TC-Helicon Perform-VK Keyboard-controllable Vocal Processor Reviews

Lots of noise. Don't even think about recording with this. Or using it on stage, for that matter.

It does something really weird with the mic EQ. I have to cut 8dB at 6-7KHz to keep it from sounding like a tin can and feeding back horribly (the anti-feedback feature just shifts the feedback frequency down to around 3.5KHz). This is at low volume with the "Tone" feature turned off. Turning the "Tone" function on doesn't help.

Also very disappointed that the mic output is unbalanced 1/4". Just who is the target market for this? It's a toy. TC Helicon used to make some decent products. I don't know what happened to them.

Two stars because the harmonies track pretty well with MIDI, better than the Boss VE-500 I'd hoped to replace with this.

Helicon Perform VK. ( A USB vocal & It has incredible sound out of the box but when recording audio it crashes Band In A Box 2022, and I cannot install their Voice Support 2 software which controls most of the functions.

My previously purchased Shure audio interface works perfectly with BIAB and it is plug and llY as well, no drivers needed!

Voice Support 1.1.02 will not connect the driver 4.3.2.47999. Perform VK is communicating with its basic functions and windows USB out of the box, reverb and echo all work, however....no way to update Perform VK use its many functions nor can I record audio, it crashes. 1. Cannot connect to server 2. Cannot record audio with Band In A Box (however, my Shure audio USB interface works perfectly w/ plug n play, do not have to install drivers at all! My Band In A Box uses a WAS audio driver.

1. No Internet Connection - "VoiceSupport 2 is unable to establish an internet connection with the TC-Helicon server. Product updates, account details, online presets, and manuals will not be available. This may also disrupt connectivity with your TC-Helicon product(s). An internet connection must be available the first time you connect a new product to your system."

What I have done over the past week and a half : Have been working with your tech support and have had no success. Uninstalled, rebooted, checked connections. Uninstalled Avast One anti-virus (also had VPN). Also, cleaned up my computer registry and files with CCLEANER and then got a message that Windows Defender was blocking installation of Voice Support 2, so I DISABLED WINDOWS DEFENDER... Still same errors and Audio record crashes. THIS IS EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING AND THERE ARE OTHER IDENTICAL COMPLAINTS. THANK YOU.

I love this box! Setting up was a breeze. I use it in my church where I am the Director of Music. This choir shows up on time and does whatever I say! And....my rep at Sweetwater Mark Magdich is the best!

This is a very good unit. Nice sounds and easy controls once set up. The one thing that I think could be better is if it would include some better instructions.

The sound that comes out of this little box is amazing. It is easy to use but wish it had an LCD display giving more information as to what the 3 memory presets contain. The microphone mount does not fit any of my microphone stands and since the mounting design is made of plastic, you don't want to force it in fears of breaking it. Also, after a couple of hours of using the product, it became fairly warm. This is my 3rd vocoder/harmonizer and it sounds the best compared to my previous Digitech products. Only time will tell if it will have a longer lifespan than the other products because the heat is concerning. It would be great if someone would make a rack mount version for keyboard players like in the past. Since it doesn't fit on my mic stand, it is currently sitting on my keyboard which interferes with my keyboard controls. Per TC Helicon, the best sounding harmonies comes from their $ extreme 3 device made for guitars. After playing with this device, that would be hard to believe but would recommend caution due to my mounting issues and I wish I had bought the vocal extreme 3 for guitars since it is made to be on the floor and has foot switch controls….although I wouldn't need the guitar features.

Overall, this is a good effects unit. The doubling, reverb, and echo effects work great. However, I am very disappointed with the harmonizer function in a live setting with a 5-piece band. Even though I am controlling it with MIDI, the harmonies do not track well at all, especially when the drums are bleeding througb the lead vocalist's microphone. 5 stars for all of the other features, but the harmonizer is not conducive to a larger band. Also, there should be an XLR output instead of the TRS stereo outputs.

A few reviewers have com plained that the harmony is too low in volume compared to the mic signal. In addition to selecting the type of harmony, the "big knob" also controls the balance, from zero to "full harmony only" with no mic signal.I believe you press the knob while the effect is on to activate this function, but it's been a while- all my presets are tweaked and I leave them as is.

The ability to do big harmonies is great. In a three piece band you can expand your sound to a giant degree. The effects sound pro, and then pitch correction sounds natural. The feedback control is nice.

A couple of cons:
Sometimes you can overload the signal and it will make a weird squelching sound, so be aware when you're setting your levels. I use a Telefunken M80 and I set my mic volume to about the 11oclock position and that works really well.
I wish this thing had an XLR out. I end up having to use an extra DI.
One last thing, because of the mic I'm using I don't need to use the eq function. If I was using an SM58 or a mic that has a darker tone I'd definitely use the auto eg.

Great vocal harmonizer in fact I think the top one.
This is probably the best harmonizer on the market the sound quality is phenomenal and all the features are just amazing. It's remarkable what you can do with this unit including sending the harmonies to a doctor which is important to me because I am doing musicals and it gives me ideas and allows me to make demos. I suppose what I'm saying is that it's a great way to audio wise an idea so you can hear when it's going to sound like.
So I sent a previous review criticizing the lack of a good manual and there is one but you have to hunt for it. The Quickstart manual is not enough. I recommend you get this Manual. The only thing I do wish they had and maybe it's there and I just haven't looked for it enough is the name of the various set ups that are put into the machine via your cell phone with a description What they did to make that set up. It would be practically cool if they would allow for notes on the end of this so you as a user could make notes about each set up.
I went to the manufacturers website and found a owners manual that it's pretty good. I went to the manufacturers website and found a owners manual that it's pretty good. There's no doubt to seeing the videos is great but it's sort of like watching the calculus teacher do all the work and think you get it until you go home and can't do it. It's just too much information. No doubt it does stimulate a desire to try this thing out which again is remarkable.
I highly recommend this unit. There's only one other item that I have purchased musically in the past few years and has had such an impact on my music and that is the space station 3-D sound or stereo sound amplifier. If you've got a keyboard you should get one of these devices. It eliminated my need for a tube preamp to warm up the sound and the sound quality is incredible and it bites through the band.

On the one hand, it does what it says and rather nicely. A few aspects of the operational design are not intuitive, but once you learn them, they're fine. That said, my sense is that TC-Helicon has been bought and this line of products is being milked for whatever sales they can get and then will be dropped. Here's why I think that: 1) You can't contact TC-Helicon directly - the help pages are generic to the parent company so there there is no direct Helicon support. 2) The newest YouTube video about this line on the Helicon channel is 2 years old - they seem to have a different focus. 3) The technology itself is retro in a 21st century way: downloading programs using an app on your phone is clever but awkward. With both MIDI and usb available, the lack of a laptop interface for editing presets seems like an easy, no-brainer improvement - but hasn't been done. The unit has more power and is programmable, but the weird smartphone-based app for loading programs means that many users will never access the full potential.

This is the second review I'm writing on the TC Helicon Performer VK. I found on You Tube some vids that are sort of kind of helpful, but they're far from professional instruction vids. First: it takes some time to get your levels set. You MUST press and hold down the item you wish to adjust, but make sure all the other items are not lit, then turn the big knob to where you desire it to be. I was unable to get it to set where only the harmony vocals would come through, no matter what I tried. I was able to get rid of some of the hiss and the OUT OF THE BOX distortion that you first find, but it took some adjusting. Like I said once I figured out that you have to select the item (making sure all the others are not active) then holding down the item button for about the count of five, then turning the big knob up as high as you desire, I found that all the way up is the right level for the harmonies to come even close to normal levels. Then press and hold the set button till it flashes. Then your setting will stay programed in. I haven't tried setting anything with computer software on it, so I have no comment on that. Before installing watch the You Tube Manuel vids. You will probably have to lower the volume on your keyboard controller, because if you raise the volume on the harmonies/voices it raise the volume globally on everything encluding your keyboard controller, but work at it long enough you'll find a balance of volume levels that'll work. It's a real pain at first, but the harmonies are lovely, the levels are limited. I tried a condenser mic, but that doesn't improve anything. Perhaps a TC Helicon mic might work better.
So good luck, you'll have to work at it till you can get it to work right and without your having to huff and puff and roar into the mic to get harmonies out of it at all. The Effects work well once set, that's a plus. I also have the triple pedal for it, that is helpful too.
It pales compared to keyboard controller vocal harmony units like the Roland VP770, so keep your expectations low.
But for the price it's a good product, it's just a lot of work you'll have to put into it to get it to work correctly.

For the money it delivers as expected! Pretty Happy with it Figuring out the connectivity has been alittle bit of a challenge, but over all Great product. So happy with it I had to buy the VE;o)

I love it. I love Sweetwater twater because service and shipping very faster. I alway buy sweetwater. Thanks Zack

I purchased the TC Helicon Perforer VK from Sweet Water. T C Helicon has some delivery issues resulting from the pandemic, so it took about a year to get it, but I was willing to wait. Alan Carter and Sweet Water was good and helpful about it.
I hooked the TC Helicon Perfomer VK via MIDI and the TRS aux out on my Roland RD 2000 piano controller.
There were no MIDI isssues.
It took me some time to get the harmony voices up where they can be heard; that said a better feature would allow you to raise the volume of the harmony voices to be louder than your own voice. Out of the box, the harmony voices were barely audable, I had to tweek it for a while just to get the harmony voices up where I could hear them, but my voice was still too loud, about twice the volume of the harmony voices (you've only got a Tone button, it's really not an EQ as claimed in the sales pitch) but still I had to roar into the microphone to get the harmony voices sounding at all.
There is no Envelope filter or release level control for the harmony voices so it cuts off immediatly with your voice a little too quickly for my taste, it's like playing a piano without a sustain pedal.
There's a lot of distortion in the overall sound and no way to illiminate it.
It may be the dynamic mic I'm using (Senheiser e835s). I haven't tried a condeser mic on it yet, but that'll be my next effort, mayne that'll make a difference.
Compared to the Roland VP770 it doesn't functionally come near the Roland, on the Roland you can control the volume of your own voice and put the harmony voices up louder than your own voice. Can't do that on the TC Helicon performer VK.
And you're very limited stylistically wise, there's no Choir setting for instance and you can't change the charactor of the voices nuancicly like you can on a keyboard controler with vocal harmony. It does follow your voice or your keyboard harmonically, so if you hold down a chord and sing a lower note, and then a higher note the harmonies do move with you.
I'm still facing the learning curve of it and there is no owner's manuel, just a quick start sheet.
Alternatively; one could get a Korg Pa4X or a Yamaha Genos for harmony vocals, but that's an expensive solution.
I play multiple keyboards in a small church, we have a lead singer and I harmonize to her voice. The Performer VK would be nice if it worked like the Roland VP 770 does, but there's about $2000.00 diference in the price and the Korg Pa4X is $4300.00, the Genos six thousand, so I'll keep trying to make the Perforer VK work and maybe in time I'll solve the problems I've ran into so far. If so I'll write another review and discribe the fixes, but for now having to roar into the mic to get harmonies to sound at half volume is not desireable at all that's why I gave it the three star rating.

This unit has the potential of being very good. However, it is poorly made and not properly thought out. Mine gives me many problems with lights flashing, things not working and it just does what it feels like doing on its own. It has all the latest updates and still acts unpredictable. Downside, No volume switch! Harmony button does what it wants to on its own. How do you sell a vocal device with no Volume control on the fly. Harmony controls are very limited. Tap for delay is garbage and hard to tell what the delay is as you tap. Consider these issues before spending your money. I cant trust this unit for live performances. I use it for practice only. My live singing is done with the TC Hellicon Voicelive Touch 2 which is double the price but much better sounding, controlling, and twice the machine. At least I can trust it!

This unit is unbelievable. Number one ... out of the box the sound is fantastic. All you need to do is turn on the harmony, reverb, or echo to add a professional sound to the mix. Number two ... super easy to set-up and use. TC Helicon has the user interface nailed. After a couple of minutes of use, the whole unit becomes intuitive. Great job here.

There has to be around a dozen or so youtube videos on the net covering how to use this unit and set it up. I went thru each one before ordering from Sweetwater. All I had to do was connect my mic, a midi cable, and connect the output into my mixer. I use a condenser mic so I turned on phantom power, set the gain, turned on the tone and pitch. That's all it took to get that TC Helicon sound coming out of my system. The harmonies track the midi coming out of my keyboard flawlessly.

I never expected this to be so easy. I have another brand's product and I spent hours and hours with that unit and still could not come close to sounding as good as the Perform VK does.

A few more presets would be helpful. On the other hand, I've yet to explore the "hit" function, which will essentially expand each of the existing presets.

If you play keys and sing in a live environment, adding the TC Helicon Perform VK to your setup is an easy decision. No regrets here.

This thing sounds great and, with the foot switch, is so easy to flick on and off even during a verse. It's easy to use and after watching the how to video, easy to program. I play guitar and keys, and it can detect chords from either equally well. I haven't tried the midi interface. And I haven't quite figured out how to balance the levels between the instruments and the vocals. But so far I've loved the balance, so….
My only negative feedback (and I ranked 4 stars - so minor things) would be these 3 things. It would be nice if the instrument output was more of a "through" output (optional add a portion of the effects (I'm thinking reverb maybe?)). Make it so that the presets are "saved" where you have to press something to make them stick, and better documentation with the device - it felt like I was missing the instruction manual and just had the "quick start" guide. Which is conceivable. YouTube fixed me right up though.

All minor issues - trust me. It sounds great, and does exactly what it says it does. Not sure how it does all that with no descernable delay….but it does.

The Only Reason this Only gets 3 1/2 Stars from me is that they couldn't include a On/Off switch and you have to unplug the thing to shut it off every time!

At first I didn't like the tone. However after awhile I realized the tone
really came through on recordings. It took a bit to adjust singing with it
but now I really love it. I use a foot switch to move from regular
vocal to my harmony setup. Eliminates the need for a mixer. I have a video
showing the setup in my home studio and link to some vocal with it.
The Talk button is very useful for making Youtube when you just need no
effects. I own three of these now!

This Vocal Processor was easy to set up and by watching the YouTube videos, was easy to use very quickly. I have been playing with different settings and it's just a really neat little gadget. It's supposed to attach to your mike stand -- doesn't work on mine. Wish they had made a clamp that you could tighten manually on any size stand.

I bought it with the idea of writing/recording songs. The added harmonies make any song sound that much more interesting. Very pleased!

I have a love-hate relationship with this unit! I love what it does, but the settings are a pain. The app to load presets is buggy.
The unit adds amazing tone to your mic and doesn't hurt your piano signal at all! If you use a light touch with the effects and harmonies they sound amazing. Just don't over do it!

The mic tone alone is worth it for me!

I would have definitely given 5 stars if it were easier to manage the presets and adjustments...!

I have to admit I was sceptical and thought this would just add a little Reverb maybe some echo...But the Harmony on this sent child down my arms!

I also purchased the switcher for it as it is a must have for going onto Harmony!

The only real complaints I have in regards to this device is that it doesn't include or have a bundle for the foot switch.

I was also seriously disappointed in the power adapter. It's basically so short that on a mic stand it almost doesn't touch the ground and dangles.

If they make another model it has got to have a much much longer Power adapter.

Same could be said about the foot switch but I'll cover that in another review.

Other wise...I'm not how I ever enjoyed singing and playing without this thing!

I've had this for about 6 mos and feel like I can finally give a somewhat intelligent review. I agree with a lot of the other comments: basically does a pretty good job, things sound muddy unless you use the "tone" button -- but that is a little to hot, TC Helicon's documentation really sucks, the app/extra presets are not at all intuitive with virtually NO documentation. In trying to really get control over this thing, I started feeding it midi tracks and using the midi modes to control the actual harmony notes applied. With this setup, I could get absolute control over what notes were added in harmony and when. Frankly, I was pretty disappointed with the built in harmony settings, they often seemed to not match what was needed in anything other than simple I, IV, V progressions. But when I feed it the actual harmony notes I want through midi, it really shines.

I have also found that this thing works great as the basic audio interface for my studio/gig setup as a single performer. I use the instrument input for my keyboard, run backing tracks and the midi harmony tracks from my laptop DAW via usb, hook up the mic and then run the output to my sound system and I'm set to go. In the studio, I can get the mic in, processed vocals, instrument input and harmony to the DAW as separate tracks via usb for mixing. Very handy for editing the harmony track and trying different mix levels to preview what the live mix will do. In my opinion, this is where the thing really shines. I'm sure there will be a lot more I can do with it as I get more experience, but over all I am pretty pleased. I'm not a vocalist by any means, but now I feel like I can add vocal tracks to my music and not be too embarrassed...

Special shout out to Sweetwater and the personal attention I get from Matt Brooks for the usual outstanding service. I bought my Perform Vk as a demo unit - looked like new, and with my Sweetwater experience I have no qualms whatever in buying a demo unit.

I have had a few harmonizers in the past that were okay, but I have to say the TC Helicon Perform VK surpasses them all; however, the Quick Start and User manuals are woefully inadequate. It took some trial and error before I figured out everything. Then it was easy. When you first get the VK, you have to go to the TC Helicon website to load the most recent driver and update into it.

I use the VK app to load the presets I wanted by connecting a cable from my IPAD rather than beaming the presets into the Perform. You can load 3 different presets from the app Into the 3 preset positions on the Perform and then adjust them to your needs. Plus, each preset also has a "hit" mode so you can have two variations within each preset. There are a lot of songs on the app that allow you to duplicate the harmonies of the original songs as well as a Harmony genre that has specific presets like Octave-up and other harmonies. I also use the manual gain rather than singing into the Perform to set the volume, but be warned, the signal is pretty hot so I had to set it on the lowest volume. Keep your volume down on your amp when connecting so you don't get feedback and then adjust up. You can adjust the balance between the harmony and your voice to the point that you can even have just the harmony without your voice if you want.

The Perform takes the notes you play on the keyboard through the MIDI output into the Perform together with your mic and the output cables from your keyboard. You then run cables from the Perform output into your amp. Make sure you release the sustain pedal when you change chords otherwise the sustained chord will throw off the harmony. Finally, you might notice that the clip on the side that is supposed to connect to a mic stand seems too small to fit and, at first, I was afraid to force it; however, I saw a video on Youtube saying that you have to use a little effort to twist it on and off, and sure enough, it worked without cracking the plastic. If you play keyboard and are looking for a great harmonizer, the Perform VK does the job, but I took a half point off because the manuals should have been clearer.

I'm very disappointed in this product. Bought it and turns out I need to load new firmware right out of the box. When I try to load the firmware my computer won't even recognize the unit. Better yet there is no support number to contact. I tried to fill out a support ticket but their system won't even allow me to do that without kicking me out because it won't accept a phone number in one of the fields. There's plenty of hip videos out there to watch about what it can do. I've spent hours with this piece of junk on top of the $... I wasted. STAY AWAY.

This thing amazes me with it"s sound. Espescially when I plug a Monophonic Synthesizer into it and sing. I"m not much of a vocalist but even I sound pretty good with it processing my voice and adding harmonies to my Mono Synth. It"s reverb and echo effects are quite good for thickening up the sound of any synthesizer or even guitars and other instruments.

Over the past few months, I've purchased several TC-Helicon devices. This is the one I should have bought from the start.
I'm not a keyboard player, but I do have a multi-media show that uses backing and MIDI tracks along with me performing several instruments live.
I'm using this device primarily for harmony and the great thing about the VK and MIDI note data is that you can set it in MIDI notes mode, and it will pitch your vocal to as many as 8 notes it receives over the midi channel it is set to. You don't need to press a foot switch, because if it doesn't get note data, it doesn't do anything to your voice. You can even double by sending it the melody only... or, you can sing the harmony while it pitch shifts you to the melody. Possibilities are fun!
If it has a downside, it is that it has several effects that are just too complicated to get to, and the documentation, as with all TC-Helicon devices, insufficient.

9 years ago I purchased 2 pedals from TC Helicon. A "Correct" for $250 and a "Harmony-M" for $300. I have been eyeing this "Perform-VK" since it came out at the end of 2016 to replace my 2 pedals and because it is a smaller TC Helicon pedal with MIDI. I finally took the plunge and I am so glad I did. I was not sure how much incremental value it would have over my current 2 pedals since the basic features are the same. Wooow, was I wrong. The VK sounds so much stronger vocally then my older pedals. It is easier to use. (I know some reviews have struggled with its complexity, but it is intuitive for me.) I might find it easier to use since I know what my old pedals did and understood quickly the upgrades in the VK design. I love having only one pedal now, rather than 2 with all the connecting cords. Also, I had feedback problems the "Correct". No problems now.
So bottom line is I am having buyers remorse for spending $550 for the 2 pedals nine years ago compared to what I have now that cost less than half that amount. i guess technology does that.
Great vocal pedal if you are avoiding the higher end pedals from TC.

The product itself is really great. Much more human sounding harmonizer than earlier technologies.
The only problem is the unbelievably incomplete instructions. Going to a forum and calling the Sweetwater support folks are the only way I could set this thing up. Even the process for linking up the unit to my keyboard via midi, wasn't in the booklet.
I'm still learning more all the time - it's just time consuming with so little help from the manufacturer.
By the way, I've been an electronics tech for 40yrs, so I'm not thrown off by the technology.

I wanted a harmony processor to replace my Digitech VHM5 which only does 4 voices and weighs 7 pounds in my gig rack. This does the trick perfectly- I use the 8-voice mode and extra doubling to simulate a 40-voice choir, performed live with just a MIDI keyboard. My audiences are blown away when I use this device. Plus, it only weighs about a pound.

This is one of the best device I have ever purchased. It's capability is truly amazing. I think you'll be truly blown away

Have only used the unit at rehearsals so far, but everything seems to be working as advertised. Have not explored all the parameters of the unit by myself yet, but will get to it. Mostly using it to add harmonies and some pitch control.

While mostly good, there are some let-downs about this unit.
1. No "on-off" switch. They could have put a small one in, like on the VoiceSolo monitor.
2. Cord on wall-wart is too short.
3. Unit sounds muddy unless "tone" control is activated. No editing of "tone" EQ, which is very treble-y.
4. Hard to get detailed info on presets, especially those from iPhone software.
5. "Anti-feedback" helps... but not totally. Wish it were editable.
6. Very limited documentation.

On the plus side, it's nice to have 8 voices of Midi controlled harmonies via keyboard. And they sound better than my old rack-mount TC helicon Voiceworks unit.

I wrote a review on the Perform VK a few hours ago with the caveat that if I found answers to my technical questions I'd be back with a 5 star rating and here it is. The tech prob was me.My tap wasn't working because it was being controlled by the midi on my keyboard. Now I control bpm frrom the keyboard synth. Still very impressed with the sound quality I'm getting.The texture and flow of the vocals with harmony can be hypnotic when you get it right. Amazing tool I'll be using for a long time, unless TC comes out with something better.

Purchased the new Perform VK, and the reviews are mixed. First off, just like all TC Helicon vocal processors the sound is great! Crisp, clear, strong sound with studio quality effects. My issues are with customer service and support. The quick start and downloadable manuals are woefully inadequate. VERY little detail on how to operate the unit. So little that I'm not sure if I have a defective VK or I just don't know how to use it. It has a tap function that doesn't seem to work, and since there are only 4 sentences on the subject in the manual, I don't know if it's me or the unit. I believe it's the unit but am waiting for a call back. So, once again, great sounding processor, but being brand spanking new, there may be bugs to work out. I hope they're worked out cause I want very badly to have this baby in my vocal arsenal. If my concerns are taken care of, my rating then goes to a 5.