Empress Zoia // Euroburo

Very curious about how it works with ZOIA integration. Keep the updates coming :slight_smile:

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Those wood builds are lush.

I’m suprised they didn’t go with those mini midi jack like on the Zoia…

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It’s not (that I can recall), and I would support it.

I would also like it to be applicable to audio outputs (currently, the basic oscilloscope is only able to visualize CV).

I just posted it to the voting forum here. (Link probably won’t be accessible to non-Zoia owners, FYI for anyone wondering)

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I’m suprised they didn’t go with those mini midi jack like on the Zoia…

They did: “sixteen CCs over minijack midi (with switch to swap between standards)”. You’d just plug in a stereo 3.5mm cord between the Zoia and the 16n.

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Ah I thought minijack plus lookin at the pics it meant mini usb or something. Sweet.

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2 posts were split to a new topic: ZOIA or Organelle

I doubt between the Zoia and the Black Box to companion my Deluge. I read a lot about the 2 boxes but find it difficult what is the best companion for my Deluge. Any advice?

I know the Zoia is a effect-box, but i can’t place the Black Box. Or is the Deluge capable enough without those 2?

I thought the blackbox was a sampler. With the Deluge you would seem to have lotsa sampling capabilities. I doubt either of them can match Empress quality fx and the customization abilities of the zoia (but could be suprisingly wrong).

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You can get very far with a just single Deluge… What are you missing exactly that you feel the need for a companion?

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It’s not a 100% need, but I think that sampling would be easier on the Black Box because of the touch-screen. For the rest I see not much advantages. Or are there?

No experience with the Blackbox, but I think samples do sound great on the Deluge… I like using samples on the Deluge much more compared to using the internal synth engines and with the upcoming update (audio/cv/midi looper and what have you) I suppose sampling will become just as easy with a single button press. I would either invest in a external midi synth or fx box to accompany the Deluge… Not a sampler.

So, the Zoia would be a good companion? That is a FX box

But, maybe you are right. First push the Deluge to its limits, buy a good sample/sound pack.

I would prefer the Zoia as a companion compared to another sampler or perhaps an Analog Heat to beefen up the whole signal :wink:

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I like the Zoia for it’s flexibility, a lot of modules and great support. Also the portability is very important for me. I just switched from a Octatrack to a Deluge, for that reason.

The Zoia would add some good FX, that the Deluge does not can or does not have.

ZOIA needs a PSU though. Not provided, btw.

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I know, but can be powered by a powerbank with a USB 9v adapter cable, just like the Deluge.

Zoia cannot load samples, so Blackbox beats Zoia there. Any demos you hear of Zoia processing a sample was done with the sample at the Zoia audio input, not loaded from the SD card.

OTOH, Zoia is a modular-in-a-box, with the flexibility one would expect from a modular. This modular includes actual synthesis modules. There are several polysynth patches for it - of course you have to plug in a MIDI keyboard or something to play the synth or play the onboard buttons, but it works and sounds surprisingly good imo. Most polysynth patches are labeled as 4-voice poly, though apparently the theoretical limit for voices is a little higher.

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The limit of a single MIDI note in module is eight voices, but it does allow for splits/layers (in theory) which would exceed that limit.

That said, reaching eight voices within the limits of CPU is difficult, unless the voice is very simple and/or uses paraphonic elements (shared filter and/or shared VCA). On most occasions where I have ended up with four or six voice patches, I’ve started with a high number and whittled back as I realized things like, “Oh, hey, velocity would be nice,” etc.

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Currently Zoia’s sweet spot seems to be designing your own loopy glitchy ambient stutter pedals - in a MOOD, Zellersahn, Blooper redux paradigm with extravagant delays, warped reverbs, chorus, distortion, phasing or a mix of all of the above.

So in my mind it is first and foremost a totally customizable fx box rather than ever a go-to synth. However you can put an osc at the start of the chain if you don’t want to use an input.

That’s still a whole vast world of its own if you are a guitar jammer, or as a creative outboard to an OT; as a beats processor or any sound.

So yes it is a ‘modular’, but moreso in its approach to FX building blocks rather than it equates to what you’d create with a 84hp rack.

It can also do a pretty good job as a minimalist sequencer, midi remapper, generator etc

Users expecting it to replace €1500 of budget eurorack modules might be disappointed; but it covers a lot of ground nonetheless

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I’ve no doubt about the amount of thought and time you’ve put into control schemes for a given patch.

I will explore what a combination of the onboard stompswitches, button switches, and analysis modules can do for me, before investing in an outboard controller such as a Faderfox, MIDI Fighter Twister, or something of the sort.

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