@cuckoomusic said it well. It’s not hard to break the CPU limit. But it depends very much on what modules you use.
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Really wanted one of these and may still at some point, but for some reason, the more videos I watch, the less I want one 
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Ordered one. I hope this becomes popular so the community grows - it’s always more fun with this kind of gear.
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Totally agree. Norns and Organelle and the like, while interesting communities, are way too complicated for me. This seems complex enough and would like to partake in the fledgling community. Plus the idea of hybrid synths / guitars will be imo an interesting dynamic. We will see…
For much smarter people than myself: can platforms, coding, algorithms such as what Empress is doing be optimized visavis CPU later on?
To a certain extent, optimization can be done after the fact. However, it is not transparent how much of it has already been done and how much potential there still is. Generally optimizing for CPU load often means using more of other resources, e.g., memory or adjusting quality. I wouldn’t expect changes by orders of magnitude with future patches.
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The cool thing about the H9 is how slick the iPad interface is. If you are able to tweak live (i.e. have free hands, not playing guitar) it’s a brilliant way to control an fx unit realtime.
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Nice video. I like the contrast showing off the great colors and lighting of the Zoia.
It sounds really great. Those distortion modules are really nice.
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Cool. Thanks.
I am thinking good: small for live setup, fully programmable.
but as a Kaoss user, I really need real time fx tweakability. So with all those buttons, isn’t there a bit of fx parameter locking of each algo? (like chorus/ddl feedbacks) Or would this where MIDI/CV comes in?
Still I prefer hands on.
Damnit! I made another one.
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So the Control Port (1/4 inch TRS on the back) can be configured for your choice of multiple functions. It can be one of these:
- A MIDI in/out port.
- A connection for an expression pedal.
- A connection for CV – One in and one out.
- A connection to either a momentary or a latching switch, likely another stomp switch.
It’s not fully clear to me regarding the Control Port MIDI connection.
The manual says:
Note that when the MIDI ports are in use, the Control Port will only be able to send MIDI out, and not accept MIDI in.
This confuses me slightly. I think the first “MIDI ports” in this sentence refers to the standard built in MIDI connection in the Zoia. So my guess is you are allowed up to a max of two MIDI out connections and one MIDI in connection. That’s 32 device channels out if i read this correctly.
Anything involving looping is it for me. Excellent stuff; this is the reason I got the Zoia. Can’t wait to make up some daft looper tools with it.
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The Control Port MIDI stuff will probably make/break my decision on whether I’ll ever get a Zoia.
I’ve been slowly developing my vision of where I want to take my music, and it revolves heavily around playing solo guitar arrangements, with electronic enhancement here and there - like OT looping/sampling the guitar. So being able to control stuff via MIDI foot controller is going to be a priority.
At the very least I’d like to use my KMI Softstep 2 for patch selection and MIDI CC. Oh and transport (start, stop, etc.). And also use a keyboard controller at the same time, for the times in my hypothetical solo set that I want to play a synth pad or something.
I’m in no rush though. Still have a lot of exploring to do on my H9.
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Very nice videos!
Looking forward to more info about that Control Port and connecting a MIDI foot controller for controlling the looping functions.
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Does anyone happen to know know if it’s possible to have the zoia’s midi clock slaved over midi? I couldn’t find anything in the manual about zoia’s midi clock.
For instance, I’d like to have a drum loop playing on my octatrack (midi master), and have live guitar loops i play into the zoia looper (mid slave) repeated in time with the octatrack beat.
As an owner of other Empress products (Reverb and Echosystem) - the sound is great but their interfaces leave much to be desired.
With those devices, you basically need the manuals available at all times… ‘wtf does the Blue tape light mean again in this mode?’ .
Lack of power supply included i guess is common with pedal manufacturers but really irritated me for a $500 product.
I couldn’t even call it menu diving, it’s more like ‘magic words’ diving where you have to know what combinations of button presses and lights do things like change gain staging, etc. Even with the most friendly settings for synths and pads, I find they’re easy to clip the inputs and outputs of, especially in sequence. And when there’s no meter at all it’s really a pain in the ass.
The boxes are VERY high. So if it’s flat on the desk in front of you, it’s actually too high to use comfortably like a desktop product. I’d really like to get slanted racks for mine eventually.
They don’t have normal MIDI ports even though they have MIDI support, you need to use the control port with a special product of theirs I believe. The zoia has direct MIDI ports but not DINs, not sure what they are?
So with all this i’m not super excited about getting a zoia even though it seems powerful. I’m not really confident in their ability to make an interface, even though this has a screen.
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agree with most of the points made here. a tiny screen would make all the difference in those pedals
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Not sure if this applies to everyone or what, but I managed to get a 20% discount ($100 off) the Zoia on prymaxe.com due to their sitewide spring sale. Couldn’t resist at what’s basically a solid used price. Hope it can help out others here.
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Thanks for the info.
Unfortunately its not working for me , probably because im from Canada 
edit:
" Products from the following companies are ineligible for discounts: 3Leaf Audio, A/DA, Arc Effects, Bad Cat Amplifiers, Barber Electronics, BearFoot FX, Blackarts Toneworks, Blackbird Pedalboards, Boss, Caroline Guitar Company, CatalinBread, Charvel, Chellee Guitars, Darkglass, Decibel Eleven, Digitech, DOD, Dr. Scientist, DryBell, E.W.S. Effects, Earthquaker Devices, Electro-Harmonix, Empress, Eventide, EVH, Evidence Audio, Fairfield Circuitry, Fender, Focusrite, Foxrox, Friedman, Function f(x), Fuzzrocious, G&L Guitars, Gretsch, Hungry Robot, ISP Technologies, J. Rockett, JHS Pedals, Jackson, Jackson Ampworks, Keeley Electronics, Korg, Lunastone, Marshall, Mission Engineering, Morgan Amplification, Music Man, Nash Guitars, Origin Effects, Paul Cochrane, PreSonus, Pettyjohn Electronics, Red Panda, Reverend Guitars, RMC, Schecter, Selah Effects, Shure, Source Audio, Strymon, SubDecay, Suhr, Swart Amplifiers, Tech 21, ThorpyFX, Vertex, Voodoo Lab, Vox, Walrus Audio, Wampler, Xotic, Z.VEX Effects."
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