ZADAR

quadruple
envelope
generator

operator’s manual rev. 1973/2.0 Model of 1973

 module
explained

SALUT ering up. To better understand the device, we

strongly advise the user to read through the en-
Thank you for purchasing this Xaoc Devices tire manual before using the module.
product. Zadar is a powerful, four-channel en-
velope, modulation, and transient generator, VECTOR SHAPES
in a compact yet very complete, feature-rich
package. It is capable of synthesizing a vast Each shape is a vector curve comprising 3 to
palette of envelope shapes starting from hun- 1000 breakpoints, and each segment interpo-
dreds of shapes stored in the memory. These lates between those breakpoints in real time.
starting shapes are not mere wavetables, but This method allows the shapes to be scaled
flexible vectors that can be stretched (from from a fraction of a millisecond to half an hour,
a fraction of a millisecond to half an hour), without any stepping artifacts that would oth-
flipped, warped, distorted, delayed, shuffled, erwise be caused by undersampling. Similar to
repeated, and amplitude modulated in real vector graphics, these synthesized envelopes
time. A set of freely assignable CV inputs allows are infinitely scalable and therefore have in-
for external control of most parameters. Each finite resolution. This flexible approach allows
channel can work independently or combined shapes to be smooth when you want them to be
with other channels within one of the chaining smooth and sharp when you want them to be
and looping algorithms. Operating Zadar is sharp — regardless of time scale.
quick and immediate, thanks to its accessible
interface and crisp OLED display. The main Within the 2.0 firmware revision, there are 270
screen displays all parameters together with different shapes organized into 27 banks of 10
shapes. They have been carefully designed to
the currently selected shape. Entering the sim-
suit a wide range of use, from essential synth en-
ple 3-page menu (4 pages with Nin expander
velopes to complex transients, from modulation
installed) is needed only for advanced settings.
cycles to rhythmic patterns, from quasi-random
INSTALLATION modulations to perfectly regular functions, from
natural envelopes extracted from a variety of
The module requires 10hp worth of free space in acoustic and electronic instruments to fractal
the eurorack cabinet. The ribbon type power ca- abstractions and sequences. Several renowned
ble must be plugged into the bus board, paying artists have been invited to contribute extra
close attention to polarity orientation. The red “signature” shape banks (see the separate chart
stripe indicates the negative 12V rail and should for a graphical representation of each shape).
align with the dot, –12V or red stripe marks The essential feature of Zadar is that the vector
on both the unit and the bus board. The module shapes can be easily modified and modulated in
itself is secured against reversed power connec- a variety of ways — in fact, some have been de-
tion, however reversing the 16-pin header may liberately designed to be deformed. Many of the
cause serious damage to other components complex shapes are intended for long, evolving
of your system by short-circuiting the +12V and envelopes (for example bank x), while others
+5V power rails. The module should be fastened may serve better as snappy transients or reso-
by mounting the supplied screws before pow- nator exciters (like bank u).

2
 front panel
overview

fig. 1: interface

5 4

A B

C D

43
 INTERFACE OVERVIEW fig. 2: retriggering behavior

Zadar features four identical channels named trigger trigger

a, b, c, d with dedicated CV inputs and outputs, AN

all sharing a common set of controls. With-

in each channel, the trig input 1 expects a
trigger or gate impulse to initiate the envelope. trigger trigger

The asgn socket 2 is an assignable CV input DG

for external control (-10 to 10V) over a desired

parameter. To learn how to assign a parame-
ter, please read further down this manual. In
milliseconds is visible while turning the encod-
each channel, the corresponding envelope is
er, and the approximate percentage value is
available at the out jack 3 as unipolar volt-
shown in smaller text. Push the encoder to tog-
age (0 to 10V).
gle between “digital” and “analog” retrigger-
The set of four rotary “endless” encoders A , ing behavior, indicated by an appropriate dg
B , C , D is shared between the channels and or an label on the screen. The dg option caus-
dedicated to key parameters as described on the es the envelope to restart from the beginning
front panel. whenever a new trigger arrives which makes it
instantly jump to 0V. The an behavior is more
The blue–illuminated channel button 4 complex — the restarting is from the first oc-
(lit when active) allows cycling through the currence of the same voltage the envelope had
channels. The OLED display 5 provides all when the trigger arrived, thus there is no glitch
the necessary visual feedback in real time, for due to retriggering (fig. 2).
the selected channel, with its name clearly
displayed in the bottom-right corner (fig. 3). Press the warp/rsp knob C to toggle be-
note: whenever the module remains idle for tween two deformation parameters: warp
10 minutes, the screen turns off; simply push or (temporal skew along the horizontal axis) and
turn anything to re-enable. response (amplitude bend along the vertical
axis). Rotate the knob to change the value of a
Editing the envelope in the current channel is
selected parameter, observing the deformation
very easy:
result and bipolar percentage value on the
screen. Both deformations have a wide range,
Rotate the shape/rev knob A to select a
shape. Push the encoder to reverse the shape in therefore each of these may serve as an essen-
time. The result can be observed on the display. tial tool for radical shape mangling or simple
Notice that shape and bank number are visible adjustment (e.g. adapting to the response of a
while selecting it. VCA). Please be aware that at maximum set-
ting, the deformation can be rather extreme,
Rotate the rtg/time knob B to set the du- dramatically altering the shape from its start-
ration (0,85ms to 30min). The exact value in ing point.

4
 cv
asignment

Press the sus/level encoder D to toggle be- module installed, a secondary CV assignments
tween sustain and level parameters. The page appears that addresses the extra set of
sustain sets the point on the envelope to be asgn inputs on the expander. note: encoders
held whenever a gate signal fed into trig input behave differently within the first two menu
is high. The position is indicated with a vertical pages than in the top, default screen. Within
dashed line. note: to disable the sustain stage, these pages, encoders correspond to separate
simply move the sustain point to the very end of channels, and not the default parameters indi-
the envelope until the display reads off. cated on the panel.

The level parameter serves as an attenuator While on the CV assignment page (fig. 4), push
to the envelope amplitude, from 10V down to the corresponding channel's encoder to set its
10mV (and 0). The approximate value is dis- CV destination. The list of available parameters
played as a percentage of the entire voltage is browsed in a loop:
range, and the exact value in volts is visible
during adjustment. shp — selects the envelope shape
tim — adjusts duration
MENU: CV ASSIGNMENTS wrp — adjusts temporal warp
rsp — adjusts response
The central, red–illuminated menu button 6
lvl — adjusts amplitude level
cycles through three menu pages: CV input
rep — selects the number of repeats
assignments, chain/loop settings, and preset
phs — adjusts phase shift
management. note: with the Nin expander
rev — reverses the shape
sus — sets the position of the sustain point
frz — freezes the envelope state

The degree of CV control of the selected param-

eter can be set by turning the encoder and is
indicated by bipolar percentage bars with 0V
in the middle. The interpretation of the display
is straightforward — the higher the bar is dis-
fig. 3: main screen played, the stronger the influence of the CV to
the parameter value. note: sensitivity of -50
for the time parameter offers an approximate
1V/octave response. Also, the rev and frz pa-
rameters react to CV in a binary manner. Like a
comparator, the respective action is performed
when the input CV exceeds the value as indi-
cated by the bar. With rev, the envelope is re-
versed in relation to the current panel setting,
fig. 4: cv asignment menu and with frz, its state is frozen, thus pausing

5
 chaining
the envelopes

the envelope and holding its current value at The selection of a chain algorithm is per-
the instant the CV exceeds the threshold. formed by operating the red knob (associated
with channel A ). There are 16 available al-
Press the menu three times to leave this menu gorithms (fig. 7) defining various two-channel
and cycle back to the main screen. Please note chain splits, chains of three or four channels,
that the parameter assigned to CV is indicated and looped derivatives of these. note: enve-
by a small cv label next to its value. lopes chained to some other previous channel
have their trig inputs inactive. Any unchained
MENU: CHAIN SETTINGS envelopes can still be used independently.
Zadar offers several settings for complex behav-
As long as the envelope remains unchained, the
ior of individual channels as well as chaining
phase parameter simply defines trigger delay.
and looping multiple envelopes across channels.
The value displayed is a percentage of the entire
It is possible to combine up to four envelopes
cycle length and therefore depends on cycle dura-
into a chain, and furthermore, to define the cycle
tion — longer envelopes allow for longer delays.
behavior within a chain. Quite sophisticated en-
velopes and modulation waveform patterns can
Within the looped chain algorithms, the com-
be obtained this way. note: even when chained,
mon behavior is for each envelope to start after
each envelope appears only on its dedicated
the previous one ends. However, by adjusting
output. In this menu, each knob corresponds
the phase parameter, you can shift the next
to a separate channel. Push a knob to select the
envelope so that it starts at any point within the
desired parameter and turn it to edit the value.
cycle of the previous one. Therefore, it is possible
to initiate all four envelopes at the same time
(phase set to 0%) or make them start one af-
ter another (phase on channels B  , C , D set
to 100%. To loop the entire chain, also set chan-
nel A phase to 100%). In other words, within
a chain, the phase parameter defines the phase
shift with respect to the previous envelope in
the chain. For example, if phase is set to 50%,
fig. 5: chain menu the chained envelope will be triggered exactly
at the halfway point of the preceding envelope.
For more variations, you can experiment with
setting a different number of repeats for each
channel within a chain.

The repeat parameter defines how many times

the current envelope will be repeated after com-
pleting the first cycle. As long as the envelope
fig. 6: preset management menu remains unchained, the repeat parameter sets

6
 preset
management

fig. 7: chain algorithms

the number of cycles from 0 to 100 or to infinity to select one of 18 preset slots. Then push the
(∞). The last value yields an oscillator-like be- knob again to bring up the selection of possible
havior. Repeating is also possible for envelopes operations: save, load, clear, and default
that are parts of a chain, however, infinite cycles preset. To prevent mistakes, a confirmation
is then disabled. will be required for each operation. Each preset
stores all the module settings. The default preset
Whenever the repeat value is greater than 0,
is recalled on module power-up. Press the menu
the phase parameter will consider all the
button once to leave this menu and cycle back to
repetitions as one long cycle when calculating
phase shift. Hence, the next envelope in a chain the main screen.
may be activated anytime during the repeats
COPYING THE SETTINGS
of the preceding one. note: the default value of
phase is zero. When a looped chain is selected Press and hold the channel button 4 to open
from the algorithms, at least one phase value the channel settings copy menu. It is possible to
needs to be set to more than zero for the whole
paste the current channel settings to any other
loop to function properly.
channel or all at once. The red encoder A is
Press the menu button two times to leave this used to navigate within the copy menu. To leave
menu and cycle back to the main screen. Please the menu without copying, select cancel.
note that the activated functions are indicated
by the small chain, phase, and repeat labels QUICK SAVE
below the shape depiction. Zadar does not auto-save edited channel set-
tings. To quickly save them, press and hold the
MENU: PRESET MANAGEMENT
menu button 6 . The operation is confirmed
Zadar offers a myriad of parameters and set- by menu and channel buttons flashing once.
tings that can create quite complex program-
ming configurations. Fortunately, it is possible EXPANDABILITY
to save your work for later use within the de-
sired patching scenarios. Nin, an expander module also available from
Xaoc Devices, offers a second set of assignable
The red encoder A is used to navigate with- CV inputs and manual trigger/gate push-but-
in the preset page (fig. 6). Rotate the knob tons for more comfortable tweaking. •

7
 main
features
WARRANTY TERMS
XAOC DEVICES WARRANTS THIS PRODUCT TO BE FREE OF DEFECTS IN MATERIALS OR WORKMANSHIP, Four independent
AND TO CONFORM WITH THE SPECIFICATIONS AT THE TIME OF SHIPMENT FOR A PERIOD OF ONE YEAR channels
FROM THE DATE OF PURCHASE. DURING THAT PERIOD ANY MALFUNCTIONING OR DAMAGED UNITS
WILL BE REPAIRED, SERVICED, AND CALIBRATED ON A RETURN-TO-FACTORY BASIS. THIS WARRANTY 270 unique
DOES NOT COVER ANY PROBLEMS RESULTING FROM DAMAGES DURING SHIPPING, INCORRECT INSTAL-
LATION OR POWER SUPPLY, IMPROPER WORKING ENVIRONMENT, ABUSIVE TREATMENT OR ANY OTHER vector shapes
OBVIOUS USER-INFLICTED FAULT.
Cycle time range:
LEGACY SUPPORT 0,85ms to 30min

IF SOMETHING WENT WRONG WITH A XAOC PRODUCT AFTER THE WARRANTY PERIOD IS OVER, NO Shapes can be
NEED TO WORRY, AS WE’RE STILL HAPPY TO HELP! THIS APPLIES TO ANY DEVICE, WHEREVER AND radically modified
WHENEVER ORIGINALLY ACQUIRED. HOWEVER, IN SPECIFIC CASES, WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO CHARGE
FOR LABOR, PARTS AND TRANSIT EXPENSES WHERE APPLICABLE. in two dimensions

Immediate oper-
RETURN POLICY
ation, accessible
THE DEVICE INTENDED FOR REPAIR OR REPLACEMENT UNDER WARRANTY NEEDS TO BE SHIPPED IN interface
THE ORIGINAL PACKAGING ONLY, SO PLEASE KEEP IT JUST IN CASE. also, a filled RMA form must
be included. XAOC DEVICES CAN NOT TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR DAMAGES CAUSED DURING Complex envelope
TRANSPORT. PRIOR TO SENDING US ANYTHING, PLEASE CONTACT US AT SUPPORT@XAOCDE-
VICES.COM. NOTE THAT ANY UNSOLICITED PARCEL WILL BE REJECTED AND RETURNED! looping and
chaining features
GENERAL INQUIRIES
Assignable CV
FOR USER FEEDBACK SUGGESTIONS, DISTRIBUTION TERMS, FEEL FREE TO CONTACT XAOC DEVICES AT inputs to control
INFO@XAOCDEVICES.COM. PLEASE VISIT THE XAOCDEVICES.COM FOR INFORMATION ABOUT
nearly every
THE CURRENT PRODUCT LINE, USER MANUALS, FIRMWARE UPDATES, TUTORIALS, AND MERCHANDISE.
parameter

18 preset slots

technical
details

Eurorack synth
compatible
EASTERN BLOC TECHNOLOGIES MADE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

10hp, skiff
friendly

Current draw:
+40mA/-10mA
written by t. Mirt, M. Łojek, M. BARTKOWIAK. proofreading and editing by b. noll. DESIGNED
BY M. Łojek. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CONTENT COPYRIGHT © 2019 XAOC DEVICES. COPYING, DISTRI-
BUTION OR ANY COMMERCIAL USE IN ANY WAY IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED AND REQUIRES THE WRITTEN
Reverse power
PERMISSION BY XAOC DEVICES. SPECIFICATIONS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE. protection