Gallery
Description
Features
Specs
Reviews
Q&A

Videos (2)

View Allarrow icon
TC Helicon VoiceLive Touch 2play button

TC Helicon VoiceLive Touch 2

One That Got Away PlayAcoustic Demoplay button

One That Got Away PlayAcoustic Demo

TC Helicon

collapse expand iconDescription

The TC Helicon Play Acoustic vocal and guitar effects pedal empowers acoustic singer-songwriters to craft a rich, dynamic live sound. This innovative multi-effects unit provides an impressive suite of studio-quality vocal and guitar processing in a compact, pedalboard-friendly design. Whether you're a solo performer or part of an acoustic duo or trio, the Play Acoustic delivers the polished yet organic tones to make your live shows truly shine.  

Bring Pro-Level Vocal Production to the Stage

Bring Pro-Level Vocal Production to the Stage  

With the Play Acoustic, you have a wealth of iconic vocal effects at your feet. Lush hall and room reverbs add spacious ambience. Lively modulation effects like chorus and flanger animate your voice. Organic doublers and rich four-part harmonies fatten up your tone. You can even dial in gritty distortion for an edgy vibe. But it's the Adaptive Tone technology that really sets this pedal apart. It acts like an intelligent studio engineer, automatically compressing, EQing, de-essing and gating your vocals for consistent clarity—no matter how your dynamics change during a performance.  

Realistic Backing Harmonies That Follow Your Playing

Realistic Backing Harmonies That Follow Your Playing  

One of the Play Acoustic's most powerful features is its ability to generate backing vocal harmonies that automatically track the chords you play on your guitar. Just strum along and the pedal provides lush two-, three- or four-part harmonies voiced to your key in real time. It even incorporates humanization and portamento for an organic, natural sound. You can easily adjust the voicing style to suit the genre. This frees you up to fully immerse yourself in your guitar playing and lead vocals while the Play Acoustic handles the harmonies.  

Restore Your Acoustic's Natural Resonance

Restore Your Acoustic's Natural Resonance  

While piezo pickups provide consistent amplification for acoustic guitars, they can rob the instrument of its warm, resonant body tone. The Play Acoustic's groundbreaking BodyRez feature intelligently models the natural resonance that's lost through the pickup, restoring that rich, woody character. This allows your acoustic guitar to breathe with authentic dimension whether you're fingerpicking or strumming rhythmically. In tandem with the vocal effects, BodyRez helps blend your voice and guitar into a cohesive, lifelike sound.  

Streamlined Controls Keep You In the Creative Flow

Streamlined Controls Keep You In the Creative Flow  

Despite its powerful capabilities, the Play Acoustic pedal maintains a simple, intuitive control layout that keeps you focused on performing. The large central knob serves as a workhorse for tweaking effects. Three footswitches give you command over preset scrolling, effect bypass and more. The Genre button provides a quick starting point for optimized vocal and guitar tones tailored to different styles. Dedicated inputs and outputs let you dial in the perfect blend between your vocal and guitar channels. Try out the Play Acoustic for yourself and experience how its smart feature set enhances your acoustic performances.  

Whether you're a solo singer-songwriter or part of an acoustic duo or trio, the TC Helicon Play Acoustic pedal is a game-changer for your live shows. With its ability to generate harmonies, process vocals with studio-caliber effects and restore your acoustic guitar's natural resonance, this multi-effects unit empowers you to craft a bigger, more polished sound that connects with audiences on a deeper level.  

collapse expand iconFeatures

  • 3-button stompbox combines studio quality vocals, pristine guitar sounds and creative looping
  • Seven professional vocal effects and tone processing with intuitive control
  • BodyRez filtering, on board EQ, and DI for impeccable acoustic guitar tone
  • Guitar FX styles from TC ELECTRONIC HALL OF FAME REVERB, FLASHBACK DELAY and CORONA CHORUS pedals
  • VLOOP performance looper with undo/redo and unlimited overdubs
  • More than 200 song- and artist-inspired vocal presets
  • High-quality, low-noise mic preamp for pristine vocals
  • USB for streaming audio, preset downloads and firmware updates
  • Compatible with remote Mic Control using the TC HELICON MP-75, MP-76 or Sennheiser e835 FX microphones
  • Optional SWITCH-3 or SWITCH-6 foot switch for more performance control (sold separately)
  • Power supply included

collapse expand iconSpecs

Included Effects
  • Vocal FX
  • µMod
  • Delay
  • Reverb
  • Harmony
  • Double
  • Transducer
  • Tone
  • HardTune & Correctio
  • Chorus
  • BodyRez
  • Guitar Anti-feedback
Guitar FX
  • Reverb
  • Delay
  • Chorus
  • BodyRez
  • Guitar Anti-feedback
  • Tuner
Control
  • 100+ Song & Artist-Inspired Presets, Memory for 500
  • Simple Vocal & Guitar FX Editing via Direct Access Buttons
  • Direct Access to Favorite, Genre, Mix and Setup Menus
  • Preset Up/Down and HIT Footswitch
  • Graphics LCD Display
  • Bump-Protected Mic Level
  • Dual-Color Backlit Buttons
DesignSize
  • Height: 1.8" (45 mm)
  • Width: 7.9" (200 mm)
  • Depth: 6.1" (156 mm)
Weight
  • Weight: 2.2 lb. (1 kg)
Construction
  • Dual die-cast clamshell design
  • Acrylic Lens
  • Punch-cut Metal connection panel
  • Rubberized footings
  • Backlit Graphic LCD Display
ConnectionsAnalog Inputs
  • Connectors: Mic.: balanced XLR, Guitar: unbalanced 1/4" TS, AUX: 1/8" stereo mini jack
  • Impedance: Balanced/Unbalanced: Mic.: 2.14/1.07 kohm
  • EIN @ Max Mic Gain Rg = 150 ohm : -127 dBu
  • Mic SNR: > 104dB
  • Phantom Power: +48V (on/off via Setup menu)
  • Guitar Input impedance: 1 mohm
  • Guitar Input Level @ 0 dBFS: 12 dBu
  • Guitar Input SNR: > 115dB
  • Aux Input Level @ 0dBu: +2dBu
  • A to D Conversion: 24-bit, 128 x oversampling bitstream, 110dB SNR A-weighted
Analog Outputs
  • D to A Conversion: 24-bit, 128 x oversampling bitstream, 115dB SNR A-weighted
  • Connectors, balanced: XLR
  • Output Impedance Balanced/ Unbalanced: 80/40 ohm
  • XLR Output 0dBFS: +2 dBu
  • Dynamic Range: > 109dB, 20Hz to 20kHz
  • Frequency Response: +0.30/-0dB, 20Hz to 20kHz
  • Headphone Out: 1/8" Mini stereo jack
Control
  • USB: USB-B (Preset Management, Firmware Updates and audio I/O)
  • Pedal: 1/4" TRS phone jack
  • Mic Control using TC Helicon MP-75 Microphone or Sennheiser e 835 FX mic.
Safety And RegulationsPower
  • External Power Supply; Mains Voltage Input: 100 to 240 VAC, 50Hz to 60Hz (auto-select)
  • 12V DC 0.4A max output
  • Power Consumption: < 14W
Safety
  • EMC – Complies with: EN 55103-1 and EN 55103-2 FCC part 15, Class B, CISPR 22, Class B
  • Safety – certified to: IEC 65, EN 60065, UL6500 and CSA IEC 65, EN 60065, UL6500 and CSA
Environment
  • Operating Temperature: 32° F to 122° F (0° C to 50° C)
  • Storage Temperature: -22° F to 167° F (-30° C to 70° C)
  • Humidity: Max. 90% non-condensing
What's in the box?
  • Region specific power supply
  • USB cable
  • User guide

Featured Articles

collapse expand iconReviews

4.4

25 Reviews

94%

of respondents would recommend this to a friend

Owned for three years.

Most Liked Positive Review

4

Decent...

I'm a hobbyist. Used to play professionally, now just do open mic nights and bedroom recording. I bought this to do live solo gigs and acoustic shows. This unit is very, very good at what it claims to do. The presets are tweakable via usb, the firmware is updateable, sound is pretty good. Someone at TC really, REALLY likes reverb. I had to turn the reverb WAY down on the presets I am using, it sounded like I was singing in a porcelain locker room.

VS

Most Liked Negative Review

1

Need lots of time to figure it out - dont recommend

it is seriously one of the most difficult, frustrating, and frankly, dumb user interface designs I have ever had the misfortune of encountering. It literally took me weeks to get to the point where I could take it out for a performance, and I am 100% certain I am missing something in its functionality. Some helpful feedback for the makers of this unit: - spend some time thinking about user interface design. PLEASE. - consider publishing a "menu map" to help navigate the complex structure of the effects options - consider making VoiceSupport2 (the app) fully functional. It would be extremely helpful to be able to click on a preset, access all the various settings and options for each effect in that preset, and then push it to the unit so it can be taken out for performances. - consider publishing descriptions (technical or otherwise) of each effect and how it modulates the input stream. I do not recommend buying this unit.. but if you do recommend making sure you have PLENTY of time to figure it out.

Filters
Best Uses
  1. Performances14
  2. Amateur Recording8
  3. Home Studio7
  4. Outdoor Events / Games5
  5. Professional Recording4
Cons
  1. Limited Functions1
  2. Needs additional footswitch1
  3. Pricey / Poor Value1
  4. complicated and not user freindly1
  5. Poor presets1
Describe Yourself
  1. Experienced9
  2. Professional Musician5
  3. Novice1
Pros
  1. Versatile11
  2. Compact9
  3. Good Audio9
  4. Durable8
  5. Lightweight6

Reviewed by 25 customers

  • Loving it

    5

    Verified BuyerVerified Buyer

    submitted5 years ago

    byGerry B

    from02917

    Loving it

  • A bit complicated... but... a detailed manual is available.

    4

    submitted5 years ago

    byFreedom Rock

    fromLos Angeles, CA

    I was overjoyed at the decision to purchase the TC-Helicon Play Acoustic. Especially the price! Upon hooking it up (headphone out to CD in on my system/quick and easy) I realized that I couldn't understand enough from the comic style panels to access full functionality. I downloaded the manual, and... Wow! Now I see a plethora of possibilities... and capabilities. It'll take a bit of time to know it without needing the manual. But hey... 75 pages as opposed to 17 panels with a couple prompts... you see what I'm saying. Now that I know more... I'm loving this unit! Yet... I highly recommend the footswitch for versatility (prefferably the 6-button which I'm told "is" compatable with this model). Other than that... It's a cool unit!

  • Great all in one pedal

    5

    submitted5 years ago

    byRockerduck

    fromGeorgia

    Vocals sound great and the guitar side is good. This is part of my recording gear.

  • This pedal does it all!

    5

    Verified BuyerVerified Buyer

    submitted5 years ago

    byT Bone

    fromNorth Hills CA

    Easy to use out of the box! Love the pre sets.

  • Despite flaws, a good product

    4

    submitted5 years ago

    byDon in NH

    fromWindham, NH

    It was hard to rate this. It works really good and I'd say that it is worth the $$.... but It's really hard to get a relatively natural sounding background vocal. You have to set it up and keep it further in the background than you may like. They should have let the user pick each background vocal rather than offer preset groupings. For example, if I want 4 female voices, 2 on key, 1 a gift above and one an octave above, I can't do that because it's not a grouping that's an option. That being said there is a fair amount you can do to alter the groupings they offer. I would also have like to see them go further with studio type process for the main vocal. It's there but barely noticeable with the exception of echoes and auto tune. The guitar processing is limited but makes my Fender Acoustasonic truly sound acoustic for the first time so, kudos there. It really needs a 1/4" guitar out so the app layer could go through effects if they wanted. The guitar out is an clean so you'd need an adapter. It's obviously designed to straight into the board. All that being said, it's built well and not as hard to set up as some folks have made it sound. Overall, it's worth the money and upgradable so, who know, they may update most of these.

  • I would buy this again

    5

    submitted5 years ago

    byWillie

    fromHouston

    Solo work great

collapse expand iconQ&A

Have a question about this product? Our expert Gear Advisers have the answers.

  • submitted5 months ago

    asked byMarshal

    fromYuma, AZ

    Will this product produce harmonies based on the aux line input or only from the guitar input?

    Will this product produce harmonies based on the aux line input or only from the guitar input?

    Open Reply - Gear-Support
    The TC Helicon Play Acoustic Vocal and Guitar Effects Pedal does not generate harmonies based on the aux line input — it only uses the guitar input or your vocal input (pitch) for harmony generation.

  • submitted6 months ago

    asked byDave C

    fromSacramento CA

    Can it be used with a mandolin with pickups?

    Can it be used with a mandolin with pickups?

    Open Reply - Gear-Support
    Yes, it can.

  • submitted5 years ago

    asked byDaniel

    fromCharleston, WV

    I was wondering if I could use this processor and output it into my Fender Ultimate Chorus Guitar amp. I'm sure it would sound better through a PA with powered speakers, but am on a limited budget right now.

    I was wondering if I could use this processor and output it into my Fender Ultimate Chorus Guitar amp. I'm sure it would sound better through a PA with powered speakers, but am on a limited budget right now.

    Open Reply - Ronald
    Yes you can.

  • submitted6 years ago

    asked bySteph

    fromTexas

    Can an electric guitar be used with this as well as the acoustic? Want to make sure because he plays both. Thanks!

    Can an electric guitar be used with this as well as the acoustic? Want to make sure because he plays both. Thanks!

    Open Reply - Kenneth
    This cannot be used for electrics

  • submitted6 years ago

    asked byPhil

    fromBklyn ny

    Can u hooked to an amp. ?

    Can u hooked to an amp. ?

    Open Reply - Kenneth
    Yes, you can hook this up to an amp