New Vocal/Acoustic Guitar multieffect - Boss VE-8

[Nick84]

That's handy. I like my setup with my harmony singer and guitar through my radial DI as the guitar just passes through the harmony singer pedal. That doesn't work properly without the guitar so just assumed it would be the same for the play acoustic.

Wanting to upgrade to the play acoustic or the ve-8 for more vocal options but would also like the option to keep my guitar chain simple and clean as it is now.

[GibbyPrague]

Originally Posted by MarkF_48

My TCH VLP GTX has internal 'Room Sense' mics that will grab what it hears in a room to create the harmonies. Suspect the Play Acoustic has the same.

Yes, it appears you are 100% spot on. I didnt realise it had this feature but really glad it does, here is a section about it from the play acoustic manual.

Ambient/Auto setting
With the Ambient/Auto setting, RoomSense uses
the onboard microphones and passes that signal
via the headphone output. The onboard Room-
Sense microphones will also “listen” to musical
information from the surrounding environment
(a single chord based instrument or even your
whole band will work!) to determine the key/scale
for Harmony and HardTune effects.
If you have a guitar plugged in, the Guitar acts
as the primary source for chord detection. If you
stop playing guitar, RoomSense will try to determine
key/scale from “what it hears” in the room.

[Nick84]

Wow! I'm sold there's no reason for me not to upgrade the harmony singer now.

[Gutch]

Originally Posted by GibbyPrague

I actually dont run my guitar through play acoustic at all, instead run it through a G3 effects unit which has a good 30 sec loop which is enough for me. An extra box but i find it worthwhile, as play acoustic i find is really suited for vocals mainly.

I used a Zoom G3 for a couple years, but found it to be a tone sucker - even using the balanced output.

I now use the Play Acoustic exclusively for guitar effects. The addition of a "Switch-3" outboard switch pedal allows for individual on/off control of the delay/chorus/reverb effects as needed. Tone quality for my guitar, to my ear, beats the Zoom. In the Zoom's defense, it was designed for electric players and has a wealth of effects and amp models under the hood.

If you want to run the line out of the Play, you can split the vocals and guitar to the left/right outputs of the unit and use a lo/hi Z transformer to convert the guitar signal back to high impedance before going in to the G3. that way, you won't have to rely on the mics on the Play to pick up on what you're puttin' down...

[GibbyPrague]

Actually, my comment probably wasnt fully correct. I dont actually go 'through' the G3, but rather have it 'attached' to the Aura Spectrum DI that i run the guitar through directly into the PA or amp.

The G3 does the job for me for the few effects i use but with this 'side' set up i dont find it sucks any tone if i was just going through the Aura.

Im pretty content with my overall set up in terms of tone and options ... its three boxes all together, but really zero hassle to set up and use.

The biggest issue is is not having a 1/4 inch jack coming out of the play acoustic (what were they thinking) and when i combine both guitar and vocals and run it as one XLR i found the guitar tone to be rather average ... especailly when i plug it into an AER amp that i recently bought which really is designed for seperate guitar and vocal inputs.

Originally Posted by Gutch

I used a Zoom G3 for a couple years, but found it to be a tone sucker - even using the balanced output.

I now use the Play Acoustic exclusively for guitar effects. The addition of a "Switch-3" outboard switch pedal allows for individual on/off control of the delay/chorus/reverb effects as needed. Tone quality for my guitar, to my ear, beats the Zoom. In the Zoom's defense, it was designed for electric players and has a wealth of effects and amp models under the hood.

If you want to run the line out of the Play, you can split the vocals and guitar to the left/right outputs of the unit and use a lo/hi Z transformer to convert the guitar signal back to high impedance before going in to the G3. that way, you won't have to rely on the mics on the Play to pick up on what you're puttin' down...

[Steve-R]

The Boss VE-8 and the TC Play Acoustic, while achieving basically the same end result, are really two totally different pedals in design I believe.

The Play Acoustic has settings you input by hand through the digital interface (you can choose by genres and tweak from there, along with adding your own "favorites". You can customize settings and call them up later when playing). The buttons are small (the display is as well), and you have to store settings. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love TC equipment and this unit is no exception: It sounds great and I really liked it, but for my use it wasn't pragmatic. I took it back, and I'll make that point in summary later.

While I don't own the VE-8, I have played it extensively and found it very user friendly, as it has knobs for all settings, a volume for both the voice and the guitar, and basic effects (yes, with knobs) for both as well. I also thought the harmonies were pretty good, and I also like that you can control the harmony level with a knob as well. With the Play Acoustic, you have to "drill down" into the settings, and the levels are displayed digitally (and small). That'd be tough for me in a live setting, and I'd think for others as well.

So here's my point: As a gigging solo singer/guitarist (10 years of 2-3 jobs a week), I think the VE-8 is much better for "on the fly" guys like myself. I play a lot of bars/restaurants, stand while playing, and usually without a setlist. It's important to have pedals, or for that matter a sound system, that I can easily manage and adjust while playing. My trusty ol' Vocalist Live 3 bit the dust so I went out shopping and came to this conclusion. As such, the Play Acoustic goes back and I'll see how the VE-8 works out - in real-world applications it seems like it fits the bill. If not, it's Ebay for another VL3

Just my two cents worth, but thought I'd pass it along since these kinds of things are sometimes important to folks like us and may save someone a little trouble.

Cheers!

Steve-R

[GibbyPrague]

Id love to try the VE-8 and compare it to play acoustic which i use weekly and find it a great tool for vocals. Average for guitar and some really crappy mistakes like no 1/4 inch out jack and rubbish 10 sec looper - something VE-8 obvioiusly noticed and didnt make the same mistake as play acoustic.

Having said that, i think youre being a bit unfair with the play acoustic in that its not so good on the fly in terms of setting and harmonies. In actualy fact its ideal BUT one needs to spend time upfront to create the harmonies one wants and also the levels. This takes a bit of time, but once you've done it you lock it and it stays there for ever.

I like that play acoustic gives you so many options and so much flexibility. I have now all the haromonies i use, and i write down the number next to the song i sing on the set list and just hit that number scrolling through my foot to get it ready and off you go.

Originally Posted by Steve-R

The Boss VE-8 and the TC Play Acoustic, while achieving basically the same end result, are really two totally different pedals in design I believe.

The Play Acoustic has settings you input by hand through the digital interface (you can choose by genres and tweak from there, along with adding your own "favorites". You can customize settings and call them up later when playing). The buttons are small (the display is as well), and you have to store settings. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love TC equipment and this unit is no exception: It sounds great and I really liked it, but for my use it wasn't pragmatic. I took it back, and I'll make that point in summary later.

While I don't own the VE-8, I have played it extensively and found it very user friendly, as it has knobs for all settings, a volume for both the voice and the guitar, and basic effects (yes, with knobs) for both as well. I also thought the harmonies were pretty good, and I also like that you can control the harmony level with a knob as well. With the Play Acoustic, you have to "drill down" into the settings, and the levels are displayed digitally (and small). That'd be tough for me in a live setting, and I'd think for others as well.

So here's my point: As a gigging solo singer/guitarist (10 years of 2-3 jobs a week), I think the VE-8 is much better for "on the fly" guys like myself. I play a lot of bars/restaurants, stand while playing, and usually without a setlist. It's important to have pedals, or for that matter a sound system, that I can easily manage and adjust while playing. My trusty ol' Vocalist Live 3 bit the dust so I went out shopping and came to this conclusion. As such, the Play Acoustic goes back and I'll see how the VE-8 works out - in real-world applications it seems like it fits the bill. If not, it's Ebay for another VL3

Just my two cents worth, but thought I'd pass it along since these kinds of things are sometimes important to folks like us and may save someone a little trouble.

Cheers!

Steve-R

[Marty C]

According to the TC forum, looks like there might be a software update to extend the looping time of the Play Acoustic.

Yes, the Play Acoustic also has room sense.

One of the key things I like about the Play Acoustic is not so much to guitar processing (although the Bodyrez, hall of fame reverb and corona chorus are great), but the vocal processing. I think they really upped the game on simple, easy to use vocal processing.

[martingitdave]

I'm getting ready to do my first performance tonight with the Play Acoustic. Frankly, I don't need 500 presets. I would have been content with knobs as Steve-R pointed out. However, I don't gig that much, since I only do charity shows and folk clubs. It's not my source of income. So, I've had the time to dial in the Play Acoustic. Setup correctly and tweaked, it's pretty incredible. I spent quite a bit of time to develop one preset that I'd likely use for every song. I don't intend to use the harmonies yet. In the end, the menus offer everything I need and allow the unit to be phiscally smaller. So, while I would prefer knobs, I'm ok with it. I suspect a worship leader would probably agree. I can see how a working musician might not have the patience, or need more flexibility.

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[MarkF_48]

Originally Posted by martingitdave

I'm getting ready to do my first performance tonight with the Play Acoustic. Frankly, I don't need 500 presets.

I've got a Play GTX and a Voicetone Harmony-G. While the GTX has every sort of effect you can think of, I tend to use the Harmony-G more for it's ease of use and simplicity. Like you, I don't need 500 presets.

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by MarkF_48

I've got a Play GTX and a Voicetone Harmony-G. While the GTX has every sort of effect you can think of, I tend to use the Harmony-G more for it's ease of use and simplicity. Like you, I don't need 500 presets.

Agreed 100%. I sold my GXT to another forum member to offset the cost of this unit. Frankly, I would have been satisfied with the GXT with the body res effect. Or the GXT with the body res pedal. It would be all simple knobs. But, the small form factor of the P.A. is nice to have.

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[martingitdave]

Did my first performance with the TC Play Acoustic. It went great. I think it improved the quality of my vocals a good bit. I'm impressed. I'll use it whenever I can. I've got some work to do to get the presets where I want them to be.


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[GibbyPrague]

Originally Posted by martingitdave

Did my first performance with the TC Play Acoustic. It went great. I think it improved the quality of my vocals a good bit. I'm impressed. I'll use it whenever I can. I've got some work to do to get the presets where I want them to be.


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Good to hear. Its become my No 1 tool in the toolbox these days.

[NotValid]

Has anyone done a comparison between these two units? Or has anyone had more time on the Boss unit and would like to share any feedback? Pun intended.

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by NotValid

Has anyone done a comparison between these two units? Or has anyone had more time on the Boss unit and would like to share any feedback? Pun intended.

Hi, there is a recent YouTube video by a competent singer who reviewed all of these pedals. I'll try and summarize:

He said the he likes the simplicity of the knobs on the Boss and he (surprising to me) preferred the guitar effects of the Boss. However, the vocal effects and remaining features in the TC were superior. So, he was recommending the TC unit. We have some members who prefer the Boss over the TC. This leads me to believe they are really comparable. It's probably a matter of which sub-features you prefer as a user. I'm very happy with the TC unit, once I get past programming. The looper is probably too limited, but I don't use it. The digital interface is a hassle to change in a live setting. But getting past those two criticisms, it really sounds terrific.


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