OPINION

What is it? Firstly (because it's the easy bit), it's a straightforward digital echo, offering between 25 and 800mS of delay, with the usual feedback and mix facilities. As well as normal delay, there is one reverse echo setting. There are also built-in high frequency damping circuits which progressively muffle multiple repeats, giving a more natural echo.

It's a very basic DDL, offering neither stereo output, nor modulation for chorus and flanging. But you're not going to be buying this for its delay facilities - those are just added bonuses.

If you buy the RPS-10, it will be for its pitch-shifting capabilities. Like the harmonizers used by professional studios, the RPS-10 will take an initial signal and change its pitch by up to an octave in either direction. Pitch shifting has a number of uses; a minimal shift either up or down has roughly the same fattening effect on a sound as a chorus, but without the sweeping modulation.

A larger shift, and the RPS-10 adds harmonies. The Pitch and Fine Tune controls will set the modified signal to a fourth, fifth, seventh, or whatever your ears fancy. This isn't quite instant Beach Boys, though, as the harmonies always remain in a constant relation to the original note.

Set the RPS-10 at plus or minus one, and hey presto - instant octivider (octave harmony), good for lead lines, stringy synths, and generally making noises broader.

Sounds like magic, doesn't it? There is a trade-off in quality, however. The further the pitch is shifted, the more the signal is degraded, losing clarity and tone, and taking on an unpleasant tremolo. To get over this it's necessary to sink widely shifted sounds back into the mix, where they add to the overall feel rather than standing out as distinct notes.

There are three pitch-shift modes on the RPS-10, the second of which adds a slight delay to the affected signal, making downshifted notes less prone to awkward wobble; as Roland point out, this is useful on string sounds. The third setting is a harmonizing equivalent of the DDL's reverse: backwards pitch-shifting. Well whacky.

DECISION

We're already hearing reports from Making Music dealers of much interest in the RPS-10; unsurprising when you consider that pitch-shifting is an effect rarely encountered in the average home studio.

But apart from good quality echoes, chipmunk impressions, or God-like rumbling bassy voice-overs, what do you use it for? Well, enriching sounds, for a start, adding subtle harmonies to vocals and other single note lines. The RPS-10 can pitch-shift chords (it will transpose a whole performance if required), but there are often too many internal dissonances for this to be worthwhile.

The echo stage is a very useful second delay line (excellent bandwidth), while the pitch-shifting is handy to have here and there. This is a good quality effects unit, but it's more of an instrumental toy than a songwriting aid.