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#242535 - 09/12/08 01:36 PM TC Helicon Harmony 4 users How do you like it so far?
Dnj Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 09/21/00
Posts: 43703
Would love to hear some reviews.......sorry I meant Harmony M


I'm in the market for another VH unit
http://www.voicetonepedals.com/harmonym.html

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 09-12-2008).]

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 09-12-2008).]

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#242536 - 09/12/08 02:56 PM Re: TC Helicon Harmony 4 users How do you like it so far?
miden Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 01/31/06
Posts: 3354
Loc: The World
Donny, are you interested in hearing a bit about the Harmony M?

Dennis

OOPS, didn't re-read your amended post!

[This message has been edited by miden (edited 09-12-2008).]

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#242537 - 09/12/08 03:20 PM Re: TC Helicon Harmony 4 users How do you like it so far?
miden Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 01/31/06
Posts: 3354
Loc: The World
If you don't already have the Helicon harmoniser, then the Harmony M is really, a very good unit, sound wise.

The "Tone" function is almost worth the purchase price by itself.

I asked the TC engineers how I could get the same thing (sound on the input vocal) on the Helicon on the PA, and they said it was not possible as the one on the Harmony M, was not fixed, and actually modified itself automatically to whatever signal was going into it.

So for example if you had a cold and the vocal was a bit muffled, it automatically compensates. Same as if the vocal was a bit "screechy and thin" it also then automatically modifies itself to output as good a sound as possible.

All without any user input at all!! Pretty cool.

As for the harmony voices themselves, they are perhaps slightly better than on the PA unit, there is one less, 2 instead of three, but personally I didn't find this an issue.

There are not too many presets (although all are user editable) however in my shows I usually only have one setup for no harmony singing, one for a single higher harmony line, and a third for the "full harmony", so the number of presets was not a problem.

The sonic quality is typical Helicon, superb. It introduces no noticeable audio noise into the signal path, and the footswitches are firm as you would expect, but are very responsive to a firm push, they can be operated easily with a finger so it can be keyboard mounted if you wish.

One thing that annoyed me a bit, was the red LED's are very bright, too bright in my view (no pun ).

On the operational side, I found the chord recognition a little flawed, in that you had to keep to pretty simple triads otherwise you do get some unusual notes happening. .

Although to be fair, this may have been my chordal playing style,but it is not something I notice on the PA2x version.

It will ONLY recognise harmony information from MIDI, and none from the audio source, something that the PA2x version does.

So you cannot simply sing and the harmony engine follows the pitch you are providing.

But on a unit that is priced like this, and sounds as good as this, its not an issue really.

It has 2 audio outs, which depending on how you set it up can send a stereo signal, or can send a dry signal as well as a summed mono signal.

MIDI receive channel is selectable, and the onboard controls give pretty good user control over all levels.

Thoughtfully, TC have centre indents on the knobs which the engineers have set as being the optimum for each control, so its pretty much set and forget apart from minor adjustments.

To sum up, if it wasn't as fiddly to include in my rig, AND considering I have the Helicon in the PA2x, I would use it instead of the PA version, simply because of the input tone feature.

I will be keeping it because I may not have the PA forever, and once setup for personal use, this pedal would go with you to any keyboard you use.

Donny I hope that helps you, but if you have other specific questions, I will do my best to answer them.

Dennis

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#242538 - 09/12/08 05:14 PM Re: TC Helicon Harmony 4 users How do you like it so far?
mikeathome1 Offline
Member

Registered: 08/23/04
Posts: 1208
Loc: Syracuse NY
I agree with miden it just sounds good without any adjustments.
I know I've said it before but even without using the harmony I would keep this unit just for the effects and the tone.
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#242539 - 09/12/08 06:15 PM Re: TC Helicon Harmony 4 users How do you like it so far?
Dnj Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 09/21/00
Posts: 43703
Miden....I actually miss my Pa KB for the TC unit alone, with that said I have used many Digitech & Tc units in teh past mostly rack-mounts....but I will agree TC Helicon is my favorite. About 2 months ago Fran & I demoed the Harmony M at a large chain music store in the area the salesman dodnt know how to hook it up properly but I could tell from what we heard it was TC Helicon quality all the way......but I was waiting for the new arrangers to come to market at that time......now that the T3 is here & all previous Yamaha models have a sub par VH...I will have to go for a Harmony M for some of the reasons you have stated here.......flexibility to use with any arranger like my Tyros & Kb's in teh future....and Midi controllers for recording with my PC....its definitly top quality build & sound for sure........& the bang for the buck is incredible. I'll be ordering one next week for sure along with a few other things I need.

Thank you for your review its been very helpful....

Donny

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#242540 - 09/12/08 06:26 PM Re: TC Helicon Harmony 4 users How do you like it so far?
travlin'easy Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 12/08/02
Posts: 15556
Loc: Forest Hill, MD USA
Dennis said it all--it's a great machine, and it will work with any keyboard, arranger or synth.

Gary

------------------
Travlin' Easy
_________________________
PSR-S950, TC Helicon Harmony-M, Digitech VR, Samson Q7, Sennheiser E855, Custom Console, and lots of other silly stuff!

K+E=W (Knowledge Plus Experience = Wisdom.)

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#242541 - 09/12/08 10:58 PM Re: TC Helicon Harmony 4 users How do you like it so far?
miden Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 01/31/06
Posts: 3354
Loc: The World
Quote:
Originally posted by Dnj:


Thank you for your review its been very helpful....

Donny


Donny you are more than welcome, glad it helped.

Cheers,
Dennis

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#242542 - 09/14/08 02:15 PM Re: TC Helicon Harmony 4 users How do you like it so far?
keybplayer Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 10/27/03
Posts: 2417
Loc: CA
Same here Dennis. Thanks for your review.

I recently read a review about the HarmonyM in I believe it was Recording Magazine.

The review was, of course, by a long standing professional in the business and he really liked the HarmonyM. He also mentioned the Tone feature that actually can improve the overall tonal quality coming in from a Mic. He also thought the Harmony voices were great with no necessary muss and fuss on getting them to sound good. He did mention that the more costly units that TC-Helicon sells i.e. Voice Works Plus, etc. have a more sophisticated Harmony implementation and more features and a slightly better harmony quality, but for the price of the HarmonyM, he said he highly recommended it and said that what you are getting with the HarmonyM is a whole lot, for a lot less money.

I will most likely order one soon myself.

Best,
Mike
_________________________
Yamaha Genos, Mackie HR824 MKII Studio Monitors, Mackie 1202 VLZ Pro Mixer (made in USA), Cakewalk Sonar Platinum, Shure SM58 vocal mic.

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#242543 - 09/14/08 02:35 PM Re: TC Helicon Harmony 4 users How do you like it so far?
miden Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 01/31/06
Posts: 3354
Loc: The World
Cool Mike..I don't think you will be disappointed when you have that first listen!

I sort of went "oh yeah" when I heard the guy demo'ing it (the tone feature) on the website, but when I set it up and heard it (OOTB) I was converted, after about 2 lines of lyrics LOL..Great unit.

Dennis

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#242544 - 09/14/08 03:05 PM Re: TC Helicon Harmony 4 users How do you like it so far?
Diki Offline


Registered: 04/25/05
Posts: 14182
Loc: NW Florida
Quote:
Originally posted by miden:
One thing that annoyed me a bit, was the red LED's are very bright, too bright in my view (no pun ).


I have had this issue with some other gear. A black Magic Marker dot on the LED is usually enough to dim it enough. Apply more coats for more darkening... (And a Q-Tip with a little alcohol makes for easy removal)

I just wish there was an easy way to go the other way... Far too many LED lights aren't bright ENOUGH for a well lit stage, or outside gig, IMO...
_________________________
An arranger is just a tool. What matters is what you build with it..!

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