ZADAR
quadruple
envelope
generator
operator’s manual rev. 1973/2.3

Model of 1973

moduleexplained

SALUT

VECTOR SHAPESThank you for purchasing this Xaoc Devices
product. Zadar [ˈzadar] is a powerful, four-channel envelope, modulation, and transient generator, in a compact yet very complete, feature-richpackage. It is capable of synthesizing a vast
palette of envelopes starting from hundreds ofshapes stored in the memory. These starting
shapes are flexible vectors that can be stretched(from a fraction of a millisecond to half anhour), flipped, warped, distorted, delayed, shuffled, repeated, and amplitude modulated in realtime. A set of freely assignable CV inputs allows
for external control of most parameters. Eachchannel can work independently or combinedwith other channels within one of the chaining
and looping algorithms. Operating Zadar isquick and immediate, thanks to its accessible
interface and crisp OLED display. The main
screen displays all parameters together withthe currently selected shape. Entering the simple 3-page menu (4 pages with Nin expander
installed) is needed only for advanced settings.

Each shape is a vector curve comprising 3 to1000 breakpoints, and each segment interpolates between those breakpoints in real time.
This method allows the shapes to be scaled
from a fraction of a millisecond to half an hour,
without any stepping artifacts that would otherwise be caused by undersampling. Similar tovector graphics, these synthesized envelopes
are infinitely scalable and therefore have infinite resolution. This flexible approach allows
shapes to be smooth when you want them to besmooth and sharp when you want them to be
sharp—regardless of time scale.
Within the 2.0 firmware revision, there are 270
different shapes organized into 27 banks of 10
shapes. They have been carefully designed tosuit a wide range of use, from essential synth envelopes to complex transients, from modulation
cycles to rhythmic patterns, from quasi-random
modulations to perfectly regular functions, fromnatural envelopes extracted from a variety of
acoustic and electronic instruments to fractal
abstractions and sequences. Several renowned
artists have been invited to contribute extra“signature” shape banks (see the separate chart
for a graphical representation of each shape).
The essential feature of Zadar is that the vector
shapes can be easily modified and modulated ina variety of ways — in fact, some have been deliberately designed to be deformed. Many of thecomplex shapes are intended for long, evolving
envelopes (for example bank x), while others
may serve better as snappy transients or resonator exciters (like bank u).

INSTALLATION
The module requires 10hp worth of free space inthe eurorack cabinet. The ribbon type power cable must be plugged into the bus board, paying
close attention to polarity orientation. The red
stripe indicates the negative 12V rail and shouldalign with the dot, –12V or red stripe marks
on both the unit and the bus board. The module
itself is secured against reversed power connection, however reversing the 16-pin header may
cause serious damage to other componentsof your system by short-circuiting the +12V and+5V power rails. The module should be fastenedby mounting the supplied screws before powering up. To better understand the device, westrongly advise the user to read through the entire manual before using the module.

INTERFACE OVERVIEW
Zadar features four identical channels nameda, b, c, d with dedicated CV inputs and outputs,
all sharing a common set of controls. With-2

front panel
overview

fig. 1: interface

54

A

B

6CD

1

2

3

43

fig. 2: retriggering behavior

in each channel, the trig input 1 expects atrigger or gate impulse to initiate the envelope.
The asgn socket 2 is an assignable CV input
for external control (-10 to 10V) over a desiredparameter. To learn how to assign a parameter, please read further down this manual. Ineach channel, the corresponding envelope isavailable at the out jack 3 as unipolar voltage (0 to 10V).

triggertrigger

ANtrigger

triggerDG

triggertrigger

NRThe set of four rotary “endless” encoders A ,B , C , D is shared between the channels anddedicated to key parameters as described on thefront panel.

makes it instantly jump to 0V. The an behavior
is more complex—the restarting is from thefirst occurrence of the same voltage the envelope had when the trigger arrived, thus there
is no glitch due to retriggering. The nr settingignores triggers incoming while the envelope
or a chain of envelopes is playing, thus Zadar
will only retrigger after the envelope or a chainof envelopes ends (fig. 2).

The blue–illuminated channel button 4 (litwhen active) allows cycling through the channels. The OLED display 5 provides all the necessary visual feedback in real time, for the selected channel, with its name clearly displayedin the bottom-right corner (fig. 3). note:whenever the module remains idle for 10 minutes, the screen turns off; simply push or turn
anything to re-enable. Editing the envelope inthe current channel is very easy:

Press the warp/rsp knob C to toggle between two deformation parameters: warp
(temporal skew along the horizontal axis) andresponse (amplitude bend along the verticalaxis). Rotate the knob to change the value of a
selected parameter, observing the deformation
result and bipolar percentage value on thescreen. Both deformations have a wide range,
therefore each of these may serve as an essential tool for radical shape mangling or simple
adjustment (e.g. adapting to the response of aVCA). Please be aware that at maximum setting, the deformation can be rather extreme,
dramatically altering the shape from its starting point. Reversing the envelope retains thewarp value.

Rotate the shape/rev knob A to select ashape. Push the encoder to reverse the shape intime. The result can be observed on the display.
Notice that shape and bank number are visible
while selecting it.
Rotate the rtg/time knob B to set the duration (0,85ms to 30min). The exact value inmilliseconds is visible while turning the encoder, and the approximate percentage value
is shown in smaller text. Push the encoder toswitch between „digital”, „analog” and „no retrigger” behavior, indicated by appropriate dg,
an, or nr label on the screen. The dg option
causes the envelope to restart from the beginning whenever a new trigger arrives which

Press the sus/level encoder D to toggle between sustain and level parameters. The4

cv
asignmentsustain sets the point on the envelope to beheld whenever a gate signal fed into trig input
is high. The position is indicated with a verticaldashed line. Reversing the envelope does not affect the sustain point position (it remains in thesame place relative to the starting point). note:
to disable the sustain stage, simply move the sustain point to the very end of the envelope until
the display reads off.

installed, a secondary CV assignments pageappears that addresses the extra set of asgn
inputs on the expander. note: encoders behave
differently within the first two menu pages thanin the top, default screen. Within these pages, encoders correspond to separate channels, and not
the default parameters indicated on the panel.
While on the CV assignment page (fig. 4), push
the corresponding channel's encoder to set its
CV destination. The list of available parametersis browsed in a loop:

The level parameter serves as an attenuatorto the envelope amplitude, from 10V down to10mV (and 0). The approximate value is displayed as a percentage of the entire voltage
range, and the exact value in volts is visible
during adjustment.

shp — selects the envelope shapetim — adjusts duration
wrp — adjusts temporal warp
rsp — adjusts response
lvl — adjusts amplitude level
rep — selects the number of repeats
phs — adjusts phase shift
rev — reverses the shapesus — sets the position of the sustain point
frz — freezes the envelope state

MENU: CV ASSIGNMENTS
The central, red–illuminated menu button 6cycles through three menu pages: CV input assignments, chain/loop settings, and preset management. note: with the Nin expander module

The degree of CV control of the selected parameter can be set by turning the encoder and isindicated by bipolar percentage bars with 0V
in the middle. The interpretation of the display
is straightforward — the higher the bar is displayed, the stronger the influence of the CV tothe parameter value. note: sensitivity of -50
for the time parameter offers an approximate
1V/octave response. Also, the rev and frz parameters react to CV in a binary manner. Like acomparator, the respective action is performed
when the input CV exceeds the value as indicated by the bar. With rev, the envelope is reversed in relation to the current panel setting,
and with frz, its state is frozen, thus pausing
the envelope and holding its current value atthe instant the CV exceeds the threshold.

fig. 3: main screen

fig. 4: cv asignment menu

5chaining
the envelopes

Press the menu three times to leave this menu
and cycle back to the main screen. Please notethat the parameter assigned to CV is indicatedby a small cv label next to its value.

gorithms (fig. 7) defining various two-channel
chain splits, chains of three or four channels,
and looped derivatives of these. note: envelopes chained to some other previous channel
have their trig inputs inactive. Any unchainedenvelopes can still be used independently.

MENU: CHAIN SETTINGS
Zadar offers several settings for complex behavior of individual channels as well as chaining
and looping multiple envelopes across channels.
It is possible to combine up to four envelopes
into a chain, and furthermore, to define the cycle
behavior within a chain. Quite sophisticated envelopes and modulation waveform patterns canbe obtained this way. note: even when chained,
each envelope appears only on its dedicatedoutput. In this menu, each knob corresponds
to a separate channel. Push a knob to select thedesired parameter and turn it to edit the value.

As long as the envelope remains unchained, thephase parameter simply defines trigger delay.
The value displayed is a percentage of the entire
cycle length and therefore depends on cycle duration—longer envelopes allow for longer delays.
Within the looped chain algorithms, the common behavior is for each envelope to start after
the previous one ends. However, by adjusting
the phase parameter, you can shift the next envelope so that it starts at any point within thecycle of the previous one. Therefore, it is possible to initiate all four envelopes at the sametime (phase set to 0%) or make them start one
after another (phase on channels B , C , D
set to 100%. To loop the entire chain, also set
channel 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%, the chained envelope will be triggered exactly at the halfway point of the preceding envelope. For more variations, you canexperiment with setting a different number ofrepeats for each channel within a chain.

The selection of a chain algorithm is performed by operating the red knob (associatedwith channel A ). There are 16 available al-fig. 5: chain menu

The repeat parameter defines how many times
the current envelope will be repeated after completing the first cycle. As long as the envelope
remains unchained, the repeat parameter sets
the number of cycles from 0 to 100 or to infinity(∞). The last value yields an oscillator-like behavior. Repeating is also possible for envelopesthat are parts of a chain, however, infinite cycles
is then disabled.

fig. 6: preset management menu6

presetmanagement

fig. 7: chain algorithms

Whenever the repeat value is greater than 0,
the phase parameter will consider all the repetitions as one long cycle when calculating phaseshift. Hence, the next envelope in a chain may be
activated anytime during the repeats of the preceding one. note: the default value of phase iszero. When a looped chain is selected from thealgorithms, at least one phase value needs tobe set to more than zero for the whole loop tofunction properly.

COPYING THE SETTINGS
Press and hold the channel button 4 toopen the channel settings copy menu. It ispossible to paste the current channel settings
to any other channel or all at once. The red encoder A is used to navigate within the copymenu. To leave the menu without copying,
select cancel.
QUICK SAVE

Press the menu button two times to leave thismenu and cycle back to the main screen. Please
note that the activated functions are indicatedby the small chain, phase, and repeat labels
below the shape depiction.

Zadar does not auto-save edited channel
settings. To quickly save them to the default
preset slot, press and hold the menu button
6 . The operation is confirmed by menu andchannel buttons flashing once.

MENU: PRESET MANAGEMENTEXPANDABILITY: NIN

Zadar offers a myriad of parameters and settings that can create quite complex programming configurations. Fortunately, it is possible
to save your work for later use within the desired patching scenarios. The red encoder A isused to navigate within the preset page (fig.
6). Rotate the knob to select one of 18 presetslots. Then push the knob again to bring up theselection of possible operations: save, load,clear, and default preset. To prevent mistakes, a confirmation will be required for eachoperation. Each preset stores all the module settings. The default preset is recalled on module
power-up. Press the menu button once to leavethis menu and cycle back to the main screen.

Nin, an expander module also available from
Xaoc Devices, offers a second set of assignable
CV inputs and manual trigger/gate push-buttons for more comfortable tweaking. Manualtriggering via the Nin expander buttons displays the triggered channel envelope on thescreen.
ACCESSORY
Our Coal Mine black panels are available forall of Xaoc Devices modules. Sold separately.
Ask your favourite retailer. •7MAINFEATURESWARRANTY TERMSXAOC DEVICES WARRANTS THIS PRODUCT TO BE FREE OF DEFECTS IN MATERIALS OR WORKMANSHIPAND TO CONFORM WITH THE SPECIFICATIONS AT THE TIME OF SHIPMENT FOR ONE YEAR FROM THEDATE OF PURCHASE. DURING THAT PERIOD, ANY MALFUNCTIONING OR DAMAGED UNITS WILL BEREPAIRED, SERVICED, AND CALIBRATED ON A RETURN-TO-FACTORY BASIS. THIS WARRANTY DOES NOTCOVER ANY PROBLEMS RESULTING FROM DAMAGES DURING SHIPPING, INCORRECT INSTALLATION ORPOWER SUPPLY, IMPROPER WORKING ENVIRONMENT, ABUSIVE TREATMENT, OR ANY OTHER OBVIOUSUSER-INFLICTED FAULT.

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WHENEVER ORIGINALLY ACQUIRED. HOWEVER, IN SPECIFIC CASES, WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO CHARGEFOR LABOR, PARTS, AND TRANSIT EXPENSES WHERE APPLICABLE.

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AND MERCHANDISE.

Four independentchannels
270 uniquevector shapes
Cycle time range:
0,85ms to 30min
Shapes can beradically modified
in two dimensions
Immediate operation, accessible
interfaceComplex envelope
looping andchaining features
Assignable CV
inputs to control
nearly every
parameter
18 preset slots

TECHNICALDETAILS

EASTERN BLOC TECHNOLOGIESMADE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

Eurorack synthcompatible
10hp, skiff
friendly

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CONTENT COPYRIGHT ©2022 XAOC DEVICES. COPYING, DISTRIBUTION OR ANYCOMMERCIAL USE IN ANY WAY IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED AND REQUIRES THE WRITTEN PERMISSION BY XAOCDEVICES. SPECIFICATIONS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE. EDITING BY BRYAN NOLL.

Current draw:+40mA/-10mA
Reverse powerprotection