Roland VOCODER SVC-350 // I LOVE this thing
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- Опубликовано: 25 дек 2021
- #vocoder #review #roland #svc350
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A look at Roland's Vocoder SVC-350. It's probably the best your money can buy - The Moog is hugely expensive and the EMS Vocoder 2000 and 3000 are incredibly rare (and equally expensive). This isn't bad value in comparison, they seem to sell for around £1500. BUT.. .sounds. a lot better than any other hardware I've used... but then most of them are digital - nothing wrong with that but they don't have the clarity for some reason. I'm not sure if the Digitech Talker has analog circuitry but that sounds very clear too. check out my vocoder roundup for more. • Vocoder Roundup - Rola...
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Being a long-time Kraftwerk fan, I have a love/hate relationship with vocoders...I love them done right, hate 'em done wrong. Man, those SVC examples at the beginning if your video are done right! Excellent intelligibility with this thing...
Top notch!
High praise indeed! Thanks.
The human voice synthesizer (& strings) on the vp330 are what sold me, but I do miss that EQ section! Lovely video as always Starsky, really been enjoying your content!
Cool! A nice testament to its clarity is the fact that you can still hear your accent mate! 👍😁
Awesome review as always Starsky! 🤩
I've caught a couple of your videos recently and like your straight forward and informative style. Cheers, I'll subscribe :)
Thanks… nice to hear.
Thanks for this walkthrough. Cool device.
I kept watching this video over and over. I just bought an SVC-350. Hopefully it arrives safely and in the described condition.
Got it to have the Midnight Star sound in the first place. I was lucky enough to buy it when its price was still a three digit number... One of the best piece of gear I've ever owned.
I was once offered one (along with an Ursa Major Space Station SST-282) in lieu of pay during a lean billing month when I was in radio. It is one of my greatest regrets that I declined 😢
Love the svc 350. had also the new roland. Sold it. It cant be compared to the svc 350. i think there is a hudge difference. That creamy sound of the vintage one. Love it so much. Thanx for the cool video.
I have an SVC-350, I also have a Roland VP-330 that was gifted to me by a musician friend that passed away!! I kinda collect vocoders, I have the Behringer VC340 as well and a rare Electric Warp Factory Vocoder, and a Korg Microkorg that I just use for Talkbox (The Talkstar) ...Nothing sounds like the original Roland vocoders though, especially the SVC-350 ..the EQ is everything!!
What's not to love about a Roland SCV-350 - Thanks for the in depth video Starsky!
Gota lot of use out of this, thank you!
No doubt about it, that "Sizzle" is the defining character of this absolute classic 👍🏻
wow nice one better than many other vocoders these days, old is always the best
I absolutely love my SVC 350. As an Electro Artist. It made me feel so complete. That sound ! I bought it specifically for the ensemble on,style sound. Then I discovered the ensemble off via the foot pedal. And then I was all about the ensemble off. Now it depends on the track. I just love this machine !
I still have the SVC-350. I purchased a new one back in the day, and it still looks new today!
Love my Svc 350. I gave the Behringer 340 and Roland boutique a try.. while they were okay.. I found them not as "analog'ish" crisp and clear as the Roland SVC classic. So I sold the Behringer after a year of use. I got the Roland classic and it was money well spent.
I own the VC340, and having had a careful listen at this video, it sounds like the SVC is a little cleaner (probably thanks to that graphical EQ). But in a mix, one would probably be hard-pressed to notice. Since the Behringer is a clone of the Roland VP330, I guess the latter would also sound different than the SVC series?
It’d be good to get hold of a Behringer to see how it stacks up.
Apart from the built-in ensemble effect, the Behringer VC340 sounds pretty much identical to the Roland VP330, which is electronically almost identical to the SVC350 (no individual band controls though). To my ears the Behringer shines when you use an external synth as carrier, as Starsky does here with the 350.
@@AlainHubert Try running your mic through a graphic EQ before it hits the Behringer.
True!!!!
9:28 That’s some really cool phaser type sounds! Just for comparison, I have that exact phaser sound on my EHX Small Stone via the MODE selector😀👍 Amazing video as always!
Cheers 😀 not tried the EHX, but good to know when the inevitable breakdown occurs.
Nice vid! Although I'd say the Behringer VC340 is worth a mention as well. As a bonus, it also comes with super lush analog strings!
I had both here VC340 and SVC 350...Throwed the VC340 out of the closed window...
@@electricjuiz Threw
Makes us wonder how you got them …
So glad I picked up an SVC-350. I use my RS-09's organ output as the carrier, to have the next best thing to the VP-330. I would have never been able to justify the price of the Moog vocoder.
Nice intro. For the real producer guys but surely the funnest one of them all is the Behringer? To me the coolest sound is creating a pad by mixing the vocoder with some real voice, choir and string with the filter all the way down.
Looks great! Maybe one day but for now the EHX V256 is in my budget. Properly dialed it is also a great sounding vocoder.
Lurvly bit o kit 😻 I’m fortunate to have the original Doepfer Eurorack modular 15 band system. Based on how that works, I’d say the ‘EQ bands’ are bias controls for the env follower to filter circuit and that the hold jack is a bunch of S&H circuits for each band, holding whatever each level is at the moment and letting you use it to hold Formant shapes. The Doepfer uses a cool circuit that switches the audio output based on sibilance, creating that very crispy high end. Doepfer we’re even clever enough to pair their system with a voltage to MIDI interface that could record the multichannel (multiband)envelopes as midi data for playback from a sequencer. For real vocal style clarity try using a thin pulse wave instead of, or mixed with the saw, the pulse is brighter in the higher harmonics and mimics our vocal chords 🤓
Nice tips. Cheers. 👊
I remember when that came out and they had a demo on the Future Music front cover CD. It sounded gorgeous!
I was hanging out for that Doepfer subsystem for a while, but they’re hard to come by. In the end I went with Frap Tools’ Fumana, which works really nicely as a vocoder as well as all its other spectral editing tricks. In fact, perhaps one of the most cost-effective ways to get an analogue vocoder these days might be to get a small Euro case with Fumana or perhaps the Verbos Bark Filter. There are lots of benefits to having a fully modular vocoder, such as patching even and odd band outputs as a stereo pair, using the envelope follower outputs to control other parts of the patch, and repatching the follower-to-VCA connections to create strange spectral distortions. But this Roland certainly sounds nice as a pure vocoder!
Those band gain sliders are the weak point of the 350 - if you adjust one and it makes no difference to the sound, you need to service it - take it out, use carbon grease on the track after cleaning (there are no 'new' replacements out there) also, use the GUITAR input for the carrier and use the harmonic generator for that Fab 5 Freddy FRESH! :)
Haha thanks for letting me know what grief I’ve got ahead of me at some point. 😂
The VP-03 is pretty awesome.. easily one of the most useful Boutique items.
I can see why you like the more complete unit.
The comparison btw? would be fairer without using the gooseneck. I find using a full mic w Phantom Power on the boutique makes quite some difference.
I think the rack unit makes more sense from another perspective - the controls and I:O.
A Vocoder is a REALLY exposed and attention-getting piece of sound.. you are personally very involved with it when using one.... the risk of it not "doing the thing" when you swap over to it iis palpable. And the VP-04 has quite a few nuances to all the sliders... not easy to be 100% sure of the patching. For that reasom I can't imagine using the boutique live, whereas the rack seems much more dependable.
btw. LOOOOOOOVE the intro.. I am a vocoder fan and gave myself as a Chrissy present last year the book "How To Wreck A Nice Beach" on the (unbelievable) history of the vocoder. Loved your suitably goofy scifi tribute !
Thanks, yeah it wasn't intended as a proper comparison, and wanted to demo out of the box as it were. But I'm still impressed by the boutique. The gooseneck is a bit too small for practical use though,
Yeah , exactly what I wanted to say , put in a real mic in the boutique and it is another story…
i just bought a microfreak shortly after the vocoder firmware update but ive not hooked a mic up to it yet. this has given me a bit of inspiration though.
Huge vocoder fan here. i have a few , mainly cheaper ones. My go to is the Microkorg. It has the tonality but not always the clarity.
Have you tried the Electrix WarpFactory Vocoder, it will give you similar character to the microkorg but with intelligent formant processing. really good bit of kit if you can find 1.
I think that the Behringer VC340 is probably the most underrated kit being sold today - I looked to see if you had done a video, and couldn’t find one. Perhaps a comparison is in order. I also have the newer stuff like Arturia Vocoder V, the Jupiter-X Vocal Designer add on, and the Softube plugin. Unfortunately, it feels like only analogue gear really gets the classic sound I’m going for, so the VC340 is the choice for me. I’d still love a VP-330 or
Awesome!! Thanks for this gem. Also, for the budget-minded, may I add my 2 cents?
One, that I was pleasantly surprised by the intelligibility of TC Talkbox pedal (which has vocoder settings).
And two, on the Microkorg, the ability to stereo pan the 8 main bands of the vocoder may hold the world record for most underutilized vocoder-sweetening feature.✌️
All good options :) the Microkorg keeps on giving !
The vocoder of the Korg ms 2000 has 16 bands ( BPF / pan).
I actually had a hit with he SCV-350, which is well known in Germany only: Title Theme of „Die drei ???“, the most popular audio play series of the world. This instrument has changed my life.
Excellent story.. I'm off to check it out :)
@@StarskyCarr I recommend to search for „Die drei Fragezeichen“ in any streaming service, sequels 1-124, Intro title theme. Synth used: Roland MKS70, Microphone: Beyerdynamic TG-X580, Sequencer: C-Lab Notator on Atari ST. Today I mainly use the Behringer VC-340.
Nice, thanks for doing this. The other expensive high end ones are the Syntons and Sennhiesers. The SVC-350 manual isn't really that great. I think I read that the Vocoder Plus (original) had one less band? They are very clear as long as you remember to turn off the ensemble which is on by default. I must try the hold thing again as I've been trying to do choir sounds on mine and I find sustains don't sound right, possibly because my voice is weak and despite using a compressor the vocal level goes up and down too much. I think the sliders correspond to the 11 bands but that the harmonics knob was possibly a simple EQ for the incoming signal? I bought mine for alot less than the figures you saw, but they are never exactly cheap. One of the nicest digitals ones is the Electrix Warp Factory. The Korg DVP-1 (also digital) is quite nice too.
Yes correct, the VP330 is 10 band.
And yes correct the manual is rubbish!
The Behringer also has that Roland Boutique problem with the natural voice bleeding through too much. I wonder if there is a mod I can do to make it more like the vintage I prefer. Anyone know how to do this?
If you can, get hold of the book "How to Wreck a Nice Beach" by Dave Tompkins. It's a delightful history of speech synthesis, speech recognition, and vocoding, from pre-WWII up to Daft Punk and Kraftwerk. Recommended for fans of vocoding.
A good video for anyone interested in the SVC-350. Not just you!
So cool and Always fun! Ps I’ve been meaning to ask how your Poly D has held up over time? Might buy one this week but not sure about long term, I think the Sub 25 would be better long term but it’s not exactly what I’m looking for..
Coooool!!!!
Thanks for stopping by :) love your stuff. I came across your channel a few years ago with Thriller… absolutely superb.
Jonzun Crew Space is the place
There's an EMS 5000 vocoder you might wanna check out :) the Sennheiser VSM-201 is another great one.
How about giving the Vocal Designer expansion a go for the Jupiter X/XM?
I had an ETI vocoder, it was great.
There is no EQ built in the SVC350 , what you are doing is changing the "output level" of each of the "synthesis filters".
Buy /build your self the "VOIS vocoder", superb value for money if you looking for analog vocoder.
Thanks for getting to the bottom of it. It’s not exactly clear from the manual.
My favorites are still the Electrix Warp Factory and the Boss SE-70.
Love the SE70. I be got a couple and used to use them on everything. I forgot it had a vocoder.
Got mine today🎤 🤖❤️
Think a honorable mention should go to building a Electuur / Elektor Vocoder from scratch. Today building it would set you back around 200 or 300 $/Euro. At the expense of some blood sweat and tears, you get something very similar to the $5000 Moog.
The Vocoder was published around jan/feb of 1980 and the voiced/unvoiced detector a couple of months later.
This seems to be the vocoder used on "Beside - Change The Beat" In the end of that track is the famous scratch samples "aah" and "fresh" I quess they used noise and not soundwaves to make the vocals, but! it would be nice to see somebody trying to remake those samples since they are like the samples used in scratching. I have tried to remake, but fl studio vocoders can't cut it. What I hear on this video when you compaire it to the Roland Boutique I can clearly hear the difference on harmonics what the SVC-350 contribute to the sound and I think this is why I can't reproduce the aah and fresh sounds since fl vocoders can't be adjusted to play those harmonics that SVC-350 has. Somebody should try to reproduce them samples though with SVC-350 since the record is so big part of scratch djing.
What about the very affordable, all analog Behringer VC340 (clone of the Roland VP330)? And you get a strings machine as a bonus... Thanks for sharing.
Yeah, not tried one yet. Would love to get my hands on one.
@@StarskyCarr That one also strikes me as interesting.. it has the whole original form factor thing happening too. (Even of there aren't wood panels)
Sorry if this has been asked already, but can the boutique version be fitted with a different mic? The mic on the vintage vocoder looks like it might have a better frequency range. I wonder if that would give the little guy a bit more sizzle…
Yes it can and I really should have done that here. If I can get my hands on a Behringer I might demo again.
If you’ve got a boutique VP03 it’s well worth upgrading the mic as the swan neck mic provided is pretty cheap.
Defiant I should really have swapped mics here, but it wasn’t a thorough test. More of an afterthought. But I do t think the differences I heard were all due to the mic tbh. Maybe I’ll try again if I can get my hands in a Behringer!
Nobody commented on the Waldorf STVC. Is it any good?
I’ve never used it. I love Waldorf stuff in general. Don’t forget it’s digital not analog, not that it’s an indicator of sound quality in itself, but will probably have a different tone to this.
Laurie Anderson's Superman
i was the 350th like - maybe i'll get one one day :)
… for just 350 bucks.
Hi Super-Starsky! Thank you for the great content that you provide. Have you tried the Moog Spektravox? For me it was a big, huge disappointment 😭😭😭
I have one here. I’ve yet to dig in, but quite like it. I think it’s more than a vocoder.. good for more experimental stuff. This is hard to beat as a straight up vocoder, but the Moog works well once you’ve got your head round it.
@@StarskyCarrit sound pretty non analog… 😅😅😅
My SVC-350 has been my secret weapon for the last 15 years. There's a ton of wonderful options that don't involve making talking/robot sounds. It's a modulation powerhouse. The only other vocoder worth considering (IMO) is the Waldorf Lector, which is digital.
I was thinking about demoing different uses… maybe in the future I’ll make a more general vocoder tutorial.
That new boutique vocoder sounds more clear and intelligibele, the old one more robotic and character. I guess I'm the only one that prefers the new vocoder..
It sounds to me like there is some of the original vocal coming through with the boutique. Maybe that’s why it sounds more natural… or maybe because it sounds less robotic I think there’s more of the original audio in the signal 😂
@@StarskyCarr Um.. no I beg to differ, doesn't sound to me like it is. Anyway, thanks for putting up this excellent video, really helpful!
Thumbs up for Freq Nasty
It sounds like all the rest man. I think you have to program it with code in order for it to sound more human. The best vocoder that I have found is izotope vocal synth 2 vst plug in.
Its good to hear the scouse voice remix on intergalactic 🤙
😂😂
I'm having a crisis now! I'm looking for a better vocoder than the microkorg, and I had my sights set on the roland either boutique or the berihnger clone, but this sounds so nice, and the ability to patch any instrument as a source is fantastic. I also have a 19 inch rack oscilloscope lying around and this may be the excuse I need to buy a rack.... ahhh!
Oh dear…I’ve never found one better than this 😂
@@StarskyCarr sold! I need to invest in outboard gear regardless
the Roland V-Synth XT has a great vocoder.
Haha I’m beginning to realise I’ll get suggestions for every vocoder in the market … and actually it’s really useful for anyone reading the comments. There are so many good ones in the market. But any I’ve used don’t quite have the clarity and ease Kim of sitting in a mix of this. Others are definitely more within reach especially if the my come with a free synth and keyboard!! 😀 cheers.
@@StarskyCarr yeah nothing beats an original.
Great video, question.... I already have a track recorded in my recorder, can I just use this to get that Transformer effect using an AUX or something like that ?????????
Yes you can use the audio you’ve recorded - it’s how I use it.
@@StarskyCarr Thank you, how would I hook it up as far as this Roland goes ? On my patch bay, out from my track 1 where my vocal is recorded and into this Roland ?????
@@ericques9974 send the vocal through its own output channel into this.. then send a synth or something from your daw on its own channel to the carrier input.
@@StarskyCarr Thanks, so I lost you with the synth part, lol. Output of my vocal " INTO " this Roland. Output of this Roland, should be tha sound of this Roland and the OUTPUT is going into a WHOLE new track INTO my recorder. No synth please, I just want the effect on the actual vocal :)
Problem that I am running into, is I can't even get an input signal going INTO this Roland from my OutPut of my vocal. Is there any switch on this actual Roland that would not show input coming in ? And thank you for your time. The switch on this Roland as you know is... Instrument.. - 30... - 15... 0 DB.. I don't think I am using the instrument in this at all but what should that instrument be at please and Out Put... ?
@@ericques9974 this doesn’t make any sound of it’s own, it takes a synth sound and modulated it with the vocal. So you need to have 2 inputs - a vocal and a synth. Without both you won’t hear anything.
How does it compare to the Roland vp330?
I've never used one, but I think its the same vocoder engine
Mike Oldfield's QE2
Trying to save my money at the moment. What’s your favourite vst plugin vocoder that’s close to this?
Softube is great but currently only UAD
@@StarskyCarr oh damn I don’t have their interface so I don’t think I can use their plug-ins :(
@@troyouttram there are others but I like this one a lot.
@@StarskyCarr any other vsts non uad? Or do you think I would be better off buying a $600 aussie vp-03?
@@troyouttram if your looking for software try this free version from TAL tal-software.com/products/tal-vocoder
strange does not exist a software emulation in 2023 of this kind of machine
The expensive vocoders have more bands. Do you NEED more bands, though? Many audiophiles will say that a 3-band parametric EQ is generally sufficient for sound tailoring. EQ units with 15 and 31 bands have that many bands because the manufacturer can't anticipate *where* you might need boost or cut. If you can dial in *where* the boost/cut needs to be, you don't need as many bands.
Okay, let's apply this to vocoding. All voices share a little something in common, but also have unique qualities. If I could map the properties of my voice, or yours, and pinpoint the range and resonances, perhaps 7 or 8 bands , tuned to the specific voice parameters might be all you need to track and mimic voice. Of course, doing this in the analog domain could be complicated. Making tunable bandpass filters is easy enough, but the passband that *detects* the envelope, and the passband that envelope is *applied* to, need to be identical. If they're fixed, that's a lot easier to design and implement than making them tunable/variable.
The Softube vocoder on UAD has different numbers of bands so you can clearly hear the difference in the various characters. As you say more isn’t always better… just different.
I used to use the EVOC software vocoder in Logic quite a bit. It can have as many bands as you like, but it starts to sound less intelligible when you go above about a dozen bands.
that vocoder mixed with voice can be heard on Julia from Eurythmics´1984´s song Julia. I think you may get demonetized for sounding like those other guys you mentioned. I would sell the vintage one and the boutique one and get me an Behringer VC340 Vocoder! :)
Would love to try the Behringer - the only issue for me is space. This fits neatly into my rack.
@@StarskyCarr Next do a comparison of VST vocoders... No space excuses! :)
@@StarskyCarr That VC340 is soundwise at least 99% identical to the VP330+ [Laurie Anderson´s OH SUPERMAN]. I thought Behringer would release an "rackversion", but no news yet! :) I think the best and cheapest hardware solution for vocoding is the METALVOX pedal vocoder from Alesis... I still have my one. :) Thanks for your comment. :)
My favourite Vocoder/voice mix in a song is most definitely “Lost Again” by Yello.
Virus C vocoder suits me best
now i dont want to sell mine anymore :(
Haha me too! I was sort of hoping the boutique would give me the same vibes but doesn’t quite get there.
@@StarskyCarr lets hope the modular system im after with the proceeds will be worth it :))
Why, don’t you test them with the same mic? 🤔
Because I never thought of that!! haha.. the big difference is the amount of original signal that seems to be present in the audio. The mic doesn't change that. Also wanted to demo with the mic it came with. But for more scientific evidence .. yeah using the same mic would be better. The comparison was an afterthought tbh, I thought I might as well do a quick one while I had the 350 all set up on camera.
This vocoder like most of vocoders sounds totally noisy and unclear. I don't understand why vocoders are some forgotten theme of technology. The only clear vocoder in history is Digitech Talker and I just don't get it why no one ever recreated it yet or did something similar. You if tried to sing Harder, Better, Faster on the thing in the video it would sound like noise with some weird, unclear vocal in the background.
I demo’d the digitiech in my roundup and you’re right it’s super clear. The thing in the video can do harder better better than harder 😂
Because not everyone is interested in having everything sound completely clean and sterile all the time. Raw and noisy can be a good thing. When vocoders are used in a track, they sound ace and you tend not to hear the noise when there's other music behind it.
Yes, was hoping for a side-by-side comparison of the SVC-350 with the Digitech Talker … ! 🥺
Hey don't worry about whether your vids are "any use to anyone anywhere" cos they're entertaining, and make me spend more money on gear I didn't think was essential... Yikes!
Haha cheers. Just remember its ALL essential 😂
Please stop with the flashing hypnotic images, so annoying. Great demo besides that
And you had to make it with a big orange bottom of the screen. I really hate it
My favorites are still the Electrix Warp Factory and the Boss SE-70.
I forgot about the SE70 I’ve got a couple of them lying unloved on a shelf. I used to use them all over everything.
@@StarskyCarr great chorus ,delays and ring mod there. I love my se 70