Pitch Factor Whammy vs Digitech Whammy WH-1 or even WH-4?

[oddb0d]

I am considering the PitchFactor and thinking it can maybe replace my Whammy on pedalboard. I've been trying to find a comparison between the Digitech Whammy and the PitchFactor Whammy sound? How close are they? Can you adjust the PitchFactor to get those nice "musical" artifacts that the Whammy introduces?

Also can you make the 2 inputs on the PitchFactor totally isolated? Could I have two different inputs into the unit and not experience any bleed between the two channels? I want to hook it up to my switcher to be in loop 1 and loop 8. That way I can use the whammy using the Input 1 and turn off loop 8. Then when I want to use it at the end of my chain for a shimmer / crystal sound I can turn off loop 1 and then activiate loop 8 which will feed the Input 2. I just want to make sure I won't get any weird stereo signal loss as I am only using only one of the outputs.

[onusx]

i don't know the answer to your stereo i/o question for your application, but i can say that i bought the pitchfactor after years of comparisons to other pitch shifters because IMO it's the best thing to ever come out in a stompbox format for whammy style effects.

i love the musicality of the whammy 1, but could never justify the price given some of its limitations, and later whammys, while all somewhat cool, were never very satisfying to me. i'd play them here and there, dream of all the possibilities with a pedal that would do what they advertised, but ultimately i was unhappy with the sound quality and tracking on the whammys.

the pitchfactor isn't **perfect** in its tracking but it's the best i've heard, it's extremely musical, and its other settings and features make it one of the coolest things to come out in a floor box. i'm generally not a fan of multi-effects OR DSP based effects. i used the time factor on some recordings and live a few times when it came out but ultimately returned it. loved the features, but couldn't handle the fact that it sounded more like a computer than the analog and tape delays i prefer, and there are richer sounding digital delays too. i still recommend it to people for whom features are the biggest factor because it does sound good, and there aren't many other stompbox delays out there with the programmability and preset memory that could even rival the eventide. maybe in a few years the A/D converters for units like this will improve and those subtle tonal differences will disappear.

for the pitchfactor, while you still get some of that DSP tone with it, because the uses for the pedal or so unique, for me it's completely worth it. add the aux switches or a couple of expression pedals allowing you to control changes to all the knobs with one foot sweep, and the possibilities are insane for this thing. there's nothing like it short of using a laptop to automate all your effects, or having an engineer or someone manipulate your signal for you while you play. the thing is crazy. it does ALL the stuff i'd want a whammy for and then 10X more on top of it. if you're willing to spend the money on a whammy 1, i'd at least demo it against the pitchfactor first. the presets out of the box may not convince you, but spend some time adjusting the default settings and it will open up. i still haven't gotten the hang of mine, which may be one argument against it– almost too much flexibility, but if you have the discipline to focus on getting sounds you like instead of just futzing with it, the thing is gold.

[oddb0d]

This was a great reply. Thanks and very helpful. I went ahead and returned my Whammy WH-4 and Verbzilla and went with the PitchFactor. Yikes now I have all three eventide stomboxes….

[Clauded]

What about Pitchfactor vs. Digitech Harmonyman. Who tracks better ?

[feralchild]

I used to use the WH-4 (reissue whammy). I got a Pitchfactor to replace my Digitech Timebender, which is a similar but far less sophisticated pitch shifting delay pedal.

At first used both, feeding the PF into the Whammy, but I rarely had both operating at the same time (it does sound pretty cool when you suddenly divebomb a flutter of arpeggiated delays!). I decided I had to simplify my board so now my WH-4 is in the "for sale" pile. It may still come back… IDK.

I made several patches for the Pitchfactor that match the 4-5 functions I used to use on the Whammy.(+/- 1 oct, +/- 2 oct, 2 semitones down, etc).

The sound/tone is VERY similar, including the little artifacts that occur as the note decays (which I also kind of like, even though many players say they sound "computery" – duh, why did I get a PitchFactor in the first place u think? haha).

I don't know how it compares to a WH-1 because I don't have one… a lot of people claim they sound more "analog." They are going for like 700 bucks on Ebay right now…

There may be slightly less latency introduced with the PF than the WH-4, but both have noticable latencies to me and the difference between the two is negligible.

Both sound 'digital' in my opinion. Some people say they sound "cold." It doesn't bother me. In an effects loop, there is zero noticeable tone loss when they are bypassed. When they are ON, they sound in my opinion like they are supposed to sound.

Long story short, as an owner of both pedals, I think you can absolutely replace a WH-4 with a Pitchfactor and never look back. Unless you want to use both… like me…

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