Why not put 5 H9 Max’s in a pedalboard format a la Fractal FX-8 (which actually looks like a Bob Bradshaw pedalboard…kind of) and have all of the Eventide algorithms available anywhere in the signal chain with all the routing done internally? Again, I’m simplifying this quite a bit but I have no doubt Eventide could do create something much better than what I’ve described. 
Well, we’re looking at new parts all of the time. Eventually, that will happen. It’s inevitable. Processors keep getting faster and cheaper. It’s only a question of when, and that’s true not only for Eventide but for everyone making digital pedals. (But just to be clear… We’re not currently working on a 4 or 5 core pedal board…)
I still think a 5 core pedal board would be great, but perhaps a broader observation would be more useful. The musical instrument/pro audio market is oversaturated with products. It’s a buyers market at the moment. Contrary to common thought (and possibly economics) I don’t want buying power, I want things that work. The Eventide logo carries more weight then ever now. When I needed a power supply to power my Eventide pedals I bought an Eventide PowerFactor. It was that simple. I also learned about Cioks in the process whom I now trust to power any and all of my pedals. Problems arose when it came to buying an expression pedal and Aux. switches. Most expression pedals use a TRS jack and none of them seemed to be rated at anything less than 50 k Ohm’s. Your recommendation was to use a TS cable with a volume pedal that has no relation to Eventide. Needless to say I bought a traditional expression pedal, it didn’t work properly, so I listened to your recommendation and went with the Ernie Ball Jr. 25K Volume Pedal and things worked out. For the Aux. switch I bought Digitech FS-300’s based on your recommendation and things again worked out. I should have mentioned that I had never bouth an expression pedal before nor Aux. Switches. That probably puts me in the minority among Eventide owners. Regardless, if the Eventide logo is on a product that fulfills an Eventide related need, I’ll buy it because so far every product with the Eventide logo has worked flawlessly. I honestly do not trust expression pedal manufactures that claim their pedal will work on all Eventide pedals, especially when they use a TRS cable and are rated at 50k Ohms.
The Factor/H9 pedals can not be used to their full potential out of the box. You know what 3rd party products will work with your products, and while you share that information liberally, actions speak louder than words and your stamp of approval, the Eventide logo, has the power to instill buyer confidence and eliminate doubt. The 5 core H9 pedalboard idea turns 5 pedals, 1 pedalboard, a lot of patch cables, 1 power supply into a single product that I could carry with one hand and not have to rely on velcro to keep everything together. Eventide makes complex products and I do not expect, nor hope, that to change. My idea eliminates the need for Eventide employees to figure out which MIDI controllers, expression pedals, and Aux. switchs work and which do not. They could simply say “Eventide products work with Eventide products.”
Or, if you could just make an H8000FW pedalboard that would suffice.
