Eventide Timefactor and MOD 50

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EWSEthan

EWSEthan

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So...An Eventide Timefactor happened to come my way in the middle of last week and I wanted to spend some real time with it before posting this to try to avoid the ridiculousness of my glowing praise, then seething hatred of the TC Nova Delay two weeks ago. So heres my opinion and Im not changing it this time: The Timefactor is best delay "pedal" I have ever used. It bests the DD-20 and Nova Delay in basically every way as I see it and is the definitive non-rack delay to use with the MOD 50.

I said its the best "pedal" because it happens to be on the floor, but everything about this unit screams rack quality. The sounds of this thing are incredible. To be fair, the Nova had really nice digital delays, but these are especially stunning. I didnt get the impression that the Nova was "rack quality". These, on the other hand, really are stellar. It handles the hot loop of the MOD 50 perfectly well and the best of any of the others Ive tried. It has none of the digital distortion I got with the TC and just sounds overall better tonewise on or bypassed than either the TC or the Boss. It screws with your tone the least of the 3 definitely.

Build quality is top notch. The TF is heavy and the switches feel just like those on a Ground Control Pro. Theres no "click" or "pop" to them when you step on them. They're smooth switches. The knobs are VERY sensitive and it can be frustrating to get the exact parameter values you want, but thats really the only bad thing I can say about them.

The Timefactor does so much that I think its worth the extra cash. Eventide really has thought of everything with this unit. For example, the TC has two modes for presets: one where you have to cycle through all 9 presets, or one where you can cycle through only 3. The Eventide is more customizable in this regard. There are 10 banks of 2 presets each, but you can configure any number to be "active" banks. Going to have 4 presets? OK, set banks 1 and 2 to be active? 6 presets? No problem, set banks 1-3 active. Now, you only can cycle through those banks. I currently have 4 presets so only banks 1 and 2 are active. I can switch between my presets ULTRA fast. This is awesome for live use. MUCH easier than both TC and Boss.

The Timefactor also makes tons of different sounds, all killer. Ive currently got a Clean preset using the Vintage Delay setting, an obnoxious high gain lead preset using Digital Delay, a straight up chorus preset using Mod Delay that rivals my Jacques Meistersinger, and a "reverb" preset using the Multi-tap delay. Ive now basically got all my delay, chorus, and reverb needs in 1 pedal with a quick and easy preset recall system going. Completely bad ass.

Basically, I could be happier only if I had room on my board for an expression pedal because then you can really get crazy with the Timefactor.

The Eventide costs more for a reason. Its the absolute bomb and is very inspiring to play with. The TC and the Boss really feel almost like toys compared to it. It really is pro level, rack quality on the floor. Check it out if you can find one. Ive already re-arranged my board for it and attached it. My DD-20 is up for grabs :)
 
Very cool ,,

Question I had read somewhere that the Time factor has MIdi.

Can this be used to change channels on the Mod 50's so you only have to step once
 
I havent done too much with this yet but here is how I think it would work. TF has both MIDI in and thru. You would set up like this:

Egnater Footswitch --MIDI in--> Timefactor ---MIDI Thru to---> MOD 50

Then, the Timefactor can change presets via MIDI Program Change (PC) messages. Egnater footswitch sends PCs 1-4 so you could basically have Timefactor pick a preset based on each of the 4 PCs and have simultaneous changes to amp channels and Timefactor presets. Pretty RAD!
 
Cool I must have one to a/b against the almighty 2290!
 
Hey Matt Cool reveiw,That sounds like a much better dely,does the TF have the spillover effect?
 
jmgman69":5f47a said:
Hey Matt Cool reveiw,That sounds like a much better dely,does the TF have the spillover effect?
Click to expand...

Jason do you mean going from one preset to another? Im not sure about that, but I think so. I know that it can be set so that the delay doesnt get abruptly cut off when you switch to bypass. It applies the delay to the last thing played before switching to bypass. This is configurable though so I was surprised when it was cutting off my delays out of the box. You have to change the bypass relay switching setting for this.
 
Eventide Time Factor is interesting but here are my concerns-
I purchased and have been doing deep trials:
HERE IS WHAT I'VE FOUND THAT TROUBLES ME -- SERIOUSLY:
Yes sounds great-
Yes can add modulation to the delays- but

Definite change in tone when activating- even a completly dry mix.
I have tried all three bypass settings-
still a definite change- in tone/volume to dry sound- when activating a preset-
or any other self made seting.

Difficult to dial in settings- the controlls are way too sensitive-
The Dry /Wet dial is way too geared towards Wet.

A nice balanced delay on this pedal requires a dy/wetmix of 1 or 2-
And that is way too close to the edge of the dial swing.

They need to ad a " Link Controls function"
so that when you are programmig both delays - exactly the same,
you don't have to set each controll twice.

They need to add a "Go Back function"
so that you can dial back to an earlier Bank preset
withou having to dial up through any later banks-
(i know you can limit the number of banks- but still a go back function is essential).

They need to add a "Chaining Delay function", so that one delay can Feed the next delay.

Also I was told that it would use a standard "BOSS TYPE AC PLUG- NOTE IT DOES NOT!!
but it should.

Otherwise great potential.
cause the delays and modulations are sweet sounding

But the main concern is :

XXXX------difficult to dial exact settings in-

And most important--problem:

XXXXX------When activaqting any delay effect-
there shoud be no change in volume or tone to your dry singnal-
And there is an obvious one..
That is someting Eventide must fix immediately if possible??
 
Testexture":cd5i5kto said:
Eventide Time Factor is interesting but here are my concerns-
I purchased and have been doing deep trials:
HERE IS WHAT I'VE FOUND THAT TROUBLES ME -- SERIOUSLY:
Yes sounds great-
Yes can add modulation to the delays- but

Definite change in tone when activating- even a completly dry mix.
I have tried all three bypass settings-
still a definite change- in tone/volume to dry sound- when activating a preset-
or any other self made seting.

Difficult to dial in settings- the controlls are way too sensitive-
The Dry /Wet dial is way too geared towards Wet.

A nice balanced delay on this pedal requires a dy/wetmix of 1 or 2-
And that is way too close to the edge of the dial swing.

They need to ad a " Link Controls function"
so that when you are programmig both delays - exactly the same,
you don't have to set each controll twice.

They need to add a "Go Back function"
so that you can dial back to an earlier Bank preset
withou having to dial up through any later banks-
(i know you can limit the number of banks- but still a go back function is essential).

They need to add a "Chaining Delay function", so that one delay can Feed the next delay.

Also I was told that it would use a standard "BOSS TYPE AC PLUG- NOTE IT DOES NOT!!
but it should.

Otherwise great potential.
cause the delays and modulations are sweet sounding

But the main concern is :

XXXX------difficult to dial exact settings in-

And most important--problem:

XXXXX------When activaqting any delay effect-
there shoud be no change in volume or tone to your dry singnal-
And there is an obvious one..
That is someting Eventide must fix immediately if possible??
Click to expand...

I concur with your findings. I don't have any amps with parallel effects loops and I didn't have a lot of love for the Timefactor. I wanted it to work for me but it didn't. The volume drop was annoying. It seems like a very cool pedal just not in my rig.
 
I love mine. But I use it with the parallel loop in my tourmaster. I have three of the pedals, time, Mod, and Pitch.
 
I have one too - Agree with comments but the bottom line is it's still the best sounding delay out there...I had the Analogman delay...it was horrible. Night and date to the TF. Sold it within a week or so of getting it - bought the TF and have never looked back.
 
I have the Line 6 M13 and I would call it "really good." Which means- really good, but not quite up there with the Time or Mod factors, both of which I had. However, I did find that the two were a little bit too complicated for my needs, and I did think that the controls were a little too sensitive. They did have the sound edge over the Line 6, however.
 
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