Epica is one of the latest virtual synths from Zero-G, produced by Sam Spacey who also produced the highly-acclaimed Phaedra synth. Epica comes with a stunning interface powered by the latest Native Instruments Kontakt software that gives the user amazing sound-shaping capability. You only need the Kontakt 5 Player to use Epica, but it is of course also fully usable with the full version of Kontakt 5.



Over 17,000 24bit samples have been hand-edited, looped and multi-layered to produce an unsurpassed richness and authenticity of sound that will have your audience gasping in appreciation. Epica comes with over 600 patches of pads, leads, basses, sequences and fx and of course it has the sound-shaping capabilities for you to create much more. We really believe Epica is Zero-G's best-sounding virtual instrument to date.



Epica's samples have all been recorded through an equipment chain of 100% boutique hardware with no plug-ins used in the creation of the source sounds. Creatively offering a fresh palette of sounds that are rich in timbre and have their own character, you're really able to set your music apart from the masses.



Want to know more?! Well, Time+Space caught up with Epica producer Sam Spacey to try and peer behind the curtain and discover just what went into the making of this amazing virtual synth - click here to read the full interview! Sam's also composed and produced this full music demo - everything you hear apart from the drums are produced entirely through Epica...check it out below: And, what would you expect from such a detailed and complex virtual instrument? Loads of demos of course! See our playlist below to scroll through and tantalise your ears with music and preset pad demos!

Here's Time+Space's Walkthough: Technical recording data - in the words of Epica producer Sam Spacey: "The samples were processed through various top of the range equipment including Eventide H8000FW, UBK FATSO, Neve 1073 preamp, Lexicon PCM 96 and various analog guitar pedals. My particular favourite was the Eventide H8000FW which just adds a beautiful sheen to anything it touches, but a big shout has to go to the amazing UBK Fatso hardware giving all the recordings that lovely hardware thick feel to all that pass through it. Samples were themselves sourced from various analog synths from my home buit Modular system, Arp Odyssey Mk3, Sequential Pro-1, Yamaha CS-30, Oberheim's and Future Retro to digital synths like the Virus Ti, DX9 and Roland D-50. Real life recordings were also used. 600 presets using 17,247 recordings were made, all at 24bit 44.1khz totalling 13GB of raw sample recordings. No dead space and all obsessively hand looped by a human (me) rather than an auto looping program (no dodgy loop points here).



The samples are very long and have been obsessively sampled and looped by hand. A lot of the sounds use the actual analog filter sweeps of the synthesizers that they were sampled from and implemented using sample start points assigned to either velocity or random so as to enable the true sound of the sampled synth. That being said, Kontakt 5's newly modelled filters are astoundingly good and give a huge palette of sonic possibilities to anything you create. Some Multi presets have Reverb type effects from hardware units such as the Eventide H8000FW and Lexicon PCM96. Instead of recording the presets with the reverb on them I sampled the reverb separately. This enables you to dial in how much reverb and also to synthesize it as you wish, you will be amazed at how real this sounds and how much it can increase sound design. A lot of libraries are recorded extremely hot, what do I mean by hot? There is no need with a 24 bit high end A/D converter to record right up to 0db, in fact nearly all sound cards sound better in the -12 to -6db range. The problem with recording so hot is that you can very easily overload plugins but within the context of the Kontakt 5 engine you can also overload the modules inside it, for example the Filters. Giving the recordings the correct headroom makes for a much more natural and honest to the source sound. The key to a great sound when using digital devices is to not overload any plugins with a signal that is too hot."

This product works with the free Kontakt Player – a free sample player based on Kontakt 5 that runs all Native Instruments’ KONTAKT instruments, as well as third-party products made for the platform. You can download the Kontakt Player via this link (will take you to Native Instruments website) Instruments made for Kontakt Player will also run in the full (paid for) version of Kontakt.

Epica's User Interface has been designed to give you full control over a huge amount of sonic sculpting options without slowing down the creative process. It is both quick and simple to use but devastatingly powerful when you want to create your own presets… which you will find yourself doing within seconds.



Epica sounds great straight out of the box. There’s no need to reach for that EQ, compressor, or other plug-in, Epica just sounds so good on its own! It's been designed to be quick and easy to design and shape your sounds without limiting creativity. While it does come with 600 presets, the custom interface screams at you to design your own sounds.



Epica was originally going to be an EPIC String and Pad library aimed at Film, TV and Game Composers but very quickly evolved into a beautiful library that would benefit any music creation. The sound of Epica is rich, full and 'Real', and its presets just fit into your projects ready to go.



All samples were hand-looped and, with Kontakt key mapping never stretching a sample more than one note from its root, they sound as real as the instruments they came from. In fact, all of the non-looped samples are mapped to every key for 6 octaves with a large amount of them 3 to 4 x Round Robins on every key. Epica Round Robin Samples

"An excellent, very well thought out and powerful instrument with a huge range of possibilities… there are so many great sounds here… enough to guarantee you'll be using it for years to come. Highly recommended. Rated: 9/10"

- Future Music Magazine, UK -- "Epica is a purist sample library. Zero-G has successfully captured the vitality and expressiveness of classic analog. The many inspiring expressive sounds have an extra dose of vintage charm, that is so often missing from modern synthesizers. Kudos also for the intuitive user interface of the virtual instrument."

- BEAT Magazine, Germany -- "Overall this is a very solid product that feels like an instrument with tons of content ready to be tweaked or used as is. I give Epica 4 out of 5 subs, the quality of the sounds is appreciated and the quantity will definitely keep you busy for a while." - SoundsAndGear.com Here's their video review: -- "EPICA absolutely shines, shimmering and beautiful, inspiring at almost every turn. Rated: 10/10 and awarded the Editor's Choice Award"

- Music Tech Magazine, UK. Read the full review here. -- "Highly recommended. FIVE STARS out of five"

- Sound On Sound Magazine, UK -- "It's the sound that really counts, and on that front Epica is a blast - versatile basses, pads, FX and much more… the presentation and quality carry it off. Rated: 9/10"

- Computer Music Magazine, UK

Download Size (RAR files): Parts 1 - 9: 953 MB each

Part 10: 80 MB

New Epica Presets (zipped file): 3 MB