Just got this thing and I must say that digitech has outdone themselves once again. They have taken the Vocalist Live 2 to the next level with this thing. It is a tabletop device that uses an external footswitch, which I prefer to the floor unit, much easier to tweak the knobs and manipulate the buttons, some of which are VERY small. I am using the accessory 3 button switch that I got for my GNX4 and it works like a charm. You can turn the harmonies on/off, select 1 of the 5 presets, and select the A/B part for each preset. Other features that the VL3D has over the floor pedal: Midi and Usb/Midi,so it will read the notes coming from a keyboard or synth, as well as a buttload of midi programming ability, has acappella mode that follows voice instead of instrument. The pre effects section is much more flexible with a warmth control(tube emulation I suppose), compression, de-esser, and noise gate. these all work well when used in moderation, don't go overboard, the results are not pleasing. The reverbs are decent and will work well in a live setup, not sure how well they will work for recording, time will tell. The expanded harmony section is where this unit really outshines its floor bound brother. You have five presets to work with, each with an A or B variation. For each preset you have the option of midi, guitar, or acappella mode, you can select either 1 or 2 voices from an octave above to an octave below in 7 steps, and each voice has a gender control for even more flexibility. I set mine up so the A part is a unison voice or two to thicken the lead vocal for the verses, and the B part is set for the harmonies for the choruses. I just tap the A/B switch to transition while playing, nothing could be simpler. You have to play with this thing to get the real gist of it. You can get a lot of different combinations with a little tweaking. You can store 5 A/B banks, but more preset memory would have been nice. With 2 voices X 7 harmony steps X 4 gender steps each is 196 combinations, but only 10 slots to save patches. A bit of a bummer but then again, if you need more step up to the live 4 I guess. The harmonies sound great on this unit and the tweakability over the VL2 make this a real standout, considering the price on the two units are the same right now. You do have to get a 3 button foot switch (40 bucks) to use it live, but I was lucky and already had one. For the money this is bar none the best harmony processor on the market today.

I bought this about 2 weeks ago when it first came out. I was hoping for something that might help some of my harmony challenged clients during recording sessions. I was mistaken. The product detail leads you to believe it isnt like the other voice processors, needeing a guitar or keyboard to help with creating harmonies, Wrong! It made my really good mic, sound like a crappy hand held, the controls are worthless, and the harmonies are not realistic unless you are using an instrument with it. They need to put that in the catelog too! This is no different than the floor pedal models. I doubt any one will ever make a GOOD harmonizer. I'm sending it back!

If you plan to do solo vocals in a home studio, you'll love this thing. It adds alot of color to vocals when used properly, giving you a variety of harmony choices. It has many additions to the earlier vocalist live 2 (which I also own, and have used sucessfully in recording multiple part harmonies). Many welcome additional features in this model. Its a definate buy in my book. Love it!!