Well, I've tried it on various occasions, and with different settings, and have come to the conclusion that I do not like the on-board vocal harmonizer on my 2000.

Would someone out there please talk me into getting a nice, affordable harmonizer unit?

Thank you.

I agree! The 2000's vocal processor is poor at best. The Digitech Vocalizer-VR works great, it's not expensive and easy to use on the fly. I also have the Digitech Midi-Vocalist, which is still superior to the 2000's vocal processor. The first person to come up with $150 can have it.

Cheers,

Gary

Ang ... BOY, you got a lot of questions!!! I've got the digitech workstation ex, and it sounds REALLY NICE ...
check out: http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll...&ht=1&combine=y
If the link doesn't work do a search on ebay for digitech vocalist workstation ex...
the price these are at right now is pretty cheap....
t.

[This message has been edited by tony mads usa (edited 06-24-2003).]

T.-

Where did you get yours? I'm a little leary of Ebay. Do you use a footswitch with it? I looked on the Digitech website, and they have a few different models. Thanks.

Ang

I bought a TC Quintet at the Memorial day sale and I can't use it with my current footswitch setup. I can still return it to GC, or you can buy it for $350(what I paid). You'll need a TC footswitch though. It sounds better than my Digitech, but I don't want to rewire my rack bag to accomodate a new switch.

I actually bought mine off ebay and had NO problems ...paid just under 3 bills if I remember right ... It came with the 3 way foot switch which 'kicks in' or bypasses the harmony, or changes from one harmony style to another...
I don't know how big a hurry you are in to get one (if you're interested, one of the ebay auctions only has a day or so to go, and the price is pretty cheap), but if you don't do anything before and I make it down Friday night I'll try to bring it to you...
t.

cam8neel, I would not hastily buy an external Vocal Harmonizer without doing thorough research into the matter. The reason being is for one the Digitech Vocalist VR although an excellent Harmonizer does not include Phantom Power built in. If you have a Condenser Mic you will have to have or purchase a Phantom Power Adapter Device. Nor does the Vocalist VR have a Noise Gate so there is a possibility of picking up other instruments or noise into the Harmonizer and the resulting sound could very well be distorted and unpleasant to your ears. If you don't play in a Band and only use it for your Studio it should be okay but you will still have to be careful of your Speaker placement, etc. or you will get the same type of problem with unwanted sound entering into the Mix because of the Digitech's lack of a Noise Gate. There are work arounds to the unwanted sound entering into the Vocalist VR, one of them being; if you're in a Band make sure you have matching Mics then rewire the Mics to be out of phase with each other which will cancel out unwanted sound (instruments or other) and leave just the Vocals in the Mix.

Again, I would say research it thoroughly and then get the one that best suits your needs and has the features that you want regardless of price if at all possible. In other words, "don't skimp if you don't have to." If your funds are limited that is another matter of course but you still want the best features and performance that your money can buy and something that will make you happy and satisfied over the long haul.

Best regards,
Mike
PS: Did you know that your PSR 2000 DOES have a Noise Gate? And also a Compressor?
And that the PSR2000's Harmonizer CAN be tweaked to sound optimal? Some of those tweaks/tips is to make sure the Low EQ is not set too high. If it is, distortion will be more readily heard in the Mix. A good range for the Low EQ is between 70-100Hz with a -2 to -3dB. The Mid EQ should most likely be set Below 'Detente' slightly, ie., (560-800Hz with a -2 or -3dB) and the High EQ should be set Above 'Detente' to around 5.0kHz-6.3kHz with about a +5dB boost imho. And also make sure you enable the Noise Gate and Compressor in the Mic Settings and adjust them appropriately if need be. With optimal tweaking the PSR 2000's Harmonizer can actually sound quite good although not as good as most of the external units of course. Another tweak is to use "Studio Quality" Mic Cables. Nothing worse than a cheap quality Mic cable especially if you have a good quality Mic that you use with your PSR 2000. Your good quality Mic is made that much poorer in sound output quality when not coupled with good "Studio Quality" cabling.

[This message has been edited by Idatrod (edited 06-24-2003).]

For a solo performer who needs to travel as light as possible, and requires quick setup/breakdown, the advantage of a 'built in' vocalizer is obvious, as in addition to transporting & seting up the external vocalizer unit itself, there's the mounting rack/bag, wires, additional wall wart/AC plug, and possibly even an external mixer for phantom power, etc to consider.

Another IMPORTANT (yet not mentioned here before) advantage to a 'built in to the keyboard' type vocalizer is that vocalizer settings can be stored & called up along with a specific song in the keyboard's 'registration memory'. A song may consist of 4-5 different vocal harmony changes, so it's a lot more convenient to have these settings stored along with all the other reg settings (style selection, instrument voice setups, etc) than having to store, call up, and trigger them separately via a 3rd party unit (Digitech) and trigger the changes via another footswitch pedal as well. It's much more convenient to store/call up EVERYTHING in one place and trigger everything via a 'single' footswitch.

I find the PSR2000 built in vocalizer provides decent sound as long as the harmonies are kept in the background, which is fine with me, because I don't want to be upstaged. The Tyros' built in vocalizer sound quality is significantly better, and imho, almost on par with the Digitech "Vocalist Workstation EX", but of course, not as good as the substantially more expensive & costly TC Helicon 'Voice Prism'. I recently sold my Digitech "Vocalist Workstation EX" and now utilize the Tyros 'built in' vocalizer exclusively for live performance. Still, I may consider purchasing the TC Helicon "Voice Prism plus" for studio work when my finances permit.

Scott

Thank you everyone for all your help! I'm actively looking for an external harmonizer, but I have a question. How would I need to hook it up, based on the fact that I sing through my keyboard, and not channeled separately through a mixer? Would I also need to use midi cables? I am currently looking at the Digitech series of units. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

Angelo