New BOSS Acoustic Amp Looks Like a Winner!

[Skip Ellis]

Originally Posted by Racerbob

Wonder if the harmonizer has pitch correction for the voice coming from the mic. It matches the harmony voice to correct pitch detected from the guitar but what is the singer is off key. How does that sound, one voice on key, the other slightly off key.

If you need pitch correction, you should stick to guitar and let someone else do the singing. I have a real problem with technology usurping talent and it's all too prevalent these days. I work in a duo where the singer insists on using one (and he's a VERY good singer). I just think it sounds phony. JMHO.

[Carbonius]

Originally Posted by Skip Ellis

If you need pitch correction, you should stick to guitar and let someone else do the singing. I have a real problem with technology usurping talent and it's all too prevalent these days. I work in a duo where the singer insists on using one (and he's a VERY good singer). I just think it sounds phony. JMHO.

+1

It's the first thing I listen for these days. I want to know that I'm actually hearing the person who's singing, not a digitally altered version of them. I expect recorded music to be altered and tweaked. I expect live music to be... live! I'm impressed when I know there was no pitch correction and I'll remember those good singers. The rest, I forget them as fast as I can change a TV channel.

[sutherland]

I would love to hear more demos of the amp, but what little I did hear left me somewhat flat. There is a 'processed' quality to the sound that I do not hear in demos (even older amateur ones) of the Fishman and Ultrasound amplifiers.

[DMZ]

i played the big one today with a Taylor 214ce deluxe with Es2. This is a very nice amp. It took little adjusting and i liked the master and volume at half with mids swept to a quarter. I put the resonance on the yellow light and set the es2 at mid bass and treble rolled off slightly with volume about half. A slight amount of reverb worked nicely. I added a little more chorus and verb for some palm muting but rolled it back off to more natural sounds. Seemed to have plenty of clear headroom and the tone was nicely defined but not brash. Adding master and volume to louder settings seeemed to get more processed and electric slightly. Overall, not really anything over my Ultrasound DS4 but pretty equal. I liked it alot.

[JakeStone]

Originally Posted by Skip Ellis

If you need pitch correction, you should stick to guitar and let someone else do the singing. I have a real problem with technology usurping talent and it's all too prevalent these days. I work in a duo where the singer insists on using one (and he's a VERY good singer). I just think it sounds phony. JMHO.

I agree to some extent.. If one is "relying" on Pitch correct to make them a "singer".

However, when using my TC Helicon unit... It has a built-in "nudge" feature that is very mild.
It's very smooth and gives me confidence. Not robotic at all.

Again using these products/effects very subtly goes a long way.

[troggg]

Originally Posted by sutherland

I would love to hear more demos of the amp, but what little I did hear left me somewhat flat. There is a 'processed' quality to the sound that I do not hear in demos (even older amateur ones) of the Fishman and Ultrasound amplifiers.

Check out the Acus amps; they're even more natural and hi fi sounding.

Seems like there are basically two schools of thought, as in "I want to have the purest most natural sound possible" or "I want to dazzle my audience with technology."

I'm not sure if this is an old vs young thing where the older crowd prefers things more natural.

For my own purposes, I prefer performances where the melody, guitar playing, and singing puts the song across, but I can see where in a busking situation someone walking by might stop and listen longer cause they hear harmonies and a cool loop which grabs their attention.

I will say that as more of a "purist" if I am listening to someone go all out with harmonizing, effects and looping, most of the time that person overdoes the processing, kinda like how many guitarists who imitate Hendrix gravitate toward distorted sounds for some reason even though he played clean 90% of the time.

Regarding tuning vocals, interesting how people with great pitch are against it, as if they do nothing to correct their own deficiencies.

[Nama Ensou]

Originally Posted by Skip Ellis

If you need pitch correction, you should stick to guitar and let someone else do the singing. I have a real problem with technology usurping talent and it's all too prevalent these days.

As one whose been using the modern technology to do less than it's capable of for the last couple of decades, I agree 100%.

I sing away from the mic a lot when I'm in a quiet enough atmosphere and I love it when people say that my voice sounds the same without the mic as it does with it.

[troggg]

Originally Posted by Nama Ensou

As one whose been using the modern technology to do less than it's capable of for the last couple of decades, I agree 100%.

I sing away from the mic a lot when I'm in a quiet enough atmosphere and I love it when people say that my voice sounds the same without the mic as it does with it.

So then I guess you are opposed to guitar tuners as well.

[hotroad]

This amp is available. I played through one at the Breedlove factory showroom a few weeks ago and also through another one at a show I was doing two weeks ago. Its basically the VE-8 with amp and speakers and sounds great. I personally think the harmonizer tracking is much better than the TC Helicon. I have talked with TC about this but they don't seem to care much at this point. To me its huge to have the harmony tracking as close to my melody as possible. You can use the harmony with the guitar and vocal to lead it or by reaching down to the floor level with the VE-8 and setting the key that the song is in. The harmonies are much much better doing it that way than by relying on the guitar and vocal to tell the harmony where to go. There is also a doubler and a few weird settings for vocals which I don't use. The guitar settings are stellar and make all my guitars sound great using the VE-8. I highly recommend it. No affiliation.
I will be playing a large festival this weekend using it for over 500 people. Its all I am taking except my guitar and Alesis drum machine.

[Nama Ensou]

Originally Posted by troggg

So then I guess you are opposed to guitar tuners as well.

That's a weird assumption, especially given the post of mine that you've quoted. Don't derail the thread with nonsense.

[buzzardwhiskey]

Originally Posted by Nama Ensou

That's a weird assumption, especially given the post of mine that you've quoted. Don't derail the thread with nonsense.

The thread title is "New BOSS Acoustic Amp Looks Like a Winner!" and we're going on about pitch correction.

To further the non-topic, I think it's a fine line. I use a Mic Mechanic 2 that adds enough compression that the mic no longer pops, enough "air" to compensate for the loss, and a tiny amount of "nudge" toward the chromatic scale. Were you blindfolded, I'd bet money that you couldn't know because I too really dislike more overt "nudges" and would freak out if the sound in my head was clearly different than what I'm hearing in the monitors.

[Nama Ensou]

Originally Posted by buzzardwhiskey

The thread title is "New BOSS Acoustic Amp Looks Like a Winner!" and we're going on about pitch correction.

To further the non-topic, I think it's a fine line. I use a Mic Mechanic 2 that adds enough compression that the mic no longer pops, enough "air" to compensate for the loss, and a tiny amount of "nudge" toward the chromatic scale. Were you blindfolded, I'd bet money that you couldn't know because I too really dislike more overt "nudges" and would freak out if the sound in my head was clearly different than what I'm hearing in the monitors.

At least the topic evolved naturally to this point. We both know he was trolling, which is best left to people in boats.

[troggg]

Got to play one yesterday. Seriously unimpressed with its "natural sound" and I don't really care about the bells and whistles personally. If you're a bells and whistles guy (gotta have looping effects and harmony) who doesn't want to or can't step up to the next price tier, maybe you'll see the value. But it was seriously confused by a ubiquitous Taylor ES2 system. The Mesa Rosette I played directly after costs twice as much but sounds 20 times more hi fi.

[Groberts]

Originally Posted by troggg

Got to play one yesterday. Seriously unimpressed with its "natural sound" and I don't really care about the bells and whistles personally. If you're a bells and whistles guy (gotta have looping effects and harmony) who doesn't want to or can't step up to the next price tier, maybe you'll see the value. But it was seriously confused by a ubiquitous Taylor ES2 system. The Mesa Rosette I played directly after costs twice as much but sounds 20 times more hi fi.

For what it's worth, I demo'd the Mesa Rosette and it didn't do much for me. It was a brief demo however. I probably needed to dial in the flexible midrange EQ more.

[RedJoker]

Side note, I Googled this amp to get an idea of the price and I also got results for Boss Snow Plows. If they added that feature to this amp, I might have to pull the trigger and order one.