I believe Eventide said that it can’t release any more algorithms for the H9 because its memory is full. I accept that.
However, I think it’s time for one more firmware/control-app update that solves some limitations/problems that have been known for years (and maybe a few new surprising tweaks). For example, a firmware/control-app update could:
1. Finally allow ribbon controller and hotswitch capability to all of the algorithms (or at least the H9ers). Realtime volume/output control may not be a big deal in the studio, but this is a stomper for live use and volume/output control is huge for that. Yes, I know they put out a patch job that allowed some control but it is, frankly, awful (not at all like their excellent ribbon/hotswitch control).
2. Gui update that allows preset drag and drop (copy) presets from the preset list screen to another list (shown by list name only on the left side). This would be sort of the inverse of their current drag and drop feature. This way you could make one master preset list and then create new ones by dragging presets from your master into a newly created empty list (and not have to scroll through many algos you’ve never used). It would be much more intuitive. The presets in the new list would populate in the order that you drag them. This would make it easier to create variant lists for different gigs/bands.
3. Gui update that includes an “undo” button for any function in the control app.
4. Fix the “rename preset” feature accessible from the preset list screen. I’m a windows user and almost every time I have used that my preset gets erased … reset to zero … obliterated. As it is now, the only way to reliably rename a present id to open the preset and use the “rename preset” feature accessible from the individual preset screen. I have no idea whether this is a problem with Apple users, but it sure is with Windows 10 and Windows 7.
5. Gui that has a “notes” field for whatever text a user might want to add … notes to self/reminders/etc.
These (and maybe some other firmware/control-app changes) would significantly improve the H9 before both functionality and algorithm options are frozen for all time.
A GUI with a user notes field could also improve preset sharing.
User notes/instructions would accompany every preset share so people who receive a copied preset can have guidance as to that preset. Also, the Eventide sharing website could be designed to automatically extract and present this information to users browsing presets. This is now (sometimes) done manually and that’s a lot of work. Mostly, the shared presets on the website have no description. The whole thing would be more useful if user notes and preset screen shots (see below) are presented automatically.
Further, the Control App/GUI should have the capability to automatically generate a preset screen shot (of some efficient/small file size and useful type … jpg?). That way the screen shot for the preset could be a file icon and/or or otherwise be easily viewed. Also, people could share screen shots instead of .h9z files if desired (this would have a potent visual impact for sharing on discussion forums). The Eventide website sharing feature could also present that image to users browsing for presets (seeing the screen allows a user to understand what the preset is/does at a glance).
