Eventide has FINALLY redeemed themselves with the ver. 5.2 firmware upgrade.

So some of you guys will already know that I’ve had a bad experience with the Eventide Eclipse back in May 2019, where the Eclipse arrived with a busted right input jack that constantly caused a feedback loop even when I wasn’t playing anything. I remember the Eclipse being extremely difficult to work with to get it to sound right, and even then it would only work for a few minutes, and then break down again. And when you spend 30 seconds on a Google search, you’ll run into all SORTS of quality control issues with the Eclipse, such as the bypass button not working, rotary knob wiggling when it isn’t supposed to, volume issues, and so forth. All of these issues that were posted online regarding the Eclipse’s poor quality control has had me seriously doubting the Eventide brand as a whole.

So why did I consider the PitchFactor? Well, it’s because it’s in a small pedal format, and considering the fact that the PitchFactor was still available for sale from Long and McQuade at the time, I figured I should at least give it a try, to see if the Eventide brand can be redeemed after having dealt with a checkered history of poor quality control with the Eclipse. Yes, there’s also the Eventide H9000 as well, but then again, ask yourself this – who in their right FUCKING minds would be willing to go bankrupt just so that they can achieve “ultimate tones”?

With the PitchFactor, you get the usual suspects you’d expect from any other rack-in-a-box pedals such as the Strymon’s and Boss 500 series pedals – you got your MIDI in/out ports on the side, as well as the stereo in’s and out’s, expression input, aux in, and so forth. What’s really interesting about the PitchFactor is that it does have a Guitar/Line toggle switch at the back, and the Peak light is also present on the front of the pedal. This is a very nice feature as you can run the pedal in a line mixer setting (like how I’m doing in my rack setup), and still retain the ability to tell when you’re about to overload the input of the pedal.

Now, one important thing to note – the Eventide Factor pedals run on a center POSITIVE power supply, NOT center negative like the other regular stompboxes. So if you’re planning to power the PitchFactor using a pedalboard power supply, always be sure to use a dedicated cable that switches the polarity. I’m using the Cioks DC-7 to power my Eventide PitchFactor and I have to use the green cable that switches the polarity from center negative to center positive. Anyways, let’s talk about the user interface. Right out of the box, the MIDI was a bit difficult to work with as the PitchFactor didn’t accept any MIDI CC messages from my RJM Mastermind PBC-10. Fortunately, however, Eventide stepped up the game a couple years ago by releasing the Version 5.2.064 update, which allows you to use the PitchFactor, as well as the other Factor pedals from Eventide, with the H9 software. This is a major improvement for Eventide pedal users as it allows the user to manually assign MIDI functions to bypass or engage effects, as well as adjust several parameters in the algorithm. Great job, Eventide!

So once you get the MIDI programs assigned, you can then start adjusting parameters in the preset and dial up your own sounds. You can do this either in the H9 Control app, or directly on the pedal. The harmonizing effects are great; however, that’s not what I bought the pedal for. What I REALLY bought the pedal for is the stereo detune effect, to perfect the 80’s clean chorus tone in conjunction with the Boss MD-500. And it does the job pretty damn well. The stereo detune effect certainly is a pleasant surprise to my ears, and part of me is seriously kicking myself for having not even considered this before. The pedal is built like a tank, so it will survive a gig. And thanks to various harmony algorithms that I have access to from the PitchFactor, I also have the option of automating lead solo harmonies later down the road if I want to.

So, final verdict? I think Eventide has FINALLY managed to redeem themselves with the PitchFactor. The fact that you now have the option of editing the presets as well as MIDI assigns from the H9 Control app has significantly improved the user-friendliness of the PitchFactor, and the detune effects are just so pleasing to the ears with superior clarity, not to mention the fact that this pedal arrived safe with no factory defects or damages thus far.

If you’re looking for a stereo detune unit that will get you the 80’s chorus sound without the unreliability and unpredictability of the rack units, take a serious look at the Eventide PitchFactor. You won’t be disappointed.

Preferred Settings + Usage:

Killer tool!

This is my favourite tool on my board, when i need achieve space, bright, 3D sounds. It has arpeggiator, whammy capabilities(with 2 voices going whatever you want, or just one), a ton of very useful sounds and effects. The blend knob enhace the possibilities and the A/B blend, allow achieve the fine tunning of our prefered sounds. One of my "forever" tools.

Pure Studio Quality

A gorgeous Pedal, seldom used by me, but and absolute must for some of those wanted and needed Studio effects when needed in a Live situation.

Eventide is all you need.

When I created the Dubstomp sub-genre of Dubstep and became the first guitarist to play dubstep I powered my guitar-synth rig with Eventide and nothing else. If Eventide can't meet your processing needs you need to give up now.