Boss PS-5 Super Shifter Review

Price Bought

Traded

Sound Quality

Well, it all depends. You have to set it correctly. It can sound good, or it can sound like crapola. I traded this for the earlier version, the Boss PS-3. I liked the PS-3 for the synthy sounds it could produce, but the actual pitch shifting, especially at radical settings (one octave above, below) wasn't quite up to my standards. Basically I like the PS-3 as much as the PS-5, but the PS-3 is better for synthy sounds (reverse pitch shift), and the PS-5 is better for classic pitch shifting tones, ala Rage Against the Machine, The White Stripes ("There's No Home For You Here"), and early Radiohead ("Just").

My favourite setting is probably Tremolo Arm, as it provides realistic, single note shifts, even at radical settings. It will work with chords too, unless you want to hold the chord at the shifted tone... then it tends to waver between the target pitch and one close to it like a teenage boy whose voice is cracking. Basically, it will give you the sound of a chord diving or climbing to a set interval and returning, as you would with a real tremolo arm (but with more radical interval options). If you want to hold that interval, though, it's best to do so with single notes on this setting. You can also control the speed of the shift, so that it can either zip up or down right away, take its sweet time, or any speed in between. Nice.

The pitch shifter setting is better for chords, though not as realistic at more radical setting, especially with single notes. I have the optional Roland EV-5 expression pedal, which is nice for on the fly control and gradual shifting. Highly recommended.

The harmonist is kind of cool, though not the reason I wanted this pedal. It can give some pretty harmonies that track very well, provided you are in tune (single notes only). It's fun to play with. I might be more likely to use this with vocals. Nice quality effect.

The detuner basically doubles your sound and gives an interesting chorus effect. I like it, but I doubt I'll use it much. I use an Electro Harmonix flanger for that kind of thing.

The flutter effect is interesting. It dives or climbs to a certain interval you set, then goes into a vibrato, similar to SRV's "Lenny." I probably wouldn't use this a lot, but it's not bad. Not as good as the real thing, obviously.

One thing that this pedal has over the PS-3 is ability to adjust overall volume. I found that with the PS-3, going from regular pitch up an octave (via expression pedal) would result in a volume drop. No drops with the PS-5, therefore making it a good candidate for more professional pitch shift sounds (ala the artists I mentioned previously). You can get pretty high quality sounds, but you have to have the right setting. The wrong setting will sound like crap, which I suspect is the beef of all the reviewers who gave it a "1".

By the way, the reviewer below me who said you can get higher quality pitch shifting effects via computer was correct. I have a $70 program called Audio Studio Delux, which can really make a guitar sound exactly like a bass. Very real-sounding at various pitches. But that's after the fact (i.e. you apply the effect to an already recorded track). You can't exactly use that live, can you? There is a bit of digital-ness to it at extreme settings, but all in all it is convincing.

So, as far as pitch pedals go, the PS-5 is a good one. Similar to Digitech Whammy as far as I can tell (just from listening to the sounds of Rage, White Stripes, and Radiohead, which all used the Digitech pedal). I've never tried the Digitech Whammy, but I can get similar sounds to what those artists have done using it. Hopefully that all made sense.

8 out of 10

Build Quality

Top Notch.

10 out of 10

Defects Upon Purchase

Nope

Additional Comments

This is a good match for various styles of music... it's a fun toy. Very expensive, I wouldn't have bought it because it's prohibitively expensive for me, but since I found a guy willing to trade, I thought, why not? It's a good pedal with limitations. Find the right settings or you will be disappointed. I'd suggest trying before you buy it. It's probably not for everyone.

Reviewer

Ben