Key Takeaways
- Expand creative effects possibilities beyond guitar
- Purpose-built solutions solve impedance mismatches, noise, and signal problems
- Clean reliable integration + real-time control = artistic freedom live
Creative Effects Beyond Guitar
Whether you’re looking to reproduce a part you’ve previously recorded or experiment on the fly, adding effects has always been a tried and true means of expanding your sound.
As the platforms and options for adding effects have expanded, so has the use of effects on sources that typically require more care when paired with pedals, like vocals, wind, brass, and acoustic instruments.
Allowing players to do so, easily and quickly, while addressing the challenges that come with incorporating effects on mic’d acoustic sources was the driving force behind the creation of Radial’s original Voco-Loco Effect Switcher and our updated version, the Voco-Loco Mk2.
Why Pedals Don’t Naturally Work with Microphones
Pairing high‑impedance pedals and low‑impedance mics results in a mismatch that affects the frequency response of a mic, making it difficult to get enough volume and increasing noise and hiss.
Connecting a balanced mic out to an unbalanced pedal in also derails the benefits of common mode rejection, potentially turning your cable into an antenna that picks up RFI and EMI interference, increasing noise. Then there’s the fact that pedals that don’t provide phantom power mean condenser mics are off the table.
The Right Way to Integrate Pedals Live
You can find a workaround, but that may mean ‘fixing it in the mix’. Meaning you’ll have little control over the result, and, likely, will be hearing and providing the audience with a less-than-ideal sound.
You can add a preamp and DI, but the more you have sitting at your feet, the more opportunities there are for something to go wrong. And, on stage, you want to be operating on instinct, performing fluently, not having to worry about whether your sound is compromised.
Enter the Voco-Loco Mk2, a studio-grade mic preamp and effect loop switcher that bridges the gap between your vocal/instrument mic, pedals, and the PA.
Purpose-built to enable players to incorporate effects reliably and cleanly, the Voco-Loco Mk2 converts low-impedance signals to high-impedance and provides phantom power for condenser mics, allowing you to use effects pedals on whatever mid’d source you like – as easily as a guitarist does.
It also has a locking XLR input to prevent accidental disconnection, and offers plenty of control: two footswitches for engaging and disengaging effects instantly, a Wet/Dry knob to blend your clean and effected signals, a 2-Band EQ, a Tone Control knob for shaping your sound, and a 180° polarity reverse switch to correct potential phase issues.
Most importantly, it ensures the sound you envisioned is exactly what’s hitting the console and PA.
Real-World Use Cases
Having immediate tactile control over your effects allows you to make artistic decisions in the moment, wherever you make music.
The Voco-Loco Mk2 is a powerful live performance tool, but it’s equally useful in recording and songwriting sessions, rehearsals, or any situation where seamless incorporation of effects is required, high-quality sound is critical, and time wasted on workarounds is time you don’t have.
- For solo performers using loop pedals and FX
- Vocalists using delay, reverb, or modulation pedals
- Acoustic players integrating pedals into their sound
- Violin players using a microphone with pedals for ambience, texture, or looping
- Wind and brass players using pedals for creative tone shaping or experimental performances
- Taking control of your sound from the stage in situations where the house engineer is unfamiliar with your music.
Why Pedals Are Used Live (The Creative Purpose)
Distortion, phasers, delays, et al, allow vocalists and instrumentalists of all descriptions to create a signature sound as unique as they are. They can add depth and drama, but if that’s at the cost of sound quality, not in the way you intended.
Bottom line: using pedals with vocals and mic’d acoustic instruments is about exploration and artistic expression, pure and simple – the fewer barriers there are between you and that, the better.
Creative Freedom Without Compromise
There are many reasons for you, as a player, to be in control of your sound. Not least of which is the fact that no one knows the music and your part in it better than you. Having the right tool for the job ensures you’ll get exactly the sound you want. And, by having the ability to fluently and quickly apply and control effects to that sound, you can spend your time and energy making music instead of troubleshooting noise, connectivity, and impedance matching issues.
