New Eventide Pitchfactor Day! Review included!

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harddriver

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As many of you know I have explored most of the lore of EVH over the years. For the past ten years plus I have been using two Boss PS-5's in a W/D/W to replicate the Eventide 910/949 and H3000 Micropitch emulations and I was quite satisfied with their performance but there was an issue that they only detune +- in 5 cent increments which gets closer to the EVH micropitch settings of +9 -9 cents but I always felt the -5 cents detune was off quite a bit since he was using mostly .999 cents of detune on FW, DD, 1984 which is more subtle in it's effect. So I finally picked up a new Pitchfactor from Musicians Friend since Sweetwater was out at the time of purchase.

I spent some quality time with the Pitchfactor yesterday so here are my thoughts... While I was actually quite satisfied with the Boss PS-5's which sounded good the quality of the detunes in the H910/949 and H3000 Micropitch is noticeably better than what the Boss's provide, probably due to higher sampling rates and the proprietary alogrithms that Eventide uses to emulate their analog units, my signal chain audio seems to have improved in fidelity and crispness as well. So I have to honestly admit the Eventide lives up to the hype in almost every way, the unit is easy to use and change parameters and I was apprehensive that it would be complicated but it is not. I used the mono input in while using the Line Level settings on both input and output, the unit then splits the mono signal into two L/R stereo outputs so you do not need to run stereo inputs to it(WINNING!).

The H910/949 only does negative detune from .908 to 1.092 cents for both Pitch A and Pitch B and it does replicate the more correct subtle detune that you hear on FW, DD and 1984, 5150 and OU812 and for me that in itself would be worth the $499.00 price of admission as a resident Ed head. The difference between the detune of the H910/949 and the micropitch is noticeable almost more analogish for lack of a better term to describe it.

In addition to the H910/949 the H3000 Micropitch +9-9 cents detune also outshines the Boss units in replicating FUCK Balance more chorusy detune settings.

So I am aware in the past I have fully endorsed the Boss PS-5 and other detune units like the MOOER if you just would like a good detune within a lower budget range but the Eventide detune quality and fidelity is on another level IMHO. I also had the same experience when I switched out my old trusty Boss DD-5's for the new Boss DD500 delay/echo, the improvement was very noticeable. So if you are a Ed head like I am and you would like to hear a more era correct emulation of H910/949 and Micropitch I recommend it highly. I regret not diving in back in 2009/2010 when they first came out so I am a decade late to the party but still glad to be able to experience it now.
 
You said:
"I spent some quality time with the Pitchfactor yesterday so here are my thoughts... While I was actually quite satisfied with the Boss PS-5's which sounded good the quality of the detunes in the H910/949 and H3000 Micropitch is noticeably better than what the Boss's provide, probably due to higher sampling rates and the proprietary alogrithms that Eventide uses to emulate their analog units..."

So that you know... there are no Eventide analog units that do effects other than the very old Flanger and Phaser. Anything else is digital....
 
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You said:
"I spent some quality time with the Pitchfactor yesterday so here are my thoughts... While I was actually quite satisfied with the Boss PS-5's which sounded good the quality of the detunes in the H910/949 and H3000 Micropitch is noticeably better than what the Boss's provide, probably due to higher sampling rates and the proprietary alogrithms that Eventide uses to emulate their analog units..."

So that you know... there are no Eventide analog units that do effects other than the very old Flanger and Phaser. Anything else is digital....

Wasn't the H910 the very first available digital FX unit (back in '75)?
 
You said:
"I spent some quality time with the Pitchfactor yesterday so here are my thoughts... While I was actually quite satisfied with the Boss PS-5's which sounded good the quality of the detunes in the H910/949 and H3000 Micropitch is noticeably better than what the Boss's provide, probably due to higher sampling rates and the proprietary alogrithms that Eventide uses to emulate their analog units..."

So that you know... there are no Eventide analog units that do effects other than the very old Flanger and Phaser. Anything else is digital....
Thanks for the clarification as I may have harbored the misconception that they were somewhat analog. In alot of online topics of the H910 it was commonly referenced that the H910 was considered analog, but you are correct it did use digital logic.

I did find this description of the Eventide H910 units when I googled it.

While the Eventide Model H910 Harmonizer was 'digital' it was 100% software free – it pre-dated the earliest DSP chips by several years. It used digital logic and some of the earliest RAM memory to achieve delay but was, in large measure, an analog beast.
 
Thanks for the clarification as I may have harbored the misconception that they were somewhat analog. In alot of online topics of the H910 it was commonly referenced that the H910 was considered analog, but you are correct it did use digital logic.

I did find this description of the Eventide H910 units when I googled it.

While the Eventide Model H910 Harmonizer was 'digital' it was 100% software free – it pre-dated the earliest DSP chips by several years. It used digital logic and some of the earliest RAM memory to achieve delay but was, in large measure, an analog beast.

Digital Delays from that era and following years, say from the very first ones to the 1980s models, were ALL a mixture of analog and digital technology and so the first H models. DSPs are a mid '80s thing, when VLSI chips became available for good prices.
So what was analog back then? The audio path before and after A/D and D/A included analog preamps, analog anti aliasing filters, companders, level control, phase inverters. Even the feedback was an fully analog audio line post D/A which was sent back to the input D/A, recirculating several times thru the conversion stages. And tthe delay filters, high and low cut, were analog. Even the modulation LFOs were analog,operating on low power current modulating the sample rate of the delays instead of their time. That's the reason why those delays sounded good. In time DSPs power allowed the "greedy" to design these circuitry with less and less analog components as much of those stages could be replaced with functions calculated by DSPs. The H-xxx units share a lot with those digital delays... actually early pitch shifters ARE digital delays running audio at different sample rates. BUT the effect IS digital! You couldn't have other ways to get that kind of effects without digital technology, no matter the fact it was based on discrete circuirty, registers, ICs rather than DSPs.
 
Wasn't the H910 the very first available digital FX unit (back in '75)?
From an interesting 1996 Lexicon document:

"In 1969 MIT Professor Dr. Francis Lee developed a digital delay unit for heartbeat monitoring. Together with engineer Chuck Bagnashi he founded the company American Data Sciences, with offices over the Lexington Savings Bank in Lexington, MA. The company changed its name to Lexicon in 1971, when it appeared that there would be a future in digital technology. Barry Blesser, then a teaching assistant to Dr. Lee at MIT, suggested putting audio thru the system. The result was a 100 ms audio delay line which was state of the art back then!
This interested the late Steve Temmer at Gotham Audio in New York, who commissioned 50 units from the Lexicon team. They were destined to be utilized to overcome propagation delays in live sound installations and as pre-delays for echo-plates.
Thus in 1971 the DELTA T-101 was born, with "Gotham Audio" on the front nameplate, "Lexicon" on the back, 10 KHz response and 60 dB S/N. Its successor, the DELTA T-102 sold under the Lexicon name, pushed the noise down to -90dB and helped to persuade the industry that digital audio was a viable proposition."

For those who don't know who Barry Blesser is... well he's the man behind the first commercial digital reverb, the 1976 EMT-250 and the Lexicon PCM80/81... along with many other great devices.
Check out his GREAT book, "Spaces Speak, Are You Listening?: Experiencing Aural Architecture", available on Amazon...

Eventide claims to have been the first to have a digital audio device in 1971, the DDL1745, born In the basement of a building on 54th Street and 8th Ave., New York City.
So... who got there first? The development stages were likely first in Lexicon home but the commercial issue of the product remains a mystery. We would need the actual documents of purchase/shipping... kind of hard to find.

Those early delays were HUGE, 3 or 4 rack spaces, had very short delay times... and costed a real fortune!
 
As many of you know I have explored most of the lore of EVH over the years. For the past ten years plus I have been using two Boss PS-5's in a W/D/W to replicate the Eventide 910/949 and H3000 Micropitch emulations and I was quite satisfied with their performance but there was an issue that they only detune +- in 5 cent increments which gets closer to the EVH micropitch settings of +9 -9 cents but I always felt the -5 cents detune was off quite a bit since he was using mostly .999 cents of detune on FW, DD, 1984 which is more subtle in it's effect. So I finally picked up a new Pitchfactor from Musicians Friend since Sweetwater was out at the time of purchase.

I spent some quality time with the Pitchfactor yesterday so here are my thoughts... While I was actually quite satisfied with the Boss PS-5's which sounded good the quality of the detunes in the H910/949 and H3000 Micropitch is noticeably better than what the Boss's provide, probably due to higher sampling rates and the proprietary alogrithms that Eventide uses to emulate their analog units, my signal chain audio seems to have improved in fidelity and crispness as well. So I have to honestly admit the Eventide lives up to the hype in almost every way, the unit is easy to use and change parameters and I was apprehensive that it would be complicated but it is not. I used the mono input in while using the Line Level settings on both input and output, the unit then splits the mono signal into two L/R stereo outputs so you do not need to run stereo inputs to it(WINNING!).

The H910/949 only does negative detune from .908 to 1.092 cents for both Pitch A and Pitch B and it does replicate the more correct subtle detune that you hear on FW, DD and 1984, 5150 and OU812 and for me that in itself would be worth the $499.00 price of admission as a resident Ed head. The difference between the detune of the H910/949 and the micropitch is noticeable almost more analogish for lack of a better term to describe it.

In addition to the H910/949 the H3000 Micropitch +9-9 cents detune also outshines the Boss units in replicating FUCK Balance more chorusy detune settings.

So I am aware in the past I have fully endorsed the Boss PS-5 and other detune units like the MOOER if you just would like a good detune within a lower budget range but the Eventide detune quality and fidelity is on another level IMHO. I also had the same experience when I switched out my old trusty Boss DD-5's for the new Boss DD500 delay/echo, the improvement was very noticeable. So if you are a Ed head like I am and you would like to hear a more era correct emulation of H910/949 and Micropitch I recommend it highly. I regret not diving in back in 2009/2010 when they first came out so I am a decade late to the party but still glad to be able to experience it now.
Congratz on the N"EPF"D!!

I love the Factor series - have used them for ages - still use them - they are the main staples by my feet or on my desk - the Pitch and the Time - LOVE these stomps. Had a ModFactor many times over the past many years, but always found the PF to be able to cop what the Mod did with some specific tweaks. The PF, IMHO, is the most powerful outta the lot - and can do everything from the claimed pitch-shifting to awesome time-delays to mod/verbs/chorus/flange/phase/etc. It's a seriously capable unit. Haven't checked for any firmware updates in years - LOL - as I've got my units so well sorted - I don't wanna screw them up. But the other thing I love about the Eventide crew is that they never push the customers aside with making their products obsolete with the latest/greatest. The old Factor series stomps are the same as the new Factor series stomps, and they're all supported 100% even though the HS product was brought out with much fanfare.

Excellent company, excellent fan-base, great customer support. And I love how they sound - sure, yes yes - some people claim they "color" the sound, whatever, corksniffery aside, I actually "dig" how they color the sound whether in front, in the loop, or lined-out from my audio interface into DAW.

Bottom line - CONGRATZ :rawk:

And as a kick - check out the older MASSIVE reverb units like the EMT 140 - we've come a LONG way :LOL:
 
I don't get too excited about much but I am really enjoying what I hear from this Pitchfactor. It is the exact detune I hear on EVH stuff to a tee.:2thumbsup:
 
PitchFactor is the Pandora's Box of the Eventide lineup IMHO.
 
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