8 Best Vocal Harmonizer Pedals/Tabletop Vocal Harmonizers

Vocal harmonizer pedals have come a long way in the last ten years!

Harmonized vocals help create peak emotional moments in a song.  Classic records by Queen, The Eagles, Enya, and many others used overdubbing to create stacked vocal harmonies that helped sell millions of records.

But when it came to performances, it was near impossible to create the same sound live.  And solo artists had no choice but to perform with solo vocals.

Today, though, technology has improved so much that vocal harmonizer pedals, once a novelty, have become very popular for live shows.

Why?  First off, today’s best harmonizer pedals sound amazing, and they create in-tune harmonies effortlessly without technical glitches.

And secondly, the price of a harmonizer pedal has decreased to the point where most vocalists can afford one.

It’s a win-win for vocalists!

Now, there’s quite a bit of difference between the best vocal harmonizer pedals and the rest of the pack.  I’ve reviewed all the pedals available today and came up with the nine best options.

The best options are TC Helicon and Boss vocal harmonizers.  I also included one Roland unit that’s quite different from everything else.  These 8 pedals provide the best features, quality, and sound at an affordable price.

I’ve divided the reviews into vocal harmonizer pedals and tabletop/stand-mount vocal harmonizers.  The different models appeal to different types of users.

Vocal Harmonizer Pedal Buyers Guide

If you’re looking for your first vocal harmonizer pedal, please check out the Vocal Harmonizer Pedal Buyers Guide after the reviews.

Best Vocal Harmonizer Pedals

TC Helicon Singles VoiceTone H1

TC Helicon is a manufacturer of high-quality vocal processors, microphones, and effects. A few of the artists that use their products are Imogen Heap, Snow Patrol, Skrillex, and Queens of the Stone Age.

They’re best known for their excellent vocal harmonizers/vocal processors, and I’ve reviewed five different TC Helicon pedals in this article.

First up is the VoiceTone H1.  It’s one of their Singles pedals, which are pedals that only do one thing, in this case, provide harmonies.  It’s also the most affordable pedal in the TC Helicon product lineup.

The VoiceTone H1 is designed to add one or two harmonies at a 3^rd and/or 5^th above or below your voice.  A single footswitch controls the effect being on or off.

Harmonies can be controlled by a guitar, meaning that guitar chords played will determine the key and harmonies.  You can just choose a key to guide the harmonies without using a guitar.

VoiceTone H1 Controls

The VoiceTone H1 one is straightforward to use – there are only three controls:

Key Selector:  The Key Selector lets you choose Guitar mode or individual keys.

In Guitar mode, you can use an electric guitar, acoustic guitar, or even a keyboard to guide the vocal harmonies. The harmonizer will follow the chords played (but not single-note melodies) and use those chords to create the vocal harmonies in the right key.

If you choose a key and not the Guitar mode, the pedal will harmonize correctly within that key without a pitch reference other than your vocal.

One drawback is that if you sing in different keys (such as when a song modulates to a new key), you’ll have to change the key manually on the fly.

Voices Below/Above: This knob let you set whether the harmonies are above or below your voice.

Dry/Wet: This controls the amount of effect you hear. Set it all the way to Dry, and there’s no harmonizer.  Set it 100% to Wet, and you’ll only hear the harmonizer.

How Does It Sound?

For the money, the VoiceTone H1 sound amazingly good, and the harmonies are right on pitch. But like any vocal effect, a little goes a long way.  The harmonized vocals sometimes sound a bit robotic and mechanical, so pulling them into the background usually gets the best results.

The following video showcases artist Andy Allo doing a cover of Do I Wanna Know by Arctic Monkeys using the VoiceTone H1:

DO I WANNA KNOW – Arctic Monkeys (Cover)

Here’s a video showing how to use a guitar with the VoiceTone H1.

VoiceTone H1 – Intelligent Vocal Harmony Pedal

Other Features

The VoiceTone H1 includes a high-quality mic preamp with low noise and clear transparent sound.

There are also XLR jacks for mic in and out, a USB jack, a Ground Lift button that can remove any buzz and hum, an Instrument Thru jack, and a Guitar Input jack.

The VoiceTone H1 is made in Canada and comes with a 3-year warranty.  A power supply is included.

TC Helicon Harmony Singer 2

The Harmony Singer has been around for some years and has been a user favorite since its introduction.

More recently, TC Helicon released the Harmony Singer 2, which is the original Harmony Singer with a choice of using batteries (4 AA batteries required) or a power supply.

The TC Helicon Harmony Singer 2 is the next step up from the VoiceTone H1.  It’s an expanded VoiceTone H1 with reverb and tone controls and sound improvements.

Like the VoiceTone H1, it’s designed to be used with a guitar to control the harmonies.

You also have three types of reverb and an exclusive Adaptive Tone switch that adds EQ, compression, de-essing, and gating to your vocal for a professional recording studio sound.

Overall, it’s very easy to use and sounds truly amazing!  Check it out below; I feel it sounds quite a bit more natural than the H1.

Harmony Singer 2 – Club Reverb > Low + Lower Harmony

Harmony Singer 2 – Club Reverb > Low + Lower Harmony

Harmony Singer 2 – Tone only > Room Reverb > High + Low Harmony

Harmony Singer 2 Controls & Features

The Harmony Singer 2 has three controls that are different from the VoiceTone H1.

Harmony gives you two harmony voices with eight voicing options (harmonies above or below vocal).  The harmonies created are thirds and fifths.

Level adjusts the mix between vocal and harmonies.

Reverb lets you select the type of reverb you want. The choices are Room, Club, Hall, or Off. Each of these 3 choices has a volume control to mix in the desired amount of effect.

Tone shapes your vocal with additional EQ, compression, and more.  However, the settings are not user-adjustable, so if you don’t like the sound, you will have to turn Tone off.  But Tone almost always sound much better on than off!

And finally, the footswitch turns the harmonizer on or off.  Reverb and tone are not turned off with the footswitch.

Reverb Can Be Disabled For Talking

TC Helicon added a thoughtful feature that’s handy when talking to your audience and you don’t want reverb on your voice.  If you press and hold the footswitch button, the reverb is disabled.  An LED lights up to show you it’s in bypass mode.

Other Features

The mic preamp is high-quality and features phantom power for use with condenser mics.

There are also XLR jacks for mic in and out, a USB jack, a Ground Lift button that can remove any buzz and hum, an Instrument Thru jack, and a Guitar Input jack.

If you want more, here’s an in-depth look at the Harmony Singer 2:

Harmony Singer 2 – In-Depth Video + Demo

All in all, it’s a great sounding unit and highly recommended for both studio and stage use.

The Harmony Singer 2 is made in Canada and comes with a 3-year warranty.  Power supply is included.

TC Helicon VoiceTone Harmony G-XT 

The TC Helicon VoiceTone Harmony G-XT is TC Helicon’s flagship vocal processor for singer/guitarists.

It offers the same high-quality sound and many of the features of the VoiceTone Harmony Singer 2 reviewed above, but with lots of cool additions.

First, the Harmony G-XT adds doubling and delay to the effects.

Second, it also adds auto-chromatic pitch correction that keeps you in tune even during songs with lots of advanced chord or key changes.

And finally, you now also have the ability to save up to 10 presets that you can recall with one of the two footswitches.

Here’s the Harmony G-XT in action:

Demo with doubling, reverb and harmonies

This demo features vocal doubling, a single harmony below the lead vocal, a 3-part harmony vocal, the Tone circuitry and reverb.

Tom Lang rocks Harmony-G XT – vocal harmony

Other Features

The Harmony G-XT includes one XLR mic input and two XLR mic outputs, plus Instrument In/Thru jacks for connecting a guitar, and a USB jack.

The VoiceTone Harmony G-XT comes with a power supply and TC Helicon’s 3-year warranty.

It’s a very powerful vocal processor with tons of sounds and options to create the perfect vocal sound for any song or recording.

TC Helicon VoiceLive Play 

The TC Helicon VoiceLive Play is a vocal harmonizer pedal with a built-in looper and multi-effects. Its amazing sound makes it a great pedal for vocalists singing any style of music.

The VoiceLive Play vs. the Harmony G-XT

The VoiceLive Play offers the same high-quality professional sound as the Harmony G-XT, but with some key differences.

So, to help understand each pedal, here’s a chart of the main differences:

Here’s an outline of the new features found on the VoiceLive Play.

Audio Looping

The VLOOP looper lets you record and playback up to 30 seconds of audio.  Loops can be combined with other loops for compelling, layered performances.

Vocal Presets

The VoiceLive Play comes with more than 200 presets in the style of popular artists and songs.  Presets searches can be done by genre, artist, song title, or even effect type.

Hit Button

This exclusive Hit button adds additional effects to your voice when pressed. It’s useful for pumping up the energy during a performance.  For example, you can add delay to the chorus of a song, but turn it off on the verses.

Effects

There are now 7 effects available in the VoiceLive Play: reverb, delay, micromod (chorus/flanger type effects), harmonizer, doubler, Adaptive Tone, and hard tune that creates effects like robot, megaphone, etc.  Adaptive Tone includes EQ, compression, a de-esser, a gate, and pitch correction.

Let’s check out how it sounds:

VoiceLive Play – First Impressions with Georgia Murray

VoiceLive Play Overview with Tom Lang

MP-75b Microphone

The VoicePlay Live can use TC Helicon’s MP-75 dynamic mic.  It’s a great-sounding mic that integrates with most of TC Helicon’s vocal pedals.  The mic includes a switch that can turn the Hit button on or off right from the microphone.

The VoiceLive Play will help any gigging or studio vocalist produce very polished & professional-sounding vocals.

Like all TC Helicon products, the VoiceLive Play is made in Canada and comes with a 3-year warranty.  Power supply is included.

Highly recommended!

Boss VE-2 Vocal Harmonist

As a manufacturer of dozens of high-quality effects pedals, Boss needs no introduction.  Virtually every guitarist has owned at least one Boss pedal (my favorite was the Boss CE-2b chorus).

The VE-2 is a guitar-controlled vocal harmonizer pedal that delivers Boss’ legendary sound quality.

It’s designed to be very easy to use (even for singers who’ve never used pedals before) and delivers a studio-quality sound, all at an affordable price.

Let’s check out its sound before getting into its features:

BOSS VE-2 Vocal Harmonist featuring Annekei

VE-2 Harmonizer & Effects

The main Harmonizer function can be triggered in two different ways.

The most common mode is using a guitar, where the VE-2 auto-detects a connected guitar’s chords to figure out the correct harmonies.  Unlike any other harmonizer pedal on the market, there is also a hybrid mode that combines the guitar input with a manual key setting.  This helps the unit provide on-pitch harmonies even if you stop playing chords and start play leads – the manual setting will take over automatically.

You can also select a key manually from the unit’s front panel.

There are 24 different harmony options to choose from – 12 one-part and 12 two-part harmonies, plus doubling for larger-than-life vocal parts.

The VE-2 also includes reverb and delay, and there are 3 memory settings to store favorite combinations of sounds.

There’s also an Enhancement button with two different modes. Pressing the button once provides some great-sounding compression and EQ effects to your voice.  A second press turns on pitch correction to fix any wayward notes, handy for live performances where you may not be able to hear yourself easily.

Other Features

The VE-2 includes an XLR input with 48V phantom power and an XLR output, and a USB output that can be used to connect to recording software.

It uses 4 AA batteries (included) or a Boss PSA power supply that’s sold separately.

All in all, the VE-2 is a complete effects unit for any singer wanting top quality yet hassle-free sound.

Boss VE-8 Acoustic Singer

The Boss VE-8 is the big brother of the VE-2 pedal. It has the same studio-quality sound and features as the VE-2, but adds a looper, two more footswitches, expanded memory, and a dedicated acoustic guitar preamp with effects.

It’s an ideal all-in-one solution for solo acoustic guitar and vocalist performances.

Let’s have a listen:

Using the BOSS VE-8 Acoustic Singer: Commentary with Laura Davidson

The next video has artist KT Tunstall using the loop feature to record guitar percussion, claps and tambourine hits to enhance her solo acoustic performance:

Roland Sessions: KT Tunstall “Suddenly I See”

Boss VE-8 Acoustic Singer New Features

The harmonizer, tone Enhance, pitch correction, and effects are the same as in the VE-2.  However, Boss added quite a few great new features.

Looper For Both Vocals and Guitar

The new vocal looper lets you record up to 80 seconds of audio.  You can loop both guitar and vocals separately, allowing you to create unique layered arrangements that other effects units can’t match.

New Acoustic Guitar Preamp + Effects

The Guitar channel includes an Acoustic Resonance setting which enhances the guitar’s tone when plugged in, plus reverb, chorus, a tuner, and other effects.  It also has a phase invert and notch filter to eliminate feedback during live performances.

Three Footswitches

Three footswitches let you turn off or on the effects, harmonizer, or the looper.

Other Features

The effects memory has been expanded to hold 50 presets.

There’s a USB port to output both guitar and vocals to a DAW for recording.

The VE-8 runs on six AA batteries or the included AC adaptor.

If you’re a singer/songwriter/acoustic guitar performer, the Boss VE-8 Acoustic Singer should be at the top of your list!

Best Tabletop/Stand-Mounted Vocal Harmonizers

TC Helicon Perform-VK  

The TC Helicon Perform-VK is a tabletop vocal harmonizer/processor that includes harmonizer, pitch correction, reverb, echo, and effects.

It’s a multi-effects unit that will produce professional record-quality vocals that previously were only available in the studio.

Unlike previously reviewed TC Helicon units that are geared towards singer/guitarists, the Perform-VK is ideal for a singer/keyboardist.  The unit listens to each chord played on the keyboard, and creates the right harmonies for your vocals.

It’s small enough to sit on a keyboard, and it’s designed for hands-on performance use where you can change settings on the fly during a song.

There are many features (some hidden) in the Perform-VK so let’s go through them.

TC Helicon Perform-VK Features

On the left side, there are three buttons to select Harmony, Reverb, or Echo effects.  Each high-quality effect can be adjusted with the center knob.

The top row has the tone-shaping controls.

Tone turns on the Adaptive Tone module which adds EQ, compression, de-essing, and gating to your vocal for a smooth professional sound. TC Helicon recommends keeping the Tone button on most of the time.

An Anti-Feedback button adds feedback filters to reduce feedback squealing which drives everyone nuts during a live performance.

Pitch turns on subtle Autotune-type pitch correction to keep you on pitch at all times.

On the bottom of the unit, a Tap button lets you sync the delay to your song’s tempo.

The Talk button bypasses the reverb, echo, and harmonizer but keeps the Adaptive Tone effects on, perfect for communicating with an audience without having the effects on.

There are also 3 presets where you can save favorite effects settings.

For recording, the USB output lets you output your vocal and effects as separate tracks (up to 4 tracks in, 8 out).

Mic Stand Grip

The Perform-VK includes a special mic stand grip that lets you attach it to a mic stand for easy access to all settings during performances.

Other Features

Additional features are a built-in mic that lets you practice without connecting an external mic, and 48V phantom power for condenser mics.

The following video demonstrates all this and more:

Perform-VK | The Ultimate Keyboard Performance Tool
=

How Does It Sound?

As you can hear from the video, the Perform-VK can expand a solo performance to a whole other level.  The harmonizer, effects, and pitch correction bring professional-quality sounding vocals to live performances or quick and easy harmonies to recordings.

All in all, the unit sounds very natural and organic.

Roland Voice Transformer VT-4  

I’ve included the Roland Voice Transformer VT-4 here because it does things none of the other vocal processors do.  It’s a vocal transformer more than just a harmonizer. Its strength is producing electronically altered sounds.

The VT-4’s target audience is artists and vocalists working in electronic styles of music, not acoustic vocalists looking for an organic sound.

If that’s what you’re looking for, then read on.

The Roland VT-4 vocal effects processor can transform your voice more so than any of the other units reviewed here.  It’s a tabletop unit that goes far beyond just harmonizing a vocal.

It features pitch correction, a vocoder, pitch-shifting, hard tuning, auto-pitch glitch, and formant changing.

You can change your voice from a traditional studio-quality sound to robotic vocals, munchkin voices, Darth Vadar dramatic sounds, megaphone type sounds, and much more.

The VT-4 is best suited for users who like to tweak settings.  It provides lots of customization of sounds with pitch, formant, balance and reverb sliders, and settings can be saved into memory locations.

It’s designed for use with a keyboard, with keyboard chords controlling the harmonizer.  Its small size lets it fit right on a keyboard for easy access to settings.

Here it is in action:

Roland VT-4 Voice Transformer Performance

Other VT-4 Features

The VT-4 includes a high-quality audio interface with phantom power for the XLR input.  It also has MIDI control to add expression to vocal effects in real time.

The VT-4 can run on batteries or can be powered through its USB port.

For electronic music producers and vocalists, the VT-4 is a top choice if you’re looking for unusual vocal sounds and effects.

Vocal Harmonizer Pedal Buyers Guide

This short vocal harmonizer buyers guide will walk you through all the things you should consider before buying one.

What Is A Vocal Harmonizer?

A vocal harmonizer is an effects unit that will automatically add harmonies to your vocal.  Most have the ability to add a 3^rd and a 5^th above or below your voice.  Modern “smart” harmonizers will instantly determine the key of the song (either through your voice or through an instrument) and add the correct harmonies automatically.

Depending on the model, harmonizer pedals can also include reverb, echo, pitch correction and other effects.  The majority of units have a foot pedal that allows you to turn on and off the harmonizer in real time, but some are tabletop models that give you easier access to all the settings during a live performance.

How Does It Work?

Vocal harmonizers are controlled two ways.  The most common is by chords played by guitar or keyboard, where the harmonizer instantly determines the instrument’s chord that’s played, and creates the appropriate harmonies.

The harmonies can also just be triggered manually by choosing a key.

Things To Consider When Buying a Vocal Harmonizer Pedal

There are a lot of features available in a vocal harmonizer pedal.  The following should be taken into consideration before buying so you get the harmonizer that’s right one for you.

Studio vs. Stage Use: Floor Pedal vs. Table Top

Because there are two basic models – a foot pedal model that sits on the ground, or a tabletop unit – how you intend to use it is a primary consideration.

Pedals are the most popular among users, and there are far more floor pedal models than tabletop units.

For live gigs, most vocalists prefer a pedal as it is easy to use during live performances.  But some singers prefer having the buttons and settings available at hand when they perform, so a tabletop/stand-mounted model would work best.

For studio work, floor pedal models beat out the tabletop models for convenience and playability. 

Both models are popular for recording use.

Guitar or Keyboard Controlled

Some models are designed for use with guitar (both acoustic and electric guitars work), while others work with keyboards to control the harmonies.

So, the instrument you play will help you narrow down your choices.

Extras

While some basic pedals only provide harmonization, many units provide all sorts of effects, including compression, EQ, pitch correction, doubling, and more.   For live use, these effects are very handy to create a layered professional sound.

FYI, the best-selling pedals are multi-effects units that provide more than just harmonized vocals.

Power

Most pedals are powered with an AC adaptor but some only use batteries.  Some can the capability for both.

So, always check the unit’s power requirements.  AC power is more reliable than batteries, but if you play gigs in places power isn’t available, battery power is a good option.

Price

Except for the most basic harmonizers which are around $100, most fall around the $200 range and are competitively priced.  All the harmonizer pedals reviewed here provide excellent sound, so it’s comes down to the features you want.