Eventide ModFactor

I have a lot of experience with a lot of different multi effects pedals, and this has been one of the more complicated ones i have come across, AT FIRST.
This is why they include a manual, a few minuets of reading that and i was all set...

Great, for what you get, 40 presets and all the bells and whistles of tweakability.

I had a fulltone supa trem, which is a great sounding pedal, but it's 200 bucks, and i wanted a flanger pedal, and a decent one is a solid $120 bucks, so you do the math. I could have bought that and been in the hole for $320 bucks,plus whatever other modulation pedals i wanted or get the modfactor and get a whole bunch of them in one package that takes up a lot less retail space on my board.

All the effects sound good, some sound great, particularly the undulator (coolest modulation effect i've ever heard, very ambient, if you like explosions and all that stuff you should hear this effect), and the ring modulator.

and all you guys who are hating on this pedal need to stop, cause 95% of the people who are listening to you i promise you can't tell the difference between this and a better sounding chorus pedal.

(p.s. and the goofball who said something about this pedal being made in china and it costing $400 bucks, its called CAPITALISM, you should read some Karl Marx and get educated my friend...)

Great!

I called them once, they were very nice and helpful!

Great value for the money, and great sounding pedal regardless of the price, i have become a eventide fan for sure (i own the timefactor as well and i posted a review for that as well)...

Go buy it, and a aux switch to bank down.

Not easy to get a good sound, but doable in 10 minutes of tweaking. Pretty deep programming for a stomp box. Manual is okay.

Sounds too sterile. I compared this to my Microvibe and my Boss multi-chorus and it did not compare. To digital sounding and actually a little harsh. Some sounds were pretty good, but overall not worth the 300 bones.

just got it....sending it back

not used

I have played rock and blues for 30 years. Have tons of equipment...too much to list. My major gripe is the brittle and digital sound you get from it. Also the vibe and flange is unrealistic.

Fairly easy to get decent chorus sounds. A little more difficult to get good univibes and phaser sounds. Editing is deeper than a standard stompbox, but I barely leafed through the manual and was able to edit most important sounds.

I'm only giving a 7on sound quality because it's a digital pedal that sounds .......digital. The chorus wasn't as warm as my Boss Multi-Chorus. I a/b'd them and it was quite apparent that you could get a lush warm chorus with the Boss and had to tweak quite a bit to get close to that sound with the Modfactor. Most sounds on the Modfactor were good, but slightly sterile.

Haven't had it more than 4 hours.

I play rock, blues and sprinkling of jazz, country. Been playing 20+ years and own about 25 pedals and have gone through at least 100.
I've got around 8 pedals on my board at this time. I can't justify making room on my board for this pedal. Too sterile. Playing the chorus mode in conjunction with a distortion pedal did yield some nice sounds, but for 300 + bucks, I'll probably go back to the microvibe or the love vibe pedal.

Ease of use is daunting, but do-able and worth opening the manual and sitting down with it. Great manual, an E-Z read, and I'm going to d-load the 2.0 soon. Due to traveling needs/costs/space/pedal space AKA 'real estate': it was time to dump some stuff and get upgradable, flexible stuff. So the 'Mod' joined it's kin on my pedalboard (Timefactor).
I had one of the first TimeFactor's and downloading the PC/Utility upgrade took a bit of doing, but it came through okay.

Using it with an assortment of combos in the FX loops: Fuchs, Bogner, Mesa Lone Star/LSS + the studio. Zion, PRS, Koll, Collings, and Ed Reynolds guitars. Noiseless, and all the FX are sweet. As stated before: it was time to save real estate/weight/cord waste.
And I have no need for one pedal per sound: time to get pedals that do it all like E-Tide.
Their rack stuff is the best, and the pedals are as well. Stereo/mono, line/guitar ability + USB upgradeable: what's not to like?

Made well, thoughtfully, and creatively with only one problem: many owners (including myself) want to be able to use other smaller, lighter, chainable power supplies. Eventide says they're working on it, and only want owners to use their units. Voodoo Labs is coming out with new Versa & ISO-5 models, or you can use Burkey, Diago, 1-Spot and more with adaptors (E-Tides use 2.5mm) and go crazy implementing these others. But I'll put up with that one 'niggle' and wait till there's a savior. That's how good the Eventides are...

Whether on their forums or by e-mail: they are at the top of the list in heartfelt, non-arrogant, smart support. Next day every time!

1. Great in ANY application: live or studio, any instrument.
2. Playing for many years, owned everything (almost).
3. These will never be obsolete: USB ports and an industry standard.
4. Features, "tweakability", and the best sound et al.
5. Only wish it had a more space-effective power supply!
6. As soon as you turn it on, you WILL create and smile.
Why have a heavy, dust-catching, cable-loaded pedalboard/collection when you can cut to the chase and get that same studio sound?
Beats me.

Definately a little dense. But it is built to be this way. Wouldn't do all the things it can if it didn't. I have not had it long enough to be really familiar with all its uses, but with a stereo rig I have figured out how to get to places I want to go. I think it would always be difficult to get going but give ti a few hours and you really start to get some interesting stuff out of it. Keep the manual. Again, if it wasn't so difficult to use it wouldn't be able to do all the things it can. Not as difficult as large rack things but much more so than single pedals (but can do so much more)

I use a stereo rig, Princeton and AC15. I have a ton of pedals (I feel like a collector but am more subtle in application of them to my music, I hate getting buried under a ton of effects), Lovetone BigCheese, Hotcake, Cusack Screamer, Marshall Shredmaster, Captain Coconut II, Maxon Comp101, Prunes & Custard, Eventide Timefactor, Boss Volume, Colorsound and V847 wahs, various old Ibanez Phasers, voodoo lab trem. Other pieces that ar more collectable than decent sounding. For each type of pedal I have usually gone through two or four to get the right one. I am very careful about pedals (or very anal, I guess I am always looking for that one that is right for me). The sound quality of the Modfactor is excellent. It is not noisy. I really hate chorus (so cheesy I find) but found useable settings. I liked some of the phaser settings (I like quite a mushy phase sound) or I like to use quite shiny phase into a pummelled amp so it adds more flavour to the sound than actual phase. I like mod effects but into overdriven amps so then don't sound too cheesy. I very rarely use chorus or phase, or vib or whatever on pure clean tone. WOuld have to be stacked into delays or overdrive to take away that sheen. I am not really that concerned with getting sounds other people have gotten (apart from Neil Young, damn I want that tone from Weld) but when recording often I am filling in the dots so after all the solid parts it is great to have some strange effects to make some eerie Lanois noises and the Modfactor delivers here. In all honesty I am not going to use much flange or chorus (my problems are with the effect itself, not the modfactor) but I am sure it would satisfy most. If you want something on top, go grab an analog pedal so you get it all. I give it an 8 because I think it is a tremendous effect, and for what I am into it is perfect, but it is not the absolute end of technology, go get an Eventide H8000 if you really want to go there. No problems though. If used correctly you can have phase, chorus, vib etc without sounding like a cheese rock covers band - boring. Trem pan pumps it out for me too. Very nice spatial effects with the Timefactor. Side by side these effects can be devestating.

Yeah, pretty reliable thus far, but I don't think you can really comment on a pedals reliability till you have had it for a fair amount of time, so no grading

Not sure, the stockists I got it from were great.

I am going to give this really good score because for the money it has filled so many holes in my setup. I would have had to spend at least twice the amount to get analog equivalents for all these things. I think that once your amp is overdriven all these effects (aside from Flanger, and I just hate the flanger thing) can add really nice elements to your sound. This is not the greatest thing on earth but if you have a stereo setup and need stereo Rotary, Phase, Trem and don't mind a few other effects, and you really like to customise and tailor effects to you needs this thing does so. I like it that Eventide have taken a lot of care with it. I mean USB updates, Exp pedals, stereo setup, and all the stuff you realise is in it once you start tweaking. I feel like Eventide put a lot of love into their products (and are also damn knowledgable by the breadth and scope of their products). That is a nice thing because I feel like they wanted to (and will ) please pretty much everyone with the Modfactor and Timefactor, and without sacrificing quality. They definately make products for the discerning musician I feel. Anyway, if you need things that the Eventide delivers you will not be dissapointed. It may not stop you buying gear but hopefully it will get you off the net and onto your instrument.

typically with a pedal with all these features you have to dink around inside menus to adjust your presets, this one just has 10 knobs right there on front so it couldn't be any simpler, you do need to understand how modulation works though or i'm sure it would seem difficult, you need to understand a signal because this pedal will modulate the signal to the fullest extent.

studio quality is the only sound i get out of it

i play in stereo that makes a huge difference

i've duplicated all but a few effect pedals

this is a digital effect and it's got more processing power than any other digital mod pedal i've heard, i can't really hear the digital harshness of a/d, some cork sniffers i'm sure can but 99% of any audience won't ever notice that, and unless you're in a small club with no pa your cab will get mic'd and you'll get put through the mixer and probably some a/d processing there too so good luck...

so it can't be compared to analog effects, but to get all these sounds at this quality with analog pedals you'd need a pedalboard the size of an elephant

built like a brit shickhouse

they have a support forum and they're keeping firmware updated and manuals updated so it's been good so far

i really like the midi control i plan to get a timefactor and midi and sync these pedals, if a pitchfactor ever comes out i'll be waiting in line for that

It does take a bit of experimentation and reading of the manual before you can really start to take advantage of the features, but its really NOT THAT HARD!!

First and Foremost: If you have this pedal and don't have an expression pedal, put your computer down RIGHT NOW and get to a music store and buy the Roland EV-5. The ModFactor is ESSENTIALLY USELESS WITHOUT AN EXPRESSION PEDAL. Trust me, you'll be BLOWN AWAY at how the pedal comes alive with it!

Anyone that thinks this unit isn't as good sounding as any other modulation device ever made is really missing something...
There is simply no limit to the tonal possibilities.

BTW, if your looking to replicate a specific effect, spend some time and learn how the knobs work. You can create replications of any effect if you try hard enough. Also, If your looking to create a new and original voice, this can be an invaluable tool.

The ability to add external switches and program them to do any number of functions is fantastic.

This thing also replaced my vox wah on my board. I was surprised at how accurate it did a wah!

nothing bad yet

Haven't needed it yet.

This tool has opened up the world to me sonically. I have created some sick patches that wouldn't have been possible with ANY other mod pedal ever built.

The ModFactor is not the easiest processor to use, but it's not difficult either. There are way many awesome sounds, even in the presets. The manual is okay, could be deeper in specific info but does explain what you need to know to get going. It is definitely a "tweaker's delight" but as long as you're aware of when the knob functions change it's not frustrating (here's where the manual really comes in handy). I don't know the firmware or whatnot as I got mine used and don't see any need to update it.

The ModFactor's sound quality is incredible. I don't understand why it's getting panned on these reviews. My favorites are the modfilter, the rotary, and the flange, although there are so many possiblities that it'd be hard not to find some good sounds (and some bad ones depending on your tastes). The Q-Wah is surprisingly good, I use it alot and the ModFactor has replaced my Pigtronix Envelope Phaser. The chorus, phaser, trem, and vibe are sweet. The undulator is far out cool and I'm still finding our what can be done with it. As I said earlier, it's extremely tweakable and excellent sounds can be found with patience and an open ear. The only effect I don't like is the Ring Mod; they could have done without it in my opinion. I play acoustic electric Takamines and Fishman Loudbox amps along with some Damage Control pedals and a Loop Station. The ModFactor fits right in.

Seems well built. It was like new when I got mine used a month ago.

Great web site.

At the moment I also own Damage Control Time Line, Glass Nexus, and Liquid Blues, a few Boss Twin Pedals (Giga Delay, Space Echo, Drive Zone, Loop Station), an Emma Discumbobulator, and a Roger Linn Adrenalinn III. I've had Lexicon and tc electronic rack units over the years as well. I'm very impressed with the ModFactor and plan on acquiring their TimeFactor. It's some bucks, but if you want the best then ...

This is a pedal for know twiddlers. Depending on how complex you want your sounds to be and to what extent you want to control them via expression pedal an aux switches, the programming can be a bit too demanding for the average guitar-playing Joe who just wants to plug in his gear and be ready to go (hey, that's a rhyme ;-).
Having a synthesizer-programming background, it's no problem for me to get a lot of good and some very unusual sounds, but be aware of the fact that you have to spend some time in setting up and programming this baby. If you do, your reward will be a versatile sound palette with a lot of live tweakability.

The sound quality is superb and the unit isn't noisy at all. You can get chorus, phaser, flanger, wah, filter, rotary, tremolo, vibrato and ring modulator sounds from subtle to wild and extreme. The unit can be controlled via an expression pedal and three additional aux switches (the Digitech FS 300 works like a charm), giving you six switches in all, so you can control things like tap tempo, bank switching (there are 40 program slots) slowing down or speeding up the rotary simulation etc.
The presets are good, but you have to spend some time to get everything from this box.

I haven't had the unit for a very long time, so I can't really say anything about its reliability, but the box itself is sturdy and built like the proverbial tank.
I would definitely use it on a gig without backup.

I haven't had any real problem with the ModFactor yet, but Eventide has a very good support/user forum where at least my questions were answered by Eventide staff quickly and friendly.

I'm into weird and experimental stuff, so this unit is quite a good match. If it were stolen, I would definitely buy it again.

When I first got the ModFactor I thought, "What was Eventide thinking?" I was not hearing at all what I was expecting. I tried twisting some knobs and couldn't seem to dial in the sound I wanted. It took a few days for me to get to know it...and then I had much better results. I use this in my recording studio - not live. I have the time to goof with it - I would not recommend this pedal for live players - unless you have a midi control pedal that will call up your presets (which you will have previously edited and stored). For live use you are better off going with cheaper Boss/MXR/EHX pedals. For studio work this thing makes better sense.

Sound quality is so subjective - but I really think the pedal sounds awesome when you use it in stereo mode. Again, you will have had to probably tweak the s*** out of the patch. Some pedals are made to be used with an amp - others are more studio oriented, and I think the ModFactor is more of a studio piece. I am familiar with modular synthesizers so the term of "modulating the modulator" does not throw me - but it has to be confusing for the regular guy who just needs to plug in and play. I like the feature of using a volume envelope or the ADSR (attack, decay, sustain, release) of your sound to modulate the effect. I immediatley found uses for it in my recordings. But I am a studio geek.

So far, so good - for this price it better f****** be!

not needed, yet

A typical recording setup for me is my Strat or Les Paul into a Pigtronix Attack Sustain for compression into a Damage Control Demonizer or Marshall JMP-1 pre-amp into the ModFactor and that into a Damage Control Timeline or TC Electronic D-Two Delay - I record directly into my M-Audio firewire interface. I also use the Modfactor on my synths.

I also have a a TC Electronic G-Major and Lexicon PCM-80. Out of the box the G-Major has much better chorus/flange presets than the Modfactor - but once you spend some time with it the Modfactor really comes alive. I was very disappointed the first day I had it - but then over time I came to love it. Now I use it constantly. If you have the time and patience this could be a good investment. If you are looking for instant gratification this pedal is WAY overpriced.