Best cheap/natural-sounding hardware vocal FX processors

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davdud101
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2017/03/29 14:50:21 (permalink)

Best cheap/natural-sounding hardware vocal FX processors

Hey, guys!
I've got a concert event *possibly* planned for my church that we'll be putting on in June.It's really a full-scale concert with 10-or-so pieces from group ranging from classical flute quartet to gospel choir to full-on concert wind band.
We're planning to build a portable sound system from the ground up, more or less, using a Mackie 8-channel mixer as the main mixer module, my PreSonus Firepod (offline, as a way to add more inputs), plus a plethora of microphones and a pair of PA speakers (those logistics as far as micing and things will get sorted out, as we just began tossing the idea around two days ago and aren't even settled on a program yet).
 
And so, what we're looking for, naturally enough, is a decently-realistic sounding, low-cost reverb processor.
 
 
I thought first about running it all into Garageband, for instance, and then the mixing guy can steer the sound system on an iPad remotely, but there's no way I'll get a Mac fast enough to do that JUST for that day (and my Macbook certainly can't handle the number of inputs AND effects per-channel that we're trying to do), and it'd have to be tested weeks beforehand. Not to mention the dangers of latency and whatnot, so we're not doing that. I have also a BOSS BR-532 that works pretty darned well as an external FX processor, but it's TOUGH to dial in ideal settings for avoiding clipping vs. still getting a high enough output level, so that almost seems like an idea to be avoided.
 
Basic EQing can generally be handled on the Mackie. This is our first time out, so I'm not expecting people to be looking for an absolute perfect 'sound image' right off the bat. 
Definitely looking for recommendations regarding this set up too!
Thanks!

 
Mics: MXL 990, MXL R80, 2 x MXL Tempo XLRs, Cobalt Co9, SM48, iSK Starlight
Cans: Hifiman HE4XX, AKG M220
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    batsbrew
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    Re: Best cheap/natural-sounding hardware vocal FX processors 2017/03/29 15:26:39 (permalink)
    there are a million such processors out there,
    including guitar pedals.
     
    just set your price, go on the sweetwater website,
    find your product,
    search the web for a better price, and order.

    Bats Brew music Streaming
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    #2
    Jim Roseberry
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    Re: Best cheap/natural-sounding hardware vocal FX processors 2017/03/29 16:00:16 (permalink)
    Behringer made/makes a decent sounding (rack-mount) multi-effects processor that includes some decent reverbs.
    I think these go for ~$129.
     

    Best Regards,

    Jim Roseberry
    jim@studiocat.com
    www.studiocat.com
    #3
    Cactus Music
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    Re: Best cheap/natural-sounding hardware vocal FX processors 2017/03/29 18:40:17 (permalink)
    https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MX200
     
    This is my recommendation. It sounds amazing and gives you 2 channels so you can stack Reverb and delay.
     
     

    Johnny V  
    Cakelab  
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    3 Desktops and 3 Laptops W7 and W10
     http://www.cactusmusic.ca/
     
     
    #4
    batsbrew
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    Re: Best cheap/natural-sounding hardware vocal FX processors 2017/03/29 19:17:56 (permalink)
    that looks pretty sweet!
     

    Bats Brew music Streaming
    Bats Brew albums:
    "Trouble"
    "Stay"
    "The Time is Magic"
    --
    Sonar 6 PE>Bandlab Cakewalk>Studio One 3.5>RME BFP>i7-7700 3.6GHz>MSI B250M>G.Skill Ripjaws 4 series 16GB>Samsung 960 EVO m.2ssd>W 10 Pro
     
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    Cactus Music
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    Re: Best cheap/natural-sounding hardware vocal FX processors 2017/03/29 20:08:44 (permalink)
    It is a lot better overall than any of Sonars Plug ins. Sadly the driver is for XP and they never updated it. With the XP driver apparently it became digitally connected to your DAW via the USB connection. So you could use it as a plug in. 
    I bet someone smarter than me could figure out how to make it work. 
     
    I only use it for my live set up right now. I'm going to have it set to change patches with each song via midi once I get up and running with Sonars playlist. Right now I only use one patch and increase or decrease the delay time on the fly. 

    Johnny V  
    Cakelab  
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    3 Desktops and 3 Laptops W7 and W10
     http://www.cactusmusic.ca/
     
     
    #6
    patm300e
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    Re: Best cheap/natural-sounding hardware vocal FX processors 2017/03/30 11:25:38 (permalink)
    Cactus Music
    https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MX200
     
    This is my recommendation. It sounds amazing and gives you 2 channels so you can stack Reverb and delay.
     
     


    +1  I owned one of them when I did Live sound.  The reverbs are superb and the delay.  Let's just say that the one  part in "Footloose" with the delay sounded awesome!

    SPLAT on a Home built i3 16 GB RAM 64-bit Windows 10 Home Premium 120GB SSD (OS) 2TB Data Drive.  Behringer XR-18 USB 2.0 Interface. FaderPort control.
    #7
    batsbrew
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    Re: Best cheap/natural-sounding hardware vocal FX processors 2017/03/30 15:35:18 (permalink)
    pat, i don't know if i'd tell that story!!
     


    Bats Brew music Streaming
    Bats Brew albums:
    "Trouble"
    "Stay"
    "The Time is Magic"
    --
    Sonar 6 PE>Bandlab Cakewalk>Studio One 3.5>RME BFP>i7-7700 3.6GHz>MSI B250M>G.Skill Ripjaws 4 series 16GB>Samsung 960 EVO m.2ssd>W 10 Pro
     
    #8
    Cactus Music
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    Re: Best cheap/natural-sounding hardware vocal FX processors 2017/03/30 19:03:46 (permalink)
    Way back in the 80's my Atari played my midi files and controlled my Alesis multi verb and Roland delay units, I miss that ability to have custom effects for each song, and ya, I used lots of special effects to accent parts of songs. 
    I bought the Lexicon knowing it would probably have top notch effects and all reviews were good with only the complaints about the software being negative. 

    Johnny V  
    Cakelab  
    Focusrite 6i61st - Tascam us1641. 
    3 Desktops and 3 Laptops W7 and W10
     http://www.cactusmusic.ca/
     
     
    #9
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