Can we talk about Harmonisers?

[Drumstruck]

Wondering what you chaps think of the Eventide Harmonisers?

I used an H910 many years ago and loved the multiple delays + pitch change effect, but they seem pretty scarce..... and I read that the H949 is good but haven't used one ..... there are a few H969s around but they don't have quite the same simplicity.....

thoughts? options? thanks

[The Tasmanian]

H3000 and H8000 should do the same, although with more hi fidelity and clarity.
I use the H8000FW - what a F*****n monster of an effect unit.
8 in / 8 out.
These days every other FX box I have stays off when I'm mixing - even tape echo's.
Best FX box I've ever used/heard/encountered.

The H3000 should get you there, and they are not too expensive SH.
Not sure about this, but I would be interested/concerned about redundant chips and reliability in the long term with the earlier Eventide's.

[Manning]

I've got the H7600, the stereo version of the above. In hindsight I wish I had bought the H8000.

Couldn't agree with Chris more though, it's a monster of a box - gets used on everything.

[Alastair Reynolds]

Ah, early Eventide devices, tricky little buggers to keep going as many of the chips have been obsolete for up to 20 years and as such command big prices. The 10 bit A/D - D/A devices for instance. Because of the extremely high cost of RAM in the early days ,Eventide (and others) used to use compansion techniques,dbx style, to reduce the dynamic range and hence bit depth prior to the delay stages.they used a similar technique in broadcast delays.I have old 632 mono 7 second delays that are 11 bit with dbx compansion for instance.Also some of the 910, 949 and other early delays used a lot of original 74XX series TTL logic, whilst not as rare as the DTL chips found in early Ampex machines like the AG440 or MM1100 they are still getting harder to find and some of the newer HS or HC series just don't quite do it right. The H3000 is a 16 Bit stereo full bandwidth device and chips are more common.They're still a great toy and as Chris points out, more affordable.If you do venture down the vintage path, try and find a second one to keep for bits.That's what I did with a H949 to get one working one and I keep my eyes open for a second 910 as I'm scared mine will stop one day . Second hand BD955 delay lines are good for A/D/A and RAM sourcing and BD980 use common DSP and A/D to the H3000.
My favorite H3000 is the H3000 KS (kitchen sink) it has the Broadcast board,the sampler board ,Studio,Studio Enhanced and Mod factory roms. One thing to watch on the 3000 is the transformers used to get real hot.make sure it has good ventilation. That's most of what I remember from my Syntec days in the early 90s working on these.

[The Tasmanian]

Thanks Alistair,
Heat - yeah my H8000FW I could cook bacon and eggs on!

[Futureman]

I love my 910. It was tricky to fix however.
eBay had all the rare(ish) logic IC's I needed to get it working.. Just took forever to find the faulty one!

I also like (for hands on ability anyway) my EHX pitch transposer rack. That has many parallels to the 910 but has these awesome capacitance preset knobs that have to be used to be believed.
(the EH was also broken when I got it.. )

I'd be torn to choose between them. Sonically the 910 has more of a brash and grainy sound, while EH is duller.. But those EH preset knobs are genius and let you 'play' the pitch shifter like an instrument..

EH has a loop out and return in the feedback path.
EH has blend (910 doesn't)

TBH I'm always keeping an eye out for more broken vintage Eventide junk.. Maybe I'm a sucker for punishment.

[Drumstruck]

Excellent information - many thanks gents - esp. Alastair - I think you've scared me off my romantic memory of the H910

<edit> the plug-in versions look interesting, except they only run on TDM..... curses, foiled again