Another great review by Loopop - this time featuring a pedal that’s been out for a while, but continues to be well-supported/updated.
Ironically, I bought the H9 for use with synths - because of the strong MIDI implementation - you could sequence parameters like pitch shift interval. But instead I used it on string instruments. That may change soon.
Very nice review indeed!
How is that H9 for you now?
I read one forum user saying editing on the pedal itself is no fun. Do you agree? I have an ipad but i would like to keep it out of my music making. Is the big knob any good for live gig parameter tweaking? (I much like that loopop demonstarted midi control)
I own a Space pedal that is awesome. Considering getting TimeFactor too. But H9 Max is appealing as it contains way more fx types for a little more €, including distortions, but less knobs… dilemma!
Could you comment on the distortions/CrushFactor for synth/drum machine use, by any chance?
I love my h9.I use my octatrack for editing the h9 as it’s only ten controls same as space and set up with midi cc it is great.well worth the money and all of the effects are great
Do you play live with it?
I wouldn’t think of the H9 “as is” as a knob tweaker in a live setting without using external midi control as @Stumm42 mentions.
It’s very much a patch based device. For any patch that I want to “tweak” in a live setting, I apply those parameters to the expression pedal. You can assign any and all parameters or “knobs” of a patch to the exp, including beginning and ending values, and range. That’s all I really do for tweaking in a live situation. However, you can get some pretty wild stuff with just that.
There’s a company that makes a midi controller that gives you instant access to all knobs at once without having to mess with the iOS app. https://www.evenmidi.com/midi-controllers/1-evenmidi-h9-midi-controller.html
Hi.no have not played live with it.but if you have a midi controller would be the same as using the space or timefactor live.once you get used to it.its quite simple to use even just using the controls on the h9 it’s self.the good thing about them as well if you have one h9 max and get even the standard h9 you still have all the effects on both
the H9 is a great pedal.
It can do a lot of things, many algorithms are top nocht.
I use it every day in the studio.
To me, eventide effects are very easy to use, it’s instant gratification.
For live use, in the end, there’s a limiting thing: you have to place the pedal at one place in your chain. So you can hardly use some algorithms.
Editing the presets via the app is great, fun and efficient.
Assigning the beginning and ending values of several parameters to the expression pedal and being able to get get simultaneous changes of the parameters is a great tool for live.
Midi implementation works well, so you can really control it deeply from a midi controller, or from a sequencer.
Editing deeply directly from the pedal is a pain, and I would not do it live.
I sold my timefactor and my pitchfactor to fund an H9. Later on, I bought a timefactor again 
Thanks guys, very helpful!
I have a trick for that. I have a Mackie 1642VLZ4 mixer with 2 stereo busses. One has my AH on its outputs and the other the Space. The latter is used as a send. The AH bus though can be used as an insert or as a send, depending on the bus routing buttons on the source channels. Set a source to both LR (main) and AH busses makes it effectively a send. Sending source only to the AH bus makes it an insert. This is easy enough to manipulate live and change routings on the fly.
I still have my H9 and still love it.
I’ve used it live and at band rehearsals. For our show at Psycho Las Vegas 2016, I studied Eventide’s Expert Mode video and practiced using Expert Mode on the pedal, just in case a quick tweak was needed onstage, and no time for grabbing the iPad. Whether it’s fun to use it or not, it really helps to get familiar with Expert Mode… just in case…
There’s also the basic non-Expert tweaking functionality, when you’re absolutely sure of your top 3 params you know you will want to tweak live - Expert Mode is if you really need to get to all 10:
I have not tried the distortion algos on synth, just guitar.
For preset programing at a leisurely pace, as opposed to shit going wrong live and gotta fix it right this second - I do prefer the iPad. One thing on the pedal that I struggle with mightily if I don’t have the iPad is assigning parameters to expression pedal. Just can’t wrap my head around doing all that on just the pedal.
The H9 really comes alive with the expression pedal. Fortunately, the cheap M-Audio is on the list of supported exp. pedals. What inspired me to finally starting using an exp. pedal was a thread on the Eventide forum on freeze patches. The H9 is not designed to be exactly like the EHX Freeze or SuperEgo series pedals, but it can programmed to do some interesting stuff along those lines, especially with the exp. pedal in play.
Thanks! When you edit in expert mode, does it save the settings when you switch to another preset?
I could see myself working in expert mode, only occasionaly needing the ipad.
I would also be capable of building a little arduino based 10 knob midi controller + expression knob/pedal to pair with it. Hmm…
Yes, the instruction to save the preset should be there in the video. I remember that from study/practice.
Watching the video will also show the workflow and if it’s something you can deal with.
you know that morphing ribbon control or the XY pad on the iPad, does that have a midi CC? Just wondering if you could modulate it with OT
Yeah I’m sure the xy ribbon can be set up via a midi cc.i think all of the values let you choose which midi cc you want to use.i use it with i channel of the octatrack
I’m very tempted to add the H9 to the setup, if only I had more mixer stereo busses for my selectable routing method described above… One option I have is to put the Space on a mono aux. But I just tested the mono/stereo difference and I loose much of the depth that this unit provides by feeding it a mono signal. I use the stereo field extensively in my music and the Space 's fx work beautifully with that. Would hate to loose it.
Other option is to free the bus that the AH sits on. But I’m also much dependent on that routing. Grr…
I guess one thing to try is to use the doubled outputs of the busses. Each buss has double jack outputs, so I could put the H9 in parallel with either the AH or Space. That imposes limitations (H9 output cannot be sent to the device it’s in parallel with or feedback will happen), but perhaps creative uses of that parallel setup can be found too.
I’ve been using an ART SplitMix4 to squeeze more signals into the one aux bus of my Mackie VLZ mixer. But now I’m thinking of getting a Patchulator for more convenient signal routing options between my Korg Volcas and other synths, as well as my FX units (H9, Cocolase, etc.). The SplitMix4 is cheap, and does its job well without introducing more hum/noise, but it’s not a patchbay:
Might also get Terminal eventually.
Wow, I started to really consider getting that controller. Like the H9 but I don’t like to edit the settings through the iphone/ipad app.
Aaaand ordered. My resistance was futile already.
I hear you. I had a pitchfator for years, so the app layout was already much like that. I don’t mind the app so much. I do have to get it out every few months to dial in some changes I want to my patches. I also use it for different “sets” of patches, and swap out sets depending on what band I’m playing with. That part is pretty great, actually.
It took me AGES until I learned how to organize patches to new order. On some parts, the app is super confusing and/or I’m an idiot. I was already considering buying separate pedals so that editing would be more immediate, but I think that perhaps this midi pedal will solve that nicely. I don’t like “setting up” any apps while jamming, ruins the mood immediately. It’s sounds like no biggie; pair the app from the bluetooth settings and use - but somehow it still feels wrong.