VoiceSupport 2 Reference Manual
Table of Contents Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 4 Getting Started.......................................................................................................................................... 5 The Interface ............................................................................................................................................. 6 Devices ..............
Get Data .............................................................................................................................................. 25 Apply Changes ..................................................................................................................................... 25 Send Selected ...................................................................................................................................... 25 Send Setup ...........................................
Introduction VoiceSupport 2 is the next evolutionary step in TC-Helicon’s preset management and firmware update software. The original VoiceSupport provided lots of great ways to manage your preset sounds and update your device, but we wanted to expand on its usefulness. One of the main features of VoiceSupport 2 isn’t immediately obvious, but it’s extremely important.
Getting Started First, you’ll need to download and install VoiceSupport 2. You can do that here: www.tchelicon.com/products/voicesupport/ Once the program is installed, connect your TC-Helicon device via USB to your computer. Make sure that you read the product manual for settings regarding USB/MIDI controls, if applicable. If your product has a user-controllable option, you’ll want it in USB control mode, not MIDI (hardware MIDI).
The Interface There are two basic ways you’ll interact with VoiceSupport 2, via tabs at the top of the screen. You can toggle between the tabs by clicking on them, much like tabs in a web browser.
Devices Tab Here is an example of the default Devices Tab with a VoiceLive Touch 2 connected. Let’s discuss the various buttons and icons on the Devices tab, then we’ll move on to the Presets tab. Scan – Scans all USB ports for connected TC-Helicon devices. Typically, this is performed automatically when VoiceSupport 2 is started, but you can always manually scan if needed. If you disconnect a device and re-connect (or connect a different device), you will be prompted to scan.
From time to time, we release updates that address bugs or add features. Often, firmware updates contain both fixes and features. Some features brought to the devices over the course of their lifetime bring significantly cool stuff to the table, which is why we recommend updating whenever possible. If there is a firmware update available, you’ll be prompted to update when you start VoiceSupport 2 or connect your device. The “available update” icon looks like this: You can manually update firmware also.
My Offline TC-Helicon Devices – After you’ve connected a TC-Helicon device to VoiceSupport 2 for the first time, the program remembers those devices and lists them on the bottom portion of the screen. This way, it can let you know if a new firmware version is available for that device without you having to plug it in, as shown below. This person owns 5 devices, including the connected VoiceLive Touch 2 from the above “MIDI Devices“ area and the 4 “offline” devices.
Options Menu General program preferences can be found here. Click on the “cogwheel” icon in the top right corner of the program window to open the menu. General – Allows you to change the resolution of the program. You may find that things appear too small on newer Macs that have retina displays. This is the place to increase the resolution percentage so things are easier to read. Devices – Here, you can set a couple of options for how the program behaves when you start VoiceSupport 2.
Offline TC-Helicon Devices – Clear Device History – This will “forget” any devices that you’ve previously connected to VoiceSupport 2 and no longer show them in the “My Offline TC-Helicon Devices” area. It will NOT delete backups or any other information related to the device, just remove the icon from that lower notification area. Clearing the device history can be useful if you sell one of your devices and have no need to be notified of updates.
Help Menu You can access the help menu by clicking on the question mark (?) in the top right corner of the screen. Several options are available there. Read The Manual - Opens the product manual web page for the currently selected product via your default web browser. View Help – Opens the support page for VoiceSupport 2 via your default web browser. TC-Helicon Support – Opens the support portal for TC-Helicon. There, you can access support agents and chat on the forums.
Presets Tab Here is an example of the Presets tab as it appears once you’ve successfully synchronized data from your device. First, let’s break down the various working areas of the screen, then we’ll focus on the individual controls.
Browser – Located on the left side of the program window, the browser acts much like a file explorer in Windows or Mac operating systems. It’s a “tree” style directory that shows your device, local backups and available online preset packs.
Backups – This section of the browser tree shows you any backups you’ve created. They’re named by date and time so you can easily refer to when they were created. You may double click (or right click) on any backup to rename it. Right-clicking brings up more options, like creating groups, deleting, sending that backup directly to your device or to your working space. “Groups” can be considered as a sub-folder.
Preset Area When you first synchronize, you’ll see a list of presets that are currently on your TC-Helicon device. The presets have various icons and colors that show both types of presets and their state. The name of the preset area will change depending on what you have selected on the Browser side of the screen.
You may continue clicking to “dig” further into the backups contained within a group, exposing the individual presets. As you can see above, we’re looking at the backup group “Johnny Two Times Heroic Cover Band” and specifically the presets within the “Madison Square Garden” backup.
We’ll go over the individual icons and controls for presets in an upcoming section. First we’ll explore the last major window available on the Presets tab, the Details pane.
Details – Here you can find information about the currently selected device, preset pack, backup or individual preset. The information you see will change based on what’s selected. Here’s an example of what you might see when clicking on a Cloud preset pack. Now, let’s look at the details of an individual preset. You can see that there’s a section for the name, which you can change here and for “tags”. Tags are how “Genres” of presets show up in your device if it supports them.
Preset Icon Guide Preset icons will change depending on their state and whether they are “user” or “factory” presets.
Modified Preset (user or factory) – this preset has been changed in name, location or both. The color and pencil icon indicate that this change has yet to be synchronized with your device. Keep in mind that simply renaming or moving a factory preset will change it into a user preset, since the preset number (location) is part of the stored factory information. Deleted Preset (user or factory) – this preset has been deleted but the change has yet to be applied to your device.
Mouse Controls Just like your computer in general, a lot of actions can be taken via your mouse. You can select, double click, right click, drag & drop etc.
Paste to empty locations – places the presets in the first available empty preset location(s).
Keyboard Controls Standard keyboard controls are available within VoiceSupport 2.
Control Icons Along the top of the program window, you’ll find a series of icons relating to various controls. We’ll go over those here. Get Data This button performs a synchronization with your device. Apply Changes Sends any preset changes you’ve made within VoiceSupport 2 to your device. Send Selected Sends the currently selected preset(s) to your device. Send Setup Sends setup information to your device.
Select User Selects all user presets in the working area. Optimize Space If there are gaps/spaces in your presets, this button will consolidate all presets so there are no gaps. This can significantly rearrange the presets! Toggle View If you’ve used the original VoiceSupport, you’ll be more familiar with our “grid” view. Though the new “icon” view is the default, pressing the Toggle View button will revert back to our older grid view. It’s totally personal preference which view you want to use.
Location – Choose the location on your computer that you’d like the file to be stored to. Click the Browse button to open your file explorer. File Handling – Select whether you want one file containing all of your presets or a single file per preset (that can be a lot of files!) File Naming – Name your exported file. If you chose “One File Per Preset” you can choose a suffix to apply to each preset Export Data – Choose from “Selected Presets”, “All Presets” or “Setup Data”.