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Post by drsax on Jun 6, 2017 16:51:29 GMT -6
Here's some Zulu comparison files on my Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/user-934989569/sets/handsome-audio-zulu-drumbuss-comparisonZulu has SO many different settings which all interact. Keep in mind that these are all matched at a peak volume of -2dB but the RMS varies per track. These are just a small sampling of the types of sounds ZULU is capable of. I've also used ZULU on Vox and Sax with beautiful results. Those projects are not released commercially yet. Also - this is ZULU by itself. By using mic pres or other outboard on either side of ZULU, the sound and options are nearly unlimited. I just kept it simple to hear the sound of ZULU purely by itself. The original Drum Mix is posted also. *Note that the specific Zulu settings are in the filename of each track on soundcloud |
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Post by Guitar on Jun 6, 2017 17:21:39 GMT -6
Here's some Zulu comparison files on my Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/user-934989569/sets/handsome-audio-zulu-drumbuss-comparisonZulu has SO many different settings which all interact. Keep in mind that these are all matched at a peak volume of -2dB but the RMS varies per track. These are just a small sampling of the types of sounds ZULU is capable of. I've also used ZULU on Vox and Sax with beautiful results. Those projects are not released commercially yet. Also - this is ZULU by itself. By using mic pres or other outboard on either side of ZULU, the sound and options are nearly unlimited. I just kept it simple to hear the sound of ZULU purely by itself. The original Drum Mix is posted also Wow, those were some great examples. Probably the best ones I've heard yet. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 6, 2017 17:29:44 GMT -6
No.4 lo fi getting into Valley Dynamite territory?? p.s. Martin John Butler pm'd you as I don't want to post my lame efforts here .... |
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Post by drsax on Jun 6, 2017 17:33:13 GMT -6
Here's some Zulu comparison files on my Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/user-934989569/sets/handsome-audio-zulu-drumbuss-comparisonZulu has SO many different settings which all interact. Keep in mind that these are all matched at a peak volume of -2dB but the RMS varies per track. These are just a small sampling of the types of sounds ZULU is capable of. I've also used ZULU on Vox and Sax with beautiful results. Those projects are not released commercially yet. Also - this is ZULU by itself. By using mic pres or other outboard on either side of ZULU, the sound and options are nearly unlimited. I just kept it simple to hear the sound of ZULU purely by itself. The original Drum Mix is posted also Wow, those were some great examples. Probably the best ones I've heard yet. Glad they were helpful Guitar illacov definitely created a beast of a unit here. And this is just ZULU by itself on a drum mix. Combined with mic pres, or outboard comps and EQ's, the range of sounds are incredible! I've also messed with it on master buss and it sounds really great there as well. Still waiting to track some stuff through it but I'm just familiarizing myself with it a bit more before I start tracking with it. |
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Post by illacov on Jun 6, 2017 20:36:13 GMT -6
How did you decide on Zulu settings - was that through trial and error or is there something a bit more scientific? Haven't had much chance to play too much with mine yet, but interested in other peeps settings. Yeah...I'm still figuring it out myself. The gain staging has been a little confusing to me. With this I went Upton--Stam73--Sta--Zulu. I have my sta output pretty cranked and it still comes in pretty low. If I were to turn the Enhance knob all the way down (CC), it would be super low. The Bias is the top end, so I wanted to roll that off. I noticed that with this particular chain, the MX Cal seemed to impart the best amount of saturation without distortion. To me, it definitely "smoothed" out the mic. Not as pointed in the mids. Just more pleasant. I'm wondering if I should track normally and then use the Zulu after to print...That way I'm not re-learning all of my gain staging while tracking. I track vocals, bass drums, guitars and everything else, with mine sans compressor, MX mode or HX mode, come in circa -12db. 1 click of Enhance or two, at most. John, skip the Sta Level and see if you can get appropriate gain coming in circa -12 or -18db. You shouldn't have to change your gain staging up. Try setting Zulu to Deck HI, HX mode, Enhance at 1 or 2 clicks, HI Headroom. I can get -18 or hotter with ease like this. Adding Enhance closes the gap even further. Plenty of vocal tracking and live tracking success stories, I'll get you squared pretty quickly. Feel free to call me. Thanks -L. |
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Post by drsax on Jun 6, 2017 21:15:10 GMT -6
No.4 lo fi getting into Valley Dynamite territory?? p.s. Martin John Butler pm'd you as I don't want to post my lame efforts here .... Yeah... but fatter and less harsh than a dynamite. Best of both worlds! And had I pushed the level into Zulu more I could have created even more grungy goodness. |
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Post by illacov on Jun 6, 2017 22:02:59 GMT -6
I just cut 7 tracks worth of DI bass with no inline compression this week with only a DI box, a Rane MS1B and Zulu. Plenty of signal coming in, not a tweak fest, not a hassle. Good old fashioned record production. The bassist has recorded in numerous professional studios and remarked that with Zulu it was the best he has ever heard his bass in some 30+ years of playing.
Thanks
-L.
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Post by ChaseUTB on Jun 6, 2017 23:55:11 GMT -6
I am noob but I thought Zulu was passive therefore doesn't have a sound ?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2017 2:16:17 GMT -6
I am noob but I thought Zulu was passive therefore doesn't have a sound ? Guitar pick ups are passive. Depending on the type of wire, thickness of wire and how tightly they are wound etc shapes the tone. Not saying Zulu is built like this but just an example of (massive) passive tone. |
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Post by illacov on Jun 7, 2017 5:39:37 GMT -6
I am noob but I thought Zulu was passive therefore doesn't have a sound ? It has a massive range of sounds. It's using custom designed Altran transformers, special passive circuits and components to offer a pretty broad range of tones. Tracking more bass (different player), electric guitar and drums today. Zulu shall be all over it! Tapey goodness! Thanks -L. |
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Post by illacov on Jun 7, 2017 6:56:32 GMT -6
On my headphones, it sounded to me like the Zulu file was squeezed tight and lower in volume, so I tried them on my monitors. Gotta say I don't see any reason to jump on this, it really didn't sound better to me, just different. In the back of my head, I love the idea of the Zulu, so if anything, I was rooting for it to be a winner. Make a track with and without the UAD ATR-102 on the Smooth Vocal preset, or the 30 ips Mastering preset, cut the noise off, and you'll hear a nice improvement too. Is the Zulu better than that? I'd love to hear more comparisons before making any real judgements. Thanks for doing this John. Wiz has several examples that you'll find rather impressive in my opinion. John is still getting his bearings with Zulu. We chatted on the phone last night and he is extremely impressed with it but also needed some encouragement to turn the knobs til it felt good instead of overthinking things. I'm sure he will have some pretty sweet examples in the near future. Be glad to run something thru Zulu for you. Thanks -L. |
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Post by Martin John Butler on Jun 7, 2017 7:21:16 GMT -6
Thanks for the kind offer Langston. Give me a few days, and I may take you up on that :-)
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Post by Johnkenn on Jun 7, 2017 7:25:21 GMT -6
Huh. I thought it sounded better.
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Post by Johnkenn on Jun 7, 2017 7:32:30 GMT -6
On my headphones, it sounded to me like the Zulu file was squeezed tight and lower in volume, so I tried them on my monitors. Gotta say I don't see any reason to jump on this, it really didn't sound better to me, just different. In the back of my head, I love the idea of the Zulu, so if anything, I was rooting for it to be a winner. Make a track with and without the UAD ATR-102 on the Smooth Vocal preset, or the 30 ips Mastering preset, cut the noise off, and you'll hear a nice improvement too. Is the Zulu better than that? I'd love to hear more comparisons before making any real judgements. Thanks for doing this John. I don't hear the ampex plug compressing anything...and don't really hear it rolling off any top unless I go to 3,7 or 15ips. What I hear the Zulu doing is smoothing the midrange, compressing and then rolling off the painful part of the top. I've always wondered when listening to Beatles records how the top seemed detailed, but wasn't bright so to speak - just kind of natural. My example might not have been the best, but that's what I'm hearing this thing doing. |
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Post by Martin John Butler on Jun 7, 2017 8:40:15 GMT -6
I'll take a little more time later this week and have a listen to the other examples. I've been having difficulty lately mastering my next release, so I'm probably a little over sensitive right now to hearing differences, and hearing them as differences, but not necessarily improvements.
It's prevalent in high end audio too. Change a cable and go wow, the high end is clearer now, but in fact, it may just be a boost, or may have cut the low end, and so the difference itself seems like an improvement, when it may not necessarily be so.
I did hear one other rough track with it, and my impression of that was it's a vibe machine. It lent a great retro feel to that track. I'm not saying that's all it does, just that if you want that, the Zulu can certainly give it to you.
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Post by drsax on Jun 7, 2017 8:51:02 GMT -6
On my headphones, it sounded to me like the Zulu file was squeezed tight and lower in volume, so I tried them on my monitors. Gotta say I don't see any reason to jump on this, it really didn't sound better to me, just different. In the back of my head, I love the idea of the Zulu, so if anything, I was rooting for it to be a winner. Make a track with and without the UAD ATR-102 on the Smooth Vocal preset, or the 30 ips Mastering preset, cut the noise off, and you'll hear a nice improvement too. Is the Zulu better than that? I'd love to hear more comparisons before making any real judgements. Thanks for doing this John. I don't hear the ampex plug compressing anything...and don't really hear it rolling off any top unless I go to 3,7 or 15ips. What I hear the Zulu doing is smoothing the midrange, compressing and then rolling off the painful part of the top. I've always wondered when listening to Beatles records how the top seemed detailed, but wasn't bright so to speak - just kind of natural. My example might not have been the best, but that's what I'm hearing this thing doing. I hear Zulu similar to what you're describing Johnkenn - it's got such a wide range of sounds and it can definitely take some of the harsh frequencies and smooth them in a very musical way but without making them sound smeared, which is a problem I have had with other tape sims |
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Post by ChaseUTB on Jun 7, 2017 15:36:56 GMT -6
I am noob but I thought Zulu was passive therefore doesn't have a sound ? It has a massive range of sounds. It's using custom designed Altran transformers, special passive circuits and components to offer a pretty broad range of tones. Tracking more bass (different player), electric guitar and drums today. Zulu shall be all over it! Tapey goodness! Thanks -L. How does a passive component alter signal? That would make it active ? Or am I confusing terminology.. can you link me info or cliff note me please ? |
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Post by wiz on Jun 7, 2017 15:59:02 GMT -6
It has a massive range of sounds. It's using custom designed Altran transformers, special passive circuits and components to offer a pretty broad range of tones. Tracking more bass (different player), electric guitar and drums today. Zulu shall be all over it! Tapey goodness! Thanks -L. How does a passive component alter signal? That would make it active ? Or am I confusing terminology.. can you link me info or cliff note me please ? Resistors and capacitors are two passive components.... They are the basis of EQ. You can make HPF and LPF with them. Transformers are passive components...and they also have sounds to them. there are two examples... Passive, means it doesn't require power to operate... resistors, capacitors, some DI 's, transformers etc etc cheers Wiz |
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Post by ChaseUTB on Jun 7, 2017 16:13:08 GMT -6
wiz Thank you so much I was definitely confusing terminology... May sound dumb but I'm off to research resisitors and capacitors... sounds cool to me ðŸ¤
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Post by kcatthedog on Jun 7, 2017 16:58:46 GMT -6
Hopefully that is within your capacity and anyway resisting new learning is futile !
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Post by Guitar on Jun 7, 2017 18:08:41 GMT -6
You might find some old trannies on the curb to play with as well.
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Post by jcoutu1 on Jun 7, 2017 18:11:44 GMT -6
You might find some old trannies on the curb to play with as well. I'll pass on those. Haha |
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Post by Johnkenn on Jun 8, 2017 17:30:01 GMT -6
Hey guys - just as a reminder, if you're a manufacturer, I really don't think there's any reason you should be disparaging a competitor's product. At the very least, it's a conflict of interest. I'm certainly not trying to censor - anyone is welcome to truthfully review a product - if you own it - or have had experience with it.
Carry on.
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Post by illacov on Jun 9, 2017 5:43:49 GMT -6
You might find some old trannies on the curb to play with as well. I'll pass on those. Haha I got my start playing with the old trannies in the broken TV's on the curb. Later I found out I was cheating death since the caps held their charge long after the boob tube was unplugged. Thanks -L. |
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Post by wiz on Jun 9, 2017 16:11:44 GMT -6
New song with Zulu on the kick, snare, bass, LHS acoustic,Vocal, OOHS, and 2 buss
The more I use it, the more I like it.
cheers
Wiz
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