Getting a time factor or a timeline?

I have owned and used both of these pedals.

The reason I have prefered the Timeline over the Timefactor is because I could use the Looper + any delay mode.

But if I had the money and the space on my pedalboard, I would use 2 Timefactors because every delay mode in the Timefactor sounds a little bit better than the Timeline’s and the Looper algorithm in the Timefactor is like 100x better than Timeline’s looper.

However, sometimes convenience > sound.

Now I have replaced the Timeline with a Boss DD-500 because, again, I can run delay + looper at the same time. That’s the decision factor for me and for some of my friends who took the same route because of that.

I also have an H9 with most of the Pitchfactor algorithms loaded + Looper.

If you are not going to use the Looper that much, then I will say get the Timefactor. The dual delay, the simpler interface and the pre-post features makes it a more desirable delay pedal.

YMMV.

The TimeFactor.

I own both units and the only difference between them is that the TimeLine has a warmer sound, THAT’S ALL.  Its user interface is clunky, you have to rely on bars on the display to know what you’re adjusting and, to my knowledge, it doesn’t have a pc editor that I know of.

The TimeFactor, on the other hand, will let you run dual delays in any algorithm, has a better physical layout, less submenus and has a better pc editor and a bigger display that uses real numbers to let you know what you’re adjusting instead of little bars.  With the newer firmware, you can also benefit from the routing options.  Lastly, it’ll play nice with the Space you currently own.

Another thing that puts these 2 pedals apart is the sonic qualities of the wet signal, especially with a considerable amount of repeats.

With the Timeline, the repeats will create a “reverb” type of sound when they sum each other.

With the Timefactor (and Boss DD-500), you will get clear and more defined repeats, but due to the dual-delay feature, you could be able to recreate that “reverb” sound I’m talking about very easily.

Hi,
I really dig the Eventide sound… and have had for many years!
Where the Timeline pedal is a good product I noticed that when setting the delay times to the minimum there was a point that the effected signal wouldn’t delay any shorter! I figured that there was a unintended processing delay in the algorithm… I really like micro delays and micro pitch shifts or at least I don’t like not being able to dial them in.
The Eventide platform is very hard to beat..
Al

Hi,

From my point of view, there´s a lot of hype surrounding everything Strymon produces. This hype made me go with the Timeline some time ago, even though YouTube comparisons between both pedals seemed very even. One day I picked up a second-hand Timefactor and immediately felt more comfortable with it than with the Timeline. In no way I mean the Timeline is a bad product, it’s AWESOME, but since it was produced in order to kill the Timefactor, I consider they should’ve done a little better. This is a summary of my humble experience with both products

Timeline pros:

1) More presets: 200 vs 100 on the Timefactor

2) Three unique algorythms: Swell (almost a reverb), Tremolo, and Ice (the latter being a copy of Eventide’s Crystals effect, included in the Pitchfactor but not in the Timefactor)

3) +/- 3dB selectable for EACH PRESET: This is the only Timeline’s feature I actually miss

4) Tails on/off selectable for EACH PRESET: In the Timefactor, you can only set tails on/off for ALL PRESETS TOGHETHER

5) Overall more deep controls like Smear and Repeat Dynamics. The effect of these controls is way subtle, but I can’t avoid mentioning them as an advantage, since the TF has nothing like those

6) Grit knob might help, depending on how deep you want to edit your Tape delays

7) Better sample rate: 96kHz vs 48kHZ on the TF

8) Bank up/down footswitches available all the time: Timefactor has no “bank down” footswitch. Despite this you can downsize a bank with the encoder knob, with MIDI and with an external footswitch. Personally this is no issue for me because I always save my presets on the setlist order, that way I only need the bank up footwsitch.

Timefactor pros:

1) “Spill” function: selectable time to go from one effect to another. If you’re playing preset 1:1 with spill time asigned at 1 second, then suddenly engage preset 1:2 without turning off preset 1:1, the pedal will take 1 second to smoothly glide the wet between presets. GREAT for live songs that require more than one preset. In the Timeline there’s no “spill” and when you change presets, you hear the previous effect abruptly being cut until repeats on the new effect begin appearing

2) Two unique algorythms. Band delay: A nasty LFO phase-shifter-type applied to the repeats with all of the LFO parameters adjustable. Very, very psychdelic. ModDelay is a use-it-in-stereo algorythm where modulation on each channel is out of phase by 180°, creating unique dimension effects, such as a Roland Dimension D

3) “Catch up” function: editing a pre-saved preset, when you turn a knob, the pedal will not affect this parameter until you reach the point that knob was saved on the preset previously. Example: preset was saved with feedback at 25, but the knob is at 75. When you turn the knob, the effect feedback won’t change until you reach 25. At the same time, the screen will show where the knob is saved

4) Wider, brighter screen: with the Timeline I had problems seeing the screen once on a daylight gig

5) Perfect for parallel stereo delay on all modes

6) “Hold” function: both pedals have this function. When you engage Hold on the Timeline (holding the preset footswitch), the feedback goes to 100%, causing the pedal to self-oscilate (which might be good). On the other hand, the Timefactor locks the repeats already sounding and loops them. It’s an interesting kind of “hold” that you cannot achieve in the Strymon, and if you want to get 100% feedback on the Eventide just like on the Strymon, you can do it easily by assigning a footswitch to the feedback knob

7) Ducking delay has way faster-response on the Timefactor than on the Timeline

Similar algorythms (Timeline / Timefactor)

Digital / DigitalDelay

dTape / TapeEcho

Dual / Every mode on the Timefactor is dual

Pattern / MultiTap

Reverse / Reverse

Ice / – – –

Duck / DuckedDelay

Swell / – – –

Trem / – – –

Filter / FilterPong

Lo-Fi / VintageDelay

– – – / BandDelay

– – – / ModDelay

Matter of taste: this comes to the sound, some might like one, some might like the other one. Both sounded great to my ears. It was the Eventide’s handling characteristics that made it stay on my board. The stereo funcionalities also helped because I play with 2 amps. For recording guitars in mono maybe I would use the Timeline for its extra-deep controls, but for gigs it’s the Timefactor forever