DigiTech VX400 Modeling Vocal Processor with USB

No longer available at zZounds
Full function compressor. 3-band equalizer. 40 user/40 factory presets.

Think of it as the ultimate floor processor with direct XLR speaker compensated outs to run to your PA, and a USB recording interface with all of the ins and outs you'll ever need.

The new Vx400 is the first modeling floor processor with true 2-way computer connectivity and extra I/O to handle vocals, other instruments and monitoring. With everything you need to record (including a kick-ass floor processor), this is truly digital recording designed by musicians for musicians.

On stage you can have the best of both worlds by using the separate 1/4 in. and XLR outputs to send sound to a PA using DigiTech's award-winning cabinet modeling, or to any amplification.

When you are ready to record, all of the tones are ready to stream directly into a PC. But it doesn't stop there; you can also record vocals, using a mic pre amp. Use the stereo line level inputs to record any instrument -- just plug and play. For a limited time DigiTech is including their new recording software, designed by Cakewalk® and DigiTech, getting you on their way to recording and burning your next hit CD.

Features:
Full featured vocal effects processor

Full function Compressor

3-band equalizer

40 user/40 factory presets

Rugged aluminum chassis

USB audio interface

Stereo line level inputs and outputs

Re-amps dry recorded tracks back through the modeling and effects

Jam-A-Long input

Power supply included

"Vocal Character" Selections:
Tube Pre

Overdrive

Grunge

Dark Side

Monster read more

Chipmunk

Lunar

Lo-Fi

Robot

Wizard

Alien

Telephone

Effects:
Chorus

Flanger

Phaser

Vibrato

Pitch Shift

Detune

Whammy

Delay

Reverb
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For support or warranty questions, please contact the manufacturer:
Phone: 801-566-8800

Reviewers gave this product an overall rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars. (39 ratings)
Submitted February 8, 2011 by a customer from gmail.com

"Lots of uses"

Overall: 3.5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
Verified Customer zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
Sound
I use this both as a vocal processor and as a wind instrument processor (e.g., microphone in front of a flute, sax, etc.). The sounds are very clean. It has some interesting drawbacks, though. Very often, because I am the quietest thing in the room by a long shot (except maybe vocals), I have to be turned up to where my mic is pretty hot. One thing that makes the VX400 a bit fiddly is the gain knob at the mic input. It's the thing that sound guys hate the most about it when I show up with this thing. The mic gain knob is EXTREMELY touchy (often causing horrible feedback), and it's hard to remember exactly where I need it for which band, which environment, etc. I notice on the Digitch Vocal 300 (still in production) that there is no gain knob there. Interesting!

Features
There are, of course, a million features on this thing. They are not as useful as it seems, however. For example, they'll say, "7 Effects At Once!" Well, yes and no. You could have a mic-modelling effect applied and reverb applied, or a chipmunk-voice and delay applied, but not a Robotic Chipmunk. You can have one of each of seven TYPES of effect applied, but you might find that the elusive sound you're searching for might require some different circuitry. Also ... and this is HUGE to me ... most effects take the pitch grossly out of tune. This makes the pedal seem like more of a toy than a musical instrument. Why oh why can't read more it keep the pitch stable? When you read about this product, you learn that you can tweak many of the settings, and this sometimes includes the pitch, but all the effects that take you off-key are useless, and that's about a quarter of the whole package (you can only adjust 41 of the 82 effects ... and 20 or so of the effects take you out of tune ... why why why??). To make anything that's interesting and still in-key takes ENDLESS fiddling. Most effects are hugely disappointing for me. It just sounds creepy and toy-like. I basically use it as a USB interface and for reverb.

Ease of Use
Insanely weird learning curve. Maybe it's just because I don't come from an effects-pedal background, but this took a loooong time with the manual to figure out. Still requires a lot of fiddling when I'm recording, etc.

Quality
Pretty heavy, seems solidly built enough. I got mine used, and it had a stuck button. I was able to disassemble it and fix it up in a few minutes.

Value
Getting one of these used is a pretty good value, because you can do some pretty crazy effects (tuning is an issue, but I like the insane delay and reverb effects you can create). The thing that's really making this pay off for me, though, is the USB interface. I do all my recording through this into GarageBand, and am going to get a MIDI wind controller. Nice thing is that GarageBand will put its signal OUT through the USB interface into the VX400, and the VX400 has balanced XLR outputs (L and R), so I can run as long of cables as I need to to the FOH without worrying about hum.

Manufacturer Support
No contact with Digitech.

The Wow Factor
No sex appeal at all, as far as I can tell.

Musical Background:
Active Musician

Musical Style:
Irish Punk, Folk
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