Korg have obviously intended their new black box as a stopgap between existing technology and as a hint to the future, when everybody will have Midi in, out and thru implanted in the side of their heads. But as neurology R&D costs are still high, we are stuck with the next best thing, the dvp-1, or 'digital voice processor' for short.

This box offers four basic modes of operation, the "Herbie Hancock" mode (Korg still insist on calling it a vocoder), the "cheap AMS only it isn't" mode which gives you harmonizing and pitch shifts and also, into the bargain, you have the result of Korgs extensive survey of 'tacky synthesized voice sounds', called internal wave, all in one box selling for £899 and controlled by Midi (Musical Indigestion with Diminished Intelligence).

As a concept, that of having different methods of treating vocals and voice sounds in one box, you can't fault it, but in practice, unfortunately it doesn't seem to work that well.

On examination, it soon becomes obvious that all changes to the different factors affecting each mode of operation, are by the tried and cost saving method of parameter control. So, by prodding the button marked vocoder, we are instantly into the heady delights of silly noises into microphones time. The idea with the vocoder section is to be able to allow you to take a basic sound and use your voice to control it, in conjunction with your everpresent Midi keyboard. The DVP-1 is only capable of handling vowel sounds, no consonants, which immediately gives the resulting sound an artificial character. Fine if that's what turns you on. To try to overcome this, a breath bypass feature has been added, which is designed to try to overcome the 'consonantless' sound; it helps a bit. The better thing is that the 'Oh Superman' section does track the voice well, due to it being digital, so if you change your voice from being thin and gormless to being open and operatic, the vocoded sound follows suit. There is a basic envelope section to help smooth out the cut-off of the vocoded sound and it works, to some extent. However, the bad news is that there is invariably a nasty degree of digital warbling present when a sound is being processed, and there is always a nasty click at the beginning of the note when triggering the vocoder. Could this be the built-in noise gate opening slowly I wonder? Whatever, the noise soon becomes irritating especially for this price.

The internal wave section is for those who want to leave their own voices out of the proceedings as there are 8 different synthetically generated waveforms (which are supposed to replicate vocal sounds) stored in memory. Unfortunately Korg seem to have listened to synthesized voices on other manufacturers synths and have copied the worst. At best, these internal vocal sounds could be used as background washes, or pads, as the Yanks call them. The point being that they are all thin and nasal sounding with 3 out of the 8 having high noise quotients, sounding like cheap British Telecom quality type samples. Sure they sounded amazing when put through five grands worth of digital reverb and delays, but so did my casio VL tone.

Apart from doing 'Mr Blue Sky' and nasal voice impersonations the DVP also functions as a polyphonic harmonizer and pitch changer, the 'cheap AMS only it isn't' section. The harmonizer mode lets you sing a note and then add a harmony to it, by fingering an appropriate chord on your attached Midi keyboard. Of course you don't have to use chords, but it's nice to be able to go over the top if you need to. This is one area where the boys at Korg have got it right. How many other polyphonic harmonizers are there on the market?

Closely related is the pitch shift mode, where the DVP acts as a fixed interval harmonizer, as it allows you to select an interval in semitone steps from the input signal, producing a chord from the voice. Again you don't have to produce massive pompous vocal sounds, but this is what the DVP is good at. If you need to produce large, and I mean large, double tracking effects, you are able to detune slightly, each of the five available voices. Tibetan Monks are go!

Also built in, is a chorus unit (added as an afterthought?) which is strangely unprogrammable. To be fair, you certainly know when its switched in, for you lose one of the available five voices, but it's nice and fierce, no subtlety here thank you very much.

Ergonomically, the DVP is quite strange in its layout in some respects. Let me give you an example. There are adaptors for mounting the unit in an effects rack, but, the parameter list is printed on the top making it impossible to see unless you have eyeballs that poke round corners or enable you to see between very small spaces. Similarly, all the connectors are on the back of the unit, apart from the input control, next to useless when mounted in a rack.

Vocoders became like the syndrum and currently like Simmons tom tom rolls, passe beyond belief through overuse. As a vocoder, however, it works well. As a method of generating large vocal sounds with the internal wave section, forget it, unless you particularly like thin dynamically repetitive noises, although I did have fun playing at playing typical pomp rock 'Journey' type riffs. As a harmonizer it works well, although its cheap cassette-player-type-quality is a drawback in the studio, but for home recording and demos it would be fine. Thing is, who is going to spend £899 on an effect just for the voice, on a home recording budget? If I had this sort of cash, I would buy one of thaw cheap digital reverbs and a delay, for about the same price.

In conclusion, hire companies, some studios and Vangelis will probably buy one, as its undoubtedly an interesting product, Man... But these sort of people who have the money would expect better quality. I have found uses for vocoders in the past but only in moderation, for everyday use, its not what you turn to when treating the voice. As mentioned, it all works well, but I get the feeling that it doesn't offer anything really new, its too expensive for the quality it gives, ignores some crucial Midi data (velocity and aftertouch). It is good for unusual vocal effects and chanting Tibetan monk sounds, but overall, as you will have probably gathered, I'm not that impressed.

KORG DVP-1 £899