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The Eventide Blackhole pedal is dedicated entirely to the manufacturer's much-loved reverb algorithm of the same name, famous for its long, atmospheric tails and the lush soundscapes it's capable of. This isn't about realistic room simulations – it’s about effects that feel impossibly huge. The algorithm originally came from Eventide's H4000 and H8000 studio processors, and it's also found in the Space pedal and as a plugin. Now Eventide has built a straightforward stompbox that brings this unique reverb to every guitarist's pedalboard – in a compact format with a hands-on control layout.
The Eventide Blackhole is aimed at live and studio players looking for something truly out of the ordinary in a reverb pedal. It's easy to control with its six dials, and secondary functions let ambitious acoustic astronauts tweak extra parameters like pre-delay and the resonance of the onboard filters. There are footswitches for bypass and freeze, plus an input for an expression pedal, to enable musicians to morph between two sets of parameters at will. The same jack can also take extra footswitches or a MIDI adapter. The Blackhole offers five onboard presets – or up to 128 when using MIDI. The output is always stereo, while the input can be switched between mono and stereo and adjusted for level. And finally, the pedal can be configured via USB using Eventide's free Event Manager software.
Working with the Eventide Blackhole reverb pedal feels like using a classic analogue stompbox thanks to its comprehensive control layout – with the added bonus of instant access to five presets. The real magic, though, lies in the sounds it creates, which are almost impossible to achieve with conventional reverb pedals. The Blackhole delivers enveloping cascades of sound, tempo-synced pre-delay options, and reverse effects that can be achieved simply by setting the Gravity control to negative. Musicians even 'freeze' their reverb tail and lay it under the instrument's tone for an atmospheric backdrop. On top of that, the effect can be reshaped at the speed of light – filtered, modulated, or completely transformed using the expression pedal.
The US manufacturer Eventide is one of the pioneers of digital audio technology. The company has existed since the early 1970s and began with developments in the broadcasting sector and digital delay effects. As early as 1974 they unveiled the H910, a pitch shifter revolutionary at the time. The H3000 (1986) was milestone in the field of digital effects and was very popular with professional musicians in recording studios and live performances. The following generations of this model were ever more powerful and culminated in the current flagship H9000. Since 2007, Eventide has also been developing compact pedals, primarily for guitarists and keyboard players. To this day, Eventide's algorithms are considered among the best on the market.
The Eventide Blackhole's generously outfitted control panel makes real-time shaping of its sound parameters quick and easy, with extra flexibility a breeze with a standard expression pedal. This reverb is a true master of the universe when it comes to unusual sounds – perfect for ambient textures, sprawling soundscapes, and creative SFX. Single notes cascade into galactic clouds of tone, layer upon layer of stunning sound that's almost a performance in its own right. With all these unique qualities, the Eventide pedal isn't just for guitarists and bassists – it's a space-age secret weapon for keyboard players, percussionists, any live perfomers really. Of course, it comes with the high level of audio quality musicians of all kinds have come to expect from Eventide.