Boss takes aim at the Whammy, Drop and Pitchfork pedals with its superior glitch-free Polyphonic Pitch-Shifters - the XS-1 Compact and 4-in-1 XS-100 Flagship

Controls - Dry-Wet Balance (2-Part Harmonics), Action : Toggle (Latching) / Moment (Momentary), Shift : Semitones 1-7 / Octaves 1-3, Direction : Downward / Detune / Upward

Ports - TS-Input, CTL / EXP (Remote Switch = 3 x Pitch Selection; Expression = Pitch-Glide), 9V DC [-] 100mA, TS-Output.

A really simple but potent pitch-shifter which gives you ±3 x Octaves in Both Directions, including all-intervals ±7 Semitones, alongside Detuning also by Cents. The XS-1 is mostly just one effect at a time - but you can count it as 2 - as raising the Balance knob will give you 2-part Harmonies - by blending the Dry Signal with the Wet.

Via the CTL / EXP port you can attach a Boss Remote Switch - which will allow you to toggle between 3 Pitch Values, and you can of course connect to an Expression pedal for Pitch-Glide.

It's not as all-encompassing as the XS-100, and not quite so clever - but every bit as potent as an Up or Down Pitch-Shifter. If you want a glitch-free and precise compact pitch shifter - then the Boss XS-1 is the most evolved of that type for now.

I have both pedals on my board currently - while the XS-1 would be more typically switched out for the PS-6 Harmonist - which does that S-Bend Morello effect, alongside 3-Part Iron Maiden style Harmonies - while the XS-1 and XS-100 can only do 2-part Harmonies and the Pitch-Shifting isn't ramped up or down - while you can adjust the curvature of the Pitch-Shifting.

This device targets all the pictured pitch-shifters - the DigiTech Drop, Klowra Vein, TC Electronic Brainwaves, and EHX Pitchfork and more.

This an extremely effective and potent slimline Pro-Pedal - which goes for $199 / €229 / £198.

Controls - Heel > Toe Treadle, Further 'Toe' Mode, Effect (Parameters), Memory (Presets / CTL and System Parameters), Rotary Selector : Presets and Parameters, click to Select, Effect Footswitch : Typically Pitch-Shifter, Tune Down Footswitch : Core Tuning / Register, Default : Press Both Footswitch to go up a Memory / Preset.

Ports - TS-Input, TS-Thru, TS-Output, CTL 1,2 / EXP 2 (EXP 1 is obviously the Treadle!), 1/8 MIDI Out, 1/8 MIDI In, USB-C (for updates), 9V DC [-] 160mA.

This is surely the Mac Daddy of stand-alone Pitch-Shifters now - and obviously targets and outpaces the Whammy - with a much expanded set of features and functions - with 30 Presets onboard, and Full MIDI Connectivity this one has really raised the high watermark!

I love that you can have 4 Effects / Functions applied simultaneously! Thanks to Matt Knight for all the support - as I was a little slow on the uptake for this one. Which is kind of understandable when you see all the Settings Parameters available (as below). I've marked out how mine is set up - which is a copy of Matt's settings really - except for 2 Octaves up on the Pitch Shift!

So I have 2 Octaves Up for the Pitch-Shifter - which is set to Effect Always ON - and therefore controlled by the Treadle, when the Treadle is all the way down at Heel, then the effect is bypassed, while the pedal is always engaged as such. For the '- SW (EXP1 SWITCH FUNCTION)' : this gives me a further octave up - when I click into the Toe switch - which is an additional switch / sensor - just a fraction beyond the full range of the Treadle.

So automatically I can apply the Treadle at any stage, the device is otherwise bypassed if the Treadle is in the Heel position - and then you can manual glide through the span of the Pitch Interval. There's a further pressure sensor on the toe part of the Treadle - which when depressed triggers a further EXP1 SWITCH FUNCTION - which give me an extra Octave on top of the already +2 Interval set.

As the Effect is Always on, the 'Effect' Footswitch instead triggers the 'Balance' - so E.Level and D.Level both need to be set to 100 - and you then get 2 Part Harmony through the interplay of Dry and Wet signals.

Then finally the Tune Down Footswitch is set to -0.5 which interval essentially delivers Baritone settings - which immediately give me a really elegant drop-tuning! Thanks again to Matt for all the suggestions and instructions!

So those are the 4 Effects that I can call upon fully dynamically in a single playback session. And overall the control side is a little reminiscent of my time with the RV-500 in particular - where Boss definitely Kitchen-Sinks all the different options. This such a Pro Pedal - and there are so many clever things you can do with it. It is the most pristine Polyphonic Pitch-Shifter Currently out there - with a really extraordinary clear signal. This is so much better than most of the equivalents out there - as you don't get those weird effected signal artefacts. The Boss Engineers have really pushed the envelope here.

You can't really navigate this pedal without a manual - and I also needed several hints from Matt on how best to setup the pedal - which I have documented here.

It is a large pedal compared to the Boss XS-1 Compact - the XS-100 runs to 147mm(W) x 230mm(D) x 72mm(H) - which makes it far and away the longest pedal currently on the board - in fact the largest by footprint also! By comparison, the dimensions of the recently reviewed Gamechanger Motor Pedal - are 100mm(W) x 180mm(D) x 80mm(H). I so love the Boss XS-100 that I've created a permanent slot for it on the board - and that slot is just right for accommodating the Gamechanger Motor Pedal also - which I've still to land!

The Genius of the XS-100 is in its quality of its Pitch-Shifting - alongside all those super smart functions. It's so clever how you can set the core Tuning / Register / Drop-Tuning, and then have Relative Interval or Absolute Polyphonic Pitch-Shifting on top - surely a genius pedal - I think it's going to make a lot of people very happy.

While there will still be a select few who prefer the glichiness and impurities of the Whammy. If you want precision though - you definitely need either one of these featured here!

The flagship XS-100 Poly Shifter is yours for $349 / €359 / £311 - a very solid investment as far as I'm concerned!

Here follow the Key Settings / Parameters that are at your disposal :

EFFECT SETTINGS / PARAMETERS / OPTIONS

• P.SHIFT (PITCH SHIFT SWITCH) : OFF / ON
• - SHIFT (PITCH SHIFT) : -4:0–0:0–+4:0 (+2.0) on Mine
• DETUNE (DETUNE SWITCH) : OFF / ON
• -SHIFT (DETUNE SHIFT) : -50–0–+50 CENTS
• TUNE.DN (TUNE DOWN SWITCH) : OFF / ON
• - SHIFT (TUNE DOWN SHIFT) : -4:0–0:0–+4:0  (-0.5) in Mine
• - GROUP (TUNE DOWN GROUP) : INDIVIDUAL / EFX
• P.RANGE (PEDAL RANGE) : ABSOLUTE / RELATIVE
• P.CURVE (PEDAL CURVE / RAMP) : SLOW2 / SLOW1 / MORM / FAST1 / FAST2
• P.RISE (PEDAL RISE RESPONSE) : 1-10 (SENSITIVITY)
• P.FALL (PEDAL FALL RESPONSE) : 1-10 (SENSITIVITY)
• E.LEVEL (EFFECT LEVEL) : 0-120
• D.LEVEL (DIRECT / DRY LEVEL) : 0-100
• BALANCE : 100:0–100:100–0:100
• UNI.THRU (UNISON THRU) : OFF / ON (DRY-THRU WHEN EFFECT IS BYPASSED) - Mine is set to On
• EFFECT (EFFECT SWITCH) : OFF / ON (ALWAYS ON) - Mine is set to On

MEMORY - CTL PARAMETERS / OPTIONS

• M = ACTIVATING FROM AN 'ON' STATE
• SW1A (EFFECT SWITCH 1A FUNCTION) : OFF / EFX / EFX:M / P.SHIFT / P.SHIFT:M / P+1OCT /
• P+1OCT:M / P-1OCT / P-1OCT:M / T.DN / T.DN:M / DTNE / DTNE:M / DIR / DIR:M / M.UP / M.UP(D /
• M.DN / M.DN(U / M.#1-M.#30 - Mine is set to Direct, which gives you 2-Part Harmonies for the Effect Switch!
• SW2A (TUNE DOWN SWICH SW2A FUNCTION) : SAME OPTIONS AS FOR SW1A
• SW1B (EFFECT SWITCH SW1B FUNCTION) : SAME OPTIONS AS FOR SW1A
• SW2B (TUNE DOWN SWICH SW2B FUNCTION) : SAME OPTIONS AS FOR SW1A
• SW1+2 (SWITCH 1 + SWITCH 2 FUNCTION) : OFF / MODE1 / MODE 2
• EXP1 (EXPRESSION 1 FUNCTION) : OFF / P.SHIFT / DTNE / E.LVL / D.LVL / BAL
• EXP2 (EXPRESSION 2 FUNCTION) : SAME OPTIONS AS EXP1
• - SW (EXP1 SWITCH FUNCTION) : OFF / EFX / EFX:M / P.SHIFT / P.SHIFT:M / P+1OCT / P+1OCT:M / P-1OCT / P-10PCT:M / T.DN / T/DN:M / DTNE / DTNE:M / DIR / DIR:M - Mini is set to P+OCT:M, which gives me one extra Octave Up - when I click in the Toe Effect!
• CTL1 : OFF / EFX / EFX:M / PITCH / PITCH:M / P+1OCT / P+1OCT:M / P-OCT / P-OCT:M / T.DN / T/DN:M / DTNE / DTNE:M / DIR / DIR:M / SW MODE / M.UP / M.UP(D / M.DN / M.DN(U / M.#1-30
• CTL2 : OFF / EFX / EFX:M / PITCH / PITCH:M / P+1OCT / P+1OCT:M / P-OCT / P-OCT:M / T.DN / T/DN:M / DTNE / DTNE:M / DIR / DIR:M / SW MODE / M.UP / M.UP(D / M.DN / M.DN(U / M.#1-30

MEMORY - CTL PREFERENCES PARAMETERS

• SW1A (SW1A PREFERENCE) : INDIVIDUAL MEMORY / SYSTEM-WIDE
• SW2A (SW2A PREFERENCE) : INDIVIDUAL MEMORY / SYSTEM-WIDE
• SW1B (SW1B PREFERENCE) : INDIVIDUAL MEMORY / SYSTEM-WIDE
• SW2B (SW2B PREFERENCE) : INDIVIDUAL MEMORY / SYSTEM-WIDE
• EXP1 (EXP1 PREFERENCE) : INDIVIDUAL MEMORY / SYSTEM-WIDE
• EXP1 SW (EXP1 SWITCH PREFERENCE) : INDIVIDUAL MEMORY / SYSTEM-WIDE
• CTL1 (CTL1 PREFERENCE) : INDIVIDUAL MEMORY / SYSTEM-WIDE
• CTL2 (CTL2 PREFERENCE) : INDIVIDUAL MEMORY / SYSTEM-WIDE  
• EXP2 (EPX2 PREFERENCE) : INDIVIDUAL MEMORY / SYSTEM-WIDE 

MEMORY - SYSTEM PARAMETERS

• EXT MIN (MEMORY EXTENT MIN) : 1-30
• EXT MAX (MEMORY EXTENT MAX) : 1-30
• BYPASS : ANALOG / DSP
• EXP1 HOLD : OFF / ON
• EXP2 HOLD : OFF / ON
• EXP1 SW THRE (EXP1 SWITCH THRESHOLD) : 1-10
• SW MODE : A / B
• CONTRAST (DISPLAY CONTRAST) : 1-10
• AUTO OFF : OFF / ON

• Footswitch: FS-5U
• Dual footswitch: FS-6, FS-7
• Expression pedal: EV-30, FV-500L, FV-500H, Roland EV-5
• MIDI/TRS connecting cable: BMIDI-5-35, BMIDI-1-35, BMIDI-2-35, BCC-1-3535, BCC-2-3535