Eventide Timefactor owners: questions for you

[jbro]

I see that there are a few Timefactor owners on TGP... I've been skimming the threads but I have a few questions that I haven't seen addressed yet. Apologies if this stuff has been covered already, but I couldn't find it.

I understand there's a bypass mode that will allow delay spillover when the unit is switched off. But there are a couple things that are still foggy to me:

1) Is there spillover when switching presets?

2) If I have a preset with a long delay time and high feedback (think Fripp, etc) -- if I switch the unit off, the delay will continue to trail off for several seconds. If I switch it back on while the delay is still trailing, what happens? Are the repeats suddenly cut off, or do they remain?

These are the 2 functions that make my DD20's invaluable to me. If the Timefactor can match those capabilities, it's a no-brainer upgrade. The DD20 suffers from a high noise floor, limited editing abilities, no external controllers, and no real-time analog style control over delay time (no flying saucers, warped records, and the like). I'm pretty eager for an upgrade, but as someone who uses a lot of long delays for ambient/experimental sounds, those are two functions that I NEED. If the Timefactor can't do it.. looks like I'm stuck with my DD20's for now.

[jbro]

bump..

[ACDelco]

1) Is there spillover when switching presets?No, there is not. Well, not exactly. There is a way around this. You can create a preset which has an expression pedal assigned to Delay mix. This will let you crossfade between the two delays, which can have completely different feedback and delay time settings.
Maybe they'll add Spillover to the next software release!...

2) If I have a preset with a long delay time and high feedback (think Fripp, etc) -- if I switch the unit off, the delay will continue to trail off for several seconds. If I switch it back on while the delay is still trailing, what happens? Are the repeats suddenly cut off, or do they remain?If you are using the Bypass mode called "DSP+DLY" then the delays will keep trailing forever regardless of how many times you hit Bypass/Active. (Until you change to a different preset.)
Hope that helps!

[jbro]

thanks, AC. it seems bizarre that they wouldn't implement preset change spillover, considering the otherwise robust feature set. I like your workaround, but it's my understanding that you can't mix two delay types in one preset, so that would only go so far.. I wonder what eventide has to say about this.

any other quirks or missing features potential buyers should be aware of?

[hbentley]

i haven't experimented a ton with mine yet. i use it in true bypass (relay) mode only because their was throb from the tempo present on dsp and dsp+dly modes even when bypassed. that sucked, because i was planning on using the dsp+dly bypass exclusively. i can live with it though, the pedal sounds amazing.

[jbro]

for anyone interested, here is the response I received from Eventide on the topic of "preset change spillover". looks like it's due to lack of processor power, which means it's not too likely to be implemented in the future through a software update.. unless they find a way to double the DSP power via software.

----

Hi Jesse,

We thank you greatly for providing your thoughts!

Yours is a great suggestion and as you stated, one that has been brought to us previously. As a result, we have added this as a “feature request” in hopes of having development refined to allow this to be implemented in a possible future release.

Please let me provide you the reasons behind its current absence: During the design process it was determined that this would be a DSP resource hog. If we had gone forward and implemented this feature, we would have limited the complexity of each effect to use half of the DSP power. We chose to use all of the DSP for the effect. For this reasoning alone, I hope that you can understand our thinking.

Please feel free to contact us with any further suggestions or questions you may have!

Kind Regards

D. Rooney
Audio Support Technician
Eventide Inc

[starfish]

I wouldn't count it out quite yet. We saw the same thing from Eventide with the Eclipse. Spillover was added in a later software rev. with some caveats, i.e. hobbled patches to allow this. While it's not ideal it may provide a solution for those tunes where you need to switch and can't live without a spillover. I'm sure the cost of these units (and the Eclipse) would have been much more with double processing and a code base to run on dual processors. I think the higher end units will do this but man they are expensive and require a r@ck! #@%$!!!

[jbro]

seems weird to me that the $180 DD20 does this. I guess it's not a big deal unless you're using long delays.. but unfortunately, for those of us into "soundscaping" and other forms of experimental music, it's a hard feature to live without. maybe I'll buy one anyway and see if I can work around it... looks great otherwise.

[spycam]

I have one question too, i saw that on the side of the Eventide Timefactor pedal there are midi in and out/through connections. Does that mean that if I have an midi footswitch to control my midi equipped amp head, i can use the midi in and out/through connection to route midi cables and switch Eventide Timefactor presets with my midi footswitch?

Also, what brick power supply (like Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus or so) are capable of powering Eventide pedals like Timefactor and Modfactor?

[Roodboy]

Also, what brick power supply (like Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus or so) are capable of powering Eventide pedals like Timefactor and Modfactor?
I use the courtesy outlet on a Pedalpower.

[spycam]

Rear Courtesy Auxiliary AC outlet, 200 watts max - this one?

[ACDelco]

I have one question too, i saw that on the side of the Eventide Timefactor pedal there are midi in and out/through connections. Does that mean that if I have an midi footswitch to control my midi equipped amp head, i can use the midi in and out/through connection to route midi cables and switch Eventide Timefactor presets with my midi footswitch?Yes, you can switch the TimeFactor's presets via MIDI with a MIDI footswitch. You can also use TimeFactor as a MIDI footswitch to change presets on other MIDI devices. (TimeFactor's footswitches can transmit MIDI program change.)
You can also assign TimeFactor's 10 knobs to transmit MIDI cc to control parameters on your MIDI amp head.

[spycam]

Hmmm, this sounds interesting.

I wonder, if i'll be saving the presets of my amp head with a midi footswitch, can i also set it to remember the presets of Eventide Timefactor? I mean, i'll be saving let's say the setting of the amp for lead tone, would it be possible to save some multitap delay preset on the same midi preset of of the midi footswitch so when i'll step on the pedal on the midi footswitch i'll get that lead tone with a multitap, and when i step on another midi footswitch pedal to switch to let's say clean tone i will get also the Timefactor preset switched to let's say reverse delay?

Is it possible?

[ACDelco]

Yes, that's exactly what you can do. If you go into TimeFactor's System mode, under MIDI/RCV MAP you can assign TimeFactor presets to any MIDI preset(s) you want. For example you can assign it so when your MIDI pedal transmits MIDI Program Change #34, TimeFactor will always load "Bank 1:2".
You can have duplicates too, for example if Patch #34 on your amp head is a lead sound and #35 is a clean sound but you want them both to call up the same TimeFactor preset, you can assign both MIDI Program Change #34 and #35 to load "Bank 1:2" if you want.

[spycam]

This is really nice... I think i should buy TimeFactor and wait for ModFactor to buy them both as they seem to be the most flexible somp boxes for my setup

[the_Chris]

If you guys don't mind, I have a few questions about the Eventide unit myself.

I don't own a MIDI equipped amp head, is it possible to use a MIDI controller with the TimeFactor to setup different types of delay on the fly?

Ideally, I'd love to setup a short slapback type tone for one preset, a reverse delay for another (with a longer delay), an infinitely repeating digital delay for another, etc. all controlled by MIDI footswitches. Is this possible (it would be a huge selling point for the unit)?

[the_Chris]

Anyone? C'mon... somebody has to have tried this by now.

[g-nem]

You can select either 64 or 128, i forget, patches with a midi controller- so your answer, chris, is a a big fat YES!

I am curious about what happens with patch changes- does the dry sound cut out at all? I'm assuming the delay signal just dies- is this right, or if you have a delay with really long feedback, will it stay in the delay buffer when you change presets? Maybe it will as long as you don't change the TYPE of delay. Are there delay glitches when it changes presets- or just the delay just cutoff (hopefully with no pop).

What does the crossfade feature in the digital delay mode do? Is that for patch switching?

I'm in a similar boat to the OP- looking for a way to be able to swith patches dynamically in the course of a song without glitches, even if there is no spillover.

[the_Chris]

You can select either 64 or 128, i forget, patches with a midi controller- so your answer, chris, is a a big fat YES!


Nice! Thank you! :BEER

[merkaba22]

I am considering your Timefactor pedal for use in a channel switching combo amp I am having modded soon.

Ideally, I would like to combine effects, say delay and chorus in a single patch, assign a midi number that will trigger the use one of the 1/4" jack as a momentary switch to trigger the channel switching in my amp?

Is this something it can do?

Also, it would be great to have a "best of" pedal via software update that offers common reverbs, chorus, delays and a pitch transposer that can combine two effects for guitars or keys in classic ways -- any possibilities there?