They are getting into some strange Schiit now.
Having been cursed with perfect pitch since birth, and knowing only enough about acoustics to get myself into trouble, the whole concept of changing pitch is IMHO flawed. Correcting pitch is one thing (such as, the original analog reel-to-reel recorder running at a wrong speed when a performance was recorded, or a turntable not turning at the right speed, etc.), but I always considered this arbitrary changing of pitch to some magical frequency to be junk science. Some have sworn up and down that A=432Hz is more "correct" than A=440Hz. Yet why do all orchestras today tune to A440? Because it was
standardized around 1940, to help stop the many disparate tunings of "concert A."
Here is a history of "concert A" frequencies:
https://www.healingsounds.com/the-tuning-conundrum/
I even once played a woodwind that was built for A436 vs. A440. (It was very slightly longer, with the distance between tone holes stretched out slightly, and it wasn't until my tutor saw the stamped "436" on the body that we figured out why I was struggling to play that horn in tune.) We have to consider now that instruments like woodwinds (and perhaps brass) are designed around A440, so changing it for the convenience of self-proclaimed "experts" just doesn't fly.
But, that is not the bigger problem. The big problem with altering pitch in this fashion is that this also alters the frequencies of the formants. Formants are those sets of overtones and other resonances which make a violin sound like a violin and not a cello, a saxophone like a saxophone and not a clarinet, and Diana Krall sound like Diana Krall and not Lena Horne. Our voices all have unique formants, which is how we can tell each other apart by voice.
Go right now and slow down or speed up the turntable with a record on. Notice how all of the instruments and voices take on a strange character to them? This is because we are changing the frequencies of those formants along with the fundamental pitch. If we could keep the formants at the same frequencies but change the pitch of the note, then we'd really be onto something. Even sampling synthesizers can't get it right...not unless they sample every single note on an instrument.
This seems like an awfully weird (and IMHO, useless) gadget Schiit is producing. Again,
correcting pitch for an incorrectly recorded master is one thing (as that will also correct the formants), but this whole healing/zen nonsense has gotten out of hand. I can guarantee that if the formants are changed, the music will not sound "fluid and more immersive." It'll sound just flat out
wrong. The purist might even say that the music should be reproduced electronically exactly how it was performed, and not altered after the fact. Even if this Schiit box (heh) could keep the formants correct, that doesn't exactly make changing the pitch right either.
Sorry for the rant, but this type of Schiit just cheeses me off...
@DC