Home Forums Help/Technical Questions voice box vs v256

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  • #79112
    rectec
    Member

    hi all. greetings from a newbie (as you say stateside) from the UK. what exactly is the difference between the voice box and the v256. i usually use alot of software (ableton etc to do what i want) – but these two little gizmos seem immediate, fun and amazing value for what they do. i am trying to integrate laptop music (mine), with drumming (mine) and vocals (mine) and these little babies seem to do the job. i want vocoder, harmonies and some midi control over parameters would be nice (to trigger with footpedals). DO i get ONE or BOTH voice box and v256?? (or something else? – the other stuff on the market is much more complex). i would be grateful for as much info as possible and your reputation as a friendly bunch preceeds you. many thanks. rectec

    #102198
    rectec
    Member

    just checking replies and views on other questions – one post got 1124 views and 13 replies. i dont mind how many views i get and one soild reply would do (only cos i’m off to buy the stuff in the next few days). peace to all you good people. rectec

    #102203
    electro-melx
    Moderator

    Hi mate, I’m in the UK too….. I think the reason you haven’t got a reply yet is that none of us (‘us’ as in non-ehx employee forum members) own a V256 … I’ve yet to even try either. :)

    You might be lucky and get an answer from someone at EHX here but I’d probably try emailing them directly if you have specific questions.

    here’s the PDF instructions for the voicebox, unfortunatly the one for the V256 isn’t up yet or that might have helped.

    https://www.ehx.com/assets/instructions/voice-box.pdf

    anyway welcome to the forum … :)

    #102204
    rectec
    Member

    cheers mate – spoke to someone at a shop called hot rox and hee read out the manual – the midi bit seems really cool – i t makes it like a korg vocoder bit with more bands -256 instead of only 8 – if u use a midi key board and there are midi commands – awesome bit of kit if that is true – rectec

    #102205
    electro-melx
    Moderator

    Hotrox are great, very helpful staff…I’ve bought a lot of my EHX pedals from them over the years….. great for valves too.

    …. let us know how it is if you get one, lots of people here would be interested in your thoughts.

    #102224
    Tonneman
    Member

    The difference is hard to tell. I own a V256 since a couple of days now, and it’s a vocoder and harmonizer as well. The V256 has MIDI in, which the voicebox has not. The midi in allows you to play the internal synth of the V256. This internal synth cannot be isolated (so in fact, you don’t hear the synth), but it is internally used to modulate on the voice (vocoding) or for note-tracking and harmonizing.

    The voicebox / V256 overlap in functionality as far as I can tell. There is a thin line between vocoding and harmonizing. Maybe the V256 is more focussed on vocoding.

    I used an external synth (novation A-station) as input (carrier) for the vocoder, and then you have the ultimate control over the sound of the vocoder: The external synth AND the knobs on the V256 can be used to create the most extreme effects.

    It’s a pitty that the V256 has only a mono output, so when used to harmonize, all the voices are mono. Obviously, an external chorus/reverb can be used to finish the sound. (the voicebox had a built in reverb).

    #102228
    rectec
    Member

    thanks for all these replies – i may just have to get both for what i need. i was amazed at the speed, number and depth of replies……and yes americans are thought of cool in the UK. one of my best friends is an american artist. the 8-256 refers to the bands of (which might best be described as filters) 8 it is very robotic 256 is smoother and subtler (i would guess). when i get my self set up i will feed back and let you know how i’m getting on. I am predominantly a visual artist http://www.recombinanttechnologies.com (hence rectec) but i am getting back in to music after a gap (i was asked to do some vocals for a DVD and this really rekindled my desires)……….anyway, ’nuff said – cheers RecTec

    #102260
    electro-melx
    Moderator
    Quote:
    cool, it sounds dumb, but i really like the uk although ive never been, but i would really like to live there, but i didnt want to move in and have everyone see me as an “american” as an insult. thanks, oh, and does every english person know who matt berry is?

    Matt Berry? …… the actor?

    Nah, I think you’d find there are cool and not cool people here, the same as anywhere in the world….. and although small (compaired to the USA) it’s quite different from county to county, London isn’t really representative of most of the UK.

    ask Fender&ehx;what he thinks, he’s been over for a week. :)

    #105441
    jdragon
    Member

    I’ve been playing with my V256, feeding it’s internal synth with the MIDI output of a Korg EA-1 MKII on MIDI channels 1 & 2. Seems to work although I do have some questions since the V256 instructions say the V256 comes factory preset to Omni Off mode set to channel 16. How does one access the V256 MIDI setup? Can that channel 16 be changed to another MIDI channels, such as 1 or 2? Can Omni Off be changed to Omni On? You got me. Is there a secret combination of buttons to push or are the MIDI perimeters “fixed in place”? What MIDI channel(s) are you using to communicate with the V256, using your A-station?

    Quote:
    I used an external synth (novation A-station) as input (carrier) for the vocoder, and then you have the ultimate control over the sound of the vocoder: The external synth AND the knobs on the V256 can be used to create the most extreme effects.
    #105445
    rectec
    Member

    i just got my v256 – it is a great effect for minimal use in songs/tunes – just a bit here and there. i am waiting to gtake delivery of the voicebox thingy – double the fun – again used sparingly. not had time to work out the midi bit but i am using a oxygen8 and ive got a feeling the midi wont work from it – so i am looking at other CHEAP midi options – any thoughts (retro keyboards or controllers – unusual or other wise) or maybe the oxygen8 will work and ive just not read any of the hand books) rectec

    #105589
    jdragon
    Member

    Okay, I’ve experimented some more. The external controller (in my case the EA-1), does NOT run the V256 internal synth UNLESS the controller is set to output CC messages on MIDI channel 16. On 16 the music programmed in my EA-1 (Electrotribe) sequencer plays havoc with the vocal output of the V256. Here’s the rub: Vocoding works best with a drone or simple slowly evolving melody and sounds like warbling crap when the pitch of the synth varies too quickly, such as in a programmed pattern phrase or “loop”. KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) seems to rule the day!

    Quote:
    I’ve been playing with my V256, feeding it’s internal synth with the MIDI output of a Korg EA-1 MKII on MIDI channels 1 & 2. Seems to work although I do have some questions since the V256 instructions say the V256 comes factory preset to Omni Off mode set to channel 16. How does one access the V256 MIDI setup? Can that channel 16 be changed to another MIDI channels, such as 1 or 2? Can Omni Off be changed to Omni On? You got me. Is there a secret combination of buttons to push or are the MIDI perimeters “fixed in place”? What MIDI channel(s) are you using to communicate with the V256, using your A-station?
    #113671
    coreythewebb
    Participant

    Hey all, I owned the voice box for a while now and recently got the v256. I use them both in a live setting.

    Voice box – love the vocoder on here. I find the other features pretty useless. The harmonizer functions are cool in theory but tend to hesitate on locking in your harmonic structure (which can sound pretty bad to the perfectionist). Its impressive technology, but not impressive enough for a live performance. The Vocoder however is great. It’s easy to use and if you have even just a decent sounding patch running inst thru, it sounds great. Personally I kind of like that robotic characteristic. It feels and sounds powerful.

    v256 – Not as familiar but 1st impressions: Has everyone forgotten the reflex tune function? Maybe I’m being over-dramatic but the autotune is fantastic, crisp, and has a lot of cool parameters you can set. Most importantly, how quickly it snaps (and the gender-bender can really give some canvases to play on). I could go on about the autotune since thats the main reason I bought it, but I know this forum is more concerned with the vocoder functionality. — The vocoder on here is a lot more complex but follows the same basic principals (user wise). I don’t quite understand 8 bands vs. 256 bands but in the one show I used it, the v256 vocoder was overpowering and kind of muddy. I think I need to spend more time with it to set it up correctly so don’t take this as a gospel by any means. Excellent feature of it is that you can store 3 vocoder presets which leads me to believe that you really have more control over this vocoder than I have yet to understand. I only used the midi functionality briefly but didn’t really understand it (anyone have a quick user guide for midi?). I plan on using it in conjunction with an axiom 25 and mainstage 2.

    Biggest beef – v256 has no reverb and that sucks. I would love to switch away from the voice box altogether as I am trying to keep my equipment minimal, but I absolutely need reverb and lots of it, so I will keep both in my arsenal for now.

    #113672
    Cryabetes
    Participant
    Quote:
    Okay, I’ve experimented some more. The external controller (in my case the EA-1), does NOT run the V256 internal synth UNLESS the controller is set to output CC messages on MIDI channel 16. On 16 the music programmed in my EA-1 (Electrotribe) sequencer plays havoc with the vocal output of the V256. Here’s the rub: Vocoding works best with a drone or simple slowly evolving melody and sounds like warbling crap when the pitch of the synth varies too quickly, such as in a programmed pattern phrase or “loop”. KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) seems to rule the day!

    Quote:
    I’ve been playing with my V256, feeding it’s internal synth with the MIDI output of a Korg EA-1 MKII on MIDI channels 1 & 2. Seems to work although I do have some questions since the V256 instructions say the V256 comes factory preset to Omni Off mode set to channel 16. How does one access the V256 MIDI setup? Can that channel 16 be changed to another MIDI channels, such as 1 or 2? Can Omni Off be changed to Omni On? You got me. Is there a secret combination of buttons to push or are the MIDI perimeters “fixed in place”? What MIDI channel(s) are you using to communicate with the V256, using your A-station?

    oh dang man that sounds awesome.
    GASing for one of these now to use with my EA-1.
    and maybe send the output signal back into the EA-1 to use as the Audio-input modulation source.

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