Ahead of the 2019 NAMM Show, Behringer has officially introduced the Vocoder VC340, an updated clone of the classic Roland VP330 Vocoder Plus.
We talked with product rep Matt Baxley, who gave us a quick overview and demo of the Behringer VC340:
Features:
- Analog Vocoder, Human Voice and Strings sounds
- Microphone input to modulate any audio signal
- Multiple-stage Chorus based on BBD (Bucket Brigade Delay) technology
- 37 semi-weighted full-size keys featuring velocity sensitivity
- 32 sliders and switches to give you direct and real-time access to all important parameters
- Pedal input for connection to modular systems
- Comprehensive USB/Midi implementation for connection to keyboard/sequencers
- 3-Year Warranty Program
Pricing and Availability
Behringer expects to ship the Vocoder VC340 in March, priced at US $599.
Uli is really the king of the “I don’t need it but at that price …” pricing. I’m doomed.
I love that they got moot for this!
does it have any adsr sliders to sculpt how it plays?
Have you noticed when anyone try’s out a vocoder, they can’t work out what to say beyond ‘this is a vocoder’?
Looks good though – and great to get essentially an updated VP330 at a very low price. Thanks Behringer.
That’s so close to my impulse purchase threshold. A 10-15% off sale would seal it.
I could have bought the original last fall for $5000.
I think I’ll save a buttload of cash and get this instead.
They’re doing what other companies SHOULD have been doing.
Other as “Roland” in this matter.. but they rather wanted to make modern digital mini-clones… 🙁
I was personally against the Boutique series since they came out and still is. You cannot really perform on something that is smaller than your little finger. What Roland did is called production pollution waste…
Tasty sounding! Can’t wait 🙂
yesssss! I preordered this from Sweetwater when it was first teased and they thought it would be about a grand. There’s nothing better than finding out its going to be a lot cheaper! Can’t wait.
Losing that octave kind of sucks for a string synth.
True, but not for a vocoder. 3 octaves is plenty for vocal arrangements. To be honest, a lot of ‘background’ spectrum is shaved off of instruments to get them to sit in the mix anyway, so no great loss. This will sit nicely on top of the little patty and sub37 🙂 both 3 octave keyboards.
I wonder how many people are interested in the vocoder vs. the string synth functions. I’m looking at this as a modern analog string synth, which is something I’ve been wanting for a long time. I don’t even know how many synths I currently have with vocoders (microkorg, etc) built in but its quite a few and I never use the feature. This box may change that, we’ll see.
Steven, I’m starting to look at it your way vis-à-vis string synth first, vocoder second. Like you, I lose count trying to enumerate the total set size of vocoders I own.
My view of this vocoder is vintage sound, not necessarily best intelligibility. And vintage choir! Neverthless, I’m comfortable with 3 octaves. No deal breakers here!
Tip: after trying out a bunch of different mics to use with vocoder software plug ins- I settled on the Audix i5- it’s VERY good for capturing vocal transients and maintaining intelligibility. I like it better than some studio condensers I tried.
Thanks for the info. I’ve used numerous hardware and software vocoders. Most of the time I end up using some compression on the mic. In the case of the SVC-350 (rack version of the original Roland) however, for whatever reason, I found it to be very forgiving with the input mic – it just always produces intelligible results.
Time will tell if the Behringer works as well!
oo $599 – thinking on it now – they originally said $899 but $599 is tempting ….
The vocoder doesn’t sound as good as my SVC-350 that is sitting right here in front of me. Not even close if you want my honest opinion.
Cool story. Spoiler alert: it does.
lol, how could you possibly tell that from such a crummy demo ?
Love it!
it will be mine. oh yes, it will be mine.