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Best dedicated 'Octave Down' effects available for iOS?
Octave down has been a mainstay of my performance for a long time. I've always used floor octavers as there are some amazing ones available and to this day even when using iOS, I still use floor equipment as I've not found anything comparable.
I'd actually like to move this function into iOS however!
Does anyone here have experience using octave down effects in iOS and have any recommendations for the most effective options available?
Oscar
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For me it's the ones in Tonestack (Whammy and PolyOct). The one in Amplitube used to be awful but is now pretty decent. The one in BIAS FX was shite the last time I tried it.
This is using a guitar, to play bass parts with. If you're using a bass I can't comment.
Another approach that works for me is using MIDI Guitar with the option to transpose down. Tracks very well and can be used to play sampled bass instruments and synths.
Yeah I'm using a bass with octaver for some suuuper low sub frequencies. I have an old 20(+?) year old stomp box that I'm routing audio out into at the moment, which sounds great and can track in mono down to the A string.
Keeping an ear to the ground until something comparable comes along on iOS!
@EHX_Support ??
I use Octavemaker in tone stack. I find it tracks better than boss stomp boxes.
Doesn't every octaver in existence?
I'll give ZMH-1 a go. Seems like the most likely candidate and very cheap.
Anyone got any experience with this?
Yeah I use polyOct(?) in tonestack on organ and piano.
VoiceRack:FX has a nice one; more for vocals obviously. I haven't tried it with instruments.
BassOCT in ToneStack 2.0 is designed for exactly your scenario. I've tried it with acoustic guitar and got surprisingly good results.
I use BassOCT and PolyOCT in ToneStack.
I wanted to avoid those kind of programs, as it seems like a big drain for just one specific effect, although I may that one out if it goes on sale in the future.
Never really been interested in software guitar FX suites in general as I've got all my guitar gear in hardware, so emulation seems pointless & I'd rather do something different/original with iOS. A good octaver is a big deal though, so we'll see
Well no, behringer sucks too
Let me know how it works. I could use a good octaver for my baritone guitar too
I have pretty much all the guitar amp and effects modelers out there—at least the heavy hitters—and getting a good bass sound out of my guitar has been a goal of mine recently, so this thread arrives at a good time.
Here are the effects I've used:
BIAS FX
JamUp Pro
AmpliTube
ToneStack
Zen Musical Harmonizer ZMH-1 (standalone effect)
Of all these, I will say the standout is the BIAS FX PolyOctaver. It does an excellent job of retaining the source signal's timbre and doesn't add the subtle (and undesirable) phasing common among most of the others. Here's how I set it:
The DigiTech Whammy emulators are horrible right across the board for the purpose of a fixed octave down, but I don't think they're designed for that as their main function anyway.
ToneStack's Dual Harmony is probably the next-best option, with its PolyOCT and BassOct effects next in line.
I picked up the ZMH-1 yesterday because of this thread, and it's disappointing (though not any worse than some of the other pitch shifters in my above list). It doesn't help any that—at least at the time of this post—it doesn't support portrait orientation, but if the sound were pristine, I wouldn't care if it had flashing lights and a picture of Ernest Borgnine.
I understand you'd prefer to avoid the overhead of a full-on amplification modeler simply for the use of one effect, but you might just find it suits your purpose to a T. If that's the case, dropping $20 might be worth it to you. As a bonus, you may find other goodies in that same software you didn't plan on using in the first place.
Maybe I need to test BIAS FX again, last time I tried the PolyOctaver there it was really really bad. Sounds like PG might have improved it since?
Give it a shot! I'd be interested in hearing others' experiences.
+1 Cheap and useful
This may not necessarily apply to the reasons that the OP asked the question, but just a thought to people trying to get their guitar to sound like a bass so that they can do tracks : There's quite a few bassists on here, don't be afraid to ask about playing on tracks.
how does the dual harmony compare to the polyoct. i just got the polyoct and i’m curious if i should get dual harmony as well. i can seem to find any demos online of any of the pedals. what other pedals would your recommend in tonestack?