Eclipse vs. H8000 FW

[Fender17]

Is there something that is better on Eclipse comparing to H8000 FW?  I know Eclipse is smaller than H8000 and has tap tempo button on front panel. Is there any other advantage of Eclipse over H8000? Something that Eclipse can do and H8000 cannot.

I ask as I got the both quite recently and question myself, is there any sound reason/justification to keep Eclipse beside H8000 FW? Should I keep only H8000 FW and sell Eclipse?

[Matthias Adloff]

I didn’t even find a reason to keep the H8000FW when the H9000 came out. But my Eclipse didn’t ever offer me something the H8000FW couldn’t. I just owned it to have more horse power, which was obsolete with the H9000 later.

[noodle1]

It probably makes more sense to sell the Eclipse and get another 8000; one for the road or a backup 🙂
Technically they are different (algos dont follow the 4000-7000-8000-9000 tradition)…
Really nothing the 8000 cant handle (VSig)
No comparison under the hood… (DSP, I/O, better A/D/A converters)
Probably the only “advantage” is the smaller size but it has maybe *1/32* of the DSP so you’re really not getting more in terms of power/weight ratio but the Eclipse is generally more affordable for ppl who dont save enough money.
Lots of ppl still use the eclipse who are pros, I think they get overwhelmed by the prospect of the 2U units, but I think the 2U is much easier to use.
I’ve never heard the eclipse really sound better than any of the big brothers, altho it does have an exceptionally clean sound… very, very good.
In the end, you will have to see if you like anything YOU ARE HEARING from the Eclipse better.
I never did….

P.S. Steve Stevens and Tim Pierce have their reasons tho, they really like some of the sounds and continue to use them…I think they use them to add basic reverb (Tim) and delay (Stevens)

[Fender17]

Thanks guys, I’ll give it time. It looks like value of Eclipse rises in time, so no hurry….

Is there any SW to make patches/programs for Eclipse? Programs are just text files, the structure and philosofy is more or less clear, but there are more versions of format (seems to me). It should be possible to convert many patches from H9, which are also stored in text file. And possibly also from Eventide plugins….

[noodle1]

I would recommend carefully reading this particular note on what you’re up against and understand more about the sigfiles, error checking, etc

FAQs

Eventide Eclipse V4
“Can VSig be used with an Eclipse?”

[Fender17]

Thanks for warning…. I can imagine, many things may go wrong… Maybe better to focus on H8000 and leave Eclipse as is, or create patches directly on it….

But still, it seems to me that data structure of Eclipse patches is relatively simple. It only seems it has several versions as things were added to Eclipse as it evolved…. Good to know, there are no or little checks for errors…. And one may brick Eclipse if patch file has wrong data….

[Matthias Adloff]

In terms of the AD/DA quality in the H8000FW, noodle1 is probably right. To be more precise, the converters in the H9000 are very good, but there is no gain staging. People have been asking for another extension card – that would make sense.

But definitely yes, keeping the Eclipse is a good idea if you don’t need the money to invest it elsewhere. In these times, it’s extremely unlikely that any of these units will drop in price anywhen soon – so let’s consider the Eventides to be a kind of “electronic gold” 🙂

[noodle1]

I was just comparing the general quality of the I/O on the eclipse vs the 8000… as the 8000 would be a step up in quality, as would the 9000 in this regard. For example:
Input Dynamic Range:
Eclipse >100db
H8000 > 110db
H9000 > 114db

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