Eventide

Reviews | Eventide TimeFactor
98
T
ake a look at the outboard
rack of many commercial
studio facilities and chances
are you’ll fi nd an Eventide
Harmoniser or other effects unit in their
racks. Eventide’s Harmoniser is still
regarded as one of the best around
when it comes to pitch tracking and
harmonisation, and Eventide delays
and reverbs are known for their clear,
warm, present and natural sound.
It therefore makes perfect sense
that Eventide has chosen to package
the best of their delays into a box
suitable for the studio player/producer
and the gigging musician.
Initial impressions are very positive.
It’s immediately apparent that this is a
high-quality piece of kit. Build quality
seems spot-on and very roadworthy,
with nice smooth-feeling pots, a very
clear layout, decent rubberised grip
feet, sturdy casing and a great
informative dot matrix display that
keeps track of each and every move
you make while tweaking or navigating
the simple menus or preset banks. It’s
really great to have a display of this
size and clarity, especially when it’s
probably going to be living in the dark
down by your feet at gigs for most of
its life!
It’s worth noting that there’s a
‘catch-up’ mode that ensures there are
no audible jumps between stored/
edited values when changing presets/
parameters. Very nice! This useful
attention to detail also applies to
changing presets, as there’s no audible
cutoff of sound between selections.
Smooth transitions all the way, then.
General operation of the TimeFactor
is simplicity itself. First you select the
line or amp level using the selector on
the back, and then connect your
instrument either in mono or stereo.
(Outputs can also be calibrated for line
or amp level and there’s a peak level
indicator too.)
It’s a very ‘hands-on’ box and a
tweaker’s delight. There are 10 rotary
encoders and one multi-function dial
for changing sounds, saving presets
and showing the BPM counter. There
are also nine delay types and the ability
to store 20 presets in total (in 10 lots
of two pairs), enabling two different
sounds to be quickly selected in a
gig for two different sections of a song,
for example.
Simple minds
On top of this, there are independent
delay times and feedback selectors for
each of the two delays (called A and B)
within a preset, plus a fi lter control
(mainly used to change fi lter cutoff/
type) and a speed control. Both provide
different functionality depending on the
preset selected. And there are depth
and blend controls that mix delay A and
B in varying amounts.
Eventide
TimeFactor
| £279
Eventide bring their acclaimed effects expertise
to the stage with a new range of stomp boxes.
Dan ‘JD73’ Goldman gets effected
ON THE DVD
WHAT IS IT?
A high-quality stomp box
from high-end effect
experts Eventide,
incorporating many of
their legendary delay
types and a looper with
plenty of connectivity and
hands-on control
CONTACT
Who: HHB UK
Tel: [phone]
Web: eventide.com
HIGHLIGHTS
1 Small, portable and very
well built
2 Bright, easy-to-read
display
3 Excellent level of hands-
on control and a warm,
musical and natural sound
FMU198.rev_even 98 29/1/08 16:04:59