By Greg Rule
Pros:
Jaw-dropping time-compression/expansion and pitch-shifting capabilities (works on an entire mix). Realtime previewing. Graphic and numeric editing modes. Varispeed mode for drawing automation curves.
Cons:
AudioSuite format only.
Bottom Line:
The current heavyweight champion of time and pitch plug-ins. Key Buy winner.
Eight hundred bucks for an AudioSuite plug-in? Are they serious? Indeed they are, and one quick listen to what Pitch 'n Time can do should be all the convincing you'll need. Quite simply, this is the best plug-in I've heard for time-compression/expansion and pitch-shifting.
Let me qualify that. There are some excellent plug-ins out there that can time-stretch and pitch-shift with impressive results, but how many of them can handle dense, complex waveforms or... gasp... an entire mix? Get ready to have your mind blown by Pitch 'n Time.
"Pitch 'n Time combines high quality processing with the ability to process multi-channel stems phase coherently," says a company spokesman. "Our goal was to produce a tool that could be used to successfully time-stretch and pitch-shift complex files where traditional approaches are known to fail."
Pitch 'n Time delivers on this promise. In addition to processing isolated tracks (vocals, drum loops, and so on), I ran several dense mixes through the plug-in, and was amazed each time. Gone were the wobbly, crackly, and unusable results that I'd grown accustomed to with other plug-ins. Instead, Pitch 'n Time gave me smooth, clean, pro-sounding tracks. And we're not just talking about minor increases or decreases. I got remarkably clean results at major percentage shifts. Ditto for the Pitch 'n Time's pitch-shifting capabilities. Files can be pitched up or down in cents or semitones. Time and pitch can be adjusted from 50 to 200 percent.
During this review, tech editor John Krogh and I put Pitch 'n Time head to head with a several other time-compression/expansion plug-ins. Pitch 'n Time smoked them all. You can hear a few audio examples of our tests above.
The only negatives I can say about this product are (a) it's pricey and (b) it's only available in AudioSuite format. (PC users who don't use an AS-compatible app might appreciate a Direct X version.) Not too much to moan about, in other words.
The main competition for Pitch 'n Time comes from Wave Mechanics, and their new plug-in called Speed. Speed is more affordable, but lacks a few of Pitch 'n Time's bells and whistles, such as Varispeed mode (a feature of Pitch 'n Time that locks the pitch to the tempo you select, allowing you to simulate realistic tape slow-downs or tape-stops).
All things considered, Pitch 'n Time is a breathtaking piece of code. The next time a record company requests a faster or slower version of a completed mix, I know which tool to grab. But don't just take my word for it; listen to the audio examples above -- then download a trial version of the plug-in from Serato's site.