VP-03 - using an External Carrier source

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cloudburst
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VP-03 - using an External Carrier source

Post by cloudburst »

Has anyone managed yet to use an external source as the carrier for the vocoder?

I've had an unsuccessful attempt to do this using Logic Pro X.

I was able to send the audio via USB to the VP-03 but can't seem to use it as the carrier.

The VP-03 manual mentions USB (virtual) ports named "CARRIER", "VOCODER", "IN" and "OUT", but I can't see how to send something to the "CARRIER" port, just to the "VP-03" audio device.

Help/ideas would be gratefully appreciated :-)

Thanks,
CB
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cloudburst
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Re: VP-03 - using an External Carrier source

Post by cloudburst »

Got it working.

In Logic I had to set the output device (globally) to the VP-03 and the create a new track pointing to outputs 5&6.

Seems like a heavy-handed approach - I'd like to be able to have some tracks use my audio interface as their output and individually configure a track to output to ports 5&6 on my VP-03.

Perhaps I'm missing something and Logic offers a more elegant way to configure audio input/output on a per-track basis without having to re-config core audio each time I create a track?

CB
apauw
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Joined: 08:27, 26 May 2015

Re: VP-03 - using an External Carrier source

Post by apauw »

Do you mind sharing your thoughts and impressions on the VP-03?

- Looks like the vocoder is quite clear (i.e. not mumbling).
- Strings and human voice sound nice.

If you have a Waldorf Streichfett, if so how do the strings compare?

6-note polyphony, how is the note-stealing, is it obvious or is it enough for normal usage?

Any other thought you want to share on this?

Thanks,
Albert
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cloudburst
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Re: VP-03 - using an External Carrier source

Post by cloudburst »

apauw wrote:Do you mind sharing your thoughts and impressions on the VP-03?

- Looks like the vocoder is quite clear (i.e. not mumbling).
- Strings and human voice sound nice.

If you have a Waldorf Streichfett, if so how do the strings compare?

6-note polyphony, how is the note-stealing, is it obvious or is it enough for normal usage?

Any other thought you want to share on this?

Thanks,
Albert
I don't have the background experience to be able to do a comparative and well-informed review. Neither did I own any previous vocoder. The only similar tool I used was Plogue Alter/Ego which is a software tool that uses text-to-speech as the formant input. It's free and worth looking into.

Here are my observations on my VP-03:
- Strings synth lovely
- Human Voice synth lovely too
- Really warm-sounding, and sound great when mixed together
- Just enough controls - what's needed for the purpose is there and I'm not feeling overwhelmed
- Thoughtful configuration options eg use of C2 for formant tweaking is useful for Vocoder, whilst use of C2 for modulation is useful for Strings/Human Voice synths
- Chord memory is a great addition, especially (I'd presume) enabling folks to use this device fairly easily and effectively in a live environment
- I'm finding myself leaving it permanently docked in the K-25m, where I didn't do this with my JP/JU/JX units; not sure what this means (possibly I'm doing this to make it easy to use the Vocoder aspect), but I do know the VP-03 is becoming a go-to device which I envisage using on most of my work
- I tend to control the Strings/Human Voice synths with my Casio CZ-5000 keyboard
- I've only experimented briefly with external carriers; I find the onboard carrier totally fine and the Vocoder works very well and, in answer to your question, very clear; personally I find it best when set at the default 8ve
- I think the best bit about it is that it does exactly what I want it to do...nothing more and nothing less...and feels like a very self-contained unit when paired with the K-25m.
- Most of all, I like the warm and very very useful sounds; I've listened with a critical ear to a lot of TV background music in the last few days and have been surprised at how many times I've thought "I could do all of that with a VP-03. Wonder are they using a VP-03 or VP-330?"

Hope this helps. Anything else, please let me know. I will also endeavour to re-record my song "Waiting For The Asteroid" (where I used an OP-1) swapping out all of the synth and Plogue parts for VP-03.

CB
Sonic Reducer
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Joined: 12:50, 19 February 2017

Re: VP-03 - using an External Carrier source

Post by Sonic Reducer »

cloudburst wrote:Got it working.

In Logic I had to set the output device (globally) to the VP-03 and the create a new track pointing to outputs 5&6.

Seems like a heavy-handed approach - I'd like to be able to have some tracks use my audio interface as their output and individually configure a track to output to ports 5&6 on my VP-03.

Perhaps I'm missing something and Logic offers a more elegant way to configure audio input/output on a per-track basis without having to re-config core audio each time I create a track?

CB
Hi Cloudburst,

I was searching high and low for some info about how to set this up within Logic and your post was literally the only thing i could find online. Took ages to figure it out, manual was pretty useless. Wondering if you did it the same way, I have ended up with two separate tracks, one with the vocoder on and one with the voice and strings on. Seems like a convoluted way of doing things, even more so when it comes to bouncing down to audio.

Its been a while since you posted about this but a more 'elegant' way to do it is to create an aggregate device in Logic
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