How to hook up TC Helicon Harmony G -XT to my Home Theatre system

[sthapitb]

Hi,

I am planning to get my hands on TC Helicon's Harmony G-XT after checking out the reviews and the demo videos. It is simply impressive. I like to play a few songs with my guitar to my friends when they are home so if i can have the Harmony G, this would really spice things up.

Here is my question. I have two sets of Home Theatre systems (living and bedroom). The living room one is a compact one (Pioneer HTZ585) and it is a DVD player+ 5.1 Ch home theater system (500W total). The one in my Bedroom, also a Pioneer VSX-D337, but it has a multichannel A/V receiver system.

Now my first question is
1. Whether i will be able to line out from Harmony G-XT and directly Line in into the two Home theater systems that i have. I have checked the manuals for both and they have line-ins for CD player, Tape recorder etc. I think they use stereo RCA connector types. So if i plug my guitar and mic to Harmony G-Xt and take the output to these RCA inputs, will it work? Is there any danger of the home theatre systems going bad because i am using it for live music purpose. They have high wattage though.

2. I probably need XLR to RCA cables? are these available in teh market readily and how much is the cost? So the XLR to RCA cable has a single pin RCA output correct?

3. Do i need special adaptors to be able to convert XLR into RCA? will there be any issues with load/impedence matching etc when i make such an arrangement?

4. If i decided to buy 2 new Powered/Active speakers instead of using the Home theatre systems that i have, can i directly hook it up with the Harmony G or do I require any mixer/amplifier in between?

5. Lastly, there are some vocal effects on Harmony G-xt - Hall, Echo, reverb etc. These should be sufficient to make the voice sound nice, do i have to invest in a separate or dedicated voice effects/processor item again?

Looking forward to my questions from those who have used TC Helicon Harmony G -xt or have setup their home theatre systems for live music as well.

Sthapit
Sthapitb@hotmail.com

 

[Aunt.mall]

Hey there ! i think the TC helicon harmony g xt would be a good investment . If youre not looking for anyhting fancy like autotune , megaphone effects e.t.c ... the reverb effects from the harmony g would be sufficient .. Furthermore you are able to add perfect harmony(the main function of the gadget) + pitch correct .. I am using voicetone create xt . It has alot of cool effects as mentioned above only thing is that it doesnt have a harmonizer, so it depends on what you want . The harmony g i think is $380 -$410 .. from team108.com .

It only has xlr output stereo or mono . Im not sure about the converting of xlr to rca though .

You can check out my videos www.youtube.com/snailz .. I use the voicetone create xt for both vocals and guitar .

Hope that helped .

 

[sthapitb]

Hi,

Thanks for the response. Appreciate it and thanks for the assurance that Harmony G XT would be a good investment for my purpose. I am seriously considering it as we speak.

but my current research is to find out whether i can use my existing home theater system speakers so that i will not need to buy separate speakers/mixers etc. I just found out that there is a Adaptro (with Transformer) by Neutrik (http://www.neutrik.com/fl/en/audio/210_1098873058/NA2F-D0B-TX_detail.aspx) which can take in XLR (balanced) and convert into RCA (unbalanced). It will in essence convert pro audio signal from Harmony G to Home audio for my Home theatre system speakers.

I was wondering what kind of setup do you have at your place? Are you hooking up your Voicetone create to a mixer and then to some power speakers? it would be interesting to know and learn from your setup.

looking forward to your advise.

 

[kongwee]

Noted home theatre can only received one line input at a time. Also check whether the home theatre can handle the karaoke or live playing. Most home theatre are not capable to handle stress like feedback or clipping.

 

[sthapitb]

Hi Kongwee,

I am not sure how to check the things you have mentioned. For example, i have two home theatre systems:

1. Pioneer HTZ585 (compact DVD HTS with 5.1 Channel sound through 5 compact speakers) (had Karaoke mic inputs at the front)
2. Pioneer VSX-D337 (with AV multichannel receiver with 5 large speakers)

Although it may not be perfect, but i was hoping the sound quality will still be decent if i were to use the Home Theatre system with the Harmony -G XT device if i am able to convert the the pro audio signal out of the effect to home audio signal using the Neutrika adaptor which also has a transformer to balance the signals.

anyone has done this at their homes? used their Home theatre systems to play live music (acoustic guitar and microphone only)?

looking forward to more suggestions and discussion.

 

[kongwee]

You need a mixer if wanna you play more than one instrument at a time. You can have many input on the AV receiver, but only one input can be used at a time. Your AV set may able to handle karaoke. If you wanna do live, you must make sure the input of the AV receiver don't received too many clipping. Meaning the output of the device(mixer n your case) is giving over 0db reference into the AV receiver. The receiver may output a certain amount of DC current to kill the speaker. Over a long time, your speaker tweeter get burn and in return shock the AV receiver.

 

[sthapitb]

Hi Kongwee,

Hmm...now i am getting a bit scared when you say over a long time this will not do good to the home theater system speakers. I still do not understand how can i ensure that the AV receiver do not receive too many clippings or output of my Harmony G - XT voice pedal is not giving over 0cb reference into the AV receiver.

Looks like i have to study a bit of sound engineering to understand this better.

 

[kongwee]

For Harmony G- TX I don't think any problem using it either in single (RCA)or balanced(XLR) line out. If using mixer. you must balance the sound properly. Noted that mixer normally have +18 dB before clipping(main out). If the AV received allow you to bypass preamp stage(volume control not possible on the AV receiver itself) then above 0 dB is ok, but try to stay near 0 dB. If not, alway maintain at -3 dB.