Eventide Eclipse, User Manual

Page 1: ...rry NJ 07643 USA Harmonizer is a registered trademark of Eventide Inc for its audio special effects devices incorporating pitch shift Eventide Eclipse Orville and UltraShifter are trademarks of Eventide Inc Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Inc ADAT is a trademark of Alesis Inc CompactFlash is a trademark of SanDisk Corporation ...

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Page 3: ...olled Parameters T_DELAY T_RATE etc 16 Tutorial 1 Loading a Program Setting the Tempo and Assigning Modulation 16 Tutorial 2 Creating a Program from Scratch and Assigning a Hot Key 19 Operation 20 Mounting and Handling 20 Memory Cards 20 The Display Brightness and Click Features 20 Global Signal Flow and Levels 21 Using the Meters 21 Input and Output Modes Global Stereo or Global Mono 22 Global We...

Page 4: ... Loading Different Algorithms into Effects Blocks 39 Modulating Parameters Via the modulation block LFO ADSR Envelope MIDI Pedals and More 40 Patching a Parameter to the Modulation Block s Modules 40 Scaling Modules and Selecting Modulation TYPE 41 Setting Up the Modulation Block 43 The Modulation Block 43 More on modulation 44 External Controllers 45 Dedicated External Controllers 47 Setting the ...

Page 5: ...d Inputs 58 Analog Output 58 Remote Control Inputs 58 MIDI Connections 58 Power 59 Size 59 Weight 59 Warranty Information 60 What the warranty does and does not cover 60 Who is covered under the warranty 60 When the warranty becomes effective 60 Who performs warranty work 61 Shipping within the 50 United States 61 Shipping outside the 50 United States 61 Index 63 ...

Page 6: ...Eclipse User Manual Contents Eclipse User Manual Page 4 of 66 Release 4 0 1 This page is intentionally left blank ...

Page 7: ...tedium free discus sion of all of the Eclipse s potent features The Table of Contents and Index will direct you to topics of interest with dispatch There is only one convention employed in the manual that might need explaining We ll write things like The display brightness is determined by SETUP page 2 DISP BRIGHT Its values range from 0 the dimmest to 15 the brightest To change the brightness you...

Page 8: ...rs such as LFO rates and delay times change to synchronize with the tempo A modulation block is modulating The modulation block contains LFOs envelope followers etc that exist independently and in addition to any LFOs envelope followers etc that are constituents of programs You can patch parameters from programs to these LFOs envelope followers etc A suite of global parameters defines the Eclipse ...

Page 9: ... to load and save programs see page 28 3 HOT KEYS Press this key to access the most important parameters for the current program Addition ally assign any parameter to the HOT KEYS area for quick access see page 33 4 LEVELS Press this key to alter input and output levels system wet dry mix system routing not to be confused with the routing between the two effects blocks that comprise a program and ...

Page 10: ...e 15 To learn about parameters that synchronize to the tempo see page 35 14 PARAMETER Press this key to access all the program parameters those found in the simpler HOT KEYS area and many more Change a program s underlying algorithm change the routing be tween effects blocks or change the parameters of the underlying algorithms themselves see page 33 You can alter the program independent modulatio...

Page 11: ...e ring is negative phase cold and the tip is positive phase hot Using an unbalanced 1 4 inch connector will reduce the output by 6dB E XLR Digital Interface Use these connectors to connect professional digital audio gear to the Eclipse These cables are differential with a shielded twisted pair To select the XLR input as the digital source go to SETUP DIG IN DIG IN If you want to synchronize the Ec...

Page 12: ...The optical output is always active but the format of the data being sent out it can be S PDIF two channel or ADAT eight channel as determined by SETUP DIG OUT OPTICAL What s more two channel optical output can either be Pro professional or Cns consumer as determined by SETUP DIG OUT FORMAT CS TYPE see page 24 H Word Clock I O Use these BNC connectors with any audio gear that supports word clock W...

Page 13: ...5 volt source and the tip is an analog signal between 0 to 5 volts input to the Eclipse Connect either foot switches foot pedals or control voltage sources to these inputs to modulate parameters or to trigger events including remote program loads see page 48 To set up the foot pedal jacks see page 49 Getting Around and Altering Parameters At any given time the Eclipse is doing a whole bunch of stu...

Page 14: ...ws you to adjust the parameter associated with that phrase From now on we ll just treat those phrases as if they were actually the soft keys like so press IN GAIN Pressing IN GAIN results in the screen to the right try it Notice that the top line contains the parameter associated with IN GAIN Turning the knob or using the keypad with the ENT key alters that pa rameter try it but we re getting ahea...

Page 15: ...to the page number If the arrow is to the left of the page number it indicates that pressing the LEVELS key again will take us back to the first page The Top Line of the Display The top line of the display usually shows what area you re in e g LEVELS SETUP PROGRAM etc and the parameter value for the high lighted soft key The PARAMETER area breaks from this convention a bit with the first page show...

Page 16: ...an unbalanced 1 4 inch cable at the output will halve 6dB the output level see page 9 Digital Connections OK this is meant to be a Quickstart section so we re going to keep things as simple as possible If something doesn t make sense or if things aren t working as you expect them to go to page 24 To input digital audio first plug a cable into an appropriate port on the back panel Next select from ...

Page 17: ...on page 34 For now we ll explain the whole concept of the tempo and synchronized parameters Tempo The Eclipse s tempo feature is your ticket to a good time Almost all the time based parameters LFO rates delay times etc in the Eclipse are synchronized to its tempo Consequently setting the Eclipse s tempo to the tempo of the material you re working with makes for very useful effecting The tempo can ...

Page 18: ... a program choose Global To update the system tempo to the saved value when loading a program choose Prog Tempo Controlled Parameters T_DELAY T_RATE etc You ll notice many parameters with T_ stuck onto the beginning of their names These parameters synchronize to the tempo For example to the right we see T_RATE Its values are rhythmic and right now the chorus depicted will oscillate once every 1 2 ...

Page 19: ...iclock on your own time As an important aside selecting Off would disable the tempo feature Return to the HOT KEYS area play some music and tap the TAP key in time You ll notice that the tempo is displayed with less precision than it truly possesses and that the program s modulating filters get all cozy and synchronized with the music Select HOT KEYS T_RATE and play around with different values su...

Page 20: ...All of the modulators in the modulation block exist independently of programs To prove it load the program CombDelays Should you peek back at the LFO s T_RATE you ll find it hasn t changed Now go to the HOT KEYS area and set M_COMB to 0 To assign the modulation block s LFO to this parameter hold down its soft key until the page shown to the right appears Select MODULATE and then set SOURCE to LFO ...

Page 21: ...the program that we will steal from Select St Phaser This preset is not deeply religious its apparent sainthood is an abbreviation for stereo If St Phaser used more than one algorithm we could use the BLOCK soft key to select which algorithm we d like to steal But it doesn t So we can t Load the selected algorithm into effects block A by pressing the LOAD FXA soft key You re taken back to the firs...

Page 22: ...USY light isn t illuminated when you do so It s possible to load a program from a memory card and then remove the memory card the program will still run The card only needs to be in place for such functions as loading saving updating removing and so forth see page 54 for formatting information While more resilient than removable media of yesteryear you should still treat your CompactFlash cards wi...

Page 23: ...t how these two channels are patched into the two inputs of the DSP as we ll discuss shortly Once inside the DSP signal flow and levels are controlled in the PARAMETER area as de scribed on page 37 The output of the DSP is mixed with the input to the DSP for a wet dry mix and then sent to every output with the exception of the ADAT pairs Using the Meters The meters are your window on the signal le...

Page 24: ...al that goes into the DSP dry is mixed with the signal that comes out of the DSP wet Recall that the DSP contains both effects blocks and the routing between them The global wet dry mix that we are discussing here does not change when you load a new program You will hear no effects with WET DRY set to 0 You won t hear the original signal with WET DRY set to 100 Settings in between will mix the two...

Page 25: ...ly don t want to use it That s right leave it at 0dB unless you feel you have a good reason to do otherwise such as disabling the analog inputs use 100dB To adjust the analog input level you should instead use the above mentioned LEVELS IN GAIN LEVELS page 2 DIG LVL This is a digital gain of 144 5dB to 0dB It affects sig nals supplied at the digital input only and its effects can be monitored by s...

Page 26: ... ready to interface with virtually any piece of digital equipment on the market any rate any bit depth any connector What s more it can accept one protocol at its input and pass a different protocol at its output What do we mean by protocol A protocol is a way of encoding digital audio The XLR RCA and optical connectors can all accept or pass either the professional or the consumer protocol Howeve...

Page 27: ...he audio Use the above information wisely Internal and External Clock Source The Eclipse s sampling rate can be derived from an internal clock source the clock source of the digital input selected at SETUP DIG IN DIG IN or the word clock input Use SETUP DIG IN CLOCK to select from Int Use Int for internal to select from 44 1kHz 48 kHz 88 2kHz or 96 kHz sampling rates The rate source indicator pict...

Page 28: ...n 50kHz may yield higher fidelity but some programs won t function at higher rates higher rates require twice the processing power and twice the delay capability You can tell if a preset can run at higher sampling rates by looking for the 96 icon between the preset s number and name In some cases there are two versions of the same program one for high rate operation and one for low rate operation ...

Page 29: ... only one subsequent digital device to use the output audio After that no more digital copies are permitted no copy This will allow no subsequent digital devices to use the output audio a good way to pro tect your wares from flea bitten pirate varmints Select SETUP DIG OUT FORMAT BITS to choose the output word length 24 20 or 16 bits ADAT Output or Two Channel Optical Output The optical output can...

Page 30: ...you save or update a program you have the opportunity to flag the program as you see fit Now on to the specifics Press PROGRAM CRITERIA to select how the programs are sorted Use PROGRAM CRITERIA SEARCH B to collect programs into groups Your choices are All Lumps all the programs into one big group Source Collects the programs based on what instrument or input a k a source they were created to effe...

Page 31: ...routing e g single Fx block preset 2 Is the crossfade time parameter set to a non zero value 3 Do enough processing resources exist to allow for a crossfade Certain large presets are too processor intensive to support crossfading Loading Programs From MIDI You can load programs from MIDI program change messages if SETUP page 2 MIDI MIDIMODE PGM CHNG is set to On Only MIDI program change messages s...

Page 32: ...hrough 199 are reserved for factory programs that make direct use of the Eclipse s underlying algorithms and numbers 200 through 499 are reserved for more complex factory programs Saving Programs To save a program press PROGRAM page 2 SAVE AS Next use PROGRAM page 2 SAVE NUMBER to select a number to store the program at To name the program press PROGRAM page 2 SAVE NAME Once you ve entered a satis...

Page 33: ...RGRP as being in one or more of these banks so that when you choose User Grp under PROGRAM CRITERIA SEARCH B your saved programs are organized as you see fit You can name the User Groups under SETUP page 2 USERGRP Choose a NUMBER to rename then use NAME to actually rename it Pressing the SETUP key saves the name see page 32 to learn how to name things Removing Programs Unfortunately programs take ...

Page 34: ...le Press PROGRAM page 2 SAVE AS NAME Use the knob to advance through a set of alphanumeric characters _ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z space A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 or use the keypad to type in numbers Each key cycles through its number plus three letters and a symbol like this 1 1 A B C 2 2 D E F 3 3 G H I and so on Use the soft...

Page 35: ...l see Bypassing Effects Blocks on page 39 Hot Keys OK the Eclipse has a cute little screen and sometimes you have to dig to get to the parameter you want to adjust That can be a drag especially if the parameter is one that you access often The HOT KEYS area was created to improve this situation Here s the idea pick a program parameter that you want to access quickly and assign it to the HOT KEYS a...

Page 36: ...clipse makes sure you really want to go through with it Altering Parameters in the PARAMETER Area While most factory programs link to their most important parameters in the HOT KEYS area those same parameters and many more are left to tinker with in the PARAMETER area Press PARAMETER EDIT FXA or EDIT FXB depending on which effects block holds the parameters you wish to tweak Hey Many programs only...

Page 37: ...cer connected to the Eclipse s MIDI in and so on see page 15 Most of the Eclipse s delays and LFOs automatically synchronize to the tempo It works like this we ll use a delay as an example but other T_ parameters behave similarly A delay parameter will have two soft keys associated with it one will say DELAY1 or something like that while the other will have a T_ appended to its name T_DELAY1 The T...

Page 38: ...al grow between the taps at RUN and check out the resulting delay time at DELAY To reset the interval with TTYPE climb select an external modulator such as pedal 1 under EXT_RESE Turn to page 45 for details on setting up external controllers Envelope following Parameters SENS ATTACK and DECAY Many algorithms involve parameter modulation via an envelope follower An envelope follower tracks the leve...

Page 39: ... PARAMETER page 2 EDIT MOD RETRIG AUDIO RE Adjust the threshold that causes them to retrigger under THRESH Sends and Manual Parameters Littered throughout the parameter pages are SEND and MANUAL_P soft keys Both affect the signal level sent into the algorithm While handy in their own right they truly shine when used in conjunction with MIDI foot controllers MIDI sequencers or the back panel foot p...

Page 40: ... and then route the effects blocks in series parallel Each effects block takes a signal from both inputs and the output of each effects block is summed If you wanted a phaser and a delay placed on a signal as if they were coming from two different units i e not a phased delay you d load a phaser onto one effects block and a delay onto the other and then route the effects blocks in parallel dual Ea...

Page 41: ...flash Of course if the system as a whole is bypassed you ll not be able to see it Loading Different Algorithms into Effects Blocks You load different algorithms into an effects block of the currently loaded program by selecting a pro gram that already contains the algorithm you want Think of it as stealing the algorithm and its parameter values Since programs 100 to 199 represent the raw algorithm...

Page 42: ...ll be oscillating once every 1 4 note and the delay time would still be patched to it So now the delay time would modulate every 1 4 note Understanding this example is essential to understanding modulation First we re going to describe how you accomplish this patching then we re going to describe how you actually set up the modulation block Because we re first showing you how you can use the modul...

Page 43: ...ke lfo 1 or follower 1 this MONITOR will jump around quite a bit Parameters with active modulations applied will have their names un derlined on the softkey labels Scaling Modules and Selecting Modulation TYPE Here s the situation let s say you ve selected lfo 1 to modulate a low pass filter cutoff frequency FREQ When the LFO is at the bottom of its cycle will the filter be at 0Hz You wouldn t hea...

Page 44: ...nd passes the modulation right through going from minimum to maximum parameter for the swing of the modulation In the example above the parameter value will vary between 20 and 2 000 min max min max allows you to set the maximum and minimum values of the modulation range To enable this the SCALE knob is replaced by a MAXIMUM MINIMUM knob Hit it once for MINIMUM and again to get back to MAXIMUM So ...

Page 45: ...n block envelope follower The parameters are analogous to those found in program specific envelope fol lowers as discussed on page 36 PARAMETER page 2 EDIT MOD ADSR 1 accesses parameters for the modulation block ADSR attack decay sustain and release The ADSR is triggered by the level of the input audio and generates an enve lope determined by the ATTACK DECAY SUSTAIN RELEASE DLEVEL and SLEVEL as s...

Page 46: ...oad or create a dual effect program Add a hotkey to control the Wet Dry mix of FXA and use this as a modulation source for the Wet Dry mix of FxB Set the scale of this modulation to 100 Then you have a single knob that will blend the amount of each effect giving a morph like control Then modulate this knob with say an LFO It is important to note the distinction between modulating a hot key and mod...

Page 47: ...ally assigned to the mod wheel on a MIDI keyboard breath con MIDI control message 2 typically assigned to the breath controller on a MIDI key board foot con MIDI control message 4 typically assigned to the foot controller on a MIDI keyboard damper Triggers when a damper control message MIDI control message 64 is received with damper 1 portamento Triggers when a portamento control message MIDI cont...

Page 48: ... a value of 0 2 and so on This MIDI message is channel independent MIDI start Triggers when a MIDI start command is received This MIDI command is channel independent MIDI stop Triggers when a MIDI stop command is received This MIDI command is channel independent For all of the above MIDI messages except for those involving MIDI clock if SETUP page 2 MIDI CHANNEL is set to Omni then the MIDI messag...

Page 49: ...s occur when the modulation source transitions from a value less than 50 to a value more than 50 This works very well for remote controllers with momentary type switches However for a remote controller with a latching on off switch it is desireable for a trigger event to occur when the modulation source transitions 50 in either direction The TRIGMODE parameter accommodates both of these switch typ...

Page 50: ...le setups SETUP page 2 MIDI MIDIMODE PGM CHNG This determines whether the Eclipse will accept and obey MIDI program change messages NOTE The Eclipse allows selection of Mono or Poly mode Poly means one channel has all the notes e g keyboards Mono means each channel plays only one note but you have mul tiple channels e g MIDI guitars wind controllers PRES If this parameter is set to channel then th...

Page 51: ...age is addressed on page 51 With the Memory card removed the BUSY LED on the front panel flashes whenever a message is received at the MIDI In port If the serial port is enabled messages sent out the MIDI Out port are also sent out the serial port Note If the serial port is enabled and MIDI is enabled a command received over either the serial port or the MIDI In port causes the port not receiving ...

Page 52: ...y Init This setup contains the factory default settings and can be loaded to restore the machine to the state at which it left the factory This setup cannot be deleted or updated so don t try It is usually wise to reload the factory settings after performing a software upgrade or in the event of seri ous machine misbehavior You can also dump setup information to an external storage device and then...

Page 53: ...chine connected to its serial port that results in error free transmissions DATA BIT is normally set to 8 STOP BIT is normally set to 1 and PARITY is normally set to None You should only need to stray from these values if the device the Eclipse is communicating with is con strained to some other values If that is the case change the values on the Eclipse to match the other de vice To aid in troubl...

Page 54: ...dea to do it twice to two separate files and then to compare the size of the files On a PC check the property of each file Look at the number in parentheses On a Macintosh get info on each file Again look at the number in parentheses If the sizes are identical it s a good indica tion that the data sent from the Eclipse has been recorded accurately It is recommended that setups be saved internally ...

Page 55: ...w checksum result to be saved This will not get rid of the corruption in the data however Now you can assume that the checksum error was no big deal get a cup of coffee and go back to work not advised OR you can assume something nasty is going on and take immediate action advised As suming you take the latter smart course of action the first thing you ll want to do is to save all of your important...

Page 56: ...ontact Eventide or your dealer for servicing Formatting Memory Cards If you are worried about the contents of the Memory card you should either dump the contents of the memory card to an external storage device see page 51 or copy all valuable internal programs to a different Memory Card copy the faulty Memory Card s programs to internal memory and then to another Memory card see page 32 You can a...

Page 57: ... connected by the use of a BNC T connector or splitter attached directly to their inputs so as to ensure the shortest possible stub length Using multiple terminations is wrong both because twice 75 Ohm in parallel gives 37 5 Ohms wrong and also because it increases loading on the source Eclipse is shipped without termination in place meaning that they can be used at one end of a Word Clock cable w...

Page 58: ... the programming process to finish If the programming process is successful a Programming Completed Cycle Power message will appear 5 Power down the Eclipse 6 Remove the Upgrade Card and go about your business The programming process is complete Upgrade via the OUpdate Application 1 Using your web browser download the update application from the Eventide website e g eup2000 exe and save it to your...

Page 59: ... Current FPGA version HARDWARE Current hardware version Approved CompactFlash Cards The characteristics of CompactFlash cards may vary depending on model and manufacturer The follow ing have been successfully tested by Eventide for use with Eclipse Other cards may well be entirely suitable Also other capacities in the same manufacturer s ranges as those listed below will probably also be suitable ...

Page 60: ...wn Analog Input XLR Balanced Inputs Impedance 20kOhm bridging Full Scale Input Level 26dBu Dynamic Range 100dB Signal to Noise Ratio 100dB A weighted THD N 0 002 1kHz 3dBFS Crosstalk 100db 20 Hz to 20kHz 1dBFS Analog Output Impedance 50Ohm Full Scale Output Level 26dBu Dynamic Range 110dB Signal to Noise Ratio 110dB A weighted THD N 0 002 1kHz 3dBFS Crosstalk 100db 20 Hz to 20kHz 1dBFS Remote Cont...

Page 61: ...Manual Power 25 watts 100 125V 220 240V AC 50 60Hz Size Inches 1 75h x 19w x 12 5d Cm 4 45h x 48 3w x 31 7d Weight 12 pounds 5 5 Kg net 17 pounds 8Kg shipping weight All specifications are subject to change or improvement at any time without notice or obligation ...

Page 62: ...is covered under the warranty The warranty applies to the original purchaser of a new unit from Eventide or an Authorized Eventide Dealer Demo units are also covered by this warranty under slightly different circumstances see below Units that are used or have been used as part of a rental program are not covered under any circumstances It is your responsibility to prove or to be able to prove that...

Page 63: ...urchased the unit from a dealer in your country consult with the dealer before returning the unit If you wish to return the unit to us please note the following 1 The unit must be prepaid to our door This means that you are responsible for all shipping charges including customs brokerage and duties When a unit is shipped to us it must be cleared through United States Customs by an authorized broke...

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Page 65: ...electing input 24 Status of input 25 Word Clock 10 26 Display 7 Brightness 20 Understanding Layout 12 Understanding Page Numbers 13 Dumping data 51 Edited LED 8 Effect blocks Loading algorithms 39 Effects blocks 6 33 34 Bypassing 39 Routing 38 Emphasis 27 EXT LED blinking 25 External Controllers 45 MIDI capture 46 Foot Pedal Jacks As external modulators 45 Jacks 11 Loading Programs with 47 Setting...

Page 66: ...32 Optimizing signal quality 22 Overload 8 21 Parameters Causing a parameter to ignore tempo 16 Envelope followers 36 LFO 36 Master 34 Modulating See Modulation block Retriggering LFO s 37 Sends 37 Tap to determine delay times 36 Tempo controlled 16 35 Power 7 9 Program key 7 LED blinking 50 Programs Copying See Crossfading 29 Interval during loading 29 Loading 7 15 16 28 Loading with MIDI 29 Remo...

Page 67: ...2 Understanding Different Kinds 12 Software Updating 56 Version 57 Storing data externally See Dumping data TAP See Tempo See Tempo Tempo 6 8 15 16 17 Conceptual flow chart of 17 Disabling 16 17 Unbalancing analog connectors 9 User Groups See Programs Wet Dry Global 22 Program specific 39 ...

Page 68: ...Eclipse User Manual Index Eclipse User Manual Page 66 of 66 Release 4 0 1 This page is intentionally left blank ...