One of the coolest instruments out there. The vocoder shapes its envelope and filters by any sound source fed into it, your voice or even a drum loop can be used which is then applied to another sound source, typically a synth pad. This creates a very unique and famous robot-like sound.

Extended information

The Roland SVC-350 is a similar rackmount version of the VP-330 with a modernized look and graphic EQ section.

Technical specifications

Oscillators - 3 VCO's Effects - Ensemble (chorus) LFO - Vibrato w/ depth, delay and rate VCA - separate Mix Levels for Vocoder, String and Voice sections; 20 envelope followers Filter - 18 VCFs: 54db/oct bandpass; 1 VCF: 54db/oct lowpass and highpass filters; 20 VCFs: 18db/oct lowpass filters w/ dynamic range of 60db Memory - None Keyboard - 49 Keys Control - CV/Gate

Information above is courtesy of http://www.vintagesynth.com/