TC Helicon Acoustic Play

[MikeBmusic]

Since it seems I'm relegated to online playing for the foreseeable future, I splurged with my stimulus money.
I've tried single condensor mic for vocal + guitar, and that was ok, but tough to balance the sound as it really is dependent on how I'm singing and playing any particular song and if I forgot to mute the speakers (for Zoom meetings), the sound could suffer. Tried DIing guitar and Shure SN58 on vocal - this did take the pesky Zoom meeting speaker feedback out of the equation but the sound was pretty dead. I never bothered trying to route the signals through my DAW or Podfarm to add reverb, wasn't sure how the latency would work on that.

Just tried out some simple settings so far - reverb and BodyRez on the guitar, reverb and harmonies (keeping their volume low) on vocals, think its a keeper!

[Marty C]

Mike,
This is some year’s ago and a similar piece of TC gear called a Voicelive Play GTX. It is similar to the Play Acoustic only it has no Bodyrez and does have a guitar through.

https://youtu.be/oAdvIwsoKBo

The reason I send you this is found in the comments section of his You Tube . This guy used the headphone out to the mic input on his camera. He was still feeding the XLR out to this Bose unit. All you hear in the recording is the processed vocal and guitar. I feel certain this could be used in a live set up.

You may be doing this already , but I thought I would pass this along. The quality recorded on the live performance is pretty good.

[MikeBmusic]

I definitely plan on using the AP for live shows - when they start happening again, of course. 3 or 4 hour shows are tough to do solo, I usually switch to a 12 string for a few songs a couple of times during a show to add some variety. Adding harmony here or there will be another option. And the delay and reverb options are much better than those built into my mixer.

[Marty C]

Do you like the Bodyrez with your Taylor’s? If so, could you share some settings for just the guitar?

[MikeBmusic]

Originally Posted by Marty C

Do you like the Bodyrez with your Taylor’s? If so, could you share some settings for just the guitar?

For the 310ce I went with the 'BodyRez4' setting, have not tweaked anything yet. I keep the treble at 9-10 o'clock on the knob, and the bass around 1 o'clock.
Have not tried the nylon string Taylor with it yet - I find it hard to judge the sound while playing, so have to record it and listen back. Just done this very quickly with the Zoom meeting recording feature so far.

[Marty C]

Originally Posted by MikeBmusic

For the 310ce I went with the 'BodyRez4' setting, have not tweaked anything yet. I keep the treble at 9-10 o'clock on the knob, and the bass around 1 o'clock.
Have not tried the nylon string Taylor with it yet - I find it hard to judge the sound while playing, so have to record it and listen back. Just done this very quickly with the Zoom meeting recording feature so far.

Thank you Mike. How about the number on the bodyrez (1 - 10)?

[Foss38]

Would this require a TRS - TRRS cable?

Originally Posted by Marty C

Mike,
This is some year’s ago and a similar piece of TC gear called a Voicelive Play GTX. It is similar to the Play Acoustic only it has no Bodyrez and does have a guitar through.

https://youtu.be/oAdvIwsoKBo

The reason I send you this is found in the comments section of his You Tube . This guy used the headphone out to the mic input on his camera. He was still feeding the XLR out to this Bose unit. All you hear in the recording is the processed vocal and guitar. I feel certain this could be used in a live set up.

You may be doing this already , but I thought I would pass this along. The quality recorded on the live performance is pretty good.

[Marty C]

I went back and read the description Chris had in his video. Then I looked online at the owner’s manual of the camera he used. The camera had a 1/8” stereo line input so with the 1/8” stereo output of the Play Acoustic, I assume he is using a standard 1/8” stereo cable (trs I suppose).

I guess this all depends on what you are feeding it into. If you were using a pc, you could use the cable you mention.

[MikeBmusic]

Originally Posted by Marty C

Thank you Mike. How about the number on the bodyrez (1 - 10)?

I left all the settings on whatever the default is.

[Jiminuk]

I’m on a Facebook page that’s devoted to the play acoustic - loads of people are getting really good results with usb to phone with a camera kit adapter. I’ve not gone down that route yet, but it’s probably worth checking out.

[Twitch]

I've gigged with the Acoustic Play as part of an acoustic duo for several years now. It's a very capable device.

If you use a companion "Foot Switch 6" controller, you probably would like to have LED feedback. I took care of that problem for myself by designing and building a micro-processor controlled switch with LED feedback that works very well.

I've built a few of them and have one for sale here:

https://reverb.com/item/32795967-tc-...th-custom-leds

I hope you get many years enjoyment from your Play Acoustic. I truly love mine.

Tim

[MikeBmusic]

I've got a Ditto X2 for looping, if needed. If my solo gigging ever ramps up (been trying to do duo/trio for years), my rig would include the AP, Ditto, my Radial PZ-Pre and a delay pedal. Not sure of the order I would put the guitar stuff, though. My first thought would be the Radial to the AP so it got the 'pure' guitar signal for any harmony generation. Then the delay, and the looper the last thing in the path.

[EWman]

Originally Posted by MikeBmusic

I've got a Ditto X2 for looping, if needed. If my solo gigging ever ramps up (been trying to do duo/trio for years), my rig would include the AP, Ditto, my Radial PZ-Pre and a delay pedal. Not sure of the order I would put the guitar stuff, though. My first thought would be the Radial to the AP so it got the 'pure' guitar signal for any harmony generation. Then the delay, and the looper the last thing in the path.

I'm interested to see how you use the Radial along with the Play Acoustic. I have a Radial JDI and think that my guitar always sounded awesome through it using just the reverb from the mixer. Admittedly, the reverb on the PA is a bit better, but I don't think my guitar needs alot of extra processing. I'm following to see what you come up with.

[EWman]

Originally Posted by Twitch

I've gigged with the Acoustic Play as part of an acoustic duo for several years now. It's a very capable device.

If you use a companion "Foot Switch 6" controller, you probably would like to have LED feedback. I took care of that problem for myself by designing and building a micro-processor controlled switch with LED feedback that works very well.

I've built a few of them and have one for sale here:

https://reverb.com/item/32795967-tc-...th-custom-leds

I hope you get many years enjoyment from your Play Acoustic. I truly love mine.

Tim

Looks like you are sold out.

[MikeBmusic]

Originally Posted by EWman

I'm interested to see how you use the Radial along with the Play Acoustic. I have a Radial JDI and think that my guitar always sounded awesome through it using just the reverb from the mixer. Admittedly, the reverb on the PA is a bit better, but I don't think my guitar needs alot of extra processing. I'm following to see what you come up with.

I'm generally happy with my PZ-Pre right before the mixer, and using the mixer's reverb. The notch, EQ and input controls are good as I usually have a 2nd guitar ready to switch to (12 string), and when I'm playing with others, the boost (for leads) is a great feature, as is the mute. I like being able to put a hall reverb on the guitar and plate on the vocal with the AP, my Mackie reverb is pretty limited, but sounds ok at regular volumes - but cannot turn it off easily for speaking between songs, like with the AP.