Re: Thoughts on the Eclipse, Fireworx, G-Force, and PCM81

[Jeff Shirkey <jcshirke@midway.uchicago.edu>]

> I have been reading a lot of reviews on the Eclipse and Fireworx.  
> Oddly, there appear to be a lot of mixed reviews on the Eclipse for  
> it lack of flexibility,

What is it lacking in flexibility? Do you want to build your own  
reverb (etc.)? Does the Eclipse not give you enough fx that you know  
you will use? And what reviews are you reading, H-C?

> ability to load only two algorithms, etc.

Right, but what can you *do* with those algorithms? Quite a bit, I'd  
say.

>
> ****************************
> 1. Eventide Eclipse: You cannot create algorithms.

True.  You can only do that on the higher end, open platform  
processors. Do you know how many times I've created my own algorithms  
in my H8000? Zero. That's not to say that I won't want to do it  
someday, but it's not a high priority. Do I really need to build my  
own chorus, for instance, from the ground up? Eventide has some  
mighty good choruses sitting there for me to tweak. I am interested  
in creating my own presets using the open architecture of the H8000  
by combining different fx. But I would cut and paste those effects  
into a new preset. It's not like I will try to build my own Leslie,  
or chorus--or whatever. At least not just yet.

>

> in my experience, the stability is not as good.

Did the person writing that review have the latest OS? I tend to  
doubt it.

> Support is OK,

Support is excellent. Yes, Italo is an Eventide true believer, and,  
yes, he can be defensive sometimes. But if you want to learn your  
Eventide unit, there's not a question in the world he won't answer  
for you--and usually within just a few minutes. Hell, he once called  
me from Italy *on his nickel*. I'd say that's pretty good support.  
And he's not the *only* support person. If you phone Eventide, they  
are happy to help you out. Italo is the main support person because  
he runs the internet list and because...well...it's his job.

I guess all I'm saying is don't give up on the Eventide just yet.

What matters most to you? Sound quality? If so, go with the Eclipse.  
If the flexibility of the Fireworx turns you on more, then go with  
that. But the Eclipse is still very flexible, based on what I know  
about them and from what I hear from friends who own them. Like I  
said, I own a different Eventide, but I've been privy to enough  
Eclipse chatter to have a fairly informed opinion about the unit  
overall.

Jeff