Boss PS-2

The Boss PS-2 Digital Pitch Shifter/Delay is a compact effects pedal that puts two effects in one blue box: a digital pitch shifter and a digital delay. Made by Boss, it was produced from October 1987 to March 1994 and is now discontinued, but it remains popular on the secondhand market for its retro 8-bit processing and vintage digital character¹²³. Boss history writing credits it as the first compact pedal to provide players with real-time pitch shifting beyond simple octave intervals⁴.

Where a standard delay pedal only repeats what you play, the PS-2 can also shift your pitch up or down an octave, or to any interval you set by hand across two octaves. Pedal of the Day called it "basically two pedals in one, offering wild pitch shifting and pristine delay" in one compact unit usable for practice, gigs and recording¹.

Delay and pitch shifting modes

The PS-2 is built around a six-position Mode switch offering three pitch shift settings and three delay ranges, from thickening slapbacks to two-second echoes³. The Mode knob selects whether you are in a Delay mode or a Pitch Shifting mode¹.

The three delay modes set the maximum delay time for each: 125ms, 500ms and 2 seconds¹. Within a mode, the Fine-Manual knob adjusts the delay time, across an overall range of 30ms to 2000ms¹. Boss's own delay history notes that the two-second maximum in one of its modes was another Boss delay pedal first, exceeding the 800 milliseconds of the earlier DD-2⁶.

The three pitch shifting modes are +1 Octave, -1 Octave and Manual¹. The first two are fixed presets one octave up or one octave down; Manual mode lets you fine-tune the pitch over two octaves with the Fine-Manual knob⁵. Pedal of the Day's Mike B found that turning the Manual knob while playing produces "some fun and far out, space-age sounds, as well as weird, dissonant notes" and gloomy, sludge-driven tones².

Sound and circuit

The PS-2 is a digital pedal, and its 8-bit circuit is central to how it sounds: Boss describes the 8-bit digital circuit as giving the sound "an interesting low-res character"³. At the same time, the pedal used the same analog compander found in the DD-2, which Boss says softened the attack of feedback and added warmth³. For players, that combination means the repeats and shifted notes have a distinctly vintage digital texture rather than the clean resolution of a modern delay like the DD-8.

Boss says the effect remains popular for its retro 8-bit processing and vintage digital character⁵.

Connections and power

Alongside the standard Input and Output jacks, the PS-2 has a dedicated Tuner Out jack for connecting an external tuner, such as the era's Boss TU-12, letting you tune without interrupting your signal path¹⁶. Power comes from DC 9V with a 60 mA current draw, and the recommended AC adaptor is the Boss PSA Series¹. The pedal is battery-compatible, so it can also run from a 9V battery or from an isolated supply via a battery-compatible cable; one reviewer whose unit's 9V power section no longer worked ran exactly that setup into a Pedal Power 2 Plus².

Other published specifications include a weight of 460g (1.01 lbs.), a recommended load impedance of 10kOhm or greater, a residual noise level of -90dBm (IHF-A), and a frequency response of 10Hz to 30kHz, +1/-3dB on the direct signal².

Production run and status

Boss lists the PS-2's production run as 1987 to 1994⁷, and Pedal of the Day gives the precise window as October 1987 to March 1994². Boss's own product pages and history articles place the pedal in 1987⁴⁵, while MusicRadar's pitch shifter buying guide states it was introduced in 1989 and calls it the first Boss pitch shifter⁸.

The pedal is long out of production, but it has not been forgotten. Pedal of the Day's Mike B wrote that "this little blue beast has stood the test of time, and remains a popular pick of old school digital delays"². The same site's later review reached a similar verdict:

Boss has also kept the PS-2's legacy alive in software: the pedal is among the vintage Boss effects gathered into the PX-1 Plugout FX multi-effects pedal, with its three pitch modes and three delay modes reproduced there⁵⁹. Players who want the original circuit today are looking at the secondhand market, where it trades as a vintage piece.

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