Eventide Orville

This is my first Eventide device, but I didn't have any problems with it just from the start. I could find everything I need just right the way. Maybe because I spend some years with computers and interfaces, I don't know ...

The best thing I've heard. Nothing more to say, I have to hear it, to believe it ...

Didn't have any problems at all ...

I needed some help from Eventide, so they did it for me, so I am very happy ...

I play everything - rock, pop, country, even heavy metal ... I've doing this since I remeber :) The best thing I found is the reverbs, but everything else is just high-end. Just great!

I cannot beleive the amount of complaints on this page for the "ease of use". You'd have to have a brain the equivalent of a compost heap not to be able to work this thing out. So many people complain and yet I'm sitting here wondering if these same people have actually got any eyes. If they haven't then I may be able to forgive them for thinking that this is a superbly $%^& hard piece of kit to figure out. But if you have got eyes, then why not try reading the &^%$#@ manual instead of complaining. I got this unit and all it took was a few hours to READ THE MANUAL before i was setting up my own custom routing configurations (which are many and splendourful) and start making my own programs using Vsig. The parameters on the programs are self explanatory aswell (if you have ever used effects before they are anyway). The reason Eventide may not put every little detail of every single parameter is because they expect people to be buying this sort of gear to be proficient with effects. This machine is truly advanced in what it can do but on a user friendly level. If you don't know the basic parameters of effects such as compressor, pitchshifting, chorus and reverb etc then you should go back to square one and learn how to put the toilet seat up...

Currently using in my studio setup by routing the quad I/O through my RME Fireface and sending the quad outs to a stereo bus which goes into the effects return of my Mesa Boogie Road King - Great! The brilliant thing about the dual DSP architechture and the subsequent amazing routing possibilities is that i can run the 2 DSP's in parrallel and send DSP 1 to outputs 1 and 2 and DSP 2 to Out 3 and 4. Because the Road King has two effects sends and returns both in series it means i can send the first send signal to the first DSP gating and compressing the sound with a fully wet mix. Because the first effects loop on the RK is series it goes back fully compressed and then it goes out of the second loop which is parallel to DSP 2 which I can then add delay and/or reverb and send it back fully wet and mix in the signal at the start of the second effects loop (ie: the already compressed signal) so I always have the compression but can take away the delay as i please. That is just one such thing I can do with this unit. I would have had to have used two effects boxes to keep the compression signal seperate from the mod effects. The fact that you effectively get two machines in one box is definitely woth the money.

Sound quality - obviously its superb. No noise. blah blah. You should be able to get any sound out of this box and if you can't you either have no head or no hands.

Iv'e owned an H3000 and a DSP4500 before and they both worked perfectly for the time I had them. This is one of the reasons I keep coming back to Eventide.

Emailed them once a very long time ago and they got back to me but this doesn't constitute good customer service so I have no opinion on this.

Sort ya lives out. If you can't work something like this then you are in the wrong game.

Even for a "scientific" device, the Orville suffers from many many problems of its design, such as consistency problems, bad interface, and an old fashion feel that makes it just seem bad to use. The software that is provided is unfriendly. It was NOT designed for public use. Eventide makes it available only because the users wanted it, but in truth, it is far than ready for prime time. AND THAT IS THE BASIS THAT THEY MARKET THIS DEVICE ON! Open platform, custom software! The help is terrible, there are crashes, and the entire concept is not solid, considering how many many years of experience go into this unit. Very very disappointing. I am not an average person either; I have a LOT of experience with very complex equipment across many industries. You need a degree to get inside this thing. And what's worse: it will EAT ALL OF YOUR TIME instead of smoothly making your music follow.

You will be addicted. That is the problem though-- it is a love hate relationtionship because the supprt is horrible and the unit is buggy. That is why I can't give it a 10; I always keep hearing this noise-- a voice in the back of my head saying, "you paid HOW MUCH for this thing???". The heart of the sound quality is just great. Maybe a little too perfect though? Most guitarists I know prefer the sound of the classic H3000 that put Eventide on the map (look at the rigs of the best players and you will still very much see OLD USED EVENTIDES.

Fair to average. I create some programs in the custom editor and there were problems. It is not as stable as the older units, and of course, it has the problem as noted in the other review here that it is poor at program changes live. Oh also, the glowing review is from someone who WORKS FOR THE COMPANY. I once had a problem which prevented the unit making any sound until I shut it down. Not good...considering this was at a concert of 2400 audience members.

Wow. Not good. I am a part of a Yahoo group for this. It is like a boxing ring. So many fights between the company and the customer, and it is typical that Eventide just reply by saying something angry, (even name calling), and booting people from the support group for GOOD (there are no other options). I am astounded at this. In 2004, this company has NO CONCEPT of the spirit of customer service.

I give this unit a 4. Tempted to give it a 5, because the sound is so good, and I'd miss it when it was gone, but I cannot recommend to buy the Orville at the NEW price, when that same money buys SO much in the used Eventide market. Get an old model off ebay, and just hope you don't need any customer service!

I've said it before, the manual needs to be re written so it doesn't "scare" people off.

Details of each parameter need to be written by someone who is actually a musician and not a technical employee. Eventide may have time control down but communication? you read the online manuals and you tell me.

Even with the unit in front of you the manual is a nightmare that needs exact detail.

I will spare you all the comments on how good an Eventide product sounds, you already know this. But its functionality is another story.

This review is purely focused on the ability of harmonization from an Orville. I haven't seen too many posts on this and I want to ensure all existing and potential buyers are aware of its limitations.

As I write ALL current Eventide units CANNOT do "user custom scales"
This also takes their new H8000 model into account.

You will see the term Ultra Harmonizer from Eventide's marketing team in their ads and this leads people to believe that it does everything regarding harmony. It is incorrect and totally misleading.

Ultra Harmonizer is an algo optimised for vocal harmony ONLY.

Instrument harmony is totally lacking, the reality at Eventide today is that they have abandoned "creative" instrument harmonisation. In actual "fact" the H3000 performs harmonisation faster (better tracking) and more comprehensively than any unit after it from Eventide. This goes for user custom scales AND fixed scales.

In practical terms Orville cannot even perform a simple harmony involving a pedal tone, whether this is done by a guitar, bass, vocal or whatever. Orville's instrument tracking is poor and is a very pitiful second to a Digitech product. Yes, you are reading correctly.

A very clear and SIMPLE example of this would be trying to perform a song from Bad Company called "Feel Like Making Love" I give you the example below that can be played on a Digitech IPS 33B, it is the high voice that you would play whilst the harmoniser would perform the lower note.
(High note on the B string lower note on the G string)

F# F# E F# G G F# G B B A B A G
D D C D D D D D F# F# E F# E D

As you can see it doesn't get any more simple than this. For what you are paying for and the fact that the H3000 had this ability Eventide should be ashamed of themselves. Be mindful that they invented the Harmonizer. Progress with newer units means going forward and NOT backwards in functionality.

Also with dual DSPs and enormous resources at its disposal the Orville STILL has dropouts between program changes. More accurately the program changes fade in and out. Before anybody tells you that this will only happen if you are using a huge program string they are wrong. This applies even when you are using a single mono delay. You can perform workarounds to somewhat alleviate this but should you have to?? If you sit in a studio this may not concern you but for the live musician using a midi pedalboard or switching via the front panel watch out.

I believe that most people out there think that the Eventide brand is still king of the heap regarding creativity, sound and functionality. Without the ability to design custom harmonisation it is NOT. Programmable routing configs and pristine sound are available in other products for less money.

All is not lost however, with Eventide's open platform operating system they have the ability to correct the above shortfalls and release the necessary algos to users.

If Eventide ever do get around to addressing this let me make it clear that anything less than the H3000?s ability is totally and utterly un-acceptable. Given hardware standards and software routines today it SHOULD surpass the older series in every way possible.

If you are an owner or a potential buyer of an Eventide product and you would like this functionality I strongly urge you to contact them voicing your request. This has been done to date on their "Eventide helps" board but still nothing has been done.

To contact Eventide do so by e-mailing them at rcf@tide1.eventide.com or rcf@eventide.com and remember to put in the subject line ORVILLE as this ensures they don?t reject it as SPAM mail.

For the record I did own and use an Orville but have since sold it due to the above reasons.

I hope this info has benefited somebody out there. I would sincerely like to

As you would expect.

Italo is very good on their help site but let me say he needs to be mindful that not everybody has his extensive experience on an Eventide device and his patience and responses need improvement in some instances.

He can be incorrect at times and needs to accept this. I know for a fact that many people are not happy on how he conducts himself on the board.(I have e-mails directly to me from people on the board to support this)

Eventide is not perfect and when Italo can accept this he will have more respect from the audio community.

Eventide in NJ are OK. There are some employees who do care, how many? We will see.

All has been said in the above.

I own the orville V-3.01 plus eve/net remote control
It has been made to be as easy as such a complex unit can be. More is More difficult, but somebody has thought very carefully to make it as intuitive as possible.
the eve/net dedicated remote control is the icing on the cake. You can sit back with it in your hand and the sky is the limit. no need to leave the programing chair or sofa and hear the results in only one speaker.
PRO PRO PRO .
BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE!!!! The jog wheel on the eve/net does not function properly. It reacts completely differently to the actual jog on the orville (which is great). when the jog is turned at normal speed it stutters and will not achieve much result. when turned slowly it works fine. This becomes a problem when you want to race through freq settings for instance.
THIS IS NOT UNWORKABLE but is very annoying when you are in the heat of your music and have to remember that slow works and normal to fast speed does not.
After investigation I was told by eventide that they are aware of this problem and the software hardware issue that causes this has not been solved at this current date.
If you buy the EVE/NET you should know of this prob B4 you spend your 1500 dollars on it.
AS this is not a review about the Eve/net I will not give a lower rating.

This is where the shi* is at. Get one of these babes and get rid of the producer cause this unit is produce your album.
Instead of spending 10000 on plugins get the essentials, dyn eq, that need to be on every channel, and get one of these. ANy plugin that egsistsss from normal to crazy, this can do it better.

V3.01 has been crashing a couple of times since I installed it last week.
no biggy. new software always has its bugs. this is no FX unit, it is a computer FX unit. TOTALY programable and modular.
to bad it only works with PC. is that shooting yourself in the foot or what?!

When you spend 6000 dollars in a company with such a name as eventide you would imagine that if you have a major problem, specially in the first month since purchase, They would make sure you were taken care of if you had any problem. and if the problem was big you would expect them to
ups a new machine A S A P.
NO NO NO. There customer support is shameful.
EVENTIDE DO NOT LIKE TALKING TO CUSTOMERS ON THE PHONE. Go figure, I spend 6000 $ and they will not talk to me a week later when I have a problem. ONLY E-MAIL.
IT TOOK THEM THREE MONTHS TO ADMIT THAT THEIR EVE/NET DOES NOT WORK PROPERLY!!!!.
DO NOT even try registering on the website. it is a waste of time. Does not work.
They should go take a Lesson in customer Support from Digidesign.

Creme de la Creme.
IF you are a PRO, GET IT and you will become more SO.
hey look I've written a song,..

very easy to use if you have Experience with high quality effects
and if your buying an eventide you do. manual is great...................................ps the guy below me is a joke
behringer "right"

the best out there! no noise. lush reverbs..all the effects in the unit are top notch. the best ive heard. great for mastering too.
all in one box.

great

very good ..no waiting most of the time

ita a great value. sell all your other effects once you buy this..

This unit is difficult to use. I have been sitting behind FX processors for 15 years. This box makes no sense.

it sounds pretty good. the reverbs are nice, however, I'll take my Behringer Edison over it any day of the week and twice on sunday. the harmonizing effects are decent, but again, i already have a digitech vocalist workstation which works just as good, if not better.

haven't had any problems

don't know

this box is okay. the funny thing is that i have pieces of it already in other gear that i already had before i bought it (Edison, Vocalist Workstation, Alesis Midiverb, Roland VS8F-2 expansion card, ect..). i am pretty unimpressed, considering the money i spent.

Well, it's a little bit difficult to learn at first, but obviously worth it. The power here is STAGGERING.

Unbelievable. Reverbs & Pitch shifts, the hardest things to do well, are beyond words. Best I've ever heard.

can't say--unit is a month old.

don't know.

I would rant and rave, but obviously, Italo's done that for us. I heard something about the Orville recently that summed it up nicely for me: "Orville--it's not an effects processor, it's a lifestyle."

It truly is THAT deep.

Italo De Angelis again: Yahoo bought e-groups so all addresses changed. To reach th Eventide-users Group this is what you need to know:Post message: eventide-users@yahoogroups.com
Subscribe: eventide-users-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Unsubscribe: eventide-users-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
List owner: eventide-users-owner@yahoogroups.com
URL to the page: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/eventide-users
My own homepage www.geocities.com/italoop has mp3s from cds recorded with Orville and patches to download for any user...check it out!!!
Best regards..Italo

The promise has been kept. The DSP4000 follower has come to life, embodied in an extremely evolved life form, absolutely beyond any existing processor and maybe at the moment imaginable; we have the plesure to test the ?monstrous? Orville, now available in Italy since its introduction on the market one year ago. Let?s now state some of its striking features: two processors in two Machines A and B, totally separate and indipendent processing units, each having four times the power of a DSP4000! Yes, you are reading correctly, it?s like having 8 DSP4000!!! 4 analog balanced/unbalanced inputs, 4 analog balanced outputs, 4 digital inputs selectable in two ways, 2 on an S/PDIF connector + 2 on an AES/EBU or all of them on 2 AES/EBU connectors, 4 digital outputs of equal configurations, Word Clock in and out, 24 bit conversion, 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz or 96kHz selectable sampling rates. All inputs and outputs are always available at the same time, making the unit a 8ins/8outs processor. Each internal processor has 4 inputs and 4 outputs and the audio routing between the two machines can be configured in really countless ways: from parallel to serial A>B or B>A, connecting any outer world input (8) to any input (4x2) of the 2 processors, then going out from any output (4x2) of the processors to the unit outputs (8).
?Anything to anything? is the rule in this machine?
If you think of how many sound sources can be connected, processed and handled at the same time by Orville, its audio routing creative power becomes evident: we can get tons of ways to make connections like Analog Serial Quad, Dual Quad, Digital Parallel Quad, Analog Dual Stereo, Mono to Quad Serial, Mono to Quad Parallel and many, many others that the user can build and save for different tasks. Moreover this is THE ONLY REALLY QUADRAPHONIC processor on the market, thanks to internal modules like Quad mixers and panners that can handle the sound panorama on 2 axis: X for Left<>Right panning and Y for Front<>Rear. I?ll tell you for sure?if you connect four professional monitors to this monster?s outputs you can really enjoy unimaginable three dimensional and realistic sonic experiences that can be very moving.
Let?s state some other features for the records: frequency response up to 5Hz-46kHz with dynamic range >110dB; input headroom up to +26dB; same for output. Each machine has 43.5 seconds of available delay time and Machine A ALSO has 173 seconds available for sampling and/or delay, thanks to its Sampler Board that comes standard on Orville. The other Eventide processors can have the sampler board as an option. So we?re talkin? about 4.20 minutes of audio memory at 48kHz sampling rate, freely configurable for any kind of imaginable sampling, processing and looping task, absolutely syncable to Midi Clock and Tap Tempo.
We tried connecting a tube preamp output to Orville?s input and the other output to a stereo power amp; Orville?s output went into the other channel of the power amp; then we compared the sound without noticing any difference between the straight channel and the A/D-D/A converted one, as far as tone and dynamics are concerned. Thanks to the high quality 24 bit converters and the high sampling rates our tone is safe and healthy: Orville can easily process audio in serial routings between preamp and power amp, without any tone or dynamic loss. The unit can even add huge gain to the power amp and behave as a complex midi analog/digital audio router/patch by with extreme quality and flexibility, saving you a lot of money to get such a specialized unit which is very expensive and hard to find on the italian market. Gone are the times of those heavy huge racks, full of many different units: Orville alone can do the jobs of 10/12 discrete digital processors at least, at the same time and better than anything on earth.
After a few weeks of explorations into the vast depths of this ?box?, let?s try to give you an idea of what it can