Best Phase Shifters of 2018

A phase shifter is an affect that duplicates a signal and plays it along side the original signal, but at a slightly delayed time. By shifting the signal in this manner, both signals become in and out of phase with one another and may even cancel out at certain points.

#1
Native Audio Midnight V2 on RigShare
Native Audio
Native Audio

Midnight V2

The Midnight V2 tap/ramp phaser is finally here and it's loaded with some new and updated features that take an even deeper dive into the world of phasing. Less is more: You may have noticed that the phase/vibrato and 2-stage/4-stage switches are gone! What the heck? Don’t worry though, I cover this later. Also, the switches were removed to better fit the 5-knob/1-switch layout that is well known with the NativeAudio tap/ramp pedals (I mean you know, consistency is key). Mix knob: Probably one of the biggest key efforts in this update was to incorporate a mix knob and well… it was definitely worth it! All the way counterclockwise is a 100% dry-analog signal, while fully clockwise will give you a 100% wet-analog signal. The benefit to this is that you’re able to get those 2-stage/4-stage tones and anywhere in between, simply at the turn of a knob (see I told you to not worry). Vibe, phaser, vibrato… the Midnight does it all. Internal volume: Having control of your volume is essential when it comes to playing and that’s why I decided to keep the volume as a controllable parameter on the Midnight. Located inside the Midnight’s enclosure is a trim pot where you can add up to +12 dB of gain to your signal. It’s kind of one those things where you set it and forget it. I mean who doesn’t love simplicity? Updated circuit: I’ve updated the Midnight’s signal path to have a tighter bass response, but still provide enough warmth and lower frequency content to keep the phasing sounding full and lush. The noise floor has also been considerably reduced, which allows for near-silent conditions when not playing. Standard: As always, the Midnight features: all-analog phasing, up to 5 selectable waveforms, both tap and ramp modes, 4 selectable subdivisions in tap mode, both latch and momentary ramping, top-mounted jacks, 9VDC/50mA operation, and more! The Midnight is a phaser pedal that expands on traditional analog phaser design. By utilizing digital control, the Midnight offers five global waveforms to its two modes: tap and ramp. Tap mode offers tap tempo functionality with four available subdivisions. Ramp mode allows the user to set a slow and fast phasing speed and accelerate between the two, emulating a classic rotary speaker cabinet.

Mike Sarafinas
Tyler Cochran

2 Rigs

#3
Truetone Oil Can Phaser on RigShare
Truetone
Truetone

Oil Can Phaser

The GarageTone “Oil Can” Phaser from Truetone is a classic sounding analog phaser. With both Speed and Depth knobs, the Oil Can Phaser has a wide variety of warm analog tones, from swooshing to pulsating. Placed before distortion or overdrive, the Oil Can is perfect for classic or modern rock, ska, punk, and more. On its own, the GarageTone Oil Can Phaser gives warmth and movement to textured rhythm parts. When we were first thinking about making a phaser, we pulled in a bunch of old and new phasers from other companies to see which sounded the best to our ears. One of the guys in the office brought in an old “Electra” phaser from the mid 70’s which sounded better than anything else we tried. We did some research on it and found out that it was actually made by Electro-Harmonix for the Electra Guitar Company around 1975-76 and was, in fact, a re-housed Small Stone. We compared it to a Small Stone and it didn’t sound anything like it… the old one sounded infinitely better. The reason why E-H changed the circuit over the years is that the main chips used in the old version haven’t been made for decades. Undaunted by that inconvenient fact, I gave the old circuit to our chief engineer, R.G. Keen, and asked him to figure out a way to use some equivalent chips to work in a similar circuit to re-create the sound of the Electra pedal. It was a tall order, but he figured it out and after a few tweaks, we had the Garagetone Oil Can Phaser and yes, it sounds just like that old Electra Phaser from the 70’s.

#9
Strymon Zelzah on RigShare
Strymon
Strymon

Zelzah

Way Back Machine. Step on Zelzah, play one chord, and you’re instantly taken back to a world of classic phaser tones as they were always meant to sound, perfectly voiced, with tons of vibe. Vintage 4-stage and 6-stage phasing with controls that allow seamless transitions to vibrato, gorgeous flanging and chorus, and new sounds never heard before—all instantly musical with great tone all the way across every dial. Two Effects At Once. Zelzah is actually two different phasers, side by side in one pedal. Zelzah’s 4-stage side gives you a wide array of classic tones ranging from phasing to vibrato and more, while the 6-stage side provides phasing, flanging, chorus, and all points in between. Dial in a chorus on one side and barber pole phaser on other, or a phaser on one side and tremolo on the other. Use the two sides independently or together in a variety of configurations. Zelzah may become the only modulation pedal you keep on your board. Choose Your 4-Stage Phaser Sweep Classic Sweep The first Sweep mode is labeled “Classic” because this is the classic four stage phaser sweep we all know. In this Sweep mode, a single LFO with a warped triangle shape creates that familiar vintage sound. Barber Sweep Similar to the visual effect of a barber pole, the Barber sweep is a continuously rising or falling effect that is traditionally done with frequency shifters. In Zelzah we have used an arrangement of synchronized four stage phasers to produce the effect while maintaining the four stage sound. Envelope Phaser Set the Sweep switch to Env and you’ve got a whole new pedal under your feet. Now the phaser responds to your picking like an envelope filter/auto-wah would, with the phaser sweep being dynamically controlled by your input signal, creating harmonically complex and very funky sounds. Six Stage Voice: Groundbreaking New Phaser Algorithm The Voice knob on the six stage side simultaneously controls over 30 different parameters, all working in harmony for an inspiring musical experience. Not only do you get thick, juicy, phasing with pure vintage vibe, but as you turn the Voice knob clockwise, our groundbreaking new modified all-pass structure expands the time response of the cascading all-pass filters seamlessly and continuously, adding spaciousness and airiness to the sound. Explore a range of fresh musical tones that are not a mix of phasing and flanging, but actually something entirely new. Turn the Voice knob to the right for luxurious true flanger effects, and continue to the far end of the range for lush vintage chorus sounds. There are inspiring musical sounds at every point along the dial, and so many ways to make a sound that is truly yours.

Alexander Semenov

1 Rig

#13
Sonicake 5th Dimension on RigShare
Sonicake
Sonicake

5th Dimension

Picture this: during one particular gig, you need a phaser for covering Pink Floyd's Breathe; then a chorus for playing the riff of The Police's Message In A Bottle; finally a flanger for rocking out the opening intro of RATM's Killing In The Name. Normally you would need 3 separate modulation pedals for all those 3 songs. But what if I let you know that there is an easier way to get the job done, with only 1 pedal, would you be interested? It is our latest efforts towards the digital modulation world--5th Dimension. SONICAKE 5th Dimension is an assembly of 11 most commonly requested digital modulation effects, adding multiple sonic dimensions to your tone, providing more possibilities for your tonal palate. It is more than straightforward to use, with a MIX knob controlling effects level; a DEPTH knob adjusting the effects depth; a RATE knob tweaking effects speed; a MODE selector choosing from those 11 effects. Those 11 effects all sound like serious deals to my ears. The tones will speak for themselves. The 11 effects are: 1) Phase 101, a crystal clear and bright phasing tone; 2) Jet Fln Br., a massive, jet-like flanger tone with plenty of feedback; 3) Jet Flane, a classic-sounding flanger effect; 4) Big Sky, vintage chorus sound inspired by the legendary solid state Jazz amplifier; 5) Stereo Chorus, a classic and lush chorus sound modulated by a triangle wave; 6) Liquid Trem, a bias tremolo sound inspired by the circuitry from a vintage tube amp; 7) Opto Trem, classic optical tremolo tone; 8) Roto 60, a vintage 4-stage phasing/rotary vibe effect; 9) Blue Vib, a natural and warm vibrato sound; 10) Cryin' Bot, a dynamic auto-wah envelope filter (DEPTH knob controlling filter frequency range); 11) Lofi, sample reducing effect (DEPTH knob controlling the downsampling rate, RATE knobs controlling the overall brightness).

Clark

2 Rigs

#14
SolidGoldFX Athena - Vibraphase on RigShare
SolidGoldFX
SolidGoldFX

Athena - Vibraphase

Athena; daughter of Zeus. She’s recognized as strong, yet merciful, she has at least some roots in music, having invented the aulos, a double-reeded flute-like instrument. She’s the goddess of wisdom, war, and in our case, handicraft. She’s also the half-sister of Apollo, which coincidentally shares its name with an awesome phaser we make. Our Athena vibra-phase unit fittingly contains two of the four stages of the Apollo, giving you the juicy, chewy swoosh of our full-featured with a little less brashness and with tons of character to spare. However, like the goddess herself, Athena is much more than a simple feature set and design parameters. Stop us if you’ve heard this one: A Uni-Vibe is essentially a souped up phaser. Well, yes and no. While they are topologically similar, the Uni-Vibe requires a little more fine tuning—asymmetric tuning in this case. Athena has all that. It’s perfectly voiced to hold court with the rest of your effects and your instrument’s natural tone. In short: It’s highly musical and dynamic, just like your playing. Speed, depth, level—these come standard. But where the Athena really earns its keep is in its mode and color switches. The mode switch lets you change between different levels of blending to let a little or a lot of wet signal through. One mode position sets Athena to manual mode, where an optional expression pedal lets you manipulate the sweep of Athena without having to bow. Color gives you three levels of oomph that push the Uni-Vibe character into overdrive, essentially giving you a high, medium and low amount of throb for some truly inspiring textures. Adding Athena to any of your solos or chordal work is an excellent idea, dredging up rich harmonics while generating serious spatial movement. It’s time to pay tribute to your tone.

Rick Langlois
Cam

3 Rigs

#15
Fulltone Mini Deja’Vibe 2 on RigShare
Fulltone
Fulltone

Mini Deja’Vibe 2

Real Estate is precious, especially on your pedalboard, but the lush organic sounds of a perfect "vintage Univibe clone" are a necessity, and they are now attainable in a space no bigger than a standard wah wah pedal... the Mini-Deja'Vibe2, or MDV-2 for short. Vintage Cream powder coated finish with Oxblood lettering and a Blue LED that throbs to the beat of its asymmetrical rhythm. The Vintage Solution... with a True Bypass Twist: One of the cool things about a Vintage Univibe was that you turned it on simply by pushing forward on the treadle, which activated a momentary switch located in the heel of the foot controller... pretty nice because we usually use the slower speeds so there were no odd transition noises like you would get if you switched it on like a wah wah. Wah wah's (as you know) turn on with a toe-activated switch, which would sound odd on a Univibe clone because that position is the fastest speed. The problem was (on an old Univibe) all it did was turn on or off the light bulb on the PCB... it wasn't true Bypass and did not have a very transparent sound. Our Proprietary Heel-Activated system works perfectly, sounds fabulous, operates smoothly, and "defaults" to bypassed should your power supply fail or be disconnected... all ground covered ;) Lastly, some have expressed concern about not having super-slow speeds being that "true bypass" is activated when the treadle is in full heel position. NOT TO WORRY, I found a way around the problem by increasing the "value" of the dual speed pot from 100K to 150K and now there are slower speeds available than any other Univibe clone as well as the super fast speeds!

#17
Walrus Audio Lillian Multi-Stage Analog Phaser on RigShare
Walrus Audio
Walrus Audio

Lillian Multi-Stage Analog Phaser

Strap into the co-pilot seat and join Lillian on a sonic journey. Leaving nothing behind but clean, puffy white trails of whirling, pulsating and whooshing analog Phase effect. Viewers from below admire in a trance as it transforms the air into a unique and mesmerizing moment. The Lillian is a true bypass, all analog, multi-stage Phaser drawing inspiration from her cousin Julia. With controls like Rate, Width, Feedback, and D-P-V blend, the Lillian is packed with a wide array of analog phaser goodness waiting to be dialed in. The “Stages” switch allows the user to select 4 or 6 stages which alters the overall voice of the effect from warm and tight phasing with 4 stages to a more complex filtered sound with 6. The D-P-V knob lets you blend between dry, phase shifted, and vibrato sounds allowing for a wide range of control over the intensity and type of effect. Top mounted input, output, and power jacks as well as soft switch relay bypassing make the Lillian fit well on your board and ensure smooth operation for years to come. Borrowed from the Julia, the unique blend between Dry, Chorus and Vibrato has also been provided on the Lillian. Blend between Dry, Phase Shifted, and Vibrato (labeled d-p-v on the pedal). The Dry-Phase-Vibrato blend changes the ratio of dry to wet signal sent to the output. At minimum, you will hear no effect. Set it to noon for equal parts dry and wet – the traditional Phaser setting. Set it to maximum for 100% wet resulting in pitch vibrato. Explore the ground between minimum and noon for adding slight amounts of movement to your dry signal. Explore the ground between noon and maximum for all sorts of unheard phase/vibrato combinations.

Robert Fegley
Thomas Rees

2 Rigs

#24
KMA Machines Astrospurt - 4 Stage JFET Phaser on RigShare
KMA Machines
KMA Machines

Astrospurt - 4 Stage JFET Phaser

Time and Space are lost within the sound of the universe. Breath in and breath out, slow down and be ready for the Astrospurt. Fasten your seatbelt and get lost in the wide, warm and soft soundscapes generated by this pedal! The Astrospurt is KMA’s take on the classic four-stage JFET based phaser. Taking this classic analog circuit, we squeezed out everything we could to give you a versatile and great sounding, but very easy to use phaser. We wanted to get rid of the fixed volume when engaging the pedal, so we implemented a control to dial in the right amount of SIGNAL, either to boost or cut it. To give you a possibility for a more subtle phasing sound, the Astrospurt has a DEPTH control where you can choose between a pronounced phased tone or a more slightly modulated signal. The Astrospurt is not just a regular phaser though, it covers all the spacey, dizzy and wobble sounds and has these all on tap. The MIX control defines the ratio of clean and phase shifted signal – turn it fully clockwise to get just a clean tone, but start turning it the other way and the sound gets much more crazier. Turn it fully counter-clockwise to get the pulsing vibe of the stars surrounding you. But there is something you cannot miss to hear before flipping the switch on the left – listen to the secrets of the black hole. Some crackling noise here, or a tock tock there. Turn up the EMPH control to push everything over the edge. Adding a distortion or a fuzz in front of the Astrospurt will bring you synthetic and metallic sounds – once tried, you will never head back! So turn up the SPURT control, see how fast the engines will flicker and at the end of your journey, turn it down and rest in that wide and swooshy tone. Keep in mind that analog phasing pedals have to deal with a certain amount of noise/ hiss. Our Astrospurt is designed to keep it low compared to other classic phaser pedals. Every pedal is designed, assembled, silkscreened, tested and numbered by hand in our small workshop. We use doublesided PCBs which are designed, tested and assembled by ourselfs, to guarantee a high quality standard and keep the price of our pedals reasonable. The use of an indestructible powdercoated die-cast enclosure ensures a maximum durability. We trust in our environment and want to keep it clean, that's why none of our pedals have the possibilities to be powered by batteries.

#25
KMA Machines Horizont - Stereo JFET Phaser on RigShare
KMA Machines
KMA Machines

Horizont - Stereo JFET Phaser

“He who does not expect the unexpected, will not find it” - Heraklit Jump into spaceship Horizont and begin your trek into star-filled galaxies, all while discovering the incredible vastness of the sounds created by this interdimensional multi-spatial stereo JFET Phaser. The unexpected is waiting for you behind the far away horizon and it will be a journey you'll never forget! The Horizont’s mission is to push way beyond the classic phasing sounds of yesteryear, and take you to uncharted phaser worlds the second you plug in. By combining lush analog JFET phasing with digitally controlled dynamics, Horizont creates a vivid and expressive modulation experience, all while providing experimental and creative features that’ll kick phasing well into the 21st century. Besides the more common phaser controls, the Horizont offers a plethora of new and exciting options for all the interstellar tone chasers out there. To greatly broaden the range of phasing tones available, we implemented a digital LFO with no less than eight different waveforms: Ramp Up/Down, Sine/Triangle/Square wave, a sweeping waveform, Sample & Hold and a random slope waveform going from 20s down to 40ms. The implemented envelope generator is one of Horizont's absolute key features. It transforms your input signal into a control source to modulate the speed of the digitally controlled LFO or lets you manually phase for a resonant touch wah-like sound, depending on the state of the SWP- and SPURTCONTROL-Switch. Set the SPURTCONTROL switch to LFO to let the SPURT knob adjust the internal phasing speed. However, by flicking the switch to ENV (Envelope) mode, it allows you to dynamically modulate the speed along the full LFO speed range, based on how loud the input source is (e.g. when you attack the strings hard). You can also combine the SPURT knob and the envelope by flicking the toggle to LFO+ENV where SPURT then sets the minimum speed. For even more control, you can even plug in an external expression pedal/CV-source (0-5V) to alter the minimum speed on-the-fly or you can use the TAP TEMPO switch to set the speed to fit in with the tempo of your music. The EXP-Mode switch also lets you choose between a manual phasing mode, controlled by an expression-pedal or an external CV source. Setting the EXP-Mode switch to the middle position will disable any external expression control. The SWP (Sweep) switch lets you decide to use either the LFO or the envelope of your instrument signal to control the phasing. The envelope can be set to upwards or downwards operation via the ENV switch, seeing the LFO either slowing down or speeding up, or flipping the orientation when phasing manually from lows to highs and vice versa. In conjunction with the FUEL (Sensitivity) and the DECAY controls, the envelope can be tailored perfectly to your needs. We kept the EMPH (Emphasis) mode from our original Astrospurt Phaser, but have reworked and refined it extensively for the Horizont. The four toggle-switches determine the stage in which the phase-shifted signal is fed back into itself, while the REG (Regeneration) control sets the feedback amount. We also smoothed out the overall sound of the EMPH mode for a more pronounced, and crisp vocal-like tone. Each of the different switch variations and turn of the REG control will yield different results, seeing you discover new wild, fuzzy and noisy galaxies as you travel deeper down this sonic wormhole. In order for you to levitate through spacetime, we’ve also added a stereo output to the Horizont. You can switch between a standard stereo output or a panning output, via the STEREOPAN switch. Synchronized with the LFO speed, the upper cycle of the LFO sends the signal to the OUT1 and the bottom cycle to the OUT2. This is without a shadow of a doubt the most liquid and astonishing phasing experience you’ll ever embark upon. But wait, there’s more! Stop and take a deep breath, set the MIX control to fully clean and the Horizont is transformed into a Tremolo on-the-spot, with all the other aforementioned features. Last but by no means least, we equipped the Horizont with an FX-Loop right in front of the phase-shifting line. This enables you to add your own secret sonic weapons to this spaceship, seeing you create your very own unique phasing sounds. We’ve also increased the pedal’s headroom drastically by boosting the internal circuit voltage to 18V, from the regular 9V input, to give the cleanest phasing possible no matter what instrument or line source you use. An Introduction into EMPHASE-Mode Theory The Emphase-Mode is a mighty tone-shaping tool, BUT has to be handle with care! That feature will let you activate a feedbackloop which is taking the phaseshifting (wet)-signal and feeding it back into one of the four phase-shifting stage, defined by the labeled switches. That leads to an emphasing of a certain frequency for a more pronounced and resonating phasing sound, like the EHX-Small Stone is known for or helps you to get a more pronounced Touch-Wah Sound, when engaging the ON/OFF Switch and the certain stage of choice. The Regeneration-Control (REG) will let you dial in the right amount of feedback. So far, so good. Now comes the hard part. As soon as you combine more than one stage, the signal will be fed back from the forth stage into the activated ones AND also from the activated ones into each other, for example Stage 1 and 2 is activated and the ON/OFF Switch is in ON position: Signal is going from the fourth into the first and second and from the second into the first stage. You will come up with tones of totally non-standard phasing sounds like wild glitchy oscillations, weird distorted and fuzzy phasing tones or unpredictable blips and blops. As far as it already went you will have the possibility to modulate the behaviour of those sounds by the help of the DEPTH- and REG-Control. It will change the pitch of the oscillations, filtering highs or let you escalate quickly. Some settings behaving different when the ON/OFF Switch is engaged or not. But before using this awesome sounds some things have to be considered when using more than one stage: ★ TURN DOWN THE SIGNAL FIRST ★ ACTIVATE THE STAGES OF CHOICE ★ ADJUST YOUR DESIRED SIGNAL ★ USE THE DEPTH AND REG CONTROL TO CHANGE THE BEHAVIOUR OF THE CRAZY SOUNDS ★ ENJOY But don’t be fooled by all of these seemingly complex features, the Horizont is a super intuitive next generation phaser that’ll see your tone take flight in seconds flat. Whether you are looking for traditional phasing sounds, experimental synthetic soundscapes or super dynamical sonic endeavours, the Horizont will have you covered to infinity and beyond. Powered by an optional standard 9V DC (max.) PSU (negative center, 2.1mm, approx. 75mA current draw)

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