Handsomeaudio Zulu

Bro. Hats off to you.

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My desire for the Zulu has not depreciated in any manner; Iā€™m still excited it exists. What I prioritize for my sound may not align with everyone elseā€™s priorities, but I think thatā€™s ok.

The computer isnā€™t too involved in my music making process truth be told

Yes, thatā€™s what Iā€™m using.
Just measure the delay time and compensate ITB.
Run different tape speeds for more different saturation.
Iā€™m using this for ages.
You could even make a tape loop like in the old days, endless fun.

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Donā€™t think I said anything bad about the Zulu? You and I were just discussing the current state of digital modelling and what was possible these days? Difference :wink:

Yeah I was using an akai gx-77 for the same thing til recently. Workflow didnā€™t really balance out for sound benefits vs plugins tho. Especially in daw sessions with a ton of internal tracks to send out and back. Sold the Akai. Kinda miss it but not enough to go back. Might grab a cheap, semi-broken 3-head cassette deck at some point tho. Thatā€™s the tape sound thatā€™s still hardest to mimic well in pluginsā€¦ Doable but a hassle/cpu eater, needs chainsā€¦

As promised here is a Soundcloud demonstration of Zulu on a TB3X3 loop, along with some sampled drums to offer some punch and tempo related impact.

Iā€™ll be glad to make cleaner examples or to process any clips people want to provide for processing. I know this is a really long demo but its very good at demonstrating the LoFi Deck setting along with the other controls that can make cool impacts on it, when you really want the dirt.

Thanks
-L.

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Iā€™m digging the lo-fi setting with the enhancement :+1:

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Make sure you listen to the low end and how it changes between the different headroom settings as well as the Enhance settings but on some speakers that offer some good bass response or headphones with good bass.

That dry loop lacks the growl that the post Zulu clips offer. Pretty wicked. Even though these are really driven examples, they would be great per se as patches you could use on a synth or a drum loop youā€™d have for texture. As I mentioned they are more akin to special effect settings but they were designed to be distortion and compression that youā€™d want versus something youā€™d stumble into and then summarily avoid.

Be glad to process a loop or clip for somebody :grinning:
Thanks
-L.

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My SSL X Desk is waiting for this effect so bad. :slight_smile:

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If you havenā€™t already, please make sure you pre-order! There are limited spots left.

Thanks
-L.

Sounds good, nice job :slight_smile: for shows or OTB it could turn out to be another no brainer like AHā€¦

Think in a loud show no one would realistically feel the difference between this and other options tho? And for production/mixing Iā€™ve just gotten too used to having the convenience/cheapness of adding/removing tape vibe during the mix nowā€¦ A lot more flexible etc. Possibly slightly less accurate sound I guess but just ā€˜differentā€™ to my ear. Same as using different hardware tape decks.

For example check this demo of Kaya. The demo sucks but gives you an idea. Digital has come a long way. Such a tiny audible difference between something like this and AH etc that it just comes down to personal preference and/or budget. I donā€™t really feel like any of the options blow the others away. Pretty even playing field IMHOā€¦Obvs YMMV tho and always hard to tell without being hands onā€¦

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I was feeding Zulu signal that was at +10db over 0 in this test. When you start using hot signals those slight differences disappear and analog stands out as a better platform for those purposes.

I am glad what you have works for you. But for me and many engineers it comes down to accurately emulating a deck, not just its tone which is simple, but its behavior. I will upload the wavs tonight so you can look at the waveforms. They are very telling.

Thanks
-L.

Additionally, at a loud show, thereā€™s stuff thatā€™s loud and clipped and then thereā€™s loud and punchy. Zulu on the output of your buss, can give you energy without a compromise to the original punch of your signal. Plus it generates more analog bass content due to the head bump simulation. Who doesnt need more real concentrated bass? The Enhance control generates some amazing results on mixes, without sacrificing impact. The HiFi deck is insane at doing this. I have some great experiences parking Zulu on an X32/M32 during live shows. Big improvement.
Thanks
-L.

Obvs you wanna fight your corner on this but thatā€™s a little offensive/condescendingā€¦ With chains of 2 or 3 plugins I can get stupid close to the behavior as well as the tone. Believe me, Iā€™ve been keeping an eye on this area of ITB for a long time :wink: Had a Tascam 388, 32, 38, 488mkii, 688 + Akai GX77 and only sold them/stopped repairing very recently after I felt plugins/digital had finally become a legit option for tape. After willing digital to be useable for a long time but always being really disappointed. Never looked at graphs etc, just trusting my ears.

Iā€™m not saying the Zulu isnt as good or possibly better. I genuinely hope it is and that youā€™ve nailed it :slight_smile: Like I said, for shows or OTB its prob a no-brainer. Itā€™s just unnecessary luxury item for me right now, although I am interested enough to keep an eye on it and wait for user reviews etc with a view to poss grabbing one to replace/free-up my deco when I start playing shows againā€¦

Wishing you luck with it :slight_smile:

Maybe youā€™re being a little too sensitive. I think youā€™ve made your point quite clear. Youā€™re happy with digital emulations. Did you know itā€™s possible to turn any conversation about an analog FX processor into a digital vs analog argument?

Dude, if you hadnā€™t said it was impossible for digital to do what zulu does, without you having even used the best of current digital there probably wouldnā€™t have been so much ranting :wink: But yeah, fair enough, Iā€™ve said enough :wink:

But think you need to remember that the Zulu altho being analog, is still an emulation of something that it isnā€™t in itself. So the comparison to other emulations is more relevant/of interest than the normal Analog vs Digital comparisions/argumentsā€¦

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Does Kaya emulate the tape compression? I couldnā€™t see anything about that in the description on the site.

Deco does a saturation type thing, but I donā€™t think it sounds like real tape compression, which is pretty unique.

I treat plugins differently to hardware. They donā€™t ā€˜reallyā€™ do anything. Just code and the designers interpretation. Always go by ear and just test em out. The top left ā€˜movementā€™ knob seems to have some kind of comp/squash effect tho. That particular plugin isnā€™t even meant to be a real tape sim, just the electronics stages, but it sounds more like cassette (followed by satin/slate for wow/flutter/noise) than anything else Iā€™ve ever usedā€¦ Just has ā€˜thatā€™ soundā€¦