Designed as a “Super Harmony Machine”, the Digitech IPS-33B uses a custom chip that allows 24-bit internal processing, but outputs via a 16-bit linear PCM stage. It provides excellent sound clarity with a full frequency response, high signal-to-noise ratio, and versatile routing/control.
The Digitech IPS-33B can generate harmonies in several modes: chromatic, scalic (scale-based), chordal, or custom harmonies. You can choose keys and scales so that harmonies stay musically correct rather than just rigid pitch shifted. It also has an arpeggiator allowing patterns (factory or user) to ascend, descend, alternate, with variable lengths.
The Digitech IPS-33B provides a variety of harmony types and special effects.
- Chromatic Harmony Each harmony part may be any interval up to two octaves up or down. These harmonies are parallel or non-intelligent. You do not have to set the IPS-33B to the key you’re playing in.
- Scale Harmony Choose any key, one of 59 different scale types (major to blues), and any interval. The Digitech IPS-33B will produce diatonically correct harmonies for each note you play.
- Arpeggiation Play a note and an arpeggio is created. The arpeggio can be of varying lengths and can ascend, descend or alternate. Choose one of the factory programmed patterns or create one entirely of your own.
- Chord Harmony Choose a chord and one of eight different voicings, and the Digitech IPS-33B will give you perfect three-part harmony on any note you sing or play. The voicing can be made to change automatically to match the chords being played on your MIDI keyboard.
- Custom Harmonies Create your own harmonies. Program each note to generate any two harmony notes you want. Set up your own harmonies or simply alter some of ours, and store each new harmony in memory.
- Detune Detune produces small pitch shifts that “thicken up” your sound.
- Vibrato/Chorus Quickly changing Pitch or Volume (or both) several times a second gives your sound a wide range of “color.” This is called Modulation and is recognizable to players as vibrato, tremolo, chorus, and flange.
- Delay The Digitech IPS-33B offers up to 1.5 seconds of delay on either output.
- Pitch Correction The Digitech IPS-33B will correct the input note to the nearest semitone. This is done by shifting the input note the required number of cents to produce “harmonies” that are on the closest semitone. This can have the extraordinary effect of making an out-of-tune vocalist sound in tune!
- Combined Effects Many of the Digitech IPS-33B presets combine effects from several of the above categories. Different harmonies can be combined with varying amounts of delay, detune, modulation, pitch bend and pitch correction. In addition, each of these parameters can be continuously varied using the Expression Controllers (volume pedals).
Other effects in the Digitech IPS-33B include detune (for thickening sound), chorus/vibrato/flange/modulation effects, pitch bend (including turning a volume pedal into a whammy type control), delay (up to 1.5 seconds), and pitch correction (snapping input notes to nearest semitone). Many effects can be combined; each stereo channel (left, right) is independent, allowing stereo panning/ping-pong etc.
Control of the Digitech IPS-33B is via front-panel LCD (2 lines × 16 character backlit), expression/volume pedals (or other continuous controllers), a hand control accessory, footswitch (FS304 compatible), and MIDI. There are numerous presets (factory/custom), with memory for user patches. The display walks you step by step, making it relatively user friendly for a device of its time.
Features
- Multiple harmony types: chromatic, scalic (scale-based), chordal and custom harmony
- Arpeggiation with various pattern options
- Delay up to 1.5 seconds per channel
- Detune, vibrato/chorus/flange/modulation effects
- Pitch correction (snap to nearest semitone)
- Full wet/dry mix control / expression controller inputs
- MIDI compatibility for key/scale/preset changes
- Stereo outputs, with independent left/right processing
- Front panel LCD and external control options (pedals, footswitch, etc.)