Boss VE-500 Vocal Performer

Arrived safe and sound surprisingly as only packed with the shipment plastic. Factory seal is broken!BUT the inside looks untouched and brand new. Have tested if and works but have not found the time to do a deep dive on all its complexities. It is a good buy if your serious about shaping your vocal tone and performance. Thank you!

Excellent product from an excellent vendor!

I'm just starting to delve into the capabilities of the VE-500. I was a bit put off at first with controlling the unit from itself, a heck of a lot of paging through options on that tiny screen. But the editing software makes it a breeze to program whatever kind of effects you want and save the patches. Very powerful! I'm extremely pleased with this purchase, and even more pleased with Sam Ash as a vendor. They listed this item as "used", but it came in the original packaging with everything inside (manual, cables, unit, etc.) all in original plastic packaging. Way to go, Sam Ash!

Great Unit for Guitar/Singers Pedalboards

I've been having a lot of fun with this. It's extremely powerful with loads of different effects and I feel like I'm just scratching the surface. I got this for a few acoustic gigs I have coming up. I wanted a little reverb and compression to add to an otherwise dry vocal signal. The vocoder feature is by far the most fun to play with. There is a YouTube video about the specific effects that helped me get up to speed with it and learn to use the editor on the computer. Check that out if you're on the fence about it (search Boss ve 500 FX demo).The Good:Powerful, lots of stack-able effects, Harmony works well for simple songs, Stereo out.The Bad:Price, the UI is complex on the unit (creating patches on your PC solves this), Can be a little overwhelming with all ... MoreI've been having a lot of fun with this. It's extremely powerful with loads of different effects and I feel like I'm just scratching the surface. I got this for a few acoustic gigs I have coming up. I wanted a little reverb and compression to add to an otherwise dry vocal signal. The vocoder feature is by far the most fun to play with. There is a YouTube video about the specific effects that helped me get up to speed with it and learn to use the editor on the computer. Check that out if you're on the fence about it (search Boss ve 500 FX demo).The Good:Powerful, lots of stack-able effects, Harmony works well for simple songs, Stereo out.The Bad:Price, the UI is complex on the unit (creating patches on your PC solves this), Can be a little overwhelming with all the options.

Great for Singer/Songwriters

This is a great vocal processor but there is one flaw. That flaw would be...when you are setting up specific user harmonies that require different notes other than your standard like straight 3rds and/or 5ths all the way through etc... There IS a warble when it switches keys and it is noticible. Only for that reason...I would say it is only good for a singer/songwriter atmosphere. Ive worked with ut for months now and...this is my conclusion.

Great for instrumentalists not sure for pure vocalist

If you’re a instrumentalist as well as singer you may really enjoy the VE 500. However, if you are vocalist looking for something to vocal fx of the TC helicon this isn’t it. Using this as a stand alone vocal processor isn’t ideal and isn’t as user friendly. The harmonizer effect doesn’t really have a human quality. The patches don’t give enough variety. Now if you are looking for something to give you reverb and delay this will be fine for you. If you are looking for something more I would choose something else.

I love this unit!!!

This is a great little unit. Much smaller than my previous harmonizer which I've used for over 15 years. I was blown away by the vocal enhancement settings. While I haven't used it in a live performance yet, it has sounded great when I'm practicing at home and then rehearsing with the band. I highly recommend this unit if you need to add harmonies to your vocals. It tracks the guitar signal going into it and matches the harmonies appropriately. Singing a major chord, then making it a minor and the unit responds correctly.

I've tried the rest just buy the VE-500 already

As my title suggests I'm a vocalist with a rock cover band and because of that I've worked through several vocal processors. I like being in charge of my own effects and customizing for the song to make it sound authentic. I have the Boss VE-2, TC Helicon Harmony-G XT, and the TC Mic Mechanic2 that I paired with the G-XT so that I could have a tap tempo delay option for songs like In The Air Tonight and Purple Rain. My lead guitarist bought the VE-500 and I borrowed it to play with it and immediately ordered one. The ability to dial in very specific quality effects, delay (when needed), and the overall quality of the sound it sends to FOH is top notch. For instance for In The Air Tonight I found that using a T-Wah, Reverb, and Delay gave me the Phil Collins sound ... MoreAs my title suggests I'm a vocalist with a rock cover band and because of that I've worked through several vocal processors. I like being in charge of my own effects and customizing for the song to make it sound authentic. I have the Boss VE-2, TC Helicon Harmony-G XT, and the TC Mic Mechanic2 that I paired with the G-XT so that I could have a tap tempo delay option for songs like In The Air Tonight and Purple Rain. My lead guitarist bought the VE-500 and I borrowed it to play with it and immediately ordered one. The ability to dial in very specific quality effects, delay (when needed), and the overall quality of the sound it sends to FOH is top notch. For instance for In The Air Tonight I found that using a T-Wah, Reverb, and Delay gave me the Phil Collins sound then in the build up added a talk box effect to the harmony pedal. Really makes the vocals stand out on that song...till the killer drums come in 2/3 of the way through :-).I had problems with the G-XT clipping and creating artifacts in the signal so I had to be very careful on the input knob. My main issue on the VE-500 is I've hit the FX2+Harmony button a few times when I was trying to hit the Harmony only which then goes into bypass mode. I know it needs an easy to get to bypass option but seems my big foot hits those buttons more than I would like. Overall if you want a very flexible vocal processor that allows you to dial in vocals and has a friendly computer app that honestly needs a little work but is very nice just the same then this is the pedal for you. Don't waste your time or money like I did buying cheaper options that will leave you disappointed.

Ok for your living room, but deadly on a loud stage

I've used Digitech and TC Helicon on stage. TC's Voice Live 2 was my go-to for years. Decided to try this Boss pedal. Newer, smaller, easy to program. But a HUGE and awful trait showed up right away. When everything is quiet on stage, it tracks fine, sounds decent, but when stage volume rises, and cymbal ring and other atonal sounds bleed even a little into this, the pitch of the harmony voices drift - badly. We experimented with me singing one long pitch with a voice below and a voice above for harmony, and the results during loud stage playing were just bizarre. My pitch stayed the same, while the harmony parts slipped around like a slide whistle. I REALLY wanted to like this thing, but it's absolutely unusable.My guess as to what's going on: TC Helicon harmony ... MoreI've used Digitech and TC Helicon on stage. TC's Voice Live 2 was my go-to for years. Decided to try this Boss pedal. Newer, smaller, easy to program. But a HUGE and awful trait showed up right away. When everything is quiet on stage, it tracks fine, sounds decent, but when stage volume rises, and cymbal ring and other atonal sounds bleed even a little into this, the pitch of the harmony voices drift - badly. We experimented with me singing one long pitch with a voice below and a voice above for harmony, and the results during loud stage playing were just bizarre. My pitch stayed the same, while the harmony parts slipped around like a slide whistle. I REALLY wanted to like this thing, but it's absolutely unusable.My guess as to what's going on: TC Helicon harmony parts get a little "gravely" under the same circumstances, but it's algorithm seems to focus on staying on pitch, while this Boss pedal's algorithm prioritizes smooth tone over pitch. Just guess, but that seems to be the behavior.Quiet gigs or home use: this is a fun box. But unusable on a big loud stage.

Once you understand parameters menu.. you good to go

Can’t jump in without going over manual. I read things that look familiar and then went back to the beginning getting a understanding of how to move through parameters and walls! Good to go! One of my best music investments. Doing thing I never considered before.

Small But Powerful

This is a relatively tiny unit, but it packs a tremendous punch-especially at its price point. Dedicated sections for enhancer/compressor/de-esser/EQ, pitch correction, harmony (up to 3 parts)/vocoder, reverb&delay, looper, plus up to 4 additional effects inserted between the harmony/vocoder and reverb&delay sections provide a wealth of options. You can customize the controls to use the foot switches, an external foot controller, MIDI, or a combination of all three to control effects in real time during performance.The bad news...this does not ship with a USB cable to connect to your computer-and connecting to you computer is a must. Why? The tiny screen makes setting up and editing patches a Herculean task, but if you download the editor software from Boss it ... MoreThis is a relatively tiny unit, but it packs a tremendous punch-especially at its price point. Dedicated sections for enhancer/compressor/de-esser/EQ, pitch correction, harmony (up to 3 parts)/vocoder, reverb&delay, looper, plus up to 4 additional effects inserted between the harmony/vocoder and reverb&delay sections provide a wealth of options. You can customize the controls to use the foot switches, an external foot controller, MIDI, or a combination of all three to control effects in real time during performance.The bad news...this does not ship with a USB cable to connect to your computer-and connecting to you computer is a must. Why? The tiny screen makes setting up and editing patches a Herculean task, but if you download the editor software from Boss it becomes so much easier. MIDI patch changes are straight forward, but CC messages go to the controller section which is customized on a per patch basis rather than globally. Because of the ability to customize these controller settings there is no CC master list to use when programming your MIDI messages to the unit, so finding the correct CC value is a bit of trial and error beyond simply toggling an effect on or off.Overall though, this is a great processor for the price. The footprint is small, and would handily fit onto a pedal board. If you have the time to set this up using the editor on a Mac or PC before taking to the stage, the limited on board UI is easy to overlook.