Soundtoys - Crystallizer 5

Soundtoys Crystallizer is a pitch-shifting granular echo plugin for macOS and Windows, built around the Reverse Shift algorithm from the Eventide H3000. It turns held chords and simple lines into shimmering, reversed-echo textures.

If you've heard a late 80s record with that icy, backwards shimmer on the guitar, this is the effect. Soundtoys' founders worked on the algorithms for the original H3000, which is why it behaves like the real thing.

Old-school pitch shifting

The pitch shifting is deliberately dated. It uses a simple resample and crossfade technique rather than a modern, transparent algorithm, and the audible artefacts are part of the sound. It's glitchy in exactly the way you want here, and it's no substitute for a clean pitch shifter.

Gate, Duck and filters

Built-in Gate and Duck controls stop the echoes triggering all over the place, which matters because the effect gets out of hand quickly. Low and high cut filters steer it towards bright, shimmery blooms or darker beds of sound. MIDI sync and automation lock it to your project.

Where it fits

Pads, plucks, guitars and held chords are the sweet spot. Busy material gets messy fast, so use the gate or send it from an aux. It suits ambient and chillwave, and it's a natural for breakdown atmospheres in trance. Over 200 presets, sorted into categories, give you somewhere to start.

Features

• Recreates the crystalline sound of the Eventide H3000
• Granular echo slicing with reverse echoes and pitch shifting
• Gate and Duck for dynamic control
• Low and high cut filters
• Tempo lock and automation
• Over 200 presets
• Resizable interface (Soundtoys 5.5 release)

System requirements

• macOS 10.15 or later, native Apple Silicon support
• Windows 10 or later (64-bit)
• Formats: VST2, VST3, AU and AAX on macOS; VST2, VST3 and AAX on Windows
• Authorised through iLok: computer licence or iLok USB. Internet connection needed to activate.

SOUND7 is an authorised Soundtoys reseller. Digital delivery: licence activation code sent by email.