Eventide H8000FW
Eight channels of 24-bit/96kHz processing, FireWire on the back, and a claim of nearly sixteen hundred preset algorithms. Eventide's heavyweight, sold with the swagger of a champion.
Overview
Eventide's own advertising for the H8000FW opened with a line that shows who the unit was aimed at: "Eats complex algorithms for breakfast." That's marketing copy, not an independent verdict. It does frame the pitch accurately enough. The H8000FW was sold as an 8-channel, 24-bit/96kHz Ultra-Harmonizer effects processor. The spec sheet Eventide put its name to lists 8 channels of 24-bit AES/EBU, ADAT and FireWire I/O, MIDI, BPM and Tap Tempo synchronization, sampling up to 96kHz, PC and OS X graphic editor/development tools bundled in, and 4 channels of analog I/O with a signal-to-noise ratio greater than 110dB. For a rack processor, that analog figure is the interesting one. The converter stage is quiet enough that the digital processing, not the noise floor, is what you hear.
The processing architecture is where the H8000FW separates itself from the smaller boxes in the line. Eventide described the unit as built on a foundation of "nearly sixteen hundred preset-algorithms," a library the company said encapsulates the last 30 years of its digital effects work. One version of the advertising copy in the archive rounds the figure up to eighteen hundred algorithms and 36 years. The printed ads don't agree with each other on the exact number, so treat the preset count as "roughly sixteen hundred and up" rather than gospel. Over eighty of those presets are 5.1 surround programs. That's the other thing that sets the H8000FW apart: it's built for multichannel work, not just stereo sweetening.
When an algorithm is too large for a single processor, Eventide's "Monolithic Tandem" scheme splits it across two DSP chips. That's the practical meaning of the parallel-processing claim in the ads. Dense reverbs and complex chains that would otherwise exceed the available horsepower get run in tandem rather than truncated.
The control side is friendlier than the spec sheet suggests. Eventide's "virtual racks" let up to five stereo effects processors be combined into a single preset-algorithm, so a whole signal chain, not just a single effect, can be stored and recalled as one program. A preset search function helps sort through the library for retrieval. The bundled PC and OS X graphic editor/development tools are part of the package. They're there for anyone who wants to build or edit algorithms rather than just dial up factory presets.
The H8000FW is a distinct variant, not the base H8000. Eventide's copy states plainly that the FW combines the advantages of the H8000A with the H8000 and adds smooth FireWire connectivity to the computer. The FireWire upgrade was also offered as a program for existing owners. Period trade listings in EQ (August 2008, p.7) carried Eventide's announcement of an H8000FW upgrade path, which is worth knowing if a used unit's provenance matters. The advertising also carried a standing "FireWire Upgrade Available" banner across its EQ runs in 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2010.
It isn't a reverb you set and forget. It's a processor you lean on when the standard tools have run out of ideas.
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