The mf’ing H90

[- ★ - BROCKSTAR - ★ -]

Eagle is like the person that has a crush on a "ugly" person and keeps hanging around them but then talks bad about them around his friends lol.

He sure likes to hang around H90 threads lol. I think they secretly love it lol.

 

[paisleywookiee]

The Timefactor sounds so much better. This was my problem with the H9 before. I replaced a Timefactor with one and regretted it instantly. The H90 is just more of this . H9/90 reverb is so bad it isn’t even funny.

You have the goldest of gold ears.

 

[ejecta]

You have the goldest of gold ears.

 

[Whizzinby]

 

[László]

Everyone likes what they like but you’re not in the minority in knowing the H9 and H90 doesn’t sound like shit. I’m no pro but I have a good friend who’s played on quite a few albums and he still does session work out Nashville and remotely as well. He has an H90 on his board and he uses it quite a bit and never gets told his sound sounds like “glossy digital shit”. It may not be your thing and you can certainly prefer other units who do the same effects but to say it sounds like shit? Laughable.

I play on tracks I compose professionally (though there are plenty of occasions when I hire a better player). I know a lot of players who use, and like, the H9 and H90.

We see them on Tim Pierce's and Pete Thorn's board, among others. I mention them because I sometimes watch their videos and am always amused when they use gear I like.

My son's used his on every project since he got one - he's played on, mixed and produced several records that went gold, and toured the US and Europe with one on his pedalboard.

I point this out mainly to slip in a dad-brag about him, of course.

Eagle's opinion about the H9 is as valid as anyone else's. It's interesting to hear what other people like, dislike, play through, etc., but it doesn't change my decision to have two of them on my pedalboard.

My choice is tempered by 34 years of sitting in front of studio monitors listening to crazy little details no one else cares about. But I'd love to hear what Eagle is using on his board. Might be some cool stuff!

We live. We read. We learn. It all helps, even when we disagree.

Incidentally, I used to argue about gear as passionately as anyone else. But then I realized none of it matters. What sounds right to a player is a very personal choice and you can't really make a mistake if your music makes you happy.

If your music also happens to make other people happy? Go party! That's a bonus! I've had the pleasure of listening to some very fine playing on this forum!

 

[Eagle]

I spent many years with Lexicon PCM TC2290 and a H3000se . These days I tend to use axe 3 fx only.
You get used to them and the way they blend together. The H90 just sits on top and has a tone in everything that imo is pretty fake sounding. The reverb in particular. I was perfectly happy with the Timefactor but made the mistake of assuming the H9 would sound the same.

 

[Eagle]

For me there are FX that sound like FX and then environments

 

[TJontheRoad]

I had both the H9 and H90. I didn’t think they sounded like shit, but felt there are better effects available. There’s a certain hollowness to the Eventide effects I don’t care for. A certain lack of warmth and depth that I could find elsewhere.

 

[László]

I spent many years with Lexicon PCM TC2290 and a H3000se . These days I tend to use axe 3 fx only.
You get used to them and the way they blend together. The H90 just sits on top and has a tone in everything that imo is pretty fake sounding. The reverb in particular. I was perfectly happy with the Timefactor but made the mistake of assuming the H9 would sound the same.

This isn't to argue the point; there's no mileage in arguing about taste. No one 'wins'.

Coincidentally, besides the Eventide we both used, my other main reverb and delay unit in the '90s and '00s was a TC M5000, their top-of-line box; I thought it sounded great - different from the H3000 d/se, more crystalline. I had several Lexicon units, too, but mostly relegated them to synths and samplers, which at the time usually didn't come with effects.

Every instrument, monitor, amp, effect, mixing console, mic, mic preamp, tube, tape type, cable and (importantly) room has a sound, and one picks and chooses whatever works for a given project.

I composed music for my first TV ad in 1989, and went into the business full time in 1991 (previously I had practiced law, of all things). I've been extremely lucky, and have done an awful lot of music composition and production ever since.

The most important thing I learned about gear in that time is:

"Best" is what works for the project, nothing more. Choices in music production are entirely subjective. Use what works and enjoy the process.

 

[Eagle]

This isn't to argue the point; there's no mileage in arguing about taste. No one 'wins'.

Coincidentally, besides the Eventide we both used, my other main reverb and delay unit in the '90s and '00s was a TC M5000, their top-of-line box; I thought it sounded great - different from the H3000 d/se, more crystalline. I had several Lexicon units, too, but mostly relegated them to synths and samplers, which at the time usually didn't come with effects.

Every instrument, monitor, amp, effect, mixing console, mic, mic preamp, tube, tape type, cable and (importantly) room has a sound, and one picks and chooses whatever works for a given project.

I composed music for my first TV ad in 1989, and went into the business full time in 1991 (previously I had practiced law, of all things). I've been extremely lucky, and have done an awful lot of music composition and production ever since.

The most important thing I learned about gear in that time is:

"Best" is what works for the project, nothing more. Choices in music production are entirely subjective. Use what works and enjoy the process.

I was never a fan of the M5000 but it explains why you like the H90 . I don’t mean that in a bad way just the overall tone of the unit is far more similar.
I like old Lexicon reverb and very similar.
Nobody has ever really made a better sounding delay than the 2290 but now they are old and unserviceable. The best compromise for me is an Axe 3 as it has fx with similar characteristics and it’s incredibly versatile and functional.
The H pedals have exactly the thing that I don’t like in the sound and it’s always apparent whatever you do with it. I don’t mind it in a mix if someone else is using it but I couldn’t use it for me it’s too annoying. I don’t rate much from Strymon either. They change the eq of the dry signal when you engage the effect in a way that I don’t like and can’t not hear in my sound. Once again I don’t mind them is other people’s rigs but that’s about pleasing yourself with your tone . If you’re using stuff you don’t like your not going to be at your best.

 

[FuzzyAce]

"Best" is what works for the project, nothing more. Choices in music production are entirely subjective. Use what works and enjoy the process.

That is an important lesson. That's where my head has been a lot the last few years, and it's helped me accomplish musical goals faster and really enjoy the process. Less time worrying about "perfect" gear and more time about the composition and what it needs. Doesn't mean we can't still crave for that unique piece and what secrets it will magically unlock though. We're all sick in the head.

 

[ejecta]

"Best" is what works for the project, nothing more. Choices in music production are entirely subjective. Use what works and enjoy the process.

Well said. I think what people tend to roll their eyes at is the hyperbolic generalities without any meaningful attempt to quantify why they don’t like something when talking about what gear we prefer to use. You sir don’t have that issue.

 

[László]

If you’re using stuff you don’t like your not going to be at your best.

Couldn't agree more! It's all about being at your best and most creative, whether that's a live show or recording.

Less time worrying about "perfect" gear and more time about the composition and what it needs. Doesn't mean we can't still crave for that unique piece and what secrets it will magically unlock though. We're all sick in the head.

I suffer from the very same sickness!

Then there's this magic trick:

"This piece of gear is the iconic sound of The Beatles!" Or "This plugin library sounds exactly like Hans Zimmer's favorite scoring orchestra!"

Please let me know when a piece of gear makes me sound like [insert name of artist here]. So far, for better or worse (usually worse) I sound like me. Sometimes gear helps, sometimes it's a crutch.

Well said. I think what people tend to roll their eyes at is the hyperbolic generalities without any meaningful attempt to quantify why they don’t like something when talking about what gear we prefer to use. You sir don’t have that issue.

To make up for it, I have other issues - ask my wife!

 

[ejecta]

To make up for it, I have other issues - ask my wife!

Ditto!

 

[Eagle]

Stuff is only subjective to a point. There’s plenty of gear that is just so much better it’s beyond preference. But there is also often stuff that is basically crap but works for one thing in a certain way that makes it right for the job. That doesn’t stop it being crap but it does stop it being useless. The Rockman springs to mind.

 

[FuzzyAce]

Stuff is only subjective to a point. There’s plenty of gear that is just so much better it’s beyond preference. But there is also often stuff that is basically crap but works for one thing in a certain way that makes it right for the job. That doesn’t stop it being crap but it does stop it being useless. The Rockman springs to mind.

Some people have the ability to make 'crap' or less-than-perfect gear sound amazing though. Some even thrive on that experience, especially in recording. The listener in most cases would have no idea what was being used unless they saw it.

 

[Eagle]

Some people have the ability to make 'crap' or less-than-perfect gear sound amazing though. Some even thrive on that experience, especially in recording. The listener in most cases would have no idea what was being used unless they saw it.

That’s just another way of saying the same thing.

 

[FuzzyAce]

That’s just another way of saying the same thing.

Yep, I reread your post again. My mind left out a few words the first time.

 

[Mikael Dez]

I’d amputate a testicle to get something similar in the Fractalverse.

I only have one, it ain’t so bad. Fellas, if you have a painful lump, get it checked

 

[László]

Stuff is only subjective to a point. There’s plenty of gear that is just so much better it’s beyond preference.

That is illogical, Captain. 'Better' isn't a state of being, it always involves a value judgment. Value judgments are entirely subjective. Therefore, 'better' is always subjective.

Here's an illustration: Joe makes the assumption that a studio monitor with lower intermodulation distortion is better than a studio monitor with greater intermodulation distortion. So he decides the model with less distortion is a 'better' monitor, and buys it.

The next week, the manufacturer introduces a monitor with even lower measured distortion.

The first monitor's state of being hasn't changed at all. None of its qualities is any different.

However, for Joe his new 'better' monitor is no longer 'better'.

Clearly, 'better' is not a quality of the object. It's a choice made by Joe about qualities he considers important, i.e., that he prefers.

Bill might prefer a pink monitor to match his favorite socks. A monitor that isn't pink is not better as far as he's concerned.

Chuck may prefer a monitor with a tweeter that has wider dispersion than Joe's. For him, that's a better monitor.

In each case, certain factors are given different weight in deciding what's better. Giving weight to something is a matter of choice - preference. It involves one or more relative decisions.

Preference is entirely subjective.

Choice and preference are factored into every gear decision for anything used to make music. 'Better beyond preference' is an artificial construct assuming that everyone values the same exact things for every purpose. That never happens.

The question is always, "Better for what purposes and whose preferences?"