Discord4

Name: Discord4
Price: 29 USD
Author: Audio Damage

by Audio Damage · Pitch & Tuning · Stereo pitch shifter with delays

Not rated yet

Discord4 is a true-stereo pitch shifter with three algorithms: a vintage mode modeled on the Eventide H910 and H949, a clean mode and a granular mode.

Two tempo-synced delays, two flexible LFOs and MIDI note control make it a sound design tool as well as a detuner, for $29.

Best for: Vocals, Guitars, Keys & Synths, Sound Design. Genres: Electronic & EDM, Rock & Indie, Ambient & Cinematic.

Keywords: pitch-shifting, granular, hardware emulation, vintage, sound design, tempo-synced, MIDI-controllable, digital classic, experimental, vocals, 70s, clean, mixing, modern, randomize, resizable UI, tight, wide.

What it does

Discord4 is a stereo pitch shifter with delays, modulation and reverb, the fourth version of a plugin first released in 2010. Its vintage mode started as a model of the Eventide H910 and H949, but Audio Damage says it "has long since become its own effect".

Three algorithms: P1 Vintage (modeled on the H910/H949), P2 Clean for modern shifting, and G2 Granular for more experimental effects.
Buffer size: 32 to 2048 samples on the P1 and P2 algorithms, from tight detuning to rougher, warbling shifts.
Granular controls: grain size, frequency and randomization, plus a Chaos knob.
Modulation: two flexible LFOs with tempo sync and adjustable waveform shaping (skew and warp), which can modulate pitch, delay and filter frequency.
Delays: two tempo-synced or free-running delays with feedback and cross-feedback, a band-pass filter and reverb in the feedback path.
Stereo and MIDI: independent or linked left and right channels with their own panorama settings, and pitch control from MIDI notes over six octaves.
Output stage: soft saturation, limiting, a stereo reverb with freeze, and a mix control.

Version 4.1.5. Full-featured demos are available.

Source: Audio Damage product page

When to use it

Discord4 is a cheap, sound-design-minded pitch shifter rather than a vocal tool. Compared with MicroShift it does far more: three shifting algorithms, two delays, LFOs and a reverb, where MicroShift offers a few fixed detune styles. Unlike Little AlterBoy it has no formant control, so it is not the right choice for natural-sounding vocal shifts or gender changes. Against Eventide's H910 plugin it offers a looser take on the same vintage sound but adds the granular mode and modulated delays at a lower price.

Best for: stereo detuning and widening, harmonizer-style shifts, and warbling, modulated pitch-delay textures.
Genres: electronic, ambient, experimental and rock.
Look elsewhere if: you need formant-correct vocal shifting (Little AlterBoy), pitch correction (Auto-Tune Pro 11 or Melodyne 5), or a quick one-knob widener (MicroShift).

What producers say

Reviewed as an excellent, good-value update to a long-running plugin, with only small regrets.

Resident Advisor (Mark Strauss, 2018) scored it 4.8 for cost, 4.5 for versatility and 4.4 for both ease of use and sound, praising the resizable interface, the new reverb with freeze, the improved granular engine and the new panorama controls.
Criticisms: RA missed the random LFO waveshape from Discord3 and found the old granular engine "a bit more forgiving".

Resident Advisor review

Where to buy

Audio Damage: $29
Plugin Boutique: $49

Tutorials and reviews

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