Pulsar Modular's First Instrument Zorba Semi-Modular Synth

[noahrbc]

Built on the Pulsar Modular P900 analog heritage, Zorba can be a Juno on your first patch, a Jupiter on your second, and something neither could have imagined on your third.

[zerocrossing]

https://www.pulsarmodular.com/product/zorba/

Kind of pricey, but I guess the days of $199 plugins are over. Sounds great, though, as do all Pulsar Modular plugins. I'll give it a spin later.

[noahrbc]

Loyalty pricing made it come out to $158.

[P900]

And payment installment plan without credit check (if you previously purchased 3 plugins or more).

[wagtunes]

It's been a while since I check out Pulsar but wasn't their first modular not Cubase compatible? Not for Windows? Something like that? I don't remember.

[wagtunes]

Okay, I can't even find the original Pulsar Modular VST. Am I dreaming that this thing ever even existed?

[Old Norse]

Here's the KVR thread, starting way back in 2016. Knock yourself out.

viewtopic.php?t=458780

[wagtunes]

Here's the KVR thread, starting way back in 2016. Knock yourself out.

viewtopic.php?t=458780

The product page for the P900 is gone so they must have junked it.

Anyway, $225 for something that does a fraction of what Zebra 3 can do? No thanks.

[Old Norse]

The current owners bought the IP from the original p900 developer, but spent the intervening years mainly creating effects, while promising an eventual return to making synths apparently partly based on the p900 code. The Zorba is the first fruit of that labor.

[aMUSEd]

Okay, I can't even find the original Pulsar Modular VST. Am I dreaming that this thing ever even existed?

It only ever came out as a AU for Mac and it's not for sale any more

Nice to finally get my hands on Zorba - was a very early adopter

[Vortifex]

Giving the demo a spin. The sound is good. The low end has decent heft to it, and the upper register is capable of some nice delicate airy pads. There's some very nice interplay between slightly detuned oscillators. The 24db filter sounds closer to 18db or even 12db at times. It's prone to clicks. Overall character is more on the polite side of analog, weighty and high quality but not much grunge.

UI/UX has issues for me. There's a lot of tabbing. All 3 oscillators, 2 filters, 3 envelopes and 2 LFOs are behind their own individual tabs. There's easily enough room on the UI for the envelopes to have been 3 rows of dials all on one page. Mod matrix is cumbersome to navigate.

Being more expensive than Legend HZ, whilst also having fewer features, and more annoying workflow, makes it a tough sell.

[Korg Supporter]

No thanks, I'll take Zebra instead.

[zerocrossing]

Here's the KVR thread, starting way back in 2016. Knock yourself out.

viewtopic.php?t=458780

The product page for the P900 is gone so they must have junked it.

Anyway, $225 for something that does a fraction of what Zebra 3 can do? No thanks.

As usual, you are right on time with a bizarre take on things. Do you just have a spreadsheet of features that you compare to the price?

Not that you, or really anyone, needs to have good analog synthesis, or a reasonably accurate emulation of it, but if you do want it, that becomes a very valuable feature. I paid $3,500 for a hardware analog hybrid that does a 10th of what Zebra does, but has an amazing character that nothing in software comes remotely close to. Trust me, I’ve put everything in my arsenal of software up against it, and each time they have failed.

So yeah, Zebra is remarkably full featured, and sounds great, but I bet it can’t get close to the vibe of Zorba. It’s a different animal.

[JerGoertz]

Really impressed by the YouTube demo, sound quality seems on-point. I was a leaper, look forward to putting it through its paces.

[wagtunes]

Here's the KVR thread, starting way back in 2016. Knock yourself out.

viewtopic.php?t=458780

The product page for the P900 is gone so they must have junked it.

Anyway, $225 for something that does a fraction of what Zebra 3 can do? No thanks.

As usual, you are right on time with a bizarre take on things. Do you just have a spreadsheet of features that you compare to the price?

Not that you, or really anyone, needs to have good analog synthesis, or a reasonably accurate emulation of it, but if you do want it, that becomes a very valuable feature. I paid $3,500 for a hardware analog hybrid that does a 10th of what Zebra does, but has an amazing character that nothing in software comes remotely close to. Trust me, I’ve put everything in my arsenal of software up against it, and each time they have failed.

So yeah, Zebra is remarkably full featured, and sounds great, but I bet it can’t get close to the vibe of Zorba. It’s a different animal.

I get what you're saying but at the end of the day, do I need "that" sound? I already have Softube Modular which sounds great in its own right. As good as Zorba? I don't know. I don't care. $225 to get a sound that isn't all that unique is just out of my price range, not that I haven't spent a lot of money on VSTs. But all those pricey ones gave me, what I felt. was a big bang for the buck.

Just recently I picked up Shreddage 3s Electro Sitar for $149. Worth every penny because nothing sounds like it. Hell, I'm going to do a whole CD of Garage Rock tracks because of it and probably a lot more.

I picked up every single Modranna Labs synth for $375. Nothing sounds like Madronna Labs. Nothing. Worth every penny.

I picked up a Chapman Stick vst for $179. Again, nothing sounds like it. Worth every penny.

I'm not a cheapskate but I listened to this thing and said to myself "It sounds nice. $225 nice? No."

And that was the end of it.

Because at the end of the day, buried in a mix, nobody is going to know that that lead is Zorba.

Nobody.

But they sure as hell will recognize that Electric Sitar sound when they hear it.