Roland VP-9000 VariPhrase ProcessorRoland's VP-9000 VariPhrase Processor is the first hardware device to give you independent control over the pitch, speed, and formant of a sample. It lets you repitch portions of a sample without affecting the sample's length or alter the sample's time without changing its pitch or resonant characteristics. The Formant function is particularly interesting because it controls a sound's resonant characteristics. You can use it to transform the gender of a vocal sample or an instrument's spectral content.

Another important feature of the VP-9000 is its ability to sync a number of unrelated loops to a single, user-specified key and tempo. Furthermore, it includes a Groove control that, in theory, adds or removes swing in a sampled rhythm. You can tweak these functions using the dedicated front-panel controls or through MIDI. This makes the VP-9000 a great device for both studio use and live remixing.

Several features sweeten the deal even more. The VP-9000 has a 250 MB Zip drive and reads AIFF, WAV, Roland S-700, and Akai S1000 files, so it's easy to swap samples between it and other devices. The unit has independent, simultaneously available multi-effects, chorus, and reverb processors.

The VariPhrase lets you do useful and creative things not possible with other hardware devices. That makes it a winner in our book.