I recently did a review on Little Microshift by SoundToys, which is the mini version and built to be simple, "Microshift" is the standard version with more controls, but before we get into the review, here are a couple of reasons the Michroshift plugin can help your sound element:
- It helps to create a space in the mix
- It gives you better control of the stereo width and
- It can help to keep an element in a mix clean and uncluttered from the rest of other elements.
Back to the review...
Microshift is an emulation of the Eventide H3000 (a hardware pitch shifters), and what I really love about this plugin is how it fully captures the details of the Hardware including saturation and even the different de-glitching algorithms used by these units.
It gives you three different flavors of a classic stereo-widening trick at the push of a button. It is designed to use a special pitch shifting and delay that varies over time to create rich stereo width. It’s incredibly simple to use and perfect for spicing up sound and or instruments, or for blending background vocals subtly into a mix.
Unlike the mini version, it adds more control such as precise control over delay time, variable detune amount, and unique multiband focus control. So, if you need something simple, I'll recommend you go for the first one, and if you want advanced control, you can opt-in for this one.
Key Features
- Widen vocals, lead guitars, synths, and more
- Get big sounds fast with a clean, simple interface
- Put the spotlight on important instruments, or blend them into the background
- Select from 3 different flavors of widening based on sought-after hardware
- Add width to a specific frequency range with the Focus knob
- Control the Detune amount and Delay range of the effect
MicroShift Pricing
It is priced at $129.00 at the time of writing this review!
Is MicroShift Worth Using?
It depends, most of the time, you don't even need a plugin to create a wider mix, sometimes, layering, and or picking the right sound would be more than enough. I am not steering you away from using the plugin, it is a handy tool, and does more than widen a sound, so, I'll say it is worth it if you need some width for your background vocals, lead guitar, synth, and spicing up an instrument in a mix.
I almost forgot this, if you already have the mini version, then I see no reason for this version, except if you need more control, but most of the time, the mini version is all you need.
System Requirements:
- This software is 64-bit only and is not compatible with 32-bit systems.
- AAX Native, AAX AudioSuite, VST, and Audio Units (AU)
- Minimum: 44.1 kHz, Maximum: 192 kHz
- Operating systems: Mac OS X 10.8 or later; Windows 7 or later
- An internet connection is required at the time of activation
- A FREE account at ilok.com is required (a physical USB iLok is not required)
Officially Supported Host Applications:
- Pro Tools 10.3.5 - 2018 (Mac & PC: AAX Native and AudioSuite)
- Logic Pro 9 & X (Mac: AudioUnits)
- Ableton Live 9.2.2 - 10.1 (Mac: AudioUnits & VST; Windows: VST)
- Digital Performer 8 - 10 (Mac: AudioUnits & VST; Windows: VST)
- Studio One 4.5 (Mac: AudioUnits & VST; Windows: VST)
- Cubase 7 - 10 (Mac & PC: VST)
- Nuendo 6 - 10 (Mac & PC: VST)
Personally Tested:
- Fl Studio 10 - 20