What makes U-he Zebra so loved?

[epiphaneia]

I´d say...

- modular flexibility without Reaktor-style hassle... yeah, low level block editing etc is nice, but needs a degree in engineering or much more patience/talent for that than most non-engineer *musicians* will have

- good sound quality without Softube-style CPU hit - yeah, the Softube Modular (imho!) sounds better, but Zebra offers 90% of its sonic quality at a fraction of the CPU hit.

- huge range of leftfield modules included (comb filter etc)

- approachable developer (try to get NI to confirm a bug and come up with a quick bug-fixing beta...)

Personally, I prefer Diva and get better sounds out of it (not sure whether that´s due to the synths or due to my editing skills), but I see what people like about Zebra.

[layzer]

no clue

[fmr]

Reaktor can do almost anything and it's very well suited for this and that, but it's IMHO totally not suited to be a workhorse synth in a day to day production environment. And why is that? - Easy: Reaktor comes with thousands and thousands of ensembles, modules and building blocks which all look, sound and behave differently. If you want to load a patch and tweak it to your needs you first need to understand it. So yes, you can do almost everything, but it comes with a cost. The currency of that cost is *time*. No-one has time. Reaktor's biggest feature is also its weakest spot. It's a usability nightmare which emerged from the most comprehensive playground for synthesis. Can't have one without the other.

You nailed it Yes, people who want to do something in Reaktor have to get conscious of that - you have to take time to learn the tools (the more complex they are, the more time you'll need). This is also true for Zebra, to an extent, to be honest.

But you have much more patches for Zebra than ytou have for ANY of the Reaktor ensembles, and each Reaktor ensemble is like a new instrument - you can't even think in interchange ideas between ensembles, unless they are very much alike, which usually is not the case. Take the Reaktor Instruments in Komplete, for example: with the exception of Monark, all the others need you first study them, to understand them, before you start to do something with them. This because they simply are not common synths.

Things like Form, Kontour, Polyplex, Prism, Razor, Rounds, etc. each have a unique approach, and what you learn with one will not get used for the others. And this is for ready made ensembles. Just try to come with something on your own.

This reminds me a sentence that was spoken in the presentation of the series Fame: "You have big dreams. You want fame. But fame costs. And right here is where you start to pay that cost... in sweat."

People now want and look for instant gratification. Usually the things that worth it don't offer you instant gratification. But they usually offer you endured gratification, after you paid the cost to master them. The more you pay (in effort to master them), the more knowledgeable you get, the more gratification you get, and the longer it lasts.

That said, Zebra offers a lot more than instruments that cost much more, IMO (I wont mention any, to not start another flame war). And costs less.

[GHOST19]

-It's a very good synth
-It's been released for a while, getting a large user base but still has regular updates, most of them being free.
-Unlike most competitors Z2 isn't targeted towards EDM which many users appreciate.
-U-He marketing policy is targeted more in keeping existing customers happy and second hand products value high rather than aquiring more new customers through aggressive discounts.
-Urs has been on KVR since forever and is commonly well-liked here.

[4damind]

I think the question is more" what makes U-He Zebra not so loved"?
It's sometimes more a "love and hate" relationship Some people love Zebra and some hate Zebra.

The interesting thing is IMO the semi-modular concept and how this is implemented with the GUI. It's not too complicated like in Synthmaster but the same time it allows a lot of options for sound designers and musicians (but to be honest, I don't think that the sound is very special).
Actually it seems that people waiting for Zebra 3 with the hope of a lot of new features and a overhauled GUI?

[Teksonik]

no clue

You're absolutely right. You have no clue..........

[Kinh]

Shit, i think something fishy is going on here. This is the 2nd post ive seen recently with the same theme "what makes u-he so great? " Everyone then replies with "oh because of this and that". A little fishy if you ask me.

[Caine123]

I have zebra2 a long time now but somehow it never clicked. The workflow is lacking and not easy. I hope z3 will ve heavily imprived with better workflow, visualization and also for me a better sound?
Diva for example clicked asap soundwise. The Workflow is sadly also in diva not the Best.

[ariston]

I have zebra2 a long time now but somehow it never clicked. The workflow is lacking and not easy. I hope z3 will ve heavily imprived with better workflow, visualization and also for me a better sound?
Diva for example clicked asap soundwise. The Workflow is sadly also in diva not the Best.

So what are your suggestions for improving the workflow?

[ZeePok]

I have zebra2 a long time now but somehow it never clicked. The workflow is lacking and not easy. I hope z3 will ve heavily imprived with better workflow, visualization and also for me a better sound?
Diva for example clicked asap soundwise. The Workflow is sadly also in diva not the Best.

 
I felt the same way. And I found that you can improve the workflow a great deal with the Massive Modular skins from Plugmon.

[alexfalcao]

I use Zebra 2 for over 10 years and it still shines, back in 2006 I was using Spectrasonics Atmosphere (that I still have the original box...LOL) and was looking for something to give some Fx touches around Atmosphere, so I bought Zebra 2 after testing and it became my main inspirational tool for Ambient music (Actually it can be used for any style) and still is.

[mutantdog]

The Endtimes are coming. Only those who have pledged their souls to the prophet Urs will be saved. Any mortal that proclaims indifference to the One True Synth shall be judged upon the third coming of the Almighty Zebrahead.

So it was written and so it shall be known.

[zerocrossing]

Personally I place Zebra at the top because it is so capable. If you know your Zebra well you can create all kinds of interesting sounds with it. Second reason is that it's semi modular. Just add or remove. Finally it's well crafted. It's FX are good, filters and envelops are good, etc. I can't wait for Zebra 3.

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[kmonkey]

Shit, i think something fishy is going on here. This is the 2nd post ive seen recently with the same theme "what makes u-he so great? " Everyone then replies with "oh because of this and that". A little fishy if you ask me.

Yep...after being one of the most loved KVR developers with top of the top products for years now and known to not use public stunts like Slate or others - U-he decided to register fishy account to desperately promote itself...And he is doing it so subtle that noone can comprehend timeline..

makes sense totally

[egbert101]

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