Can anyone tell if it's possible to use Zebra as a standalone app? Can it use rewire or jack audio? or does it need to be used strictly as a vst instrument?

Are there any plans for having Zebra 2 have jack audio output or can anyone suggest tricks for making that happen? I basically want to control it from my sequencer and then send the output to something like Harrison mixbus. If I need to host it Harrison I could do that too.

I'm sold on the synthesis design, just still trying to figure out how I'll use it. Normally I use Csound controlled from a custom host app and send the output out jack audio. I suppose my ideal situation would be able to use osc for input and jack for audio input & output but that seems like asking a lot?

FWIW, zebra is the first commercial synth that has gotten me interested in it in like 10 years. Looks like a really great set of choices between power and usability and a really nice compliment to the hacky stuff ( Csound/SuperCollider/etc) for ease of use.

And the way the company is run is awesome. =)

iain

Plogue Bidule might be the glue you need to paste all this together. It can host VST/AU plugins, run as an OSC client and server, and run as a ReWire mixer or device. Don't know about Jack, but Google shows a lot of hits for "plogue bidule jack".

Well, designing a stand alone is quite tricky, as it is definately going to be platform-specific code, and I wasn't up to it while I worked alone.

From June on we're 3 developers, so maybe someone can bite the bullet some time and do a little framework around our stuff.

Neverthless, I always thought that free applications like SaviHost or AULab would be sufficient to run our plugs "as if standalone"...

OTOH we could add some extra features to a stand alone that can't be done when run as plugin in a host...

Urs

This is just my opinion, but a jackified Zebra would be awesome. Jack is just so much better than rewire for low latency life uses, and I could see Zebra + Harrison MixBus being a monster combo on OS X. I'd also think that the cross over between the Zebra target market and the kind of users who appreciate Jack's capabilities being significant. I've been bugging the Reaper guys to jackify it too.

I use jack as the audio output layer for my own live sequencing thingy and it's really really nice to work with, beautifully designed and rock solid. (And it was dead easy to link against on linux and os x, haven't done it on windows myself) Plus the zero sample latency between apps means you could zebra into zebras arbitrarily.

That said, these are just wish lists from a hacky audio geek, I totally get that a small team has to pick their battles. =)

thanks for listening Urs, that goes a long way to making me an enthusiastic customer!
Iain

You wire Jack through your DAW.
You just set the i/o to the correct settings to the track that Zebra is on.
All plugins work with Jack, as it's just your DAW you need to setup for it to work.

Hi mcnoone, I realize this, but apps can also use jack directly, and this is the thread in which I'm discussing my wish of using Zebra standalone. For live use, I'd love to be able use zebra without having it in a vst host, just jack midi in and jack audio in/out. That allows one to use it in a heterogeneous configuration with no 'master' daw. But like I said, that's wish list stuff. =)

I know everyone at u-he has been tremendously busy but I was wondering if there had been any update on the standalone versions of say, Diva and Zebra. I would love to have Mac versions in standalone mode.

Thanks for all the great work!

Why don't you just use AULab that comes for free with the developer tools? When I used my Mac more I would have shortcuts on my desktop to an AU project that just loaded Zebra. It was as standalone and lightweight as you can get. http://mac.appstorm.net/roundups/utilities-roundups/five-hid den-gems-from-the-developer-folder/

Hi bmrzycki,

Thanks for the idea. I will give it a shot.