Crystals is the plug-in version of a popular Eventide H3000 Harmonizer algorithm that creates a whole collection of warped cascading pitched delays. Crystals has two reverse granular pitch shifters/delays each with up to a +/- two-octave range, along with a stereo reverb with up to 100 seconds of decay. Both the delays and reverb have separate Wet/Dry controls, plus you may crossfade between the two pitch-shifters easily.
I liked using Crystals as a featured effect on synths, guitars and percussion instruments and also as a send/return effect on vocals to add a mysterious and dynamic ‘ear candy’ that is never the same moment-to-moment.
Pop music mixing and Crystals make perfect companions. Its sound design capability will trigger ideas and encourage ingenuity. Crystals comes within the familiar H9 framework with a Flex button that momentarily pops both pitch-shifters up the octave and the Ribbon controller is for programming any of the parameters for live performances or recording automation moves. I also thought the Mix Lock function is brilliant! It keeps the wet-dry mix constant while stepping through presets.
I liked the A and B delay feedback controls for setting the exact length of the reverse delays’ ring out. In stereo, the A is panned left and the B delays are right and with longer delay times of up to four seconds each! Adding musicality to this magic would be to shift the pitch of the delays by a 4th, 5th or up to an octave.
Eventide Crystals runs on Mac and PC and supports VST, AAX and AU. It sells for $99.
eventideaudio.com/products/effects/pitch-delay-reverb/crystals
