Electro-Harmonix Pitch Fork

98
MINI REVIEWS
Decksaver for Push, a protective cover
for Ableton’s  agship hardware
controller, is a single piece of
transparent polycarbonate designed
to protect the controller “from
damaging elements such as smoke,
liquid and accidental impact” when
not in use. In practice, the sleek
cover is simple but effective,  tting
snugly over Push exactly as you’d
expect. Recesses on the back even
allow access to Push’s connections
and power button while safeguarded.
Studio-dwellers are bound to
appreciate the shelter against
everyday knocks, scrapes, bumps,
spillages, dust and grime; the touring
user can now bundle the shielded
controller into a bag or case without
fear of breakage.
While its £40 retail price may put
off those on a budget (we would’ve
appreciated some kind of cover for
Push’s base, too), many will
appreciate the security this product
provides – and, as owners will agree,
Push is an investment well worth
protecting. Joe Rossitter
8/10
Decksaver For
Push | £40
www.decksaver.co.uk
Taking cues from its POG and
HOG brethren, Pitch Fork is the
latest polyphonic pitch-
harmonising pedal from EHX.
Encased in their ‘nano’ chassis,
the Pitch Fork comes in just under
£100 and is totally worth every
penny. It features 11 pitch
settings from a 17-cent detune to
three octaves and you can scale
up, down or select the Dual mode
for both. Combined with the blend
function, you can dial in the
original signal for bigger
harmonies, or a massive
discordant mess – it’s entirely up
to you. The footswitch features
latch and momentary modes, so
you can either have a constant
pitched signal or a  xed-rate
glissando (depending on pitch
destination).The rate of glide can
be varied with the use of an
expression pedal via the EXP
input, which will also accept CV.
Pitch Fork tracks notes really
well, however there is a slight
latency, but it’s only very slight
and by no means unplayable.
There is also a noticeable
attenuation of higher frequencies
the further away from the original
pitch you go, so the third octave
sounds quite dull. Again, it’s not
enough to be unusable. For the
money, Pitch Fork is a no-brainer;
there’s a huge amount of pitch
variation and with CV control it’s
opened up to even more pitching
possibilities. Simon Arblaster
9/10
Electro-Harmonix Pitch Fork | £99
www.ehx.com
Tidal | £19.99/month
www.tidalhifi.com
Tidal is a lossless music streaming service that is pitting itself against the mighty Spotify et al.
So should you be ditching your subscription to your current streaming service, or is this the
perfect upgrade to a premium service? Compared to Spotify’s lossy format at 320Kbps, Tidal
offers lossless audio via 1411Kbps FLAC  les. So, with nearly  ve times the quality, you’d
think that it would sound so much better. Unfortunately, there is very little discernible
difference to the ear. Yeah, sure there are certain tracks on which it’s more noticeable than
others but, when listening on a mobile device with average headphones, you’ll be hard-pushed
to spot that difference. So just invest in a decent set of cans for a better listening experience.
The catalogue is certainly impressive and, while it’s not quite the sheer amount of music
you’ll  nd available on the likes of Spotify, it is constantly growing. The look and feel of the
interface is very similar to Spotify and the familiarity does help to make you feel at home.
However, if you have spent years curating playlists on another provider, you’ll be frustrated at
the prospect of doing it all over again. Another slight disappointment is that tracks are only
available ofine on mobile devices, but it’s only a minor gripe as that’s the only place you’ll
really want ofine songs and, as  le sizes are greatly increased courtesy of the uncompressed
format, you will need a lot of space if you’re thinking of taking entire albums ofine.
Tidal is available on iOS, Android and Desktop (a Chrome-only web app). Currently there is
only one subscription price and that is a very healthy £19.99 per month. Its closest rival,
Deezer Elite, is offering its lossless streaming service at £5 less, but it’s currently only
available on Sonos with no ofine mode. There are so many plus points to Tidal and I think
they do outway the cons. If you have the storage space and you haven’t already invested your
time too heavily in another streaming service, then Tidal is value for money. Now, if someone
can just develop a tool to port my playlists, then I’ll be a lot happier. Simon Arblaster
7/10
FMU291.rev_mini.indd 98 23/03/2015 14:31