XAOC Devices Samarkanda Eurorack Quad Delay and Looper Module

We say...

A seriously powerful 4-channel delay and looping workstation which sounds as good as it looks. Yes, at 42HP this thing is a bit of a beast, but it's flexible and open-ended enough to take the place of multiple lesser modules. Lovely stuff!

Manufacturer's description

Xaoc Devices Samarkanda is a digital quad delay module with extensive patching capabilities and a lot of flexibility for signal mangling. 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, dual chorus, dual flanger, reverb, looper (with sound on sound!), and 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.

Samarkanda has been conceived in the truly modular spirit. Not only can you control almost all its features remotely with CV/gates, but the external feedback path gives you the opportunity to process the delayed signal with other modules.

Samarkanda offers a wide range of delay times beginning at a mere 0.5ms and reaching up to 15 seconds per channel. That means that, by stacking its four channels, you can achieve up to one minute delay!

There are two operating modes switchable individually for each channel. Analog delivers pitch changes that resemble classic analog tape and BBD delays. When you combine it with the looping Hold function, you can play Samarkanda with any 1V/octave CV source. By using the Sync function you can even loop single wave cycles. The Digital mode gives you a granular buffer-scrubbing effect (no pitch change) across the whole delay time range. You can seamlessly switch back and forth between modes without losing any information.

You can use Samarkanda for multiple tasks at the same time - from four independent delay lines through any combination of channels processing the same signal up to a quad behemoth. You can also use the linking feature for ease of operation (the first channel in the chain acts as the main control source for the others).

As most settings operate on a per-channel basis, you can freely combine different features (such as analog/digital behaviour, delay time range, reverse and hold functions, etc.) in a configuration of your choosing. You can synchronize each of its channels separately to a different source, either via the Sync input, or by using the tap-tempo functionality (with multiplication and division galore). Should you ever get lost, the Purge button comes in handy when/if things start to spiral out of control!

Features

• 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 behaviours
• 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