Eventide Space

Strymon, IMO

Check out the new one.

http://ftp.eventide.com/h9/index.htm

[Blocked Image: http://ftp.eventide.com/h9/H9Splashgoodlogo.jpg]

Looks cool, but it appears that to control it you really need an iPad, correct? How would you switch among effects while playing?

I understand you can operate the unit standalone but need an iPad/iPhone for changing settings and loading FX to the unit.
What I don't understand is how many FX can be operated by the unit simultaneously and if I can change from a pitch shifter to a delay with a switch.

[font='Arial'][size=12][align=center][align=left]That H9 looks very interesting... apparently you get some example algorithms form each of the Eventide stomp boxes but..
"All of Eventide’s stompbox algorithms and their associated presets are available for in-app purchase."

Not sure if you run more than one instance, I'm guessing not. I wonder how much this will cost... the in app purchases are bound to be steep as well. Still, looks interesting - looks like being available in March, I guess we'll hear more over the weekend.

There's a vid here: Vernon Reid... "Incredible"
Short YouTube vid... (Not a demo)

Looks very interestng, an upmarket M5, looks like one instance and will need a footswitch to up/down presets? maybe, but if they can get the price right i'll sure be tempted.

Looks like an evolution of the iStomp concept....

(Disclaimer: I am a reverb junkie. You wouldn't believe how many reverbs I own in hardware or plugin form!)

Short version:-
Strymon BSR - Room is ok. Plate and Spring are crap. No control over Modulation. Shimmer sounds cheap.
Strymon Flint - Great basic sounds and it's pretty much plug and play for what 90% of guitarists probably want. Hard to get a bad sound out of it, but very limited tweakability.
Neunaber Wet - Idiot proof and great for huge ambient washes, but at the expense of realism. Nice smooth Shimmer, but you have to flash the firmware with your computer to switch algorithms.
Eventide Space - In a totally different league. You're getting the power of a $2k studio rack unit with most of the functionality in a stomp box. The effects are top class and there's nothing out there with this level of control.

Long version:-
The Eventide Space has some fantastic reverbs with a very high level of tweakability, if that's your thing. You will need to work on the factory presets as most of them are demonstrating the more 'out there' potential of the box. If you read the notes it will tell you how to get the most out of the presets - quite a few of them are actually intended for vocals/drums/special fx etc and will sound a bit weird on guitar if you're just browsing through them. Read the manual - this is a deep and sophisticated unit, not a plug and play toy.

I think it's the best reverb stomp box currently out there - there's really not much you can't do with it. I owned the Strymon BSR for about a year and still have a Flint and a Neunaber Stereo Wet. Why would I rate the Space top?

1. 100 Presets. The BSR has 2. The Flint has 1 (or 2 if you buy the optional favorite switch).
2. Large screen which is easy to read - it's about 6 times larger than the Strymon Mobius/Timeline screens and you can give your patches long descriptive names.
3. Lots of very different reverb types. The standard algorithms (plate/hall/room/spring) are very realistic and most have a ton of parameters for getting exactly the sound you want. Some algorithms allow for multiple simultaneous effects (eg modulation, delay and reverb, or tremolo and reverb). The more adventurous algorithms are great if you're doing radical sound creation. Reverb is a deep science and Eventide has a long studio pedigree in this area.
4. 11 knobs. This may put some people off, but seriously don't just hope to wing it - take a couple of hours and study the manual. It's very easy to dial in when you've got the hang of it. There are also tons of live performance control options with the hotswitch, external aux switches, expression pedal and MIDI. The Hotswitch can store alternative values for all of the knobs so each preset can have two radically different sounds if you so choose. USB makes flashing firmware a breeze and there's a patch librarian.
5. Eventide 'zero obsolessence' philosophy. They release updates every so often with new features - eg last year the Space got a hotswitch ambient freeze feature.

What are the bad points?

1. Switching patches can take a second or so if the pedal needs to load a different algorithm. It has tails though so it's not as if the sound goes dead.
2. The PSU is a bulky wall wart with a flimsy cable that never really feels securely attached.
3. A 3 button aux switch means you can select patches and still use the hotswitch and tap tempo - otherwise it's a bit of a nuisance switching between play and preset modes. My aux switch was $16 so it's not really that big a deal.
4. I have said this several times already, but you do need to read the manual and understand some of the principles of reverb to really get the best out of it.

As for the H9 - meh! Apparently it will be priced at $500 street and $20 per additional algorithm (I can't speak for the Pitch or TimeFactors, but I found most of the ModFactor algos disappointing). Works only with iOS at the moment and it only does one sound at once - Eventide's 'solution' to this is to just buy more H9s!

So, to answer your original question, if you want the power and control but you're on a budget, look for a used Space - they can be had for around $380. If you want great sounds with minimal effort and don't care about presets, get the Flint and consider the Trem side a bonus. Just bear in mind you get a HELL of a lot more with the Space for the extra $100 it will cost you.

Hey, thanks for your effort, much appreciated even tho I'm not on the market for any device

Quote from Virtuoso

(Disclaimer: I am a reverb junkie. You wouldn't believe how many reverbs I own in hardware or plugin form!)

Short version:-
Strymon BSR - Room is ok. Plate and Spring are crap. No control over Modulation. Shimmer sounds cheap.
Strymon Flint - Great basic sounds and it's pretty much plug and play for what 90% of guitarists probably want. Hard to get a bad sound out of it, but very limited tweakability.
Neunaber Wet - Idiot proof and great for huge ambient washes, but at the expense of realism. Nice smooth Shimmer, but you have to flash the firmware with your computer to switch algorithms.
Eventide Space - In a totally different league. You're getting the power of a $2k studio rack unit with most of the functionality in a stomp box. The effects are top class and there's nothing out there with this level of control.

Long version:-
The Eventide Space has some fantastic reverbs with a very high level of tweakability, if that's your thing. You will need to work on the factory presets as most of them are demonstrating the more 'out there' potential of the box. If you read the notes it will tell you how to get the most out of the presets - quite a few of them are actually intended for vocals/drums/special fx etc and will sound a bit weird on guitar if you're just browsing through them. Read the manual - this is a deep and sophisticated unit, not a plug and play toy.

I think it's the best reverb stomp box currently out there - there's really not much you can't do with it. I owned the Strymon BSR for about a year and still have a Flint and a Neunaber Stereo Wet. Why would I rate the Space top?

1. 100 Presets. The BSR has 2. The Flint has 1 (or 2 if you buy the optional favorite switch).
2. Large screen which is easy to read - it's about 6 times larger than the Strymon Mobius/Timeline screens and you can give your patches long descriptive names.
3. Lots of very different reverb types. The standard algorithms (plate/hall/room/spring) are very realistic and most have a ton of parameters for getting exactly the sound you want. Some algorithms allow for multiple simultaneous effects (eg modulation, delay and reverb, or tremolo and reverb). The more adventurous algorithms are great if you're doing radical sound creation. Reverb is a deep science and Eventide has a long studio pedigree in this area.
4. 11 knobs. This may put some people off, but seriously don't just hope to wing it - take a couple of hours and study the manual. It's very easy to dial in when you've got the hang of it. There are also tons of live performance control options with the hotswitch, external aux switches, expression pedal and MIDI. The Hotswitch can store alternative values for all of the knobs so each preset can have two radically different sounds if you so choose. USB makes flashing firmware a breeze and there's a patch librarian.
5. Eventide 'zero obsolessence' philosophy. They release updates every so often with new features - eg last year the Space got a hotswitch ambient freeze feature.

What are the bad points?

1. Switching patches can take a second or so if the pedal needs to load a different algorithm. It has tails though so it's not as if the sound goes dead.
2. The PSU is a bulky wall wart with a flimsy cable that never really feels securely attached.
3. A 3 button aux switch means you can select patches and still use the hotswitch and tap tempo - otherwise it's a bit of a nuisance switching between play and preset modes. My aux switch was $16 so it's not really that big a deal.
4. I have said this several times already, but you do need to read the manual and understand some of the principles of reverb to really get the best out of it.

As for the H9 - meh! Apparently it will be priced at $500 street and $20 per additional algorithm (I can't speak for the Pitch or TimeFactors, but I found most of the ModFactor algos disappointing). Works only with iOS at the moment and it only does one sound at once - Eventide's 'solution' to this is to just buy more H9s!

So, to answer your original question, if you want the power and control but you're on a budget, look for a used Space - they can be had for around $380. If you want great sounds with minimal effort and don't care about presets, get the Flint and consider the Trem side a bonus. Just bear in mind you get a HELL of a lot more with the Space for the extra $100 it will cost you.

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Great info. Thanks!

Now, anyone have the same expertise regarding the Pitchfactor?

I have a Pitchfactor if there is anything you want to know about it specifically. I have a Timefactor also.

J

Quote from Myramyd

I have a Pitchfactor if there is anything you want to know about it specifically. I have a Timefactor also.

J

So do you feel that these are worth buying to supplement a KPA? The Pitchfactor certainly offers new effects, but what about the Timefactor?

Well, it all depends on what your needs are. The delays in the Timefactor are better IMHO than the Kemper and there are certainly more of them. I mostly use the tape and analog delays and they are top notch. The Pitchfactor is pretty much the ultimate pitch stomp for sure. If you have to do diatonic harmonies or scalar harmonies, there is nothing better. They are both quite expensive. I have also used a Lexicon MX400 for reverbs. I'm sure the Space is just amazing judging by the TF and PF. I have heard the Modfactor was disappointing however.

That said, depending on the gig, I also use my Boss GT-100 for effects and it really plays well with the Kemper--both for changing rigs via MIDI and for effects quality. With it's programmable external footswitches and the two onboard (P.Loop & CRTL are also programmable), you can have up to 4 different effects to switch on and off. I use two for leads and two for effects and probably have around 40 presets. It's very nice. I'm actually really impressed with the quality of effects in the Boss, even coming from the Eventide stuff. The modulations, delays, reverbs, even the pitch are all very good. I would actually give them a 9 out of 10 compared to 10 out of 10 for the Eventide/Lexicon.

I actually don't use any of the effects on the Kemper, since it's easier for me to think of it as an amp replacement instead of an all-in-one box. Maybe if the footswitch came out I might change my mind but, with the crazy amount of effects and lead switching I need to do, the Kemper sounds great as an "amp" and the Boss/Eventide sound great for effects.

I'm in a Classic Rock/Hard Rock cover band and there is a lot of pitch and harmony stuff I have to cover, not to mention other effects. I'm coming from using a Marshall JVM410 previously. I could never turn it up past 2.5 and we use IEM anyway so, I figured the Kemper would be worthwhile and so far, it has!

J

BTW, I don't mean to downplay the effects on the Kemper as I do think they are very high quality--it's just easier for me to control the Boss/Eventide effects via footswitches at the moment.

The Kemper delays are nice, the Timefactor is just more flexible and the analog/tape delays are a little more "guitar" oriented. It's hard to describe. The Kemper kind of has it's own vibe with its effects, which is a good thing.

J