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And that's interesting. Now you've got THREE manufacturers (Behringer, Doepfer and now Xaoc) that are offering new Bode frequency shifters, with prices from $100 to $450-ish. This is good to see, because frequency shifters are another source of useful sounds. One method would be to use a slight detuning with a tiny touch of random modulation to create HUGE doubled phaser or flanger effects. But there's tons of others, and it's great to see these at prices that aren't four-figure sums!
There is also the Sketchy Labs Freak Shift (https://www.modulargrid.net/e/other-unknown-freak-shift-), which doesn't possess an internal oscillator but which allows you to use to use any external signal from 0.1 Hz to 10000 Hz to drive the shifter. I have this and love it.
Note that the Xaoc is not analog, but DSP based and can this easily implement stereo processing at an affordable price.
-- oOCc
Interesting, I'm planning my next shifter, I don't have one, it will be the first!
So which is your favorite shifter, and why? do u think digital vs analog makes sense for a shifter comparison, or own both kind of approach do u think ?
Interesting, I'm planning my next shifter, I don't have one, it will be the first!
So which is your favorite shifter, and why? do u think digital vs analog makes sense for a shifter comparison, or own both kind of approach do u think ?
-- fzzz
My 2 cents:
Own both is a very valid approach IMO if you have the $ and the space in your rack. I currently own the following frequency shifters myself:
Sketchy Labs Freak Shift (analog)
DACS Freque II (analog rackmount)
Mutable Warps (digital)
Happy Nerding FX Aid (digital)
I've also owned the SynthTech Deflector Shield in the past. My experience so far is that no two sound alike, but of course the ones that can accept external carrier signals have the potential for more variety of sounds. But IMO having the ability to output the up and down-shifted signal so you can mix/invert/otherwise process them before feeding them back into the module might be even more important in that regard. Note also that some shifters are limited in how much they can shift, which could be an issue if, for example, you decide you want to do octave shifts with higher-pitched signals.
Of the shifters I've used I'd say that generally speaking I prefer the sound of the analog ones, which in my case also offer a lot more control. But of course the digital shifters I own do a lot more than just frequency shifting. Still I'm glad they have that capability, sometimes your dedicated shifter is occupied and you want to shift something else, well then Warps or FX Aid can come to the rescue. So that's how I look at it.
So which is your favorite shifter, and why? do u think digital vs analog makes sense for a shifter comparison, or own both kind of approach do u think ?
-- fzzz
For me, the main two differences between DSP-based and analog frequency shifters are:
1) DSP-based shifters produce aliasing of the high frequencies when shifting upwards. This can of course be a wanted effect. Some VST plugins also have compensation for that: https://soniccharge.com/echobode
2) Analog shifters only have aliasing for low frequencies when shifting downwards. But often, the signal bleed through of the modulating oscillator is a problem. Especially, when I want to use them with delay and feedback.
So which is your favorite shifter, and why? do u think digital vs analog makes sense for a shifter comparison, or own both kind of approach do u think ?
-- fzzz
My fave? Easily the Bode, which was an "aftermarket" item from Moog back in the day, then it became an actual module some time later. It has a certain "smoothness" to the sound that some digital ones lack. I've also got the Field Kit FX's shifter, which is sort of a "garage"-style shifter...it's not "clean", but it IS effective.
It'll be interesting to see if Uli can really pull off his bargain-basement Bode. As I recall, the tradeoff for the great audio quality was extremely touchy behavior by the module/outboard, especially when balancing out the "carrier" so that it doesn't break thru.
