The enormity of options available nowadays ranging from simple compact stompboxes to heavy duty multi engine beasts is pretty staggering.
It wasn’t all that long ago that vocal processing, at least in the live domain, was almost novel, where only a select few performers dabbled in, not to mention the limited units and types of effects available on mass.
In 2024 and vocal effects processors are so widely adapted you’ll be hard pressed to find an artist amongst a lineup on any given night of the week which doesn’t feature some sort of vocal processor buried amongst the pedalboards squeezed on stage.
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The enormity of options available nowadays ranging from simple compact stompboxes to heavy duty multi engine beasts is pretty staggering. All of which have their place on stage, in the studio or for at home practice and play, it really just comes down to personal taste and budget. For some of us, a simple reverb and delay stompbox is going to satisfy the creative needs, and for others a full tilt auto tuned, modulation packed workhorse unit is the vibe.
In no particular order we’re going to look at our best vocal effects processors to sum up what’s out there and why we dig them.
Boss VE-20
Starting off with what’s now considered a relic of vocal effect processors, this dual pedal stompbox is iconic and an absolute workhouse of the stage! With its simple two button layout, operation is dead simple and geared for stage performers needing to quickly change between patches, engage or bypass harmonies or hit record on the built-in phrase looper.Ranging from simple and subtle reverb effects, through to various echos, delay, modulation, all varieties of harmony settings not to mention radio type effects and of course, robot.
The VE-20 packs a lot of power under the hood and is pretty darn simple to operate, with plenty of tweaking to be had under the hood if and when required. Although now discontinued (superseded by the current VE-22) you’ll still plenty of VE-20’s on stages and for good reason – solid, reliable and they sound great! I’ve still got mine after about 15 years.
Death By Audio – Echo Master
Anyone remotely familiar with handmade/boutique guitar pedals will most certainly know Death By Audio (DBA). The brainchild of Oliver Ackermann (guitarist/vocalist) of shoegaze/noise rock band A Place To Bury Strangers, the DBA noise makers from Brooklyn, NYC have been making some of the most gnarly sounding pedals on the planet since 2002.
Amongst their plethora of bespoke pedals, the Echo Master is a dedicated vocal pedal comprising of three simple controls – feedback, time and mix, with feedback and time being the primary focus of control, with big chunky dials for quick and easy control on the fly on stage. Other guitar pedals can easily be patched into the chain via the send and receive path, making the Echo Master all the more versatile. This unit is not for the faint of heart, ranging from fairly subtle echo repeats through to full self oscillating mayhem. Sounds amazing and is painfully easy to use.
TC Helicon – Voicelive Play
Knowing where to start when it comes to vocal processing can be daunting, but having specific presets based on song and genre is a sure fire way to get inspired. TC Helicon’s Voicelive Play is equipped with pretty much every possible effect a vocalist could even need be it for performing on stage, studio or tinkering at home. Ranging from rich, lush reverbs, harmonies, doubling effects, hard-tuned robo-voice as well as a variety of tone shaping processing such as EQ and dynamics controls including compression and gate.
Ideal for performers needing adaptive control and features particularly helpful when performing without a dedicated sound engineer, the Voicelive Play with its Adaptive Tone, HardTune and embedded stereo RoomSense mics for the ultimate level of built in control make it an ideal tool for those needing more sophisticated processing and adaptable tonal shaping options.
Roland VT-4
Built for on the fly creativity, the Roland VT-4 is a unique vocal processor not only in its processing power, but its layout and table top styling. Ideally suited for solo electronic artists, through to DJ’s or singer/songwriters, the VT-4 get straight to work allowing you to craft and sculpt unique vocal sounds, ranging from subtle augmentation with some reverb, pitch, format and auto pitch setting through to radical transformation with more extreme setting such a robot, megaphone and vocoder.
Designed to be as hands on as possible, no menu diving or programming gets in the way of creativity, the simple and intuitive layout of processor buttons, presets memory locations and sliders for adjusting pitch, formant, balance and reverb amount is all too convenient. One of the most simply to use, creative and transformative vocal processors there is.
TC Helicon – Mic Mechanic V2
For those who just need a few effects with simple no nonsense operation, the Mic Mechanic V2 is pretty hard to beat. Including reverb, echo and pitch correction control for effortless auto-chromatic pitch correction helping users sing in tune, as well as adaptive Tone for perfect EQ, compression, de-essing, and gating keep vocals front and centre in the mix.
Reverb types ranging from room, club and hall, echo including tape, slap, digital and tap tempo, there’s plenty of tonal possibility for such a compact pedal. The hint is in the name, if you’re having issues with a less than ideal room or PA system and need your vocals to get an extra bit of sparkle, who do you call? The Mic Mechanic V2, of course.
Boss VE-500
The relatively new line of large format Boss pedals isn’t just limited to guitarists but includes their most powerful vocal processor to date. The VE-500 packs serious Boss DSP muscle for some incredibly sophisticated processing including the usual suspects of reverbs, delays and modification effects as well as specialised effects such as distortion, filtering, vocoder, ring modulation, slicer, harmonising and sophisticated pitch correction, with the latter automatic vocal harmony/pitch correction being powered by newly enhanced BOSS algorithms for natural sound with remarkably smooth tracking.
With more user storage than one could ever need, the ability to stack up to 9 effects per patch, a dedicated looper and flexible effect routing options for processing live and harmonised vocals together or separately, the VE-500 is one of if not the most sophisticated vocal processors available today with its whopping four independent FX engines. Its tone shaping options including EQ, compression and de-essing allow for ultimate precision when sculpting your voice to perfection. A friend of the stage and studio.
Death By Audio – Space Ensemble
The DBA Space Ensemble takes inspiration from the Echo Master, but instead of echo a wonderful world of chorus modulation and wild reverb is on tap. With the same simple control layout as the Echo Master, the two big dials control chorus speed and reverb time. Additional adjustments can be made within the pedal for chorus intensity ranging from subtle effects on 1 through to mind bending inhuman weirdness on 10. Additional internal control over mic pre gain can be adjusted too for fine tuning depending on the connected mic.
Note, the Space Ensemble does not provide phantom power.
The chorusing effects ranges from subtle 70’s like chorus through to more heavily warbled sounds of the 80’s. As for the reverb, subtle small spaces through to cavernous shoegaze inspired tones can be sculpted at the turn of a dial. The mix knob simpling ranges from 100% dry to 100% wet. The send and received jacks make integrating other guitar pedals into your vocal chain all too easy, allowing for endless creativity in the studio or on stage.
A limited run of the Space Ensemble is available, so you’re sure to be even more unique if you manage to get your hands on one of these wild units.
Whether it be simple reverb and echo, through to fully unapologetic auto tuning and vocoding, vocal processors are capable of it all. Given the amount of singers, songwriters and all other performers in between that require specific and unique vocal treatment there’s never been a better time to dive into the world of vocal effects processing and all its endless creative goodness.
For more effects reading, check out Soundscaping: The 7 best guitar pedals for ambient guitar.
