I was considering this very thing. Actually, Space vs. Strymon BigSky.
I ended up with the H9 Max because I found a deal bundling the H9 Max with other things I wanted at the time. Also, my reasoning was that having only one big knob and 2 footswitches vs. the Space’s 10 knobs and 3 switches would be compensated by the H9 Max possessing all of Space’s algorithms and then some… and also I thought it would be sitting next to my mixer being sequenced by MIDI, processing synths.
Anyone have an opinion on the H9 doing the Ensemble effect of the Solina String Ensemble type?
It’s a kind of two-voice delay-chorus-phase shifted circuit.
edit: found another source saying it is three delays in parallel and out of time sync, with an LFO on each ones delay time.
I’m looking at getting the Max, but is it possible in the basic package?
I actually don’t have any modulation fx atm, just a Ventris and Timeline.
Even the H9 Core comes with the chorus algo, but Core only gives you 25 presets, 99 in the Standart and Max.
So I’d go for H9 Standart at least.
Core imho only makes sense when you already got a Max and you can transfer your stuff to the Core.
I like the H9 chorus, the Mod Delay also does nice chorusey stuff, but I’m not really into stringers so, not sure if it’s the sound you’re looking for.
Harmodulator in Pitch is looking like what I’m after to an extent (Ensemble), but it’s only in the Max.
I can’t find the engine add on prices, anyone know what the price of one is?
18,99 for each algo. When you buy the standart H9, you get a coupon for a free algo.
Btw, you can demo each algorithm for 5 minutes a day with the H9 Control app.
So you don’t have to buy based on yt demos.
When you purchased 20 algos on the standart H9, it becomes a Max.
30 algos for the Core.
Just to answer my own query, yes. Appears to be the latest algorithm added by Eventide. What are the odds of that!
I am in the same boat looking for a reverb I do own the digitone and love it. But check reverb you can grab both for the price of a new h9 max. Or just go with the Zola and get it at perfect circuit it is $499 out the door if you use PayPal no tax
Another option is the Poly Beebo. Has a convolution engine so you can add any reverb IR you like. Includes mono, stereo and quad options as well as an algorythmic reverb, Mutable Clouds and a bunch of other cool stuff.
Had an H9 Max and a Core. The ability to share algorithms from the Max to the core makes having two a no brainer once you have one on your board. Loved them for a year and then got rid beautiful sounds, but can’t live without physical knobs on a pedal. Tried the EvenMidi as a halfway house but could never really make it work for me as a solution. A shame because although expensive they are an awful lot cheaper than a bunch of one-trick knobby pedals to even partially cover the ground the H9 can.
Having said that, it’s an old old pedal these days. Surely due a refresh and power up (to allow stacking of algorithms, etc at some point soon?
Just picked up an H9 Max and I actually really like the single knob concept for, not in spite of, its design limitations. It’s actually quicker than I thought it was going to be to tweak parameters, even with just one hand. The large display helps, and having ‘just’ 10 parameters per algorithm - most of which I’m not going to need to access in a live context anyway.
I also like having a big red FX macro knob. I already have way too many physical controls to worry about in my live setup, so the idea of a “set it and forget it / once in a while spin a big red knob during a breakdown” was a selling point for me, and why I went for it over a Space or an Empress. Oh and as you said, it sounds great of course!
On the other hand, yeah, it’s not a playable ‘instrument’ in the way some knob per function one-trick pedals are - the dba Rooms looks compelling, as does the Volante, as does the Microcosm, or an OTO, or a Polymoon…
And it’s not an experimental, deep ‘modular environment’ like a Zoia or Beebo. I love the idea and could definitely see myself getting one one day. The tradeoff would be way more practice for live use, and/or standardizing patch layouts and UI for muscle memory. I’d also have to spend a lot more time learning the environment, which is totally my kind of rabbit hole, but for another day when I’m not trying to finish writing/performing material:)
One day I’ll have a pedal in each of those categories…
I had a Zoia, but did not like it. Too abstract for my taste. If I where in the market for another reverb, I’d go with this:
https://www.audiothingies.com/product/doctor-a/
My observation is that, despite that Eventide are much older tech, the internal resolution of their effects and quality is higher than in Empress boxes and still compares to the modern plugins. Reverbs and pitch-algos are still great and useable. But sometimes, yes, they can sound sterile (especially delay algos don’t have any nice coloration).
Empress devices are really cool, but have some sort of muddines or color (not in a very bad way, but noticeable) But it is a sort of payoff for flexibility. H9/Space/etc can run one algo at the time, it occupies all the processor/DSP, it is heavily tuned, maybe oversampled vs. Pure-Data like environment in Zoia, where you can combine all sorts of signals.
For me this ‘versus’ sounds like 96kHz vs 48kHz (on subjective level).
My biggest issue with the Empress effects (I have echosystem and reverb both), is that though they sound great, the mode UI is confusing to say the least, and also - gain staging is a big issue. There’s no meters, and even with the pad setting all the way maxed, I find it very difficult to know how much signal to feed it from synths - things will seem fine and then all of a sudden they’re clipping. They have almost no headroom. I don’t know enough about how the inputs work since I know they’re usually meant for guitar but they definitely advertise being usable for stereo synths at line level.
Sure the H9 has been on the market for years now, but Eventide has been releasing updates for it regularly, even last year.
Yes, that’s true, should be very careful when running a full mix (for example through Reverb + Delay algo). Hm, maybe the line level is not enabled by the default? (Simply did not dive into advanced settings…)
Last I checked there’s no such setting in the config - just 3 pad settings for 0db, -6db, -12db - I run them at -12.
Yeah and imho it doesn’t feel outdated in any way. Good algorithms will still be good algorithms no matter if years passed or not.
Hx Stomp is superb
