New Synth Teaser Vid

[psycha0s]

I definitely want to buy such a fast supersaw synth. For Linux there are no alternatives at all (Sylenth doesn't work with wine and its developer doesn't interested in Linux customers; Spire and A.N.A. are too cpu-expensive with wine). I'm an enthusiast, not a pro, so I won't even earn any money from it. But for me the price is relatively high, but acceptable. I can't wait for the open beta period.

[GHOST19]

Well the price of "..." was fixed in 2007 and at that point it was a great bang for the buck because it was one of the first credible software alternatives for a Virus. Now there are many more options ...

Which alternatives do you have in mind?

Point me to another synth which sounds that incredible with that low CPU usage and overall accessibility when programming. Not to mention the vast amount of presets and tutorials...

I hope that the Hive will be much more than "yet just another Supersaw"...

The U-He subforum is not the place where I will advertise other synths, there are plenty other threads discussing this very subject. Compared to a few years ago things have changed from "soft synths can't compete with the best hardware VAs" to an almost complete dismissal of digital technology from hardware manufacturers in favor of an analog revival but even this niche have been made unsafe by U-He
With the very high quality and quantity of softsynths released lately we're more blessed with options than struggling to find them.

[2ZrgE]

Concerning the criteria I mentioned it would be difficult to advertize other synths - as there are none (non-Uhe I mean).

Of course there are even better synths than Sylenth, but that wasn't the question.

[xamido]

Here's the thing, in recent years the quality of soft synth have increased so much but it comes at the price of cpu usage. Because of that Sylenth is still the king for low cpu and acceptable quality synth in the market. Right now i welcome U-he intention with the Hive because it's actually refreshing, i'm tired of brand new synths that eat my 4770k for breakfast.

I like working with multiple tracks in real time. I've always had problem and lose my inspiration when computer start choking after only several tracks, and freezing always hinder my workflow. That's why i've sold all of my cpu heavy synth recently.

[Howard]

I must admit that the combination of supposed complexibility and high CPU usage almost stopped me from buying...then again the new 1.3 presets by HS did the job for me finally.

[Rob James G]

Also, we've done the experiment of "lower price and sell more". It's not true. ACE should appeal the most (roundest feature set, best bang per buck, good compromise on quality vs. cpu), but it is our worst selling synth - even though we put the most money into it.

Hi Urs,
With respect I don't agree. IMHO you haven't given it a proper go, you have chosen the wrong type of synth and it was before its time.
U-He is known for higher priced products. The paying public will automatically assume a cheaper products from a premium software house as inferior, so you have to go out of your way to make it clear that it is the equal of your perceived flagship synths.

Ace is an excellent synth, great fun to play with and a nice set of patches; bravo, great product. However the perception on the forums is that it was training wheels for something bigger and better to come, instead of a great product in its own right. It's seen as a taster product for the real deal. Now Bazille is here will people buy and use both? Do they all understand that they sound different or will most believe that ACE is now effectively redundant?

Also I suspect the baby modular synth concept falls awkwardly between two markets: Hardcore synth geeks wanting modular complexity and entry level musicians wanting something that just works and wont bring their entry level PC to its knees.

IMHO Hive looks like the type of product which should have gateway drug pricing. Easier for synth beginners, easy on CPU, that's mass market penetration potential.
So far very happy with Diva and ACE, worthy synths for the collection. Hive doesn't appeal personally, though I'm sure it's a good synth; I'm not trying to get it on the cheap.

Several years have passed and now the CPU power to run ACE is much more commonplace (even in high end laptops). Together with the long running internet hype machine no wonder Bazille is doing so much better.

[david.beholder]

Here's the thing, in recent years the quality of soft synth have increased so much but it comes at the price of cpu usage. Because of that Sylenth is still the king for low cpu and acceptable quality synth in the market. Right now i welcome U-he intention with the Hive because it's actually refreshing, i'm tired of brand new synths that eat my 4770k for breakfast.

I saw no hiccups on my 3930k for last two years and I'm fan of Diva.
I don't understand people complaining about cpu usage, because cpu cost way less than simple hardware synth.

[Rob James G]

Here's the thing, in recent years the quality of soft synth have increased so much but it comes at the price of cpu usage. Because of that Sylenth is still the king for low cpu and acceptable quality synth in the market. Right now i welcome U-he intention with the Hive because it's actually refreshing, i'm tired of brand new synths that eat my 4770k for breakfast.

I saw no hiccups on my 3930k for last two years and I'm fan of Diva.
I don't understand people complaining about cpu usage, because cpu cost way less than simple hardware synth.

Because they aren't thinking in terms of the old days and hardware synths. They just want to capture the MIDI from their performance and move on to the next track without having to think in terms of how many tracks they can use before having to freeze tracks, drop quality or use a lower CPU synth for that sound. If you freeze tracks you quickly start to use up drive space which is a concern again with SSDs, or if you are using a small capacity internal drive on a laptop.

Of course a high end PC is much cheaper than a collection of classic analogue keyboards.

[Nanners]

I really don't know how Urs does it. I would be in the looney house by now. I guess I don't agree with any of it. Almost all developers seemed to have gone to sampled waves as oscillators in an attempt to get the cpu use lower. Problem is it sounds like a toy when you put it up to the quality of analog modeling. If you want to play with other musicians in a live situation with players playing real instruments you need the quality of the older Uhe offerings. ACE is one of the best software synths ever made and CRUSHES what I've heard out of hive....the only thing is it's hard to make ACE play nice with other sampled wave softsyths (90% of the offering these days) in a render to digital format. You actually have to bring the sound quality down. The real difference in quality is obvious in a real time environment. You have to decide I guess.... do you want to be quality or quantity? Ahead of your time and setting a standard or sell to the edm crowd? Can't blame Urs for wanting to be a successful business but now you have to lower standards... I would most definitely be in the looney house by now. Stay strong Urs!

[Urs]

No worries. We have a master plan for ACE. We just need to figure out when to do all the things we want to do.

[dentnile]

I guess still few musicians use softsynths in a live situation and for a lot of modern music, you really cannot hear the difference in the mix after all the processing is done. There is also a lot of layering so it makes sense to also have low CPU vsts. Constantly having to bounce tracks is a real workflow/inspiration killer imo. I don't think Hive was supposed to replace ACE or Diva, use them for live. I think it was genius to add Hive to the product line.

[Urs]

Hehehe, thanks

[Rob James G]

I really don't know how Urs does it. I would be in the looney house by now. I guess I don't agree with any of it. Almost all developers seemed to have gone to sampled waves as oscillators in an attempt to get the cpu use lower. Problem is it sounds like a toy when you put it up to the quality of analog modeling. If you want to play with other musicians in a live situation with players playing real instruments you need the quality of the older Uhe offerings. ACE is one of the best software synths ever made and CRUSHES what I've heard out of hive....the only thing is it's hard to make ACE play nice with other sampled wave softsyths (90% of the offering these days) in a render to digital format. You actually have to bring the sound quality down. The real difference in quality is obvious in a real time environment. You have to decide I guess.... do you want to be quality or quantity? Ahead of your time and setting a standard or sell to the edm crowd? Can't blame Urs for wanting to be a successful business but now you have to lower standards... I would most definitely be in the looney house by now. Stay strong Urs!

Huh?
There are some sample waves as oscillators in specific synths sure, but by no means all, out of the thousands of soft synths available they are the ones in the minority. Nonetheless they can be useable and combined with analogue modelling too.

You absolutely can mix ACE, Diva et al with all kinds of different synths. Positively to be encouraged!
Get the right sound combo and they will happily sit with other modelled synths, additive synths, FM, wavetable, Romplers, the works.

Live is the very worst example IMHO, in a live situation the quality matters far less than a recording in most cases, since most synths will be used in bands, merged with guitars, drums, vocals etc, often played over booming PA speakers. Listening at home is far more critical listening, especially to a solo synth when you are playing it yourself. Some exceptions but those type of bands where classic synths are the main experience such as Radio Massacre International are the minority and niche interest.
Most of what makes a good live experience is the capabilities as musicians, not their synth geek chops.

The main benefits to U-HE synths and similar quality products is something of an audiophile experience, the pleasure of using a quality product, for those that appreciate the differences. It's not really about the final mix, where quality differences in Diva's quality setting would be entirely lost on most listeners due to masking effects.

[chk071]

Edit: Nevermind, there was written nonsense here.

[Rob James G]

Edit: Nevermind, there was written nonsense here.

It happens.