Skip to main content

ZONA

Categories: ,

Submitted By: Intech Studio

Elevator Pitch

ZONA

ZONA is a MIDI control pad with four-finger multitouch and pressure sensing. Each touch reports X, Y and Z, mapped to any DAW or hardware.

Product Description

ZONA is a pressure-sensitive, four-finger MIDI control pad, and the newest module in Intech Studio’s modular Grid system. Sliding a finger controls the X and Y axes, and pressing adds a third axis, Z. The controller is able to track up to four fingers at once, so one controller can send multiple continuous control streams at the same time. ZONA communicates over class-compliant USB MIDI and works with any DAW, instrument or visual tool, including Ableton Live, TouchDesigner and Resolume. As a Grid module, it shares power and configuration with Intech Studio’s other controllers over the innovative magnetic interface and is set up in the same Grid Editor.

How It’s Innovative

Two things make ZONA different from existing MIDI control pads.
First, it makes the control surface polyphonic and pressure-sensitive. Most MIDI control pads read a single touch on two axes. ZONA tracks up to four fingers at once and senses how hard each one presses, so every finger reports three values: X, Y and Z. One compact surface becomes up to twelve continuous, simultaneous control streams.

Second, it brings that multi-dimensional touch into a modular system built mainly around mechanical controls. ZONA is a Grid module: it expands the system of encoders, faders, buttons and screens.A continuous, polyphonic control surface and precise mechanical controls become interchangeable parts of one setup.

Most Inspiring Use Cases

Its use for spatial audio venues where you’re able to move the source of audio clips around the audience with just your fingertips was one of the ways we imagined ZONA to be used by performers.

Expansion Plans

ZONA is built to grow after launch, mainly through software. Like the rest of the Grid line, ZONA is configured and updated through the Grid Editor, so its capabilities expand over time with free firmware and software updates: new gesture and mapping modes, more integration profiles for specific DAWs and visual tools, and refinements driven by user feedback. This is how we already support our Grid modules, including legacy hardware, so users can expect their controllers to receive support and new features for years to come.. On the protocol side, the roadmap includes deeper expressive output through MIDI 2.0 high-resolution control, keeping ZONA up to date as MIDI 2.0 adoption grows.

ZONA also extends the Grid ecosystem. It joins a growing family of modules that share power, software and configuration, and it benefits from community-made profiles shared in the Editor.

Commercialization

ZONA launches in early fall 2026 as the newest module in Intech Studio’s Grid line of controllers. The launch is supported by an integrated campaign and a dedicated preorder page, where customers can reserve a unit ahead of shipping. The preorder phase lets us gauge demand, size the first production run, and build a committed order book before release.

Commercially, ZONA builds on an established product and sales operation. We already manufacture and ship Grid modules and Knot worldwide, both direct and through retail partners including Thomann, Perfect Circuit, and Amazon. ZONA uses the same manufacturing, packaging, fulfillment and software (the Grid Editor), so it can reach the market without new infrastructure. It also has a built-in audience: existing Grid owners can add ZONA to rigs they already use. It will be priced within the current Grid module range and sold through the same direct and retail channels.