Ridgewalk vs Zodiak Taurus Mega Octavizer

Ridgewalk is a standalone app and AUv3 plug-in. Ridgewalk lets you explore sound in unique ways not possible before. Meander between microscopic moments in a sample to create an infinite soundscape, or stretch or compress audio in realtime, all while recording and reacting to new input instantly. Ridgewalk is both a looper and a granular engine. Output is generated by a set of independent microloopers that traverse a single buffer of audio. The audio buffer can be freely recorded to, overdubbed over, and reverted to a previous version, and the microloopers will transition smoothly and instantly. With control over the microloopers’ size, behavior, and movement throughout the buffer over time, you’re free to reimagine and reinterpret audio like never before - all in realtime. Ridgewalk is designed as a modular tool for flexible usage. It is equally comfortable at the heart of your composition, collaborating with you as you perform, or as a finishing touch to provide a unique complementary atmosphere to deepen your mix. Ridgewalk is fully compatible with modulators such as Ableton CV or Bitwig LFOs to broaden horizons even further. Ridgewalk has the following controls available: Recording: Record via your choice of two unique techniques. Choose between automatic recording via input volume detection and a classic latching recording technique that can record infinitely. Buffers can be up to 60 seconds or 16 bars. Overdubbing: Freely overdub on top of existing audio with two methods. Choose between a traditional feedback dub or a unique sidechain dub which compresses existing audio against new input. Playback will smoothly transition to new recordings instantly. Layers: Each overdub creates a new layer, which you can then move between smoothly and revert to previous versions of audio. Full recall: All recorded audio will be saved and reloaded when reopening a project. Sample importing: Rather than record, Ridgewalk can import samples directly. Volume controls: Independent volume trim controls for dry and wet volume. Playback: Looper playback can be played and paused independently of input and recording. Playback will instantly reflect any changes to recorded audio. Hold time: Looper playback can be automatically paused after a defined time since starting. This allows Ridgewalk to act like a strange reverb or delay. Reverse: Playback can be reversed and audio can be recorded in reverse as well. Looper size: Loopers can span from microscopic fragments of the buffer to the full size, and can be synchronized with your BPM. Looper amount: Up to 7 microloopers are available, which move together in concert with one another. Drift: Looper size and positioning can be randomly and independently desynchronized to add variations and unpredictability. Blur: A one-stop-shop for increasing ambience: this controls looper crossfading as well as introduces reverb. Repitch: Playback can be repitched from ±2 octaves. Random movement (Wander): Looper positioning can be set to randomly wander the sample over time via Brownian motion. Sequential movement: Looper position can move linearly through a sample over a time defined in seconds or synchronized to your BPM. Manual looper positioning: Loopers can be positioned manually via tap or click, turning Ridgewalk into a performative instrument. Instant playback: Ridgewalk can start playing back from recorded audio as soon as it is able, turning its granular looping algorithm into a live effect. Transport syncing: Ridgewalk can be synced with your DAW’s transport to automatically start/stop playback or recording.

Zodiak Taurus is not your grandparents' octavizer. Zodiak Taurus is a mammoth multi-voice beast that takes the puniest tone and turns it into full frontal sonic assault. Slap it on your guitars, drums, bass, vocals, or even your keyboards. Then let Taurus elevate your sound. Taurus generates five independent voices — or reconstructions — of your input signal in realtime. These voices together span a whopping five octaves. With a few tweaks, you can double track your guitar, add a bass, a sub bass, and even a high frequency overtone. The result is a big, spacious sound that covers the whole stereo field. But that’s only the beginning, because this is a Zodiak effect. To sweeten the pot, each Taurus voice features its very own saturation stage (tuned specifically for it); a detune control for obtaining non-octave intervals or even natural chorus or ADT effects; a regenerative delay stage that can be used for staggering the voices, changing their timbre, or even causing them to self oscillate; an attack envelope that can have each voice fade in at different rates; a tuned EQ submodule, as well as stereo panning and other parameters — all collected in a familiar mixer-like interface. Newly developed algorithms deliver crystal clear signal reconstruction, and operate so efficiently that Taurus is as responsive when playing live as it is well-behaved in the studio. A special post-FX module includes cabinet simulators, room emulation, variable EQ, and compression to produce an easy to use, all-in-one audio solution. Zodiak Taurus also works as an AUv3 effects plugin on your iPad, iPhone, and Silicon Mac computer. It comes with over 60 factory presets to start you off in your journey, as well as many other advanced features like patch save/share, MIDI learn, and more. The latest offering in Yonac’s new Zodiak series of effects, Taurus is jam packed with sonic easter eggs. Whether your goal is to emulate diverse instruments, create enormous walls of sound, or paint complexly layered psychedelic soundscapes, Taurus has a roadmap for you somewhere across its controls.