TC Helicon vs. Headrush! Who Does Harmonies Better? (Part 1)
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- Опубликовано: 5 сен 2020
- Here, I compare TC HELICON’s Harmony Singer 2 to the Vocal Harmonizer feature in the Headrush Looperboard.
As I get more familiar with the features of the recent update of the HEADRUSH LOOPERBOARD, I will be posting a PART 2!
Also, I had an issue with the video file during editing and because of having just had a baby, I'm having to post this the way it is. I'm sorry! I will up the quality in the next one!
Cheers everyone!
TIME CODES!
0:56 - Intro/Vocal Harmonies
2:24 - TC Helicon's Harmony Singer 2
4:27 - Vocal Harmonizer Feature in the Headrush Looperboard
7:49 - Why compare these?
8:14 - How I'll do this test
9:12 - Why this comparison was so hard
10:27 - Test 1 Explained - Just the Harmonies!
10:52 - Test 1 Audio (Blind test)
12:22 - Listener challenge
12:43 - Results of the Blind Test
13:00 - Test 2 Explained - Headrush Looperboard vs. TC Helicon's Harmony Singer 2
14:04 - Test 2 Audio
15:06 - Additional features explained
15:34 - Test 3 Audio
16:34 - My thoughts
17:20 - Where the Headrush Looperboard excels
18:08 - Where the Harmony Singer 2 excels 
Видеоклипы
Good and much needed video! Good job snd thanks.
Thank you for this. You just saved me 1300 dollars. I'll be glad when someone gets what HR was trying to do right.
Muito bom o seu vídeo, estou propício a comprar um headrush, tenho o Boss RC300 e os seus vídeos estão me ajudando muito a entender esse novo loop. E agora com essa possibilidade de harmonizar a voz é simplesmente fantástico.
Muito obrigado, aguardando o vídeo part 2 👍👍
Dude thanks for this video.
A very useful comparison. I will be interested to do a similar comparison with my VoiceLivePlay.
However regardless of how these units compare, I believe that the Looperboard harmoniser will do the job nicely and of course future updates may bring improvements.
Thanks for taking the time with these two units. My vote hc singer 2
Good video. Apart from the A/B testing I think you are a really good singer/performer and I loved the song too. 🙏😊❤️
I am excited for headrush for your same reason, I have the vl3, for harmony and is not about compression or eq but The quality of voice and the tracking algorithm of TC Helicon is just better due to the fact they develop since more then 10 years, I got my first harmony g on 2009 (I still hold an xt version)
Hey! This is a great video! Very informative. You have a really good vocal vibrato. In fact, I would recommend mentioning that your vocal processor(s) are not responsible for what your throat is doing. Not everyone can do that and it may not be obvious to everyone... Overall, kick ass job!
Thanks so much! Going to get back to vids this summer! A new baby and a busy year with a pandemic has had me away from making vids. Thanks for taking an interest!
Love B, harmonies sounded more natural to my ear ❤ a lot of musical talent here, keep it up 😊
Enjoyed the video and the comparison. Personally I thought B sounded richer and more realistic. I was surprised by it's responsiveness to the vibrato in your voice. Nice work and really good voice sir.
I think doubling and reverb would be a much better choice in this context. Harmonies pull away from the natural voice too much if there's no band context. They cover up and mask a wonderful voice here. When the core voice is this good, harmonies aren't needed. Great video, thx. ❤
I have found that I leave my HR LB vox rack ON, and this frees up a footswitch, which I use to specifically toggle the "Harmonizer" feature on/off (see page 17 in the 2.0 user guide). This way I dial in my tone and the setting stays consistent across the entire performance.
it would be sweet if headrush did the harmony pedal as a standalone. I just got the helicon after hearing a solo acoustic act use it, it sounded pretty damn good. As long as the level isnt too high I am sure it is fine for most purposes but the features of headrush are amazing- i would def buy that if it were a standalone.
Hi can I use my headrush gigboard with acoustics an vocals ? I just bought the headrush gigboard wIting for it thanks
B sounds more realistic. A sounds a bit tinny and over-processed
Appreciate your efforts and share. About keeping the tc pedal added to setup,I am thinking at this chance,but the issue you can't route all the instrument there...I mean I play the vl3 with guitar but also with keyboard,or midi guitar audio generated from iphone/ipad,since vl3 can harmonize (and loop!!) also the aux input which I all run trough a mixer into vl3 . If I choose to migrate to headrush I wouldn't be able to harmonize (and loop?? ) all the aux input even using the external tc pedal,which is good for only guitar input. I like headrush looperboard i/o routing, I hope it has good guitar fx, but without good harmonizer is sad...from your comparison the harmonize section seems to sound even worst then digitech...
So can you have two or more harmonies fx blocks to have 4 or more harmonies?, I use a voicelive 2 with brass instruments and that one has three voices but the hardware doesn’t hold up so well
A sounded a bit more diverse in its arrangement and clear and B sounded more restrained and muted. I liked both, for different situations
so the harmonies don't work without inputing the guitar?? I can't just sing into the Harmoney Singer and get harmonies?
Just the facts!
TcH every day of the week. One sounds like vocal harmonies the other one doesn’t + no need to tweak, it just works
Can you use this with a bass guitar?
could you do a comparison between the TC Helicon Voice live 3 and the TC Helicon Harmony Singer 2
Does Headrush have a 'HIT' function like TC, especially with a remote pedal like Switch 3 & 6?
B for me! I don't know how to do an apples to apples setting comparison... The A sounded "artificial"
Headrush sounds likes a Robot? I've used the Boss Ve8 and the TC Helicon Performer VK, they sound way more natural? I hope since then you figured it out.
B. And it's instantly recognizable.
Thanks, I thought I could use the looperboard and lose my TC Helicon voice play, but sadly no.
Just got my HR Looperboard yesterday. Nice, but no question, the Helicon was better. On the plus side, the HR is a better looper!.......tough room.
Can you use this with a piano?
I think that it's an amazing improvement, but I would like if you can use more than one fx for source, and also there are 8 button, they should give the chance to use 8 fx. 4 about voice and 4 about guitar ;)
Thanks, great video. Sold harmony singer, assuming Looperboard would be adequate but thinking of buying another HS - I just hear too many bad notes from the looperboard. I guess their chord detection is not as advanced. Hoping next firmware can address this issue.
Yes! Me too. I hope it evolves as I too, would love to be able to ditch extra gear!
Im guessing the TcH will work with electric guitar as well as acoustic !?
Hands Down 'B'. I am looking at the TC for street performing, sounds good. I have the Boss Acoustic Singer amp and the FX are really goood, but for street performing I bought the Fender Acoustic Junior Go, battery powered 100W amp. Really really nice little amp, with good FX but NO harmonizer.
This TC sounds like pedal to get.
Your singing is excellent, the harmonizer just punches up chorus parts etc. I would pay to visit a club with you performing, and also drop cash in the case if you were out busking. Cheers
Thanks so much! I have just been debating whether to get an acoustic amp or go back to a Bose unit. The L1 Pro 8 looks awesome and sufficient for my current needs given the lack of gigging opportunities. But the S1 is battery powered and I hear it's a great portable unit. I was looking at the Fender Acoustic 100 and the Boss Acoustic Singer Pro too! Thanks for your feedback!!
Got to change to Boss BC600?
can someone explain specifically how to attach the volume pedal to the harmony volume? love that idea to control the level on the fly.
I have a voicelive3, but this is good enough to avoid carrying it. Every ounce counts at the end of the night :P
thank you for this video, I learned a LOT from the little "by the way" comments.
Plug it into the back of the unit where it says expression pedal then go to FX assign foot pedal and make your choice
B sounds better. As i have/had both pedals as well I know which one is which.
Sound demo starts on 11:20
(A) because the harmonies didn't clip, but (B) because the harmonies didn't have an overly long follow-on delay. Which leads me to believe (B) is the TC Helicon Harmony Singer. Regardless, I think I'd choose (B) but would be careful to not overload my board/recorder.
A - Is more useful to me. Some ducking and trickery will result in a more natural output in a live setting. B is rigid &, frankly, more overtly a harmony box…. I like the more natural output.
With A, I would want to lower the harmonies & have your voice a bit more present. That way your voice will carry the day & the harmonies would stay as a support.
As for my live performances, I like to use harmonies only a few specific times in a set. “Surprising” & “Special” can quickly morph over to, “Meh”, if any effect is overused in any show…
Yes, backgrounding the HR a bit more and tweaking gives a more convincing effect in the mix of a band. This wasn't showing off the Headrush to its fullest potential.
‘Was Giging for a few years with the harmony GTX. A few nights a week , It was a wonderful pedal. But I only use the doubling. I have a very good singing voice. Not to be egotistical. But I do. I never needed any corrections or anything like that. All you really need is a doubler. Or a de tune . And a bit of reverb . The boss ve1 is underated . I’ve had a lot of them voicelive three. The h1 tc helicon was very nice , boss ve 2 not so much .
Wish I had done more homework on the vocal side... The harmony pedal on the Headrush is hardly usable. Instead of condensing my pedals, now I'm running through my TC Helicon first! I'd return it if I didn't enjoy the guitar effects so much. REALLY hoping for a software update to upgrade all of the vocal effects... Especially the harmony pedal!!
B for me!
I got a Voicelive 3 I'm using just for Vox FX, not much good for high gain guitar tones maybe acoustic body rez, I still want a looperboard! in a mix with drums and backing tracks whos gonna know?
get a beatbuddy to be midi connected to your vl3x find on youtube both setup you can find the out of the beat buddy going in the in of the vl3 or vl3x
I have a Voicelive Touch 2 and really want the option for auto tune - so that's the only reason I'm considering the Headrush...
Nice voice
B was better in my opinion... but man what a voice you have!
B and I would be willing to bet my car that B was the Harmony Singer being that I am also an owner of one... I am writing this at the 12:37 mark so you haven't made the reveal yet! I have to say being an owner presently of the Harmony Singer and Acoustic Play in the past it's hard to want to put that much effort into dialing in a tone with Headrush Looperboard. I feel like the Headrush harmonies that even with the eq/comp/gate still sound washy and wavy almost like it's pulsating instead of one steady well focused harmony that the HS produces.
Couldn’t agree more!
I am looking for a pedal that allows me to:
* pick a harmony note setting that is dialable chromatically anywhere on the scale one octave up or down. More than one harmony note setting to create a chord based off of my vocalized note would be an added plus. I want full control over the harmony interval note selection even if my choices are not traditionally considered to be in harmony.
* this unit would NOT depend on background chords on a guitar or whatever to auto harmonize. I want to sing a note and pick the interval I want, not have some microchip decide that for me.
I go for B.
I thought B sounded better, but I thought it was an unfair comparison...lol
A little simple pedal vs a giant one...
If coarse the giant one has more features...lol
I didn't think you'd dive into that...
That's a no brainer.
Hehehehehehehe
Anywho !
The smaller one sounded better from what I heard though.
I thought you were just going to compare more of the effects of the TC-Helicon vs the Headrush....
That was good though.
At least it showed some of what pedal has the better effects.
Thanks !!!
:-)
The TC Helicon is clearly far better. I've been using their Play Acoustic pedal which is the big brother and adds a lot of features which you might want to check out.
Couldn't agree more.
If you could “detune” the harmony voices a few cents either way it might sound a lot more full. Not many backup singers sing “on the money” and that’s what I consider an authentic sound.
So true!!
I like B.
i did a gig with me just singing by myself i love it and never do a gig with out it best money spent TC number 1
Thank you! Me too.
Wow! I have a Harmony singer 2 and a RC-300 and this was spot on what I was searching for. THANK YOU!! I’m planning to go for the Headrush instead of RC-300. In my ears the Headrush is not bad at all. I have some problems with the HS2 also and sometimes it picks the wrong tone when not playing a clear standard-chord.. Any experience of the Headrush picking wrong scale to harmonize on when in auto?
Not in my experiences, but maybe reach out to TC HELICON. As far as I know, they are a great company that back their gear! Check out this video if you do end up getting the looper board.
ruclips.net/video/yp5PzXyII88/видео.html
@@TidesOnEarth seen it and liked it already 😉 They listen and I already got som feedback on new features requested. Amazing. I got the looperboard and now I’m on to building my new rig. Happy so far but need some midi buttons on top to cover my needs. Don’t want to sacrifice the stop buttons for fx. Going for the disasterarea midibaby 3. Harmonys great and better tracking than the TCH. Love the ability to set it to a scale when playing songs with strange chords that no one can auto detect 😀
TC helicon sounded way better to my ears
No question in my opinion. The TC Helicon harmonies were fuller and more pleasant to listen to.
B for me Bro! Thanks for making the video.
Yes I agree with you fully. I was really hoping that with the price tag came killer harms to go with the awesome looping functions it has... but its sounds like its not quite there, and hopefully they will keep tweeking it in future firmware updates. The TC is sounding more organic and earthy on your voice and the harms on the Headrush a bit digital. Great voice Ryan!
HELICON is the the name of the mountain that the muse lived in Greek mythology.
Wow, B is so obviously better. A is immediately recognisable as artificial. Doesnt actually sound like a second voice, more like a double. With B it literally sounds like a different person doing backing vocals.
i liked B
I think B, but the harmony volume is so low that I found it hard to judge.
It was necessary to compare tc-helicon voicelive 3 extreme.
B!
Undoubtedly B
B has a Fuller Sound, and better Separation.👍
B, not even close
Like B.
Can I have your vibrato 😅 awesome voice man
Meu pedal es tá com defeito, não consigo arrumar
Qual defeito?
Mathematically exact harmonies sound so thin in my opinion. Too perfect, the voices tend to shade each other in my opinion. Sorta “auto tune” syndrome. No wonder you have to use them judiciously. I agree with that.
Are you Edward Nortons twin brother?
The TC blows the headrush away.
Tone is a good place to start when looking at a vocal harmonizer. However vocal harmony's DO NOT play on every word that is sung. TC Helicon's harmonies can be shut off on the lines of the song where you don't want harmonies. When you use the vocal harmony from the Headrush products you cannot shut the harmony off for the parts of the song where harmonies should not be. I have the Headrush looperboard though the harmony's sound good you can't use them because they can't be shut off on the fly while in a performance. That is a deal breaker for me. Having a harmonizer on throughout a song it the dumbest way to use a harmonizer under any circumstance. It sounds like you as a musician don't know what you are doing on stage. Headrush harmonizers may sound good, but you cannot use them on stage during a live performance and expect not to mess yourself up. With the voice live 3 extreme for example you can use the hit and set the harmony to play only as long as you hold the button down. Let it up and the the harmony goes away. Very easy to on and off it. For a hole line or even just one word or even down to a syllable. Has virtually no impact on your thought process during a live performance. That way you can put your mind to use doing a better performance and better your chances to be asked to come back to play again and again.
B
6:49 not completely true, with fw. 2.0.2 you can customize the switch to turn on/off one of the effects (harmonizer) leaving others on (eq, comp etc)
I'm not sure at all. I have just updated my system, and you can't use more effect for the same source at the same time... this is something they should charge if they are liste to us. and also we have 8 button they should put at least 8 effects instead of 4
ok now I see... sorry. but always 8 fx instead of four
12:42 I thought B sounded more natural.
B. !!
B sounded more natural and realistic.
simplicity is far more important on the road man the head rush is too complicated .... I would only go with the tc helicon gtx 2 - the harmony singer 2 or the boss ve 2
I liked B better. A sounded too loose.
B sounded more natural.
B wAs better for me
B sounds better to me
This is a bit unfair the tc helicon pedal is 175 dollars the headrush is a lot more expensive
A
Harmonizer B. It wasn't even close. Harmony Singer 2 had much fuller sound on the listener end. The Headrush came through as very flat in comparison.
B is better i think its the Helicon
B way more natural
What?
b
tc different league...and no, I don't have one.
B sounds better. A is more metallic
A sounded more natural to me. B was digital. .who can really yell these days…
Other way around, I think
TC Helicon is thick and rich and Headrush is thin and unrealistic to my ears. TC Helicon also sounds natural like real singers harmonizing together--
B - BETTER
B is better, for my ears. A too much "artificiel"
B sounded much better. A sounded so fake it took me out of just listening to music. In other words I noticed A and not in a good way.