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Post by illacov on May 1, 2016 9:28:00 GMT -6
Greetings all, I created this thread to announce the impending release of my new product, Zulu. ****It has been very difficult to participate here and on the purple site since my good buddy Dennis/Kidvybez went home to the Lord. He originally started the thread here about Zulu and after his passing it just feels wrong to post in that thread. If anything that thread was a shining example of our friendship. When Dennis was your friend, he believed in you, wanted to be proud of you and encouraged you to be and to do your best. I pray he is at peace and also watching all the cool things we are doing in his memory.*** Link to Zulu manual. drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B2zRvlWLux2ZTU9wR0tjNjQweXMMy website is finally revamped, with new examples, a new interface, production renders of the final Zulu case design, a full walkthrough of features with audio examples and a product demonstration video is on the way as well! I am here at your disposal to discuss Zulu, its feature set and usefulness. Again Zulu is the world's first fully passive tape simulator. It now has transformer coupled ins and outs, 4 controls (Deck, Bias, Enhance and Headroom), Neutrik XLR in and out jacks, plus a larger case design (9" L X 6" W and 3" H). As well a last minute switch was added called Cal (short for Calibration). It features 2 modes, tk and mx. tk mode is fully passive and Zulu operates as a line level device. This setting saturates and compresses material the easiest, it is a very vibey setting but still capable of cleaner sounds. mx mode sets Zulu's output to mic level and a microphone preamp can be connected to Zulu's outputs to provide make up gain. A remarkable feature of mx mode is that Zulu has increased headroom before the tape circuit saturates, but still offers sweet sounding harmonics and compression, in addition to offering a brighter more open tone. The bass response is remarkable in both settings. The highs are never harsh in either mode but the distribution of harmonics and tone, especially between 1k to 4k is unique to each of the settings on the Cal switch. Another cool side effect of using a microphone preamp in mx mode is that every mic preamp has a different tone it imparts on Zulu. A tube preamp will sound different than a clinical chip amp or a transformer based discrete amp. This allows for many exciting tones and approaches to using mx mode. Again the website is handsomeaudio.com I can be reached at langston@handsomeaudio.com Thanks and God Bless. Langston Masingale Handsome Audio, USA. handsomeaudio.com
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Post by Johnkenn on May 1, 2016 9:38:30 GMT -6
Very cool! Can't wait to check it out.
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Post by Jason on May 1, 2016 9:44:55 GMT -6
Website looks great, Langston!
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Post by tasteliketape on May 1, 2016 10:45:55 GMT -6
I've signed up on the preorder list This was on my to buy list this year Love the "Miss Ohio " sound clip
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Post by channelcat on May 2, 2016 17:33:42 GMT -6
The new website and final renderings of the ZULU look great, Langston! Has the pricing been set yet? And most importantly, will the LoFi setting make all my mixes sound like they came off a ROIR Cassette? (please say yes!)
Stu
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Post by Johnkenn on May 2, 2016 22:25:16 GMT -6
Those are renderings right? And the top has knobs, correct?
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Post by noah shain on May 3, 2016 0:53:10 GMT -6
Awesome Langston! I mix to a 440B so I'm excited to do some side by side with Zulu. Can't find a pre-order page on the site. Is there one?
What's final pricing gonna be?
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Post by illacov on May 4, 2016 10:20:21 GMT -6
Those are renderings right? And the top has knobs, correct? The final cases are on order from our Sheet metal fabricator. Yes the knobs are on the top panel of Zulu so you can recall your settings and tweak to your hearts desire. Our knobs are a wonderful size as well. From tip to tip they are 1.25 inches long. Easy to grab and manipulate. FYI we are expecting Zulu's release/birth by mid June. Once our website store goes live, Zulu will be for sale and those who have pre-order reservations will get "first chance," early opportunities to complete their orders before the store goes live. If you are viewing from mobile, the pre order is not an option. You need to be on the full site for it to display correctly (too large for phones). www.handsomeaudio.com/#!pre-order-zulu/k7zyx -L
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Post by malkit on May 4, 2016 15:02:12 GMT -6
Thanks for the updates, Langston.
Really looking forward to this beast going live.
Will the knobs be different from the picture? I have to say - I kind of like the stone look you've cooked up in the various versions we've seen.
;->
Best of luck on your first release!
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Post by illacov on May 7, 2016 10:53:22 GMT -6
Thanks for the updates, Langston. Really looking forward to this beast going live. Will the knobs be different from the picture? I have to say - I kind of like the stone look you've cooked up in the various versions we've seen. ;-> Best of luck on your first release! Those gorgeous abalone knobs! Those knobs are not only expensive but also lack a pointer. I search around every once in a while to see if there are other versions but so far I've struck out. The new knobs have a simulated abalone detail to pay homage to the original prototype. The gold was repurposed as the scale around the knobs. Things are moving along over here at Handsome Audio! We are waiting on fully finished production units to be born! Once we approve our finals, we are moving into full production and the gates are open! I just mixed a Blues LP to Zulu in mx mode. I used a pair of Shure M67 microphone preamps. Absolutely mind blowing. The low mids and upper harmonics are astounding. But as well, the stereo field is HUGE like this. Absolutley insane results from this device. The differences between my vintage mic preamps is astounding. My Scully 280 are brighter than the Shure but not as quiet. The Scully are just begging for louder keyboard and drum print duties. I'm also eyeballing my Revive Audio Modified (bought for $25 on eBay) Altec 1689 (sound like caramel on vocals and drums) they are pretty quiet but have Freed transformers on the inputs so plenty of room for character. Long story short the tone options are pretty large. Currently I have some default settings I use for mixdown but the super users are reporting back about using the Bias control and the Enhance control "against" each other. Bias darkening the tone and then Enhance to dial back in some sweetened top end and transients in parallel a LA the Pultec trick. The preset Bible on our site is going to be pretty deep! Thanks -L
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Post by oceres on May 14, 2016 23:29:37 GMT -6
I'm interested in trying this before mic preamps when tracking. I have two Alice mic-amp-paks and Tascam UH-7000 interface which has preamps also. Alice gets this cool midrange I prefer though. Nice for electric guitar sounds. With Zulu I imagine getting faster to a finished sound. I loved the soundcloud clips. Go Handsome Audio!
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Post by illacov on May 16, 2016 9:18:03 GMT -6
I'm interested in trying this before mic preamps when tracking. I have two Alice mic-amp-paks and Tascam UH-7000 interface which has preamps also. Alice gets this cool midrange I prefer though. Nice for electric guitar sounds. With Zulu I imagine getting faster to a finished sound. I loved the soundcloud clips. Go Handsome Audio! Zulu is not a microphone preamplifier. It would work AFTER a mic preamp for certain. Just like a ribbon microphone, it is not recommended to run phantom power through Zulu or it will malfunction. I'm curious (now that you mention it) what would happen if you plugged in a dynamic like an SM57 with a mic preamp following Zulu in MX mode. BTW we have just concluded a very successful demo session with a Grammy winning record producer and engineer who is truly digging Zulu's vibe and performance. Our test involved shooting Zulu out against an Otari MTR90 running +9 tape on an awesome indie rock avant garde mix. The Otari print had a very obvious and cool sounding midrange, sweet top end, along with some really awesome compression on the mixes overall bass (all attributed to the deck). By setting Zulu to TK mode, Tape formula HiFi (Studer) putting the Enhance knob at 100%, placing Bias at either 100% Bright or Dark, and Headroom set to LoFi (lowest headroom), we accomplished extremely pleasing (to our ears and to the producer's) results, that showcased a compressed low end, sweet midrange and highs, but sans tape hiss. We are continuing to build a database of endorsee super users and regular Joes (like me!!) who completely love and are ready to begin using Zulu in their everyday sessions and productions. The biggest revelation about Zulu as a working platform has to be that you do way less to your mixes, you don't need as many tricks or special secret moves to accomplish tones and texture, it truly removes that implicit "need," that we've developed on DAWs. Basic nuts and bolts tools sound completely different through analog tape and the same is true for Zulu. One of my biggest observations is the following. No matter what system I'm on, regardless of how good the converters are (whatever sample rate you use) or the room or the equipment, the minute you get an amazing sound and you hit record (to digital), the harmonics and energy changes. It makes the work you invested seem like it never happened. By printing that mix to a Studer or any other high quality machine, that additional bit of harmonic depth and compression, brings ALOT of that energy back to my ears. When I invented Zulu, I was seeking the return of that information, much like I would from tape, along with the tone shaping abilities you can get from driving the electronics and the tape itself into saturation and compression. However once you dwell into the world of circuit bending and analog modeling, you get to break some rules. First off, since there's no physical delay between the input and output signal, you can monitor through Zulu as you track and produce with no latency. Our endorsee Alan Evans, mentioned how on a recent session with the band Shakewell, that they monitored the entire tracking session through Zulu, literally from start to finish. Mic placement, gain staging, compression settings you name it. All guided along by what Zulu told them sounded best "on tape." Jedi Level stuff if you think about it. We are in our final test stages and are firing on all cylinders to meet our deadlines. Thanks for your interest in our product and I'll continue to chime in with some cool info as things progress.
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Post by tasteliketape on May 16, 2016 10:38:51 GMT -6
Man I hope this taste like tape lol?
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Post by oceres on May 16, 2016 11:28:51 GMT -6
Right on! Thank you for the information!
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Post by tasteliketape on Jun 30, 2016 22:52:22 GMT -6
Any news on this?
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Post by oceres on Jul 29, 2016 2:34:04 GMT -6
Bump
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Post by ragan on Jul 29, 2016 9:05:32 GMT -6
+1
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Post by mrholmes on Jul 29, 2016 16:44:42 GMT -6
I wrote them a month ago and did ask if it will see the light of the world because I do want to give it a shot. But no answer yet.
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Post by tasteliketape on Jul 29, 2016 16:55:01 GMT -6
This was supposed to be my 2015 Christmas present from my wife that was first release date end of December then June I'll guess it will be my 2016 Christmas present lol. Maybe
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Post by mrholmes on Jul 31, 2016 10:38:53 GMT -6
This was supposed to be my 2016 Christmas present from my wife that was first release date end of December then June I'll guess it will be my 2016 Christmas present lol. Maybe Maybe this one? STS Tape Simulator www.soundskulptor.com/uk/sts.html
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Post by illacov on Aug 1, 2016 14:53:10 GMT -6
Greetings again!
We have run many rigorous field tests with Zulu and got lots of positive feedback and large requests for better recallability. So we've switched over to a set of controls done with high precision for full recall without issue. We've also begun adapting our platform to exist in both desktop AND rackmount form. Thanks again for your interest and patience. We continue to get closer and closer to our final goals and we will be immediately everywhere and anywhere we can once we are ready to contact our pre register folks and the general public.
Thanks
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Post by tasteliketape on Aug 1, 2016 18:45:58 GMT -6
I'm waiting patiently lol I really like the sound samples on the site I've waited 11months on a pre once And so far I'm not really impressed with the tape plugins but that's just me
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Post by jcoutu1 on Sept 8, 2016 17:31:23 GMT -6
...you said it. Greetings again! We've also begun adapting our platform to exist in both desktop AND rackmount form. Thanks
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Post by Johnkenn on Sept 12, 2016 17:39:14 GMT -6
I want
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Post by ragan on Sept 12, 2016 18:01:50 GMT -6
I kinda think I do too.
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