Shift

A new one by BOSS but not entirely new. We've come across various pitch-shifting pedals by BOSS & they were great, to say the least. I used to have the Pitch Shifter (PS-5) before moving on to the Harmonist (PS-6). All these because I decided to try a friend's PS-2 which he used for delay applications more than pitch shifting. The buy-in here is the absence of latency issues which should be the primary considerations before buying any pitch shifting pedals because these are not cheap. Also, forget about using batteries for these units, the power will last about 15min at best. 

The XS-1 appeals on grounds of simplicity. Just two knobs controlling how much shifted notes are in the mix (BALANCE) & what type of shifting takes place - upwards / downwards displacement (SHIFT). Also, for those of us who are quickly dazed by terminologies, the XS-1 keeps references in the average Joe territory; how much shifting do you want - a semitone / two semitones / three semitones? Unlike key references of the previous iterations. 

Pic: BOSS