Eventide has finally released a dedicated guitar pedal for their renowned Blackhole reverb algorithm. The Blackhole reverb has been a mainstay in many of their hardware and software products since its debut in the Ultra-Harmonizer DSP4000. The expansive reverb certainly lives up to its namesake with an enormous, dense sound that’s not for the faint of heart. Four of our reviewers put the Blackhole pedal through a long-term test to see how it performed in each of their unique workflows. Their comments in quotes below.
Otherworldly Reverb
For those who are unfamiliar with the Blackhole reverb, please note, this is not your typical, plate, small room, hall or even cathedral reverb, this is, as Eventide describes it, “otherworldly” and “an alternate dimension of ambience.” Our reviewers agreed. “While this reverb is not for everyone, Eventide has captured what makes the Blackhole so special and adroitly translated it into a pedal with plenty of tricks up its sleeve.”
What precisely makes the Blackhole reverb algorithm so special? It’s not easy to do big reverbs. Many sound grainy, granulated and polluted, or worse, thin and tinny. Not the Blackhole. Our reviewers pushed guitars, synthesizers, drum machines, drone machines, experimental acoustic instruments (Waterphone!) through the Blackhole and came away impressed. “It’s really dense, but it possesses a soft charisma that can enhance all the right qualities of your source material, if you have the patience to work your way through the parameters.” It’s these controls which set the Blackhole pedal apart from past products and allow you to “precisely shape and fine tune every part of the reverb,” observed one evaluator.
Ground Control To Major Tom
Let’s take a look at the Blackhole pedal’s controls. On the top of the pedal, there are six knobs, two foot switches and three buttons. Mix sets the degree of dry/wet signal to the output. The Gravity knob determines the amount of decay, allowing you to shape the reverb’s tail. More accurately it acts like an envelope affecting the density and character of the reverb. Clockwise from the 12:00 o’clock Off Position is Normal decay, while counter-clockwise provides an Inverse decay. “Gravity is where a lot of the Blackhole’s magic occurs,” noted one evaluator, “and moving it into the Inverse territory is where things can go beautifully wrong. I love using it on more experimental analog synths, like the Soma Labs Lyra8.” Pressing the down arrow button to the right of the top row of knows acts as Shift giving you access to each knob’s secondary parameter. In the case of the Gravity, the secondary function is Delay, or more accurately Pre-Delay (0 – 2000ms), which is the time between the incoming signal and the onset of the Blackhole’s processing.
The Feedback knob has several dynamic functions. Rotating it completely clockwise makes the Blackhole “Freeze” the current reverb and allows you to play a dry signal on top of it. Dialing the knob back a bit, provides Infinite Decay, extending the reverb, but also affecting any additional signal that you input. This can get “sloppy pretty quickly,” so “additional thought and care is required so you don’t leave the gas on and light a match.”
You can also access the Freeze function using the right footswitch. The secondary function is Q, the resonance of the Lo/Hi filters. The Lo filter is a shelf type operating at 350 Hz and Hi is a shelf at 2000 Hz. The filters come at the end of the reverb chain, providing the ability to reign in unwanted muddiness or smooth out the tails for even more sound sculpting. It is also worth noting that turning up the Feedback control also significantly influences the Pre-Delay, which then becomes more of a regular delay, but with a longer attack for a pumping effect.
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Size Matters
The Size knob defines the reverb’s space, anything from a small room to, well, a galaxy. Although the Blackhole algorithm is known for its expansive environments, it can do small spaces as well. Secondary functions under the Size and Lo knobs are depth and rate modulation controls. This performs almost like a Chorus while adding some subtle motion to the reverb’s tail. The secondary feature of the Hi knob is Output Level, which sets the pedal’s overall output level. The Left Switch marked Active is your basic on/off switch to activate or deactivate the effect. However, pushing the small button above it, turning off the LED, transforms the Active Switch’s function to a momentary on/off effect. This is also utilized for stepping through the five onboard presets in conjunction with the Freeze switch. It sounds a bit wonky, but it’s quite easy once you get the hang of it.
Although Eventide designed the pedal so the user has complete control over all the parameters, you can also dive under the hood with the Eventide Device Manager software available for both Mac and PC. It wasn’t as intuitive as one of our evaluators would have desired, but it works as advertised, simply connect the Mini USB to your computer, launch the Eventide Device Manager and you can update the firmware, import/export/restore the presets, backup the entire device and more. Users of the software, including our reviewers, would certainly benefit from an update to “round off the edges,” including the ability to drag and drop.
Eventide Blackhole Pedal Features:
- Control the Size of your space from a small room to a limitless universe
- Use Pre-Delay to offset the onset of the reverb
- Turn up Feedback to go beyond the event horizon
- Tap the Freeze Footswitch to instantly ‘freeze’ your sound
- Dual action Active Footswitch is latching or momentary
- Rear panel Guitar/Line Level switch for selecting use with guitar, synths, FX loop or DAW interface
- Map any combination of parameters to an Expression Pedal
- Eventide Device Manager for PC and Mac included
- Use a single Aux switch to Tap Tempo or a triple Aux switch for easy preset changing (up/down/load)
- Five presets loaded at your feet with dozens more available with Eventide Device Manager (EDM) software
- MIDI capability over TRS (use with a MIDI to TRS cable or converter box) or USB
- Multiple Bypass options: Buffered, Relay, DSP+FX or Kill dry
- Catch-up mode helps dial in your sound when toggling between presets/parameters
- Fine-tune your tone with Lo, Hi and Q (resonance) controls. Use the tone controls to add airiness or clear up the low-end. Map the EQ controls to an expression pedal to add movement to the reverb tail
- Gravity control to custom-tailor the reverb tail in two realms — normal or inverse decay.
Is The Eventide Blackhole Pedal For You?
Good question. Regarding the multitude of reverb guitar pedals on the market, will adding the Blackhole to your quiver make a $300 impact on your sound? Our reviewers answered that question with a definitive yes. “You just can’t have enough quality reverbs at your disposal,” cited one evaluator, and “Eventide provides a ton of value with the Blackhole.” Our guitarist celebrated the Blackhole’s tone, “there’s a reason the Blackhole reverb keeps showing up time and time again in Eventide’s products. It’s got a certain flavor that other reverbs just can’t duplicate and it works in many different genres, even though its known for that expansive sound.” He went on to compare it to his other big reverb pedal. “Even though I’ve been utilizing Death By Audio’s Rooms on my [pedal] board, I think the Blackhole is much better suited for live guitar playing, while Rooms is more at home on the desk next to my audio interface.”
Conclusion
Eventide clearly put some solid thought in the Blackhole guitar pedal. This wasn’t a quick one-off just to get the famed algorithm into a small guitar pedal form factor. The ability to contour the Blackhole’s sound directly on the pedal or with the help of the Eventide Device Manager middleware gives the pedal a unique versatility and flexibility that competing pedals don’t provide – even at significant additional cost. It works just as well on a guitar pedal board or in a synth effects chain and it sounds fantastic. Highly Recommended.
Rating: 91%
Cheers:
+ Well-Built
+ Versatile
+ Flexible
+ Sound Quality
+ Eventide Device Manager
+ Connectivity
+ Expression Pedal Attibutes
Jeers:
– Learning Curve
– EDM Interface
Eventide’s Blackhole Guitar Pedal costs $299 and is available now.
The Future: We’d love to see the Eventide Device Manager software get an update with a different GUI and drag ‘n’ drop capability. The pedal is very well-made and stood up to months of abuse by our reviewers, but each requested a dedicated MIDI (DIN) input on their evaluation sheets.
