Instruo Lúbadh stereo looper

[studioutopia]

The decay mode really does sound like generational loss from dubbing. I've been using this like crazy.

I have not experimented with wow and flutter, but I'm assuming the slew is going to get in the way of flutter... I'll experiment tomorrow.

Yes -using the Link switch you can get the right deck matching what the left deck is doing. Once you get a loop established, then you can "set it free" and then make subtle changes to widen the stereo image. I've been playing with this all night - setting a 1/4 note or 1/4 triplet note length loop using Pamela to trigger record and stop-record, and then hitting record again to overdub with Decay mode. This provides an incredibly realistic tape echo effect.... which answers your next question.... YES... Doing tape echo on Lúbadh is THE BEST.
I actually prefer it to all my tape plugins and even Magneto (going from memory). It just sounds so dark, complex, deep.
My Mimeophon is quite depressed and keeps reciting poetic statements about Zones and Halo. And my Eventide TimeFactor is just.. "I have Tape Echo too, but WTF?"
I have been having some issues with odd glitches, and timing drift - but I've been working with Instruo on that.

Pitch shifting? Nope. There is no capability of disconnecting pitch from the time domain. I actually don't have any desire for it on Lúbadh - the module is already deep enough functionally...
but...

locking record to playback speed... I wish. Being forced to dub reel-to-reel in order to record at a different speed is annoying - and counter to the objective of being two virtual tape recorders. The current functionality of recording being disconnected from playback has its benefits - but I wish it had the option to lock them so you could get sliding time-shifts while overdubbing in decay mode. all warpy, crazy, flangy, phasey effects.....
You can approximate this with tape echo - but it requires recording on deck 1 with monitoring off, modulating playback, and then recording on the second deck with overdub and tape decay. It's in mono but sounds really cool.
I haven't recorded anything with time shifts yet - but I did a track last night using modulation on start and length using smooth random CV sources...

And for a sampling of both decks in action - the second doing 2x dub echos - passed though a Korgasmatron II, and mixed on a Frap CGM along with Lexiconand Sony outboard fx, listen to this:

[pelang]

Just updated to the latest 1.2e firmware hoping that my AUX distortion is fixed and now there is a click every time at the beginning of the loop. Back to 1.2b
Edit: on1.2b the right reel resets to the start when recording.. (monitor mode)

[Struggle]

Just updated to the latest 1.2e firmware hoping that my AUX distortion is fixed and now there is a click every time at the beginning of the loop. Back to 1.2b
Edit: on1.2b the right reel resets to the start when recording.. (monitor mode)

Same experience for me. My Lubadh was also randomly freezing in 1.2b and Jason hooked me up with a beta that’s been running great for the last week.

[pelang]

Faulty module SOLVED. If anyone else cannot get the capacitive faceplate to turn off follow these instructions given to me by Jason:
1.) Capture something to a buffer.
2.) Play it back at audible speed.
3.) Stall it with the cap touch.
4.) Change switch position to off and the speed should pick back up to defined pot speed position and cap touch should no longer function.

This procedure worked for me thanks to Jason.

Cheers

It worked temporarily but after restarting the module the capacitive faceplate is on again. In my case, even when touching the speed pots the capacitive faceplate response and slows down. It’s a bit annoying when trying to adjust the pitch.
Did it work for you permanantly ?
Did you do the process on both reels ?

Thanks for help

[minatorymodular]

I had another thought: Would you be able to get tape-style flanging and through zero tremolo out of the Lubadh? It seems like it would work in theory.

Despite a 2 hour manual it seems like there's more to the Lubadh story.

[James_Fredrickson]

Faulty module SOLVED. If anyone else cannot get the capacitive faceplate to turn off follow these instructions given to me by Jason:
1.) Capture something to a buffer.
2.) Play it back at audible speed.
3.) Stall it with the cap touch.
4.) Change switch position to off and the speed should pick back up to defined pot speed position and cap touch should no longer function.

This procedure worked for me thanks to Jason.

Cheers

It worked temporarily but after restarting the module the capacitive faceplate is on again. In my case, even when touching the speed pots the capacitive faceplate response and slows down. It’s a bit annoying when trying to adjust the pitch.
Did it work for you permanantly ?
Did you do the process on both reels ?

Thanks for help

This worked on the SECOND model I received. My first module had some other issues and needed to be returned. I only did this with one of the faceplates and it hasn't regressed since.

[Wubz]

Hey, Did you get this fixed. Mine seems the same after going through the YT video tutorial. I don't get feedback as easily as it looks like I should.

Are there trimmers for record level? Mine seems awfully quiet. Recorded loops are quieter than the source and if I turn on delay mode the through volume is cut in half. This is with input and output all the way up, newest firmware.

I've only had it for a few days and it's possible there is some user error involved but I did watch the entire 2 hour overview and read the manual several times.

[scragz]

Hey, Did you get this fixed. Mine seems the same after going through the YT video tutorial. I don't get feedback as easily as it looks like I should.

Are there trimmers for record level? Mine seems awfully quiet. Recorded loops are quieter than the source and if I turn on delay mode the through volume is cut in half. This is with input and output all the way up, newest firmware.

I've only had it for a few days and it's possible there is some user error involved but I did watch the entire 2 hour overview and read the manual several times.

No....I been meaning to do some proper measurements and write in to Instruo for guidance. In delay and decay modes especially it is QUIET.

[obakegaku]

Quick minimal noodle tonight with Lubadh

[dbeats]

Please update with what Instruo says. I experience the same problems with syncing and have been working around it by always using the retrigger.

Happy to do so. Jason already replied, and we are in exchange of more details and possible solution ideas. It seems that there is a recording intro/outro of additional ~20ms that leads to the offset and that adds up with each repeat of the loop when not retriggering.

I don't know if it's interesting anymore, but I still owe you an update on the issue above, the offset when used as a plain vanilla looper.
I was in contact with Jason until end of may, testing the beta firmware 1.2e. I did some further measurements and comparisons with Morphagene and Bitbox but didn't get any more feedback at some point. Maybe I stressed him a little bit too much, dunno. Then I was on vacation for like 6 weeks, that's why I haven't followed up earlier. Meanwhile, v1.2e was officially released, with "improved timing", and indeed that fw does solve the loop length precision quite well, IMO. There is still a noticeable one-time initial delay, though, which could be improved a little bit.

FWIW, here are my average measurements with a short loop of 2 seconds length and without retriggering:
Bitbox: Initial delay: 8ms, loop length error: 4ms per loop
Morphagene: Initial delay: 2ms, loop length error: 0.25ms per loop
Lubadh: Initial delay: 13ms, loop length error: 1-2ms per loop

[Paranormal Patroler]

Please update with what Instruo says. I experience the same problems with syncing and have been working around it by always using the retrigger.

Happy to do so. Jason already replied, and we are in exchange of more details and possible solution ideas. It seems that there is a recording intro/outro of additional ~20ms that leads to the offset and that adds up with each repeat of the loop when not retriggering.

I don't know if it's interesting anymore, but I still owe you an update on the issue above, the offset when used as a plain vanilla looper.
I was in contact with Jason until end of may, testing the beta firmware 1.2e. I did some further measurements and comparisons with Morphagene and Bitbox but didn't get any more feedback at some point. Maybe I stressed him a little bit too much, dunno. Then I was on vacation for like 6 weeks, that's why I haven't followed up earlier. Meanwhile, v1.2e was officially released, with "improved timing", and indeed that fw does solve the loop length precision quite well, IMO. There is still a noticeable one-time initial delay, though, which could be improved a little bit.

FWIW, here are my average measurements with a short loop of 2 seconds length and without retriggering:
Bitbox: Initial delay: 8ms, loop length error: 4ms per loop
Morphagene: Initial delay: 2ms, loop length error: 0.25ms per loop
Lubadh: Initial delay: 13ms, loop length error: 1-2ms per loop

How do you make these measurements?

[dbeats]

How do you make these measurements?

I use an oscilloscope to compare input signal vs through or looped signal. And I use precise clock to trigger the loops. It looks like this:

http://www.dropbox.com/s/vv6486n5sfhqav ... 4.mov?dl=0
http://www.dropbox.com/s/xm2q66ce566xzw ... 5.mov?dl=0
http://www.dropbox.com/s/dpdzpxx1yrecgy ... 7.MOV?dl=0

[Zijnzijn Zijnzijn!]

Just snagged one of these and I like it a lot, but there's a few frustrations that I've seen other folks have had - specifically,
-sometimes the erase button doesn't actually erase anything, needing a power cycle to get a clean buffer
-theres almost always a little blip of the old loop left over at the very start of a new recording
-even if it's a super fresh recording, there seems to be a click, or at least a small gap of silence, at the start of any loop

Have any of these issues been fixed? I haven't had a chance to upload the newest firmware, does it fix these?

[Eurocat]

Just snagged one of these and I like it a lot, but there's a few frustrations that I've seen other folks have had - specifically,
-sometimes the erase button doesn't actually erase anything, needing a power cycle to get a clean buffer
-theres almost always a little blip of the old loop left over at the very start of a new recording
-even if it's a super fresh recording, there seems to be a click, or at least a small gap of silence, at the start of any loop

Have any of these issues been fixed? I haven't had a chance to upload the newest firmware, does it fix these?

Yes. You defiantly want to get the newest firmware as this has been taken care of. this was one of the things that drove me crazy when I first purchased.

[Zijnzijn Zijnzijn!]

Yes. You defiantly want to get the newest firmware as this has been taken care of. this was one of the things that drove me crazy when I first purchased.

Bless, can't wait to get home then

[dbeats]

FYI: Instruo published another firmware update "Lúbadh Firmware 1.2.f", you can find it on their support page as always:
https://www.instruomodular.com/support/
I already had the opportunity to test this update, and I can confirm that the looper timings are further improved. I would still recommended though to retrigger at least once to get the recorded loop in proper sync, if that is what you're after.

[smoo]

@studioutopia: Love your Demos! Really good.

[Buttons ARE toys]

If you're looking to hear more stuff with the Lubadh, I'm adding short tracks made with mine to a playlist every few days or so here.



Overall I'm really enjoying it. My first unit had some hardware issues and needed to be exchanged, but the replacement is all good. The sound is excellent, and I like the deck bouncing work flow for recording layers. I need to try out the delay mode more--it sounds pretty good from what little I've heard, though. I've been using tape decay mode as a delay, actually, because you can get really long repeats that way.

[noisa im]

HI there,
I can't load recorded sound. I see 2 files on USB stick but when I hold more than 2 seconds shift + erase, orange light flashes but nothing is loaded on deck (one or two)
Same on your Lúbadh ?
Thanks
N

[pyrolator]

Does anybody know a shortcut to switch the speed immediately to tempo 1?
I know about the possibility to display the even-numbered tempos using the shift key and tempo, but wouldn't it be helpful to have an option to switch only between the tempis - 1 -0.5 -0.25 0 + 0.25 + 0.5 +1 without using the shift key and without the intermediate steps in glissando?

[pelang]

the glissando is the "problem" otherwise programming external fixed CV values would do it.
Not sure if instruo consider quantization and disabling the glissando effect.

[batch]

Got my Lubadh a week or so back. So far am really liking the workflow.

One thing I noticed that I wanted to see if others are experiencing is a slight change in volume when the loop ends/ starts. It’s not a click, but still something that is noticeable. The way to get it is to put a constant droning note in, record a loop, stop droning. Each time the loop repeats its noticeable. This happens on both channels and am using the latest firmware. I think there is some form of cross fading going on, but it seems to fade out and then fade in, versus overlapping the beginning and end.

It’s not noticeable with melodic or percussive sequence whether they are synced or not, though I think I can still detect the fade in.

One of the use cases I have for the Lubadh is to layer up droning textures and so hoping to eliminate this if possible.

Anyone else getting this?

[Zijnzijn Zijnzijn!]

Got my Lubadh a week or so back. So far am really liking the workflow.

One thing I noticed that I wanted to see if others are experiencing is a slight change in volume when the loop ends/ starts. It’s not a click, but still something that is noticeable. The way to get it is to put a constant droning note in, record a loop, stop droning. Each time the loop repeats its noticeable. This happens on both channels and am using the latest firmware. I think there is some form of cross fading going on, but it seems to fade out and then fade in, versus overlapping the beginning and end.

It’s not noticeable with melodic or percussive sequence whether they are synced or not, though I think I can still detect the fade in.

One of the use cases I have for the Lubadh is to layer up droning textures and so hoping to eliminate this if possible.

Anyone else getting this?

I had a similar issue the other day - set up a loop w/o audio, keep it recording to add in sound that layers up. I actually was getting clicks after enough rotations, it was weird. Tried it the day after and it wasn't doing this, so not sure what the deal was. Also on newest firmware

[batch]

Hmm ... I’ll try again tonight and see if there is any change. Will also try this on STS and the A8 to see what they are like in comparison.

[batch]

Just been playing with the A8, it does something similar but you can get rid of it by shifting the loop start/ end points to zero crossing points. The A8 has a lot of control over this and you can find the zero crossing points easily owing to the display.

But the workflow on the Lubadh is so much more intuitive and fun.

Am wondering if there could be a setting that was “loop at zero crossing”, would still be hard to pull off with overdubs.