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

["Krispen Hartung" <khartung@cableone.net>]

Thanks, Per. The effects loop and lack of pre-programmed scales on the 
fireworx is not a problem fo me, as I would not use either function.  When 
you say the Eclipse is big and heavy, you just mean the length of it in 
the 
rack, right? Both are 1 space units.

I'm still up in the air, but I'll read on. I'd buy both if I could afford 
it.

Kris

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Per Boysen" <perboysen@gmail.com>
To: <Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 25, 2006 4:52 AM
Subject: Re: Thoughts on the Eclipse, Fireworx, G-Force, and PCM81


> On 25 jun 2006, at 05.07, Krispen Hartung wrote:
>
>> I'd like to get your thoughts on the Eventide Eclipse, TC  Electronic 
>> Fireworx, TC Electrronics G-Force, and Lexicon PCM81.
>
> Hi Kris,
>
> I own a Fireworx and I have once borrowed an Eclipse for two months  (to 
> decide which one I should go for and also to write a test review  of the 
> Eclipse for a guitar player magazine here in Sweden). I  finally went 
>for 
> the Fireworx because I found one on a sale at a very  good price. I also 
> like that the Fireworx is smaller and lighter. The  Eclipse is quite big 
> and heavy. But sound-wise I think they are  rather equal. What the 
>Eclipse 
> has that you won't get with the  Fireworx is the option to use 
> pre-programmed scales for the pitch  shift function. This means you can 
> use a MIDI footpedal to change  scale and have the machine add two notes 
> behind the note you are  playing, thus creating three piece chords that 
> follow the scale of  the key. To do that with the Fireworx you have to 
> stay away from the  third note when programming the patch, so you can 
>play 
> either a  "major" or a "minor" third with your live instrument while 
> having the  machine adding fifths or quarter intervals behind you. In a 
> way I  like this "musician-craft" approach better, because it's more 
>free 
> and doesn't lock the performer into a given key.
>
> It took some time to get into how to program the Fireworx, but since  I 
> finally managed to wrap my brains around it I just love it. Both  the 
> Fireworx and the Eventide lack the CPU power to play patches that  use 
>all 
> available effects. Especially high resolution reverb is using  lots of 
> CPU. So you have to constantly zap between patches when you  perform and 
> lay down loop layers.
>
> One final word on the Fireworx's effect feeback loop: it sucks  because 
>of 
> latency. When setting up patches inside the Fireworx you  can put a 
> "feedback send" or "feedback return" at any place of the  effect chain. 
> This means that part of the signal will be sent to the  units physical 
> feedback output and retrieved from the feedback input  (digital or 
> analog - but if you use the main analog input for your  signal 
> source/instrument only the digital effect send is available,  and vice 
> versa) But the signal is getting so delayed in that process  that it's 
>not 
> usable. Speaking about "effect loops" there is also  another kind of 
> effect loop that you can set up completely inside the  Fireworx program, 
> but this is another thing and it's working  perfectly well (define an 
> "insert send" at any part of an effect  chain and retrieve that signal 
> with a "insert return" block at an  earlier part so you can "cook" the 
> sound even more by going through  the same effects again. It's a quite 
> open system and if you have the  theoretical knowledge about how to 
>create 
> certain sound with the  normal effect arsenal you should be able to come 
> up with almost  everything on a fireworx - as long as the CPU power 
>stays 
> with you  that is ;-)
>
> However, you can hook up the Fireworx digitally in an effect loop to  
>some 
> other software or hardware and then there is no latency at all.  I 
> sometimes use the Fireworx in Logic, connected digitally to the RMX 
> Multiface audio interface and in praxis it's just as having a bunch  of 
> new - non CPU bogging - plug-ins. This option also comes with the 
> Eclipse, but I never tried it.
>
> Greetings from Sweden
>
> Per Boysen
> www.boysen.se (Swedish)
> www.looproom.com (international)
> http://tinyurl.com/fauvm (podcast)
> http://www.myspace.com/looproom
>
>
>
>