is when you have a patch that you have assigned the pedal to control the amount of delay you use, when you switch beck to it form anothe patch, the delay is full on, even when you're pedal says it's not. Totally annoying. It's tough to work around on a gig......not impossible though.
Also, the whammy pedal patch has problems holding the pitch, and has a little bit of a delay at times.
This thing is really good for studio applications(especially the small home types), because you pick your patch, stay with it and you can tweak it exactly for the song you're doing. I heard that Roy Hargrove used on Hardgroove.
It is nowhere near perfect, but it is workable.
 
#13 ·
I, too, use a Vocal 300 -- for bamboo flutes, alto/sop sax, clarinet, which I play in a Bollywood cover band, the group Dhvani of Connecticut, US.

I agree with others that the presets are cheesy and overblown; these are probably designed to get your attention in a noisy place like a Guitar Center store. But it is easy to tweak and save your patches. I think the unit has a clean sound. I use a lot of delays, reverb, occasionally phase or pitch shifter.

In our concerts, many times I also have to run the sound board from the stage, so, it is a boon to have these effects at my feet. I use the unit like a guitar player uses pedals, rather than like a sound board engineer uses a reverb, for example; meaning, I might apply a pitch shifting patch for 15 seconds, then go to a clean patch with a little delay, etc. It is easy to do with this unit. I use an SM 57 mic and run the 300's output to the PA.

- joseph getter
 
#14 ·
xuanvu

Hope you don't mind me asking but how are you getting on with the Digitech Vocal 300 effects unit. This may also be just what I am looking for, but can it take the high volume levels from a tenor sax without distorting.

I need a floor mounted controllable unit with the usual effects and perhaps a compressor to help limit the upper volume - sometimes I'm just too loud.

Would be grateful for your comments.
 
#15 ·
Honestly, I haven't have the chance try it with a live gig... Lately, we play every week locally and the setting is kinda small so I dont' want to bring extra stuffs on stage. (Beside alto & sop. sax, I play the Yamaha WX5 + 2 sound modules, and a set of percussion.) I do however sometimes use it while practicing and it've been working fine. While we practice, the sound level is not as loud as with the gig so I can't tell you yet... This weekend, I'll bring it onto stage and I'll post how it work. By the way, I only play alto and tenor, so I don't know how it will be different for tenor.

Kenny.
 
#18 ·
I've been using the pedal for three years

I've been using that pedal for about three year now, started using it in a reggae band (2 1/2 white guys). I also used it in my sax/bass/drums trio for its wah, octave dropper, distortion, echos, reverb, etc (see http://www.robbennion.com/nostreet.htm) . It's fun and seems to work well in smaller settings, and in club settings too. Be carefull about monitor placement, especially on the wah effect, as it will feedback sharply. If you can use a headphone-monitor setup to have a quieter stage then do it, it'll give you more freedom to use the pedal without worrying about feedback. Digitec pedals have historically had problems in their buttons (many guitarists have told me this), and I had to replace the connection in the buttion I use the most. Luckily it was still under warranty, so I didn't have to pay a penny. Lesson learned: buy it new so you can replace the pedal once it wears out the first year.
 
#19 ·
Octave effect in vocal 300?

Hi all,
I'm an amature saxophonist in Singapore and I've been reading up so much about effects with the sax.
However I'm hoping to apply an octave below effect on the alto sax.
I've attempted to play with octave padels for guitars (BOSS OC-2) but the sound just doesn't work.
Anyone out there knows which equipment is best for this effect? does the vocal 300 include this feature?

Thanx for reading.
jo
 
#20 ·
300 for octave-dropper

Singapore,
The vocal 300 has an option to adjust the pitches to wherever you want, so you could set it to drop an octave, or a whole step, fourth, fifth, etc. you can also adjust the mix so that it outputs 50% your un-effected sound 50% the effect, so you could play through a pa and have both the normal sax and the octave drop come out . . .
 
#21 ·
wow i love this pedal. a guitar player friend of mine recommended it and it really works great for sax. I mean for the money (around 200) it has so many options. Right after a i bought it i saw kenny garrett in concert and heard him using some effects. i wasn't close enough to see what he was using, but after the show went down front and he had a digitech vocal 300 ! The only thing is is feedback. I am having a little trouble with that because i play in many bands and each system is different. There are levels you can control on the gain of the effect and eq which makes a big difference, but there is a lot of trial and error. so worth the money though...........
 
#22 ·
saxolution said:
Singapore,
The vocal 300 has an option to adjust the pitches to wherever you want, so you could set it to drop an octave, or a whole step, fourth, fifth, etc. you can also adjust the mix so that it outputs 50% your un-effected sound 50% the effect, so you could play through a pa and have both the normal sax and the octave drop come out . . .
I've been using the "Monster" setting as an octave dropper. The way I do it is change the "size parameter"...to my ears, somewhere around 29-30 is an octave below...but my ears aren't perfect. does anyone know how to convert the "size" parameter to intervals?

Also, saxolution....how do I get it to have that 50% normal sound/50% pitch change? right now it's all pitch-change, so the only chorus I get comes from the unamplified tenor mixing with the amplified "effected" tenor.

this manual is absolutely worthless! but other than that, this pedal is exactly what I wanted. the band is real happy I got it, and I'm excited at all the possibilities it holds!
 
#23 ·
I just recently got one. I think its going to take some sitting down with and tweaking the presets as well as making some of my own to get this the way i want it, especially because I dont want to overuse the effects, i'm still a sax player first. I was borrowing a guitar pedal before, i think the RP 300 and was getting lots of feedback with its presets. But, on that one 12 was giving me the drop octave. I havent explored on the vocal pedal yet. Keep us updated if you guys find any patches or custom patches that really work well

AZ
 
#24 ·
I too would be interested in any patches anyone has.

I am using the Vocal 300 for Reverb, Echo, Chorus and Octave Down. I too had feedback problems with one one patch I had set up for Soprano, it may have been because I lowered the mic, which made it nearer the monitor. I reduced the Level in the Tube/Pre section.

Don't forget you can change the Master Volume with the Knob second from right. I have mine at about 25 to 30 and not much on the PA amp. The unit seems to have quite a lot of output. If you switch the power off, re-set this when you switch it back on otherwise it defaults to 50.

One other thing the manual is wrong with regards to saving patches in different locations, took me ages to find that you use the up/down footswitches to select the patch number before storing.
 
#25 ·
I set the Pitch Shift preset to -12 for the drop octave, and took out all delay and all but a tiny bit of reverb. I like the pedal, although like it has been mentioned before, it takes a bit of tweaking to get the right sound out of it and to weed through the cheezy settings. Also there is way too much delay and reverb in most of the settings for my taste, but i'm putting the sax through it, not vox.
 
#26 ·
Man, I love this unit, and it is great to hear about the settings and effects that other people have found to work best.

One of my favorite tricks is to set up a nice clean delay with almost no decay, then set the foot pedal to control the effect level. When you want delay you pedal it up, then back down when you just want to play without the echo. You can get some awesome effects this way and not let it get out of hand since the pedal can turn off the echo whenever appropriate.

If this explanation is unclear, let me know. I'd be happy to explain further.

I need to go experiement with that pitch shifter you guys are talking about. I haven't explored that setting yet. Sounds wicked.
 
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