Eventide's new H90 Harmonizer Multi-FX Workstation essentially doubles down on the H9 Max with much improved interface and connectivity and with 10 new algorithms onboard

As a long-term user and fan of Eventide’s H9 Max, the H90 Harmonizer has been something we have all been clamouring for - for a very long time. There is much to recommend the H9 - but its on-pedal interface has always been somewhat feeble, and without the superb Bluetooth connected App the pedal wouldn’t really have been particularly usable.

Multitudes of us have been asking for a better and more intuitive interface - with more meaningful screen display. And Eventide have really pulled out all the stops on this new and improved edition - where you can essentially consider the new H90 as being 2 x H9 Max’s together as you can select 2 algorithms to play back at a time - with all kinds of clever wiring / cabling and routing options - parallel and series - for ultimate stereo output fidelity.

Eventide has picked up all kinds of cool cues here from both the Line 6 Helix Stomp, and the Boss GT-1000 CORE equivalent - and has a little of the GFI Synesthesia in there too - where the new onboard control interface and topology is massively improved and far more logical and intuitive than the H9 ever was.

You get to see the Preset / Program Name - as well as the two algorithms / effects it consists of - and then the 3 key parameters for immediate tweaking via the Quick Knobs below the display. The display also houses Input Monitor LED’s and 2 state LED’s which indicate when Bluetooth is on among other functions.

Controls - Select Program / Playlist / Bank [hold], Perform / HotKnob, Programs + Routing (System when pressed together), Quick Parameter Knobs 1-3, Presets + Parameters (Tempo when pressed together), [P] Active / On Footswitch, [A] Bank Down Footswitch, [B] Bank Up Footswitch.

Control really seems to be significantly improved with really quick access to Parameters in particular. And Connectivity here has been enormously improved too with 2 sets of stereo ins and outs, and 2 expression jack ports. While the full-size MIDI In & Out/Thru ports sit on the left-hand side of the pedal.

With this new version, we also get 10 brand new algorithms / effects :

• Bouquet Delay BBD Style Delay with Modulation
• Even-Vibe Uni-Vibe
• Head Space Vintage 4-Head Tape Delay
• Instant Phaser
• Instant Flanger
• Polyphony Pitch-Shifted Chords
• Prism Shift 3-Voice Generator
• SP2016 Reverb Rack-style Reverb
• WeedWacker 2-Stage Overdrive
• Wormhole Hyper Modulated Reverb with Pitch Warp

To go with the already incredibly formidable 52 Effects & Algorithms, for a killer set of 62 :

• Band Delay
• Blackhole Reverb
• Chorus
• CrushStation Overdrive/Distortion
• Crystals Pitch-Shifter
• Diatonic Pitch-Shifter
• Digital Delay
• DualVerb
• Ducked Delay
• DynaVerb
• EQ Compressor
• Filter Pong Delay
• Flanger
• H910/H949 Pitch-Shifter
• Hall Reverb
• Harmadillo Harmonic Tremolo
• Harmodulator Pitch-Shifter
• Harpeggiator Pitch-Shifter
• HotSawz Synth
• Looper
• MangledVerb
• MicroPitch Pitch-Shifter
• ModEchoVerb
• Mod Delay
• ModFilter
• MultiTap Delay
• Octaver
• Phaser
• PitchFlex Pitch-Shifter
• PitchFuzz
• Plate Reverb
• Q-Wah
• Quadravox Pitch-Shifter
• Resonator
• Reverse Delay
• Reverse Reverb
• RingMod
• Room Reverb
• Rotary
• Sculpt
• Shimmer Reverb
• SpaceTime - Twin Modulated Delay with Reverb
• Spring Reverb
• Synthonizer Pitch-Shifter
• Tape Echo
• TremoloPan
• Tremoloverb
• TriceraChorus
• UltraTap Delay
• Undulator
• Vibrato
• Vintage Delay

I’ve tended to mostly use my H9 Max for the Rotary Effect (Josh Smith), then Reverbs (Blackhole etc.), Delays, and some Harmonizing and Pitch-Shifting - but mostly Rotary and Reverb.

The improved interface will make it a lot easier to deploy and will most likely mean I would use the H90 more often - rather than as a somewhat understudy currently.

You can now very quickly access essential parameters and scroll between them - for a much more tactile and hands-on experience. This is definitely something I’ve been waiting to happen for a while. Of course the all-singing and dancing H90 Harmonizer comes at a price - $899 - which means it’s not going to be a snap purchase. And it comes a little late in the year for me - as I am already committed in various other places as regards budgets and finances - and am actually still tying to fully get to grips with the Meris LVX - it would be foolhardy of me if I got in another complex pedal to soon - that I would need to spend copious amounts of time to adapt / adjust to it.

So I will save up for it and look to land it early next year - when I have more time to spend on its more finer points.

This has genuinely been a really exciting year for pedal development and evolution - and it will be tough to pick out the overall winner of best new pedal for 2022 - so much competition!

I think the Meris LVX is possibly a little more revolutionary, and this H90 rather more evolutionary. While there are some aspects of the LVX I still find challenging - particular the relatively tiny screen from a standing viewpoint - my middle-aged eyesight struggles to pick out exactly what’s going on - and from that distance the text / legends are too small really.

That’s something the Eventide H90 most definitely seems to have gotten right - with its much bigger screen real-estate - that part is a massive move forward.

And for all those who used to deploy 2 x H9’s on their board - you can now make do with 1 x H90! Improvements all-round for sure.

I’m definitely onboard for this journey - it just looks like it’s more likely to happen early next year than particularly imminently - and no doubt there will be availability issues to contend with then too!

They only aspect I’ve not seen any deep details on is the H90 Control App - as to how different / improved that is over the H9 one - which was starting to look a little dated in some places!

Note also the slightly unusual power supply requirement - current draw 1,000mA at 12V [+] - centre positive - which means I would need to further upgrade my power supply infrastructure to accommodate this pedal - meaning an additional Cioks unit - which I would piggy-back off my Cioks 8 unit most likely!

What say all of you - I’m guessing a lot of you are excited by this announcement?