Official Eventide Stompbox (H9/Factor Series) Club!!!

[Iommian]

For those of you who preordered the H90 from SW, as I did, and are still waiting. I got an email update on an eta for late February/early March

 

[jasonmitsch]

I love my H9, truly love it. I bought the H9 Standard the year it came out and upgraded it to Max when they offered that special. It was a no brainer. I was disappointed when Eventide announced that there would be no future H9 algorithms because the H9 was "out of code". Algos like "EQ Compressor" struck me as a waste of the H9*, "Pitch Fuzz" didn't offer anything new that the Pitchfactor didn't already offer with a fuzz*, "Tricerachorus" and "Harmadillo" were cool but not different enough from other algos to justify their existence*.

I use my H9 primarily as a Pitchfactor/(Weird pitch shifter). I would have rather seen all of that code spent on making effects like that.

*If I'm missing something please point out the coolness.

 

[Loring]

Triceratops chorus really shines in stereo and is awesome in that role. So unless you’re running stereo - I actually prefer micro pitch.

eq compressor- is actually very good to get different tones on the fly - easy to underestimate this one.

pitch fuzz - let’s you run 2 algos at once - great for royal blood sounds…

harmadillo is very different- just not something I use…

I just got the h90 and I’m using one algo on eq comp almost all the time (at least for now) and the other half for all kinds of things including poly shift.

 

[Adamixoye]

Micropitch is a good chorus, along with the original chorus. Haven't tried Tricerachorus that much.

The flanger and phaser are usable.

I've found fun sounds in PitchFuzz and Crushstation.

The delays and reverbs are great on guitar.

Mods other than what I've mentioned are a little meh.

I agree that the Pitchfactor stuff is the bread and butter.

 

[GMC]

For me, the H9's delays and reverbs are really nice.

I use a H910 / H949 Algorithm for a simple 1/4 note warm delay. It's a fancy dual delay with additional micro pitch features. But I just use it really simply with only the Delay A.

Another favorite for me is the Classic Octaver patch from the Octaver Algorithm. I have all the fuzzes and filters off. Of all of the various digital octavers, this is the warmest and most natural sounding. It's not an OC-2 but it's a nice mellow sound when playing higher on the fretboard.

I use a Dimension Chorus patch from the Tricerachorus Algorithm a fair bit. It's a very clean and pristine sound and nice to over lay over another dense sound. It's quite transparent and for a chorus doesn't put a bit sonic footprint over it. It's a great example of the H9's type of Rack sounds. When compared to say a Source Audio Lunar, it's a completely different approach. The Lunar is very analogue sounding and doesn't sound digital at all. The H9 is completley digital but tries to emphasis what digital is good at. There are other great chorus patches, like the CE-2 (Chorus) and the Classic Chorus (Vintage Delay).

The H9's Hall reverb is a real sleeper patch, it can do so much more than anyone else's Hall reverb. Considering most marque's hall reverb is very vanilla...this Eventide patch offers amazing patches like Carnegie Hall, Kubrix. Which really show case what this great algorithm is capable of.

Everyone loves a Crystals patch in the right context and the Blackhole algorithms are legendary too.

Another really overlooked algorithms is in the Undulator. I regularly use the Chopulator and Tremulator patches.

I really like the Tumbleweed Trem and RampChopper patches in the Tremolopan Algorithm. I've re-mapped the controls for these so it's easier to set the speed (expression) and the modulation shape.
Slowly Rotate (Rotary) is a great rotary emulator, again it's worth mapping the speed to an expression pedal.

Then there's all the great diatonic, harmodulator, Quadravox and synthoniser algorithms.

I don't use any of the EQ/Compressor patches because I have far better other options on my board. Both my Atlas and EQ2 make this algorithm look like a toy. I don't think I've even tried to use the looper, a bit of a waste of an H9. This needed to be usable inaddition to an algorithm (like the Strymon Timeline does) or not at all. I'm really not going to use my £600 H9 as a dedicated and slightly clunky looper. I can do that with a £100 TCe ditto.
I like a few of the Hotsaws sounds, I can't get my head around the interface. So I haven't made my own synth sounds with it yet. However, Knife Walker and Camino are great sounding synth patches.

In terms of board placement, my primary H9 is just after my first run of mono pedals, which are my primary tone generators. My C4, Hog2, Atlas, Ultrawave and Spectrums are before it. I use the H9 to split the incoming mono into dual mono / stereo. From the output of this H9 is all stereo / dual pass thought mono. I use this H9 for pitch, chorus, octave, synth and trems. This unit has all 99 patch bays filled. After this H9 is my Lunar, EQ2 (which I use for pre-ambient swells), Collider and then into my 2nd H9. This is my last pedal in my chain and mostly functions as a Verb / delay / Trem unit. This unit has only about 25 patch bays loaded but these get used a lot!
I tend to find that my H9's need to be in either the middle or on the end of my chain. I also tend to use my H9 for very specific things, especially with it's very clear and pristine approach. It's is a very different machine to my Source Audio pedals and they compliment really well. Source Audio are very good at making their gear sound like analogue devices. The Eventide H9 doesn't try to compete in that genre and makes really good sounding rack effect sounds. Sometimes you want options out of either portfolio.
Do I want a h90? Probably...but at the current lead times and price...my current H9's a still rocking my world.
There's not a lot of the new stuff that's a current must have for me. The headspace really looks very similar to the Strymon Vollante. I think I just need a few more new algorithms that will appeal to me. The H90 certainly looks more versatile than a pair of H9's.

 

[kesslari]

I'm feeling kind of silly. I just got my H9 (and am blown away by it) and it seems that everyone has jumped on the H90 bus. C'est la vie.

 

[Mr. voodoobass]

I have two h9’s since like forever, that keep coming on and off my boards. I use quite a few things on them, mostly pitch changes. The old octaver algo for super deep parts, for when i want to suck out all the air in a room. I use pitchfuzz alot for dirt and synth like tones with dirt and chorus. Hall reverb, tremolo, ringmod and the old vintage and tape delay are great.

 

[GMC]

I'm feeling kind of silly. I just got my H9 (and am blown away by it) and it seems that everyone has jumped on the H90 bus. C'est la vie.

There's a lot of fuss over the new H90. Initially on launch in the USA, a pair of mint and boxed S/H H9's (One Max and the other Core) was around the same price as a new H90. So that was a no brainer and there were a lot of very early adopters who flipped theirs. Some who knew it was coming maybe even managed to make a wee profit on the flip.

Then there are the long timers who had a lot of Youtube / Make a Video / influencer guys who were given their H90's for free but had to make some cool vids to temp / inform us...these guys flipped their H9's and made a wee profit on the deal because their H90's were free and it didn't matter how much they sold their h9's for.
the S/H market for H9's has always been small. There's not a massive market for uber-expensive top tier guitar pedals. As a consequence, there's way more H9's on the market S/H than buyers so the used value is dropping almost weekly. Which is trajic because these are very relevant and competative units. Buying a pair in the current S/H climate is a really smart idea and certainly the best bang for buck in the Eventide world. Who is going to buy a new H9 for $799 when you can get a H90 for $899? It won't be long until new H9's will be no longer available and the used market will be the only place to get one. The price will only rally upwards after this. I suspect that the H9's slightly different sound will become popular again when it's found to be different to the slightly sweeter (dare I say Strymon influenced) H90.

There's a bunch of wealthier buyers who have bought their early H90's only to find that they can't shift their S/H H9's. So I'm seeing a lot of boards with a H90 and a H9. Here in the UK, the H90's are all on back order. There's also to painful $>£ exchange rate and then there's the 20% VAT we have to pay here for new goods. The relative value here in the UK is the equivalent of around $1500 for a single h90. Where as you guys get to buy them for around $899. So, yes the H90 in the UK is very rare and very expensive.
However, my H9's are a delight and have been giving me great service for well over 5 years now.

If the H90 was more mind blowing, I might be more interested. But at the moment, there isn't anything in the H90 that I can't do with either my H9's or by other pedals on my board. Sure, it's smaller than a pair of H9's...but not THAT much smaller. Sure, it has a newer and bigger DSP...but the 10 new Algorithms are great but not amazing and nothing new to my board. I think for me, I'll wait until the S/H value of my H9's stabilise and the supply & price of the H90 has settled. I think the UK price for the H90 is being determined by the lack of supply and a number of guys who have to have one at all costs. Its a bit like when Canon come out with a new semi pro camera. Leave it for 6 months and let the market calm...and pick up a reasonable deal from a shop who's got to shift the 5 units on his shelf. Instead of being the first in the queue, hoping to get one of the first batch in the country at an inflated / maxxed out RRP. If you are one of those guys and the new H90 is that important to you, qudos and peace to you. I'm not in that market, but hey...show me yours when you get it and put some convincing youtubes / soundclouds out!

 

[Mr. voodoobass]

Yea it’s not like I’m gonna flip my h9’s, they’re still too great and covers so much ground for bass, guitar and synth.
And having some line6 and source audio pedals, they perfectly complement each other.

 

[genesound]

I'm not changing my max and core out, they still do what I want.

There will always be a newer bigger better one come along, it's how technology and consumerism works. The H9s had a 9 year production run, longer than lots of other high tech stuff.

Cameras used to hold their value, even increase before digital came along. My 10 year old $3k Canon digital camera body has crap resale value.

High tech has pretty much killed off the resale value by speeding up obsolescence, and making lots of advances that people are willing to spend again; there should be a catch phrase for that...

Planned Obsolescence.

Even worse in the "smart" phone market...

 

[Adamixoye]

I'm not changing my max and core out, they still do what I want.

There will always be a newer bigger better one come along, it's how technology and consumerism works. The H9s had a 9 year production run, longer than lots of other high tech stuff.

Cameras used to hold their value, even increase before digital came along. My 10 year old $3k Canon digital camera body has crap resale value.

High tech has pretty much killed off the resale value by speeding up obsolescence, and making lots of advances that people are willing to spend again; there should be a catch phrase for that...

Planned Obsolescence.

Even worse in the "smart" phone market...

Sir, this is a Wendy's.

 

[genesound]

Now you tell me.

I'll have a burger with round patties.

 

[kesslari]

I've just gone through and gotten ready to load a bunch of presets, in banks (e.g. groups of 10) that I think will be usable for me live. I'll get the list installed today or tomorrow and then get to play around with them.
We'll see how it flies at next rehearsal Jan11.

 

[GMC]

I'm not changing my max and core out, they still do what I want.

There will always be a newer bigger better one come along, it's how technology and consumerism works. The H9s had a 9 year production run, longer than lots of other high tech stuff.

Cameras used to hold their value, even increase before digital came along. My 10 year old $3k Canon digital camera body has crap resale value.

High tech has pretty much killed off the resale value by speeding up obsolescence, and making lots of advances that people are willing to spend again; there should be a catch phrase for that...

Planned Obsolescence.

Even worse in the "smart" phone market...

Speaking as a semi retired professional photographer...my Canon 5DIII's are worth hardly abything compared the the new price I paid for both camera bodies. If I sell both of them and get a good price, I can just about afford 1/2 of the modern RF replacement, the R5. However, these two cameras have more than paid for themselves over the long years that I've owned them both. But a £6K investment without the "paid for" buffer...I'm not so keen and the current cameras are still working really well for me.
The lenses are a different matter entirely. I have a full collection of EF L primes and f2.8 zooms ranging from a 16-35mm to a long ef 400mm f2.8 LIS. Plus some TSE, Macro and fisheye options. These seem to have held their value and are either worth nearly what I paid for them or in some cases slightly more. Which is surprising considering the jump tot he RF mount.

I've had my H9s for over 5 years and they are far from obsolete. While the H90 is all the rage at the moment, the H9's have a certain sound to them which I believe will make a mild resurgence once the new price rally has stabilised their S/H value.

 

[Loring]

In Canada - h9 max is still 6-700 used and cores are around 500.

I was looking to get a core to compliment my max but decided I will sell the max and pay the delta for the h90.

An H90 is more capable than 2 H9’s and uses slightly less real estate.

 

[Diddywah]

Anyone power their H90 direct from a PS? Messy with an extra dc adapter in my eyes...I know it needs center positive, and it's an 5.5 / 3 mm plugg, but with the right connection my PS would supply the needed 12 volts.

 

[Adamixoye]

Anyone power their H90 direct from a PS? Messy with an extra dc adapter in my eyes...I know it needs center positive, and it's an 5.5 / 3 mm plugg, but with the right connection my PS would supply the needed 12 volts.

I don't have mine yet. Planning on a doing a current doubling cable with two Strymon Zuma outlets at 12V, then the polarity / size adapter. (I think it's actually 2.5 mm instead of the Boss 2.1 mm - not 3 mm.) Don't know if you can get by on a single outlet or 9V outlets. Eventide definitely recommends 12V with the current of two outlets, though the specs say it will still work at 9V and I think you could get by with less.

 

[Loring]

Anyone power their H90 direct from a PS? Messy with an extra dc adapter in my eyes...I know it needs center positive, and it's an 5.5 / 3 mm plugg, but with the right connection my PS would supply the needed 12 volts.

Yes - using my cioks DC7 with no issues. One spot pro should have no problems either and of course there is the eventide one (rebranded cioks).

 

[Loring]

I don't have mine yet. Planning on a doing a current doubling cable with two Strymon Zuma outlets at 12V, then the polarity / size adapter. (I think it's actually 2.5 mm instead of the Boss 2.1 mm - not 3 mm.) Don't know if you can get by on a single outlet or 9V outlets. Eventide definitely recommends 12V with the current of two outlets, though the specs say it will still work at 9V and I think you could get by with less.

eventide says it’s fine with 12v 500ma

 

[Adamixoye]

eventide says it’s fine with 12v 500ma

I hadn't seen that, I thought they were still recommending 800 mA or whatever. Would be nice if true. I also think I've heard the Zuma can pull more than 500 mA per port as long as the total doesn't go over some threshold.