TC Helicon has made it their personal mission to completely eliminate the need for musicians to have talented friends with ear training who listen. Their highest achievement to date is the new TC Helicon VoiceLive 2, introduced at this past Winter NAMM 2009.

The VoiceLive 2 represents the combined harmonizing prowess of all TC Helicon's previous harmonizing endeavors, including the original VoiceLive and the VoiceTone line of vocal effects pedals. The most obvious update from the previous VoiceLive is the redesigned housing and interface (I wonder if the Nove System from TC Electronic will get the same facelift).

Easy of use was of primary concern in designing the VoiceLive 2, so to make patch creation easier they've developed something called the Wizard button. We assume the Wizard button will behave more like the Windows Setup Wizard and less like a bearded codger who'll trick you into poverty and desolation. Also added -- and less nebulous in function -- are direct, stompbox style access to the six "effects blocks." There's also dedicates buttons for global tone, pitch and guitar effects. There's simple preset chaining and updates, backups and streaming audio via USB connection.

The VoiceLive 2's new NaturalPlay harmony engine allows you to control harmonies with guitar, MIDI or even MP3 input (you can also harmonize without accompaniment). Up to eight voices of harmony are possible with MIDI keyboard control (four doubled voices, otherwise), and the new harmony algorithm is as clean and smooth as a baby's new marble floor.

Beyond harmony, the VoiceLive 2 contains a huge array of effects, tailored for vocals and easily accessible. The new effects engine boasts:

• 5X processing power of typical floor processor
• Separate harmony and doubling blocks
• New reverb, tap delay, µMod
• FX block for T-Pain effect, megaphone, distortion
• Global effects including Tone, pitch correction, and Guitar FX
• Ability to use all effects simultaneously simultaneously

Like other TC Helicon harmonizing effects, the VoiceLive 2 acts like your own personal vocal engineer, offering a slew of adaptive parameter adjustments that "listen" to your performance -- like EQ, compression, de-essing and noise suppression. I put "listen" in quotes because, just in case you get confused, there's no actual engineer in there. It's just an algorithm.* Even it it keeps you company at night, it's still hot human. NEVER FORGET THIS.

Finally, the VoiceLive 2 has all the I/O you'll ever need to rock the mike Like Dick Van Dyke (in Mary Poppins):

• Mic or Line input with digital controlled mic gain
• Guitar input with auto-mix , Guitar FX as well as transparent pass-thru
• Stereo 1/8” (MP3 player ) input
• Stereo XLR, ¼” and Headphone outputs
• MIDI in, out and thru
• Expression pedal input
• USB for updates, back-up and audio streaming

The specs are set, but the price and availability are not.

*have you met my FOH mixer, Al G'Rithm? A HA HA HA!