Intelligent Pitch - Harmonizers???

  • Thread starter Thread starter PeteLaramee
  • Start date Start date
Apparently this is the onboard harmonizer on the Katana.

https://soundcloud.com/amund-blix/katana-harmonize

Holy shit! That sounds more like what I'm looking for than any of the demos I've heard from any of the available harmonizers. The quick single note runs toward the end track well and sound excellent.
 
I bumped this to really get a comparison opinion. I need a damn good intelligent pitch shifter to cover parts of Boston. There's backup lead sections that I'll be mixing into my version that need pitch shifting to pull off the harmony parts correctly.

The four pieces of gear that I'm considering, are the Eventide H3000, Eventide eclipse, Eventide pitchfactor, and the TC Electonic G major 2.

My own personal research says it's between the pitchfactor pedal and the TC G major 2 for what you get from the investment aspect. I don't need reverbs or other features at the moment because I have other pieces of outboard gear covering that based on what excels best.

From here though, I'm not sure I can decide. I will have a pedal tray, but it will have my timeline, a phase 90, an EVH Flanger, and a pedal powerboard making it pretty much full. I could add another shelf but that's not ideal although not the end of the world for one other large pedal.

I've owned a G major in the past, but hated its program change latency issues and the knobs always wanting to fall off. There was also a considerable amount of tone suckage from it. It also had intelligent nothing as this thread mentions before. I've heard the intelligent pitch shifting is actually quite good on the Gmaj 2 though. I just don't need all of the other effects it offers. Not liking the TC Quintessence as I'd want it in the loop under MIDI control and it cannot do MIDI.
 
The pitch shifting on the G Major 2 is firmly in the "decent" category. I've owned the Eventide Eclipse, Digitech IPS-33B, G Major 2, and Axe Fx Ultra. The Eclipse was the most musical, by far, but I couldn't deal with the latency in my setup and didn't want to buy more crap to make it work. Patch changes were brutally slow. Yeah, sure, I could run a mixer, choose an algo I wanted and turn on/off stuff via IAs, but instead of fucking with that to make it work, I just flipped it because I didn't want to invest that kinda time into a unit just for pitch shifting. The Axe Fx Ultra was the best in terms of ease of use, tone, and versatility. The IPS-33B was amazingly good for the price, but it had tone suckage, so you kinda needed a mixer. The G-Major 2 was just...decent. The reverbs sounded metallic, the chorus wasn't as good as my Intellifex, and the intelligent pitch shifting was average, but given its price, it was a good "all in one" unit, as it didn't suck a ton of tone and had everything you realistically needed built into a 1u space.
 
Code001":1v3jf836 said:
The pitch shifting on the G Major 2 is firmly in the "decent" category. I've owned the Eventide Eclipse, Digitech IPS-33B, G Major 2, and Axe Fx Ultra. The Eclipse was the most musical, by far, but I couldn't deal with the latency in my setup and didn't want to buy more crap to make it work. Patch changes were brutally slow. Yeah, sure, I could run a mixer, choose an algo I wanted and turn on/off stuff via IAs, but instead of fucking with that to make it work, I just flipped it because I didn't want to invest that kinda time into a unit just for pitch shifting. The Axe Fx Ultra was the best in terms of ease of use, tone, and versatility. The IPS-33B was amazingly good for the price, but it had tone suckage, so you kinda needed a mixer. The G-Major 2 was just...decent. The reverbs sounded metallic, the chorus wasn't as good as my Intellifex, and the intelligent pitch shifting was average, but given its price, it was a good "all in one" unit, as it didn't suck a ton of tone and had everything you realistically needed built into a 1u space.
Click to expand...

Good thing you mentioned the latency issue with MIDI program changes. I fought that tooth and nail (pun intended) when I had a G major. I'm not spending copious amounts only to fight latency problems again myself, either.

For musicality and also ease of use + MIDI capabilities, it sounds like the pitchfactor from eventide is my best bet and just adding another shelf on my rack. Can you explain what you mean by the eventide being more musical but the tone of the axe fx being the best?

I know I don't need the extra stuff the G major II offers, and I'm not looking for a pre-amp of any sort (running tube heads).
 
Yeah, should have expanded on that, my bad. The Eclipse has some jaw dropping reverbs, delays, and harmonizing effects all out of a 1u device. Those effects sounded the best out of all the units I compared it with. However, it also has these weird preamp effects that act as overdrives, fuzzes, and whatnot. Those things always sounded like pure ass to me. I'm sure others could make them sound good, especially gurus like italoop (seriously, Google everything that dude goes. Absolute genius), but I simply could not. I didn't have the time and patience to learn the intricacies of all the algorithms and change the way I was doing things just to make this thing work for me. That's where the AxeFx Ultra excelled set up in the 4 cable method. I also preferred the compressors on the AxeFx Ultra.

But, the AxeFx Ultra was too much for me at the time, too, and I eventually sold all my rack gear in favor of the G-Major II. It was a surprisingly powerful 1u rack unit for $350. It was decent enough at everything, and it did everything I needed it to for a great price.
 
The PitchFactor is a great pedal. Easy to use, sounds amazing. Unless they've added it recently, it does NOT do custom scales. You can choose a key and a mode, but you can't specify the intervals for each tone. Having said that, it always worked for me for everything I needed it to do. I eventually upgraded to an Eclipse (and H3000 & GTR4000). You can find out everything you need to know on Eventide's website and their customer service has always responded quickly.
 
ChurchHill":y0c497tx said:
The PitchFactor is a great pedal. Easy to use, sounds amazing. Unless they've added it recently, it does NOT do custom scales. You can choose a key and a mode, but you can't specify the intervals for each tone. Having said that, it always worked for me for everything I needed it to do. I eventually upgraded to an Eclipse (and H3000 & GTR4000). You can find out everything you need to know on Eventide's website and their customer service has always responded quickly.
Click to expand...

No custom scales for a unit costing that much?

I'm not sure I can justify the cost of the eclipse just for pitch shifting and harmonies even though it sounds great. If there are midi delays between program change requests (seconds between them for example) then that's also a deal breaker. How do people live with that in a rack setup live?

For the cost and no custom scales, the g major II seems like the winner here. I'm not spending the extra coin for an effect if it can't offer something a cheaper unit does just as decent. I've also used a g major in the past and know how to navigate it, which helps.
 
Yeah, I was a little disappointed by the lack of custom scales in the PitchFactor, too. It has a bit of delay between algorithms, too. It's not terrible, but is noticeable. The PF doesn't have as much of a delay as the Eclipse does, but the algorithms aren't as big and the Eclipse's architecture is getting old. However, the PF does NOT have a delay when changing intervals, keys, or modes, as long as the presets use the same algorithm. It can be true bypass and can have tails (to let the effect fade naturally). It has a kill-dry, too, so it works well in parallel loops (with or without a mixer).

Live, I just use a mixer and have several processors setup for each sound I'll need for a song. The only other way to eliminate the algorithm-change lag is to use a processor that just uses one big algorithm and turns parts of it on and off for "presets." To me, the complexity of the dedicated algorithms is worth the price of admission (e.g. mixer, multiple processors, etc.). It's not just Eventide. My Lexicons and TC Fireworx have noticeable delays, too.

I will add that the PF does more than just harmonizing. It's delays are really nice, too, and micro-pitch shift... It easily does stuff like Vai's Liberty (like the Katana demo above) and Ballerina. It is a LOT better sounding than either the G-Major or G-Major II (I have both). The PF has 4-voice harmonies, does crystals, and does Whammy style shifts. Here's a list of the modes it does support: Major, Minor, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Locrian, Harmonic Minor, Melodic Minor, Whole Tone, Enigmatic, Neapolitan, Hungarian.

While I'll admit that I like Eventides, I just want you to know what you'd be getting into with a PF, both the good and the bad. I like TC's stuff, too, and have owned a number of their rack processors. If the preset-lag is a deal-breaker, the PF isn't going to work for you. I wouldn't say that the G-Major does harmonizing just as well as the PF, though, but it may be more than sufficient for your needs and you get a few more types of effects. But, the PF does several effects that the TC can't do, too. Either way, both are very valid choices that have all worked for me.
 
How many stacked effects can the pitchfactor do at once? Can I do microshift on at all times and then midi switch between modes within a solo for harmonizing correctly in key?

I know the G major or G major II can't do stacked effects, but both are true stereo, and can do micro pitch shifting. Albeit I'm not too sure how the micropitch quality is.
 
Depends on which algorithm you're using. Some, like Quadravox, have 4 shifters. You could use 2 for micropitch and the other 2 for harmony. So, yes, IIRC, you should be able to have a microshift and be able to switch between modes/keys for the harmony.

I don't remember if the PitchFactor's effects are true stereo, but it does have separate inputs for left/right and maintains them in the direct mix.
 
Seems like the pitchfactor is the best option for what I'm looking for then. Pedal format and MIDI compatible. Thanks for the replies :rock:
 
Hope it works out for you! The PF is more of a dedicated effect than the G-Major, but the quality makes up for it, at least to me. Either way, shouldn't be too hard to find a used one. Could even try both and keep the one that works best for you. For me, once I started down the Eventide path... well... you know. ;)
 
If you're considering the PitchFactor, you might want to look at the H9, too. It's basically the same hardware platform as the Factor pedals, but can run any of the algorithms from any of the Factors. The only reason I mention is it that they're close in price and instead of buying the PitchFactor for 1 or 2 algorithms, you could just get the ones you want for the H9 and still have the option for adding some delays from the TimeFactor and/or some reverbs from the Space. The catch is that, if you got the "Core" model, you'd have to pay for each algorithm. Those are about $20-$25 each (I think).

Anyway, just a thought. You can usually find either one on the used market pretty easily.
 
Decided to go with a G major II for a completely unrelated reason: It will save me $1000 by not needing a dedicated MIDI amp switcher, as the G major II can perform double duties - amp MIDI switching and intelligent pitch shifting. For the price it's no contest, the G major II fits my needs more than the pitchfactor for what I'm piecing together :thumbsup:
 
Yeah, I wish more processors has built-in remote switching jacks like the G-Major & G-Major 2. Those are really handy. I've thought about putting mine in with a pre/power-amp rack, just for the switches. Seems like a waste to have to add at least 4 switch ports when the only thing that needs one is the power amp, and it only needs one. Oh, well...

Hope you enjoy the G-Major II. I got a lot of use out of mine, so do when I record.
 
glpg80":1msw7owh said:
Decided to go with a G major II for a completely unrelated reason: It will save me $1000 by not needing a dedicated MIDI amp switcher, as the G major II can perform double duties - amp MIDI switching and intelligent pitch shifting. For the price it's no contest, the G major II fits my needs more than the pitchfactor for what I'm piecing together :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
I ended getting a gmajor2 after i started this thread for all the same reasons as you. Decent harmonizer in a semi tansparent multi effects unit that switched channels on my amp (I had the gmajor 1 until buying it). All in 1 space at a decent price.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top