The Best Pitchshifter Plugins on Plugin Boutique

On the hunt for a new pitch-shifting companion, or just looking to see what’s out there? Whatever the case, we’ve got your pitching needs covered

Pitchshifters are some of the more creative audio FX we can use during a mixing session. That’s to say, they’re not something you’ll be whacking on every single track, like an EQ or compressor but they still deserve a dedicated compartment in your virtual toolbox. There are plenty of scenarios where pitchshifters are the only tools for the job.

Keeping that in mind, there are many pitch-shifting units available on the marketplace–some with more bells and whistles than others. Well, we’re here to break the ice and introduce you to some of the best pitch-shifting inventories available on Plugin Boutique, breaking down their individual quirks so you have the best idea on which ones to opt for. Let's jump right into it!

 

Soundtoys Little AlterBoy

A highly regarded classic, used most prominently for vocal pitching

 

Price:	£86.39 (Buy now)
Platforms:	Windows and Mac
Type:	Vocal Pitchshifter
Format:	VST2, VST3, AU, AAX Native, AAX AudioSuite
Features:	Real-time Pitch and Formant shifting, Mix parameter, vocoder-like MIDI implementation.

Little AlterBoy is one of the most popular pitchshifters when it comes to working with vocals. And, that’s partially due to its simple interface and no-nonsense pitch-flexing, whether increasing a vocal’s pitch, making it sound like Alvin and The Chipmunks, or decreasing it to sound like a Cyberman from Doctor Who.

 

Quite simply, the unit does exactly what it says on the tin, and it excels at it. Some downsides to this plugin are that it’s not going to work so great when applied to anything outside of vocals, it has minimal presets and customisation, and it has quite a hefty price point. However, if you manage to catch it on sale and add it to your library, we’re confident it’ll probably become the number one contender for your go-to vocal pitchshifter spot.

 

Auburn Sounds Graillon 3

Another vocal pitchshifter with a unique feature–Pitch Tracking Modulation

 

Price:	£25.31 (Buy now)
Platforms:	Windows and Mac
Type:	Vocal Pitchshifter
Format:	VST2, VST3, AU, AAX, LV2
Features:	Pitch transposition (up and down), pitch correction, pitch-tracking modulation

Next up, we have another vocal pitchshifter. Yet, this one has a few extra quirks to discuss that might cement your decision to choose it above the rest. It goes by the name of Graillon 3 and features a music-theory-true pitch correction wheel in the centre of its interface, as well as a completely unique feature called pitch-tracking modulation.

 

What is pitch-tracking modulation? Well, you can think of it as a module that adds a whole host of additional pitching customisation, including changing speaker type, generating thick throat sounds, creating chorus effects, and octave harmonies. Conveniently (for your bank account), this plugin is less than 50% of the price of the previous entry, and it also can sound pretty interesting when applied to percussion elements too.

 

Devious Machines Pitch Monster

An in-depth, all-inclusive pitch-shifting beast capable of 64 voices total

 

Price:	£73.38 (Buy now)
Platforms:	Windows and Mac
Type:	Multi-use, extensive pitch-shifting unit
Format:	VST, AU, AAX
Features:	64 total voices, granular formant shifting and vocoding engines, 6-octave range, programmable chord memories, dual high and low-pass filters

Just by a quick glance at the Features on this entry, you can see that Pitch Monster by Devious Machines is really deserving of its name. This behemoth will provide you with the most bang for your buck out of all mentions so far, with an overall more advanced design and potential use application across the board. Plus, for the power this unit houses, it takes up very minimal processing power.

 

Even with all of the complexity this unit packs under the hood, Devious Machines have done a remarkable job packing it into a concise, easy-to-navigate GUI. Featuring a granular formant and vocoding engine, this thing brings high resolution to your pitching, with an included Pitch Spread and Time Spread macro controls to play with the width and texture of the signal. Not to mention, the 64 total voices with intricate tuning controls. Aside from that, you’ve also got an internal high/low pass filter on board.

 

Polyverse Manipulator

An action-packed pitchshifter with a bunch of advanced, yet simple features.

 

Price:	£130.16 (Buy now)
Platforms:	Windows and Mac
Type:	Monophonic vocal pitching
Format:	AAX, VST, VST3, AU
Features:	Granular algorithm, alter Pitch and Timbre, 10 different FX,

Polyverse Manipulator is another pitchshifter on the list that’ll give you a whole lot more than you bargained for. With an advanced granular algorithm, Pitch and Timbre controls, four-voice harmonic generation, a step sequencer, ADSR envelope and… a Mushroomizing Meta Mix knob (to saturate your sound with Infected Mushroom’s signature flavour), you’ll have absolutely everything you need to give your vocals that stylistic edge over the competition.

 

Even though this thing is a monophonic processor, it allows for polyphonic voice generation with its Harmonic settings. It also has a pretty neat MIDI control panel, allowing you to map your controller for further oversight of your fine-tuning. Really… There's not much else to say about Infected Mushroom’s signature vocal mangler, other than it’s a pretty damn clever vocal pitchshiter that certainly stands in its own lane.

 

Zynaptiq Pitchshift Pro

A versatile multi-algorithm pitchshifter for every occasion

 

Price:	£243.72 (Buy now)
Platforms:	Windows and Mac
Type:	Multi-algorithm pitchshifter
Format:	AAX (Native), AU, VST 3
Features:	Six-algorithm processing, iLok compatibility, presets, formant and pitch shifting

Zynaptiq have been so kind as to release a beefed-up version of their Pitchshift plugin, this time: Pitchshift Pro, with a slick, futuristic GUI. It’s definitely deserving of the additional ‘pro’ title, as it comes loaded with a further 3 pitching algorithms added to the unit–that’s six in total.

 

 

What does multi-algorithm mean exactly? Well, if you take a look at the previous list entry, Manipulator, you’ll see that it’s labelled as a granular pitchshifter. That means it breaks audio samples down into chunks, allowing for high-fidelity processing. Well, that’s just one algorithm. Pitchshift Pro features six of them, giving you ultimate flexibility and a versatile edge when processing audio. Ultimately, it gives a few nice creative options that’ll be hard to find elsewhere.

 

Eventide H910 Harmonizer

Not just a pitchshifter… The H910 Harmonizer is a legendary FX processing unit

 

Price:	£217.51 (Buy now)
Platforms:	Windows and Mac
Type:	Vocal harmonizer with pitch-shifting functionality, and more
Format:	AAX, AU, VST2, VST3
Features:	Pitch shifter, harmonizer, delay, doubler, modulator,

The H910 is one of the very few FX processing units to find itself positioned in the music hall of fame. Yep, that’s right… This absolute beast of processing power officially got hailed by the NAMM Tec awards in 2007, and has embedded its iconic sonic character into a plethora of classic, chart-topping music from many genres, ranging from ACDC, Avril Lavigne, David Bowie and many more.

 

Why does this unit stand in such prestige? Well, because it houses so many FX. But, it’s not just because it houses so many FX. It’s because the FX it provides, whether it's the delay, the harmonizer or the pitch-shifting, are all truly of elite quality. It’s quite hard to find a worthy challenger for this bad boy. Now you can harness its power inside of your computer in this faithful digital emulation of the analogue H910 by Eventide.

 

Auburn Sounds Inner Pitch

One-liner about the plugin and what’s different about it

 

Price:	£25.33 (Buy now)
Platforms:	Windows and Mac
Type:	Natural-sounding pitchshifter
Format:	VST2, VST3, AU, AAX, LV2
Features:	Tonal Balance control, formant shifting, stereo link/delink, delay, color, and pitch-shifting

Whilst at a first glance, Inner Pitch might not appear to be as fully-fleshed as some of the preceding mentions, if you’re in the market for one of the most affordable, yet reliable pitchshifters to get the job done, you don’t have to look any further. Auburn Sounds have done an excellent job of compacting everything you need, plus a few extra quirks into Inner Pitch.

 

For example, aside from its primary pitchshifting macro control (designed to keep vocals sounding as natural as possible), it also comes with three different colors to alter the tonal character of the signal, plus a Tonal boost knob–ranging from Transient to Tonal, and a Stereo link knob to play around with the left and right separation if you wish. Plus, it has a delay with five time divider options and an internal Hz spectrum analyzer. For the shallow price point, you’re definitely getting a lot of value on this one.