ZenEdit

EDITORS NOTE
While this article focuses on the ZDS Shifter, everything here applies equally to the Zendrum Stompblock.

A typical “pure” MIDI thru device can claim to have zero latency as the MIDI In connection is generally wired directly to the Thru/Out port. However, the Shifter (and the Stompblock) use a soft-thru.

Why a soft thru? It’s because these devices need to receive and analyze the entire MIDI packet (typically 3 bytes) before deciding what to do with it. In the case of the Shifter, this includes looking up and processing any “shift rules” associated with the message before retransmitting the message.

The Shifter is a low-latency device and the average time it takes to process an incoming message is 100 microseconds. That’s a tenth of the milliseconds in which latency is usually expressed and completely imperceptible.

However, that’s not the true latency of the device. Because as I pointed out, it needs to wait for the entire message before it can start processing it. This means the REAL latency is about 10 times that, but still only around 1 millisecond and generally below the level that a human can detect.

The conversion to USB adds on a bit more latency that varies in length as it needs to line up with the 32-bit (4-byte) frames that USB uses. On the high end, this can add another 500 to 800 microseconds meaning that the true latency of the Shifter ranges from 1 to 1.8 milliseconds. Your mileage may vary as you also need to take into account the hardware (and software if applicable) on the receiving end.
Generally speaking, if you’re connecting to a hardware sound module or a modern computer you should experience very low latency.

Good news is the vinyl overlays finally came back from the printers.
Bad news is something was definitely amiss in the Pantone conversion. :-/

The color will be a bit off for the first few batches of Shifters.

But hey, someday these may be the collectible ones! 🙂

We’re still waiting for the final graphics to arrive, but otherwise, this is exactly what the finished Shifter will be.

In other news, the firmware is receiving its final tweaks and the software should be ready soon. There was a last-minute decision to move the interface into ZenEdit rather than require a separate install. Once all that’s done then it’ll be launch time!

The first production ready build of the ZDS Shifter’s guts has completed. Here you can see the rear panel, with MIDI, USB and power jacks. The new case is identical in size to the existing Zendrum Merge Brick, so you can use that for scale.

Here’s a peek at what the top of the Shifter will look like.

Coming soon, to a pedal board near you!

Work on the “proof of concept” model is coming along nicely!