It’s a quad digital delay with a bunch of patch points in its sprawling 42HP. But Xaoc Devices’ new Samarkanda and its audio buffer can transform into a lot more, from granulators to loopers to resonators – basically, anything you can build out of its four independent delays. It might be the most powerful re-patchable effect we’ve ever seen.
Maybe the best way to think about this is as a custom delay effects box you can reprogram using patch cords. That’s thanks to lossless chaining and essentially unlimited patching, combined with delay times down to 0.5ms (small enough for resonators and granulators and whatnot). And you can route feedback both internally and externally, meaning you can dream up still more concoctions with your other modules.
Even on its own, Xaoc notes, you can patch this into a variety of signal-mucking mayhem:
It can be used as four entirely independent delays, a dual stereo delay, a complex/multi-tap or multi-channel delay, a quad/polyphonic resonator, a dual chorus, a dual flanger reverb, a looper (with sound on sound!), and a granulator, or any combination of those. You can reverse the delayed signal, hold it, squeeze and stretch it beyond all recognition and still go back to the original piece of audio captured in the buffer! The internal lossless normalization (the signal doesn’t leave the digital domain) combined with top-notch components (including 24-bit AKM converters and 32-bit internal processing) are responsible for high sound quality.
For 620 EUR, then, you get the functionality that could easily rack up several times that in individual modules. Specs from Xaoc:
- Quadruple resampling delay
- Lossless chaining of sections
- Delay range of 0.5ms to 15 seconds per channel for a total of 60 seconds when stacked
- Analog (tape-like) and digital (granular) sweep behaviors
- Continuous, synced, and tap-tempo operation
- Clock division and multiplication from 1:8 to 8:1
- Buffer freezing and 1V/oct loop playback control
- Reverse delay effect
- Multiple options for coupling channels
- width 42HP
- depth 40mm (including cable bracket)
- +230mA/-90mA
Here’s the overview video. This looks amazing (and we should all shoot with colors like this, please):
So they say this is live performance-oriented, to which I’ll say, thank you for putting the knobs and patch points where you did and including a giant knob. I’m not sure if that’s necessarily what performance-oriented means, but I’m in!
This is also an instance where I’d say you really do want the four of them like this because of the expanded possibilities that they create.
Samarkanda, by the way, is a city in east-central Uzbekistan and one of Central Asia’s oldest cities – a prize of Alexander the Great, even. Now, Alexander the Great, I’ll bet, could find a spare 42HP or figure out a way to get an extra skiff. If not him, then surely the Samanids of Iran! Or the Arabs, or just … choose your fighter. Go old-school Sogdiana if you want. No, I am not reading this from Encyclopedia Britannica; as I always say, all this information is just right at the top of my head. (It does look like a beautiful city, and to its residents, I dearly hope we don’t shove you out of search ranking with our effects module!)
Modular grid, user manual, everything is online. Enjoy!
https://xaocdevices.com/main/samarkanda/
And here’s DivKid with a terrific demo and a bunch of patches:
PS – For software heads, and because there is never enough ****ing around with delays, I got really frustrated in VCV Rack until I came across a delay designed for exactly these kinds of feedback loops and using delays as building blocks for other effects. Sckitam WaveguideDelay is purpose-built for this task. Now having messed around with that, I’m even more intrigued by what’s possible now with the Xaoc Devices module in hardware and full of ideas.
If you like this, some other stuff to consider…
Fx Einheit is a $199 little multi-effects powerhouse that looks great, and it’s all Daisy-based (thanks, Tom Jarvis for this and the next one):
Venus Instruments Veno Orbit covered just yesterday (ooh) – not directly comparable but definitely going to be up your alley if you’re in the effects state of mind:
Intellijel’s Rainmaker takes a different approach, but will likely appeal to the same sorts of folks – now discontinued, so you’ll have to go a huntin’: