Sennheiser Vocoder VSM-201

The legendary Sennheiser VSM 201, one of the rarest and most important analog vocoders ever produced.

Developed by Fritz Sennheiser and introduced in 1978, the VSM 201 is a professional 20-band vocoder renowned for its exceptional intelligibility, sound quality, and flexibility. It has become one of the most iconic vocoders in electronic music history and has been used by artists including Kraftwerk, Herbie Hancock, Neil Young, Jean-Michel Jarre, and Daft Punk.

Features include:

- 20-band analog vocoder architecture

- Variable channel emphasis controls

- Speech addition/multiplier section

- Voiced and unvoiced replacement sound processing

- Silence bridging functions

- Extensive front-panel control for deep sound design and speech processing

- ⁠220 volt

The VSM 201 was originally

developed from speech-processing and encryption research and remains one of the most sophisticated analog vocoders ever manufactured. Production numbers were extremely limited, and examples rarely appear on the market.

Condition:

- Fully functional

- ⁠Very good cosmetic condition for its age

- ⁠Carefully maintained

I have owned this beauty for the last 25 years. Used it only in my own studio. This vocoder is sonically unique and there is nothing ever made what can equal it. When testing, I reproduced the “We are the robots” by Kraftwerk and almost decided not to sell it :–). I hope it will find a good home, I am very sad to part with it. It will be probably the only one for sale for years to come. As I can see one is offered like once in 10 years, so grab your chance.