Rocktron "Voodoo Valve preamp.. Any thoughts/owners?

[Robert Burns]

Im curious about these...the Mp3's sound pretty good..although that
can be missleading.. Any hands on experience with them?

[pete-o]

I have one and love it, although I cant seem to get the best chorus out of it (I have to read up on it). I am totally sold on the unit; you get sound that will blast your head off when you hit a chord, then you mute the strings and the noise gate cuts the signal and you wouldnt even know the amp was on! Great for metal and hard rock. I use it more than my JCM 800 mostly because of the gate.

[Cleveland Metal]

Gigged with one for a about a year about 4-5 yrs ago. Really liked it. Got it for $200 bucks and was pleased.

Took a bit to tweak it, but with some work, it became pretty impressive. Unfortunately, the main chipset died and I am looking to buy another to use at practice instead of toting my complete rig.

It is very heavy sounding, but lacks some sweetness in the lead area. Doesn't seem to have the singing leads I like, which my CAE3+se does. But the low end chunk and aggressiveness was outstanding and my CAE does not have that in the amount the Voodu did.

It has a very deep EQ setup in it that is the key to getting sounds with it. All the ones I tried in the stores I thought sucked till I got one cheap and played with it a LOT. Took time to dial it in for sure.

[horns666]

Gigged with one for a about a year about 4-5 yrs ago. Really liked it. Got it for $200 bucks and was pleased.

Took a bit to tweak it, but with some work, it became pretty impressive. Unfortunately, the main chipset died and I am looking to buy another to use at practice instead of toting my complete rig.

It is very heavy sounding, but lacks some sweetness in the lead area. Doesn't seem to have the singing leads I like, which my CAE3+se does. But the low end chunk and aggressiveness was outstanding and my CAE does not have that in the amount the Voodu did.

It has a very deep EQ setup in it that is the key to getting sounds with it. All the ones I tried in the stores I thought sucked till I got one cheap and played with it a LOT. Took time to dial it in for sure.

I used John's during our rehearsals, and heard him live with it on many occassions. His decription of the VV is pretty spot on IMO.

[Cleveland Metal]

Yeah... I need to get another for sure... Voodu, MidiMate, and That lil Bose amp, will make a seriously light and heavy sounding practice right to take to practices.

Looks like we'll be practicing more at my house now (whew), so I can wait till I actually have money AND find a cheap one.

They're just a lil dead sounding. My only real complaint...

[akoch]

I've been living with the Prophecy for the last 8 years, simply LOVE it. The Voodoo Valve is essentially the same, just simplified controls and 1U form factor.

[Cleveland Metal]

Funny thing there, as I've tried both and preferred the voodu for its heavier sound. I couldn't dial up the prophecy to sound that "brutalz" haha... Didn't think they were close. Obviously the Prophecy is much more advanced tho.

Have you used the voodu much?

[akoch]

I probably was not looking for the 'brutal' sound, so I liked both. With the same patches loaded, there was not much of a difference, at least to my ears (which are not perfect).

Nevertheless, what I like about Prophecy (and Voodoo Valve, which is Prophecy minus extended front panel controls) - it is clear, hi-fi sounding, not much artificial about its tone. And it is one of the first fully digital distortions (the valve there is .... well, not for much if marketing). OK, it does do a good job as a digitally controlled compressor/sustainer. And warms up the sound a bit as I'm sure some harmonics are sneaking through into the next section in the sygnal path: the ADC is just behind the valve there. But that's the extent of it, the distortion is digital, but really good in my opinion.

My amp selection probably reflects my taste - a VHT CL50, Mark IV and Decatone. My rack is the Prophecy. I find that these four play well together. But neither is really 'brutal', more of a traditional quality overdrive/distortion.

[joshulator]

My setup is all Rocktron and I have been very pleased. I drive a Voodu Valve into a Intellipitch into the Velocity (their rack amp). From there I go into a Marshall 1960BV cabinet. I have been so pleased with my sound that it has been years since I tweaked anything. I've had this setup for maybe 8 years. I don't specifically remembering the leads missing anything before I got the Intellipitch, but I definitely rely heavily on the Intellipitch to add something to my leads. I think I get a great AC/DC, Megadeth, Maiden type sound (not saying all those bands sound the same, but I get a good old school metal sound I guess is my point).

[jdr94]

can the VV do modern metal well? or is it strictly 80's-90's metal? i'm buildin a rack too

[akoch]

Probably just about anything half-decent can do 'modern metal', so you should be OK.

[hippietim]

John - let me know if you need a MIDIMate - I've got one that has only been used at rehearsal that I'm probably going to sell.

[horns666]

John - let me know if you need a MIDIMate - I've got one that has only been used at rehearsal that I'm probably going to sell.

Tim, hmmm I could prolly use one ..but let John have dibs. He's going to be playing out soon.

[hippietim]

Well if John's bro can snag some tix for us, I'll deliver the pedal in person!

[horns666]

Well if John's bro can snag some tix for us, I'll deliver the pedal in person!

I heard, when is that again..I can't wait.