Old Eventide H910. I LOVE it!

[Alex_S]

That sounds amazing! How close do you find an H9 in comparison? I do own one, but have no comparison to the real deal...

Another question: I always thought Eddie used one + 1-2 cent and on - 1-2 cent in parallel. But your clip sounds spot on with just one -2. Do. I miss something or was that just a wrong information?

Thank you. I don't actually own an H9 and have never used one, so I really can't say how the H9 compares directly. My understanding, however, is that the H9 has the same H910 and H949 algorithms as the PitchFactor. All of the Eventide equipment I own are two old original H910s, a PitchFactor, an Eclipse, and an H8000FW. All of them are great and the Eclipse and H8000FW do amazing things, but the H910 algorithm on the PitchFactor gets closer to the real H910 than any of them. When they designed that algorithm for the Pitchfactor they were seeking to copy the H910 as closely as possible and they did a pretty good job of it.

On your other question, I am not sure how well I can answer it but I will try. I have read a ton of stuff about how Eddie did this or that with H910s, H949s, H3000s, and so on. Honestly from listening to everything from Van Halen II through Balance I think he used all of those Eventide models as they became available to him and used them with a lot of different settings and mix levels. In my clip all I used was the old H910 set to .99 and just under the point where it clicks over to 1.00 on the right side. I used no feedback or additional delay. My left cab in my stereo rig was all dry and my right cab was all H910. Then I put a SM57 on each cab.

The dry/wet mix level is critical no matter how you use the harmonizers or how many cents of pitch you are using. The resolution on the old H910 is less than the H949 and everything that came after it. The H910 readout goes from 1.00 to .99, then .98, then .97, etc. The machine is mostly analog and if you set it to .99 just barely underneath the 1.00 unison pitch it is just a few cents of pitch, maybe about .997 or .996, but if you set it to the lower end of .99 just before it clicks over to .98 it is a more drastic pitch change like maybe .987 or so (just guessing on the numbers because there is no way for me to be sure). So, you have to use it very mildly and use your ears for the slight detune type of sound.

Anyway, I am not convinced that ED used -9 and +9 cents and so much delay and so on all the time. Just Fair Warning alone has a lot of differences in how much harmonizer is there from song to song. Some songs I think I can hear Two H910s, other songs just one. It was also obviously before the H3000 was available and the only harmonizers out at the time were the H910 and H949. If you can, listen to the song 5150 on a good system and isolate and listen to the left and right sides separately. I hear harmonizer all over the right side, but I can't hear it on the left. The left sounds dry to me so if there is any harmonizer there it is very, very little. So, take that dry left and that wet right recorded at the same levels like I did and pan your mix on what you record at about 50% left for the dry and 50% right for the harmonizer and you get what I got in that clip.

I hope that helps man. I'm not great at explaining this stuff and it's all just my opinion and experience and what my ears hear anyway. As much as I would LOVE to ask Eddie myself exactly what he did on all those famous tracks it doesn't look like he is going to tell me. I can't get him to return any of my phone calls! lol.

Hi Jayy,

thanks so much for explanation and no, you are great at explaining it. Can't wait for the weekend now to try some of your advise!

Thanks again! Cool thread!

Ciao Alex

 

[Jayy]

That sounds amazing! How close do you find an H9 in comparison? I do own one, but have no comparison to the real deal...

Another question: I always thought Eddie used one + 1-2 cent and on - 1-2 cent in parallel. But your clip sounds spot on with just one -2. Do. I miss something or was that just a wrong information?

Thank you. I don't actually own an H9 and have never used one, so I really can't say how the H9 compares directly. My understanding, however, is that the H9 has the same H910 and H949 algorithms as the PitchFactor. All of the Eventide equipment I own are two old original H910s, a PitchFactor, an Eclipse, and an H8000FW. All of them are great and the Eclipse and H8000FW do amazing things, but the H910 algorithm on the PitchFactor gets closer to the real H910 than any of them. When they designed that algorithm for the Pitchfactor they were seeking to copy the H910 as closely as possible and they did a pretty good job of it.

On your other question, I am not sure how well I can answer it but I will try. I have read a ton of stuff about how Eddie did this or that with H910s, H949s, H3000s, and so on. Honestly from listening to everything from Van Halen II through Balance I think he used all of those Eventide models as they became available to him and used them with a lot of different settings and mix levels. In my clip all I used was the old H910 set to .99 and just under the point where it clicks over to 1.00 on the right side. I used no feedback or additional delay. My left cab in my stereo rig was all dry and my right cab was all H910. Then I put a SM57 on each cab.

The dry/wet mix level is critical no matter how you use the harmonizers or how many cents of pitch you are using. The resolution on the old H910 is less than the H949 and everything that came after it. The H910 readout goes from 1.00 to .99, then .98, then .97, etc. The machine is mostly analog and if you set it to .99 just barely underneath the 1.00 unison pitch it is just a few cents of pitch, maybe about .997 or .996, but if you set it to the lower end of .99 just before it clicks over to .98 it is a more drastic pitch change like maybe .987 or so (just guessing on the numbers because there is no way for me to be sure). So, you have to use it very mildly and use your ears for the slight detune type of sound.

Anyway, I am not convinced that ED used -9 and +9 cents and so much delay and so on all the time. Just Fair Warning alone has a lot of differences in how much harmonizer is there from song to song. Some songs I think I can hear Two H910s, other songs just one. It was also obviously before the H3000 was available and the only harmonizers out at the time were the H910 and H949. If you can, listen to the song 5150 on a good system and isolate and listen to the left and right sides separately. I hear harmonizer all over the right side, but I can't hear it on the left. The left sounds dry to me so if there is any harmonizer there it is very, very little. So, take that dry left and that wet right recorded at the same levels like I did and pan your mix on what you record at about 50% left for the dry and 50% right for the harmonizer and you get what I got in that clip.

I hope that helps man. I'm not great at explaining this stuff and it's all just my opinion and experience and what my ears hear anyway. As much as I would LOVE to ask Eddie myself exactly what he did on all those famous tracks it doesn't look like he is going to tell me. I can't get him to return any of my phone calls! lol.

Hi Jayy,

thanks so much for explanation and no, you are great at explaining it. Can't wait for the weekend now to try some of your advise!

Thanks again! Cool thread!

Ciao Alex

You're welcome Alex! I hope you have fun with it!

 

[Rdodson]

Donn Landee wasn't a huge fan of the Eventide being on the base track if I remember correctly, and Ed had a tendency to overdo it. If you listen to the now widely-available 1984 rehearsal and practice tapes he has so much harmonizer on his sound at times as to completely obliterate any dynamics of the tone. So Donn would would dial it way back in the mix or pan it completely to one side and bury it a bit. By the time 0U812 came out Ed and Donn were not seeing eye to eye and Ed hated the mix completely. But anyway, it is there on 1984. Sounds like a bit of chorus on DDL and even less but some "air" on GGB.

 

[Jayy]

Donn Landee wasn't a huge fan of the Eventide being on the base track if I remember correctly, and Ed had a tendency to overdo it. If you listen to the now widely-available 1984 rehearsal and practice tapes he has so much harmonizer on his sound at times as to completely obliterate any dynamics of the tone. So Donn would would dial it way back in the mix or pan it completely to one side and bury it a bit. By the time 0U812 came out Ed and Donn were not seeing eye to eye and Ed hated the mix completely. But anyway, it is there on 1984. Sounds like a bit of chorus on DDL and even less but some "air" on GGB.

Thank you for the great info! Yes, I forgot about Drop Dead Legs on 1984. I can hear it blatantly on that track and it's another one where it sounds like it is on one side a lot, so what you are saying makes sense. I never did understand exactly what happened with the mix on OU812. I can't stand that mix either. Compared to their other albums OU812 sounds dead and distant somehow. Just lifeless.

 

[chris81]

Rough recording, one take, no EQ or mixing, my playing sucks and sucks even worse as soon as I hit record, and all that. Still, that old H910 is just awesome.

Hello Jayy, I love the sound you achieved with the H910. One question if you don’t mind - I‘m using the Universal Audio H910 plugin and try to copy your sound. Did you run the H910 side 100% wet? I‘m asking because on the plugin I‘ve got the possibility to set the mix level of the H910…

Thanks in advance,

Christopher

 

[gbsmusic]

It sounds great you have nothing to worry about your playing great job!

 

[Bronco]

Hello Jayy, I love the sound you achieved with the H910. One question if you don’t mind - I‘m using the Universal Audio H910 plugin and try to copy your sound. Did you run the H910 side 100% wet? I‘m asking because on the plugin I‘ve got the possibility to set the mix level of the H910…

Thanks in advance,

Christopher

Yes I'm in the same boat with the plugin and would love to hear the answer as well.

 

[harddriver]

Maybe this will help?

 

[chris81]

Rough recording, one take, no EQ or mixing, my playing sucks and sucks even worse as soon as I hit record, and all that. Still, that old H910 is just awesome.

Hello Jayy, I love the sound you achieved with the H910. One question if you don’t mind - I‘m using the Universal Audio H910 plugin and try to copy your sound. Did you run the H910 side 100% wet? I‘m asking because on the plugin I‘ve got the possibility to set the mix level of the H910…

Thanks in advance,

Christopher

Maybe this will help?

hey man, thanks a lot. This helps for sure. Still not quite sure about the levels for the Universal Audio Version… Mix on this video is 100% wet but Main Level about 85%… Well, most likely I‘ll have to experiment a little. That’s why we do all this anyways, don’t we ?

 

[harddriver]

Hello Jayy, I love the sound you achieved with the H910. One question if you don’t mind - I‘m using the Universal Audio H910 plugin and try to copy your sound. Did you run the H910 side 100% wet? I‘m asking because on the plugin I‘ve got the possibility to set the mix level of the H910…

Thanks in advance,

Christopher

hey man, thanks a lot. This helps for sure. Still not quite sure about the levels for the Universal Audio Version… Mix on this video is 100% wet but Main Level about 85%… Well, most likely I‘ll have to experiment a little. That’s why we do all this anyways, don’t we ?

Great..... I'm glad it helped.

 

[chris81]

@Bronco I tested it and am pretty sure 0.99 is the correct setting for the Detune, Mix 100% and it sounds realistic to me with the “Main“ fader between 75%-85% (just rough numbers as there is no value shown when using it). Sounds awesome to me now. Thanks again @harddriver and @Jayy

 

[Bronco]

@Bronco I tested it and am pretty sure 0.99 is the correct setting for the Detune, Mix 100% and it sounds realistic to me with the “Main“ fader between 75%-85% (just rough numbers as there is no value shown when using it). Sounds awesome to me now. Thanks again @harddriver and @Jayy

Outstanding, thankyou!