There are a significant number of excellent effects plug-ins available these days for iOS users, freeing us from the typically marginal quality FX found in most iDAWs. Eventide has added 3 more to the menu to choose from: Blackhole Reverb, MicroPitch, and UltraTap Delay. All can be purchased from the App Store.

Each of these plug-ins do a lot more than just their basic named concept. While each does well to master its primary function, it also can go beyond its simplistic expectations and offer the user a broader array of effects uses. All have a ribbon function for automating parameters and a load of preset options to explore.

MicroPitch (shown above) is, for all intents and purposes, a dual voice pitch shifter unit capable of excellent chorusing effects. It’s more than just its name implies. Same can be said for BlackHole-a reverb unit, and UltraTap, a delay unit.

Blackhole Reverb is an algorithmic reverb unit that artificially creates spacious and clean depth to your sound. It’s not exactly the longest reverb unit available for iOS but it’s way better than what you can find in most workstations (except Auria) or built in options for the common synth app. There is a really nice tail-reversal ability in the “Gravity” function that totally inverts the decay. This particular reverb unit is not as heavy on CPU as some others, which is nice, but comes at the cost of being less capable of truly enormous spacial reverberations. For the most part Blackhole lives up to its name and is a great option for those looking for a reasonably priced highly programmable reverb unit that won’t bleed your CPU dry.

UltraTap Delay is a fantastic 64 tap delay unit that goes beyond being a simple delay unit. While having the capabilities of some massive delays UltraTap can also morph those repeated taps into a uniquely modulated reverb effect by adjusting the “Slurm” dial along with the width and spread. Specifically, the Slurm dial blurs the spaces between taps to smooth out a delay modulated reverb effect. I really like how versatile this FX unit is. The “Chop” dial is a multi waveform LFO tremolo effect. Great for making choppy glitched out gated effects and creating huge swells. There are some really creative possibilities available to you with this unique tap delay unit.

MicroPitch is a dual voice pitch shifter and harmonizer that can add some meat to an otherwise pale sound. With its onboard delays this thing can bring out some wild slap backs and widened stereo sounds. I guess you could say it’s a sound “biggiefier”. OK, not actually a real word, but it gets the point across. Additionally MicroPitch parameters can be manipulated to make some very nice choruses or ghostly echoes. This one kind of surprised me a little. After exploring some of its presets and twisting some dials I discovered incredible versatility has been packed into MicroPitch. This is a truly impressive effects device. Easily can be a go to chorus unit to say the least.

All of the Eventide FX apps are stand alone, Inter-App Audio and Audio Unit AUv3 capable. Each also has a programmable ribbon feature for automating select parameters in real time. They all have built in help, and a great many presets. Of course, you can save your own presets as well. I recommend getting all three and exploring them in combination for some “out of this world” effects.