DigiTech IPS-33 Smart Shift (1988–ca. 1994)
The DigiTech IPS-33 Smart Shift is an intelligent harmonizer. It's a pitch shifter that could add one or two harmony notes to an incoming signal, locked to a predefined musical scale. A listing in DB-Magazine (November 1988, p.61) described it as MIDI-controllable, with 41 built-in harmony patterns and storage for up to 99 user presets. The same source gave a retail price of $799.
By 1990, DigiTech was marketing an updated version, the IPS-33B Super Harmony Machine. An ad in Mix-Magazine (August 1990, p.99) pushed two-note harmonies that were “crystal pure and correct to scale,” and pointed to MIDI keyboard chord recognition and continuous control over programs, patches, and parameters. The IPS-33B appears to have been the definitive production version. A later Mix preview (March 1994, p.118) noted that the IPS-33B had been discontinued and replaced by the DHP-33, called a “little brother” to the more powerful DHP-55.
Beyond those period references, surviving documentation is thin. What the record shows is a capable, MIDI-integrated harmony tool that filled a specific niche in studios and live rigs until the DHP series took over.
- Type: Intelligent harmonizer / pitch shifter (1- and 2-note harmony)
- Controls: 41 factory harmony patterns, 99 user presets
- Original price (1988): $799 (IPS-33)
- Successor: DigiTech DHP-33 (1994)
Similar items on eBay
No exact DigiTech IPS-33 listings are live right now — these searches show current DigiTech and similar vintage synth gear on eBay:
As an eBay Partner, we earn from qualifying purchases. This helps support our independent vintage technology research.