Superbooth 26 - Xaoc Devices Skopje & Budapeszt
Xaoc Devices proudly debuts two new products at Superbooth 26: Skopje 1988 Dual Quantizer and Budapeszt 1972 Exploratory Stereophonic Spectral Lattice Network. Here is some information on the modules.
On the surface, Skopje is a seemingly simple compact (6HP) dual quantizer with two independent channels. However, some clever features coupled with high-precision A/D and D/A converters make it a complex (though extremely easy to use) compositional tool suitable for all kinds of musical outcomes. The user interface is similar to Zadar with frontpanel labels clearly indicating the features available for adjustment. No menu diving as the small OLED display is only used for selecting banks and scales. Each channel is able to quantize its input to a different scale from a different bank (up to 100 banks each containing up to a 100 scales - if you're deranged enough to need as many... ;-). Skopje stores its data on a regular microSD card. The module supports its own very simple scale format (a straghtforward TXT file you prepare on your computer), as well as any of the abundant SCALA files you throw at it. You can mix and match different scale format files in one bank. Various tuning systems and description formats supported. Microtonality galore! Our own scale programming system additionaly includes a few clever features, e.g., various voltage limiting settings. But there's more.
Got a lovely sounding VCO, but with volt/octave tracking leaving something to be desired? Skopje to the rescue - you can quickly calibrate any of its channels to fit your VCO like a glove for precise tracking! Other notable features include: glide, scale switching via triggers or CV (great as a performance/compositional tool with your own scales/note combinations), and transposition (including unquantized for vibrato).
Skopje is in production and will be available in June 2026.
PS Yes, this is a game of life screen saver on Skopje in one of the photos :-)
MAIN FEATURES:
- dual quantizer with precision A/D & D/A converters
- highly customizable
- compatible with microtonal scales
- OLED display for ease of use
- up to 100 banks, each with up to 100 scales
- VCO calibration feature
- data stored on microSD card
- SCALA file support
- 6HP
BUDAPESZT — 1972 Exploratory Stereophonic Spectral Lattice Network
Budapeszt is a stereo dual spectral processor built around the interference of resonant structures. It features two independently tunable comb-type filters with six distinct modes. Each filter has its own set of controls, with two separate triangle LFO's providing internal modulation (with free and synced operation, and an envelope follower mode on top). The real magic happens in the interference between two stereo filters though. The overlap of two resonant structures weaves a spectral lattice: a complex grid of peaks and voids. The final geometry of that lattice is determined by the relationship between the channels rather than by either one in isolation. To encourage experimentation and for even more sonic flexibility, multiple feedback paths are available, including cross-coupled feedback between the filters. There's also a feedback phase inversion switch for each filter.
Filter modes include delay-based, phase-based, and filterbank-based approaches to shaping the frequency domain. The first mode draws on a signal model inherited from Xaoc Devices Samarkanda, enabling artifact-free pitch behavior across the full frequency range. The remaining modes distribute resonant energy in ways ranging from the mathematically orderly to the perversely irregular. That being said, more familiar results, like flanging and chorus, are also easily attainable - delivered by Budapeszt with unusual precision.
Budapeszt is equally at ease processing oscillator waveforms and complex samples. It eagerly responds to short triggers with percussive transients whose character depends entirely on what the two channels are doing to each other. The interaction between the two channels is the instrument. Two channels agree, and the result is color. Two channels disagree, and the result is stormy weather. The space between agreement and disagreement is where Budapeszt lives.
