Getting Hive?

[recursive one]

Maybe there'll be a Hive 2. Not sure if such an amount of functionality fits the concept though. Would surely be great nonetheless. But, i guess that sort of stuff would rather make it (or is already present) in Zebra 3 then.

I'm very impatiently waiting for Z3 (who isn't lol), but Zebra is kind of opposite end of the spectrum. Too much options and possibilities may be good in theory but in practice - not always. Actually despite I'm not using my Virus much now, I'm very happy that I have spent lot of time learning it cause its very clever layout taught me some things which may be done in software as well but in much less straightforward manner. The beauty of Virus is that it has quite flexible feature set but the modulation configs which make some sence are hardwired and easily accessible, this makes finding sweet spots much less tedious process than, say, in Zebra 2.

[Soarer]

... you need to learn how to embrace your inner hate and bask in mediocrity.

Eh?
Sure what this means, I am not
(Edit: Ok I got it.)

[chk071]

Maybe there'll be a Hive 2. Not sure if such an amount of functionality fits the concept though. Would surely be great nonetheless. But, i guess that sort of stuff would rather make it (or is already present) in Zebra 3 then.

I'm very impatiently waiting for Z3 (who isn't lol), but Zebra is kind of opposite end of the spectrum. Too much options and possibilities may be good in theory but in practice - not always.

Yeah. I definitely prefer a tad less featured synths. Zebra is a bit overwhelming for me. A synth has to inspire me. I'm not very inspired by modulars, or, synth which offer me as much functionality as Zebra. Each to his like.

[bmrzycki]

Zebra is kind of opposite end of the spectrum. Too much options and possibilities may be good in theory but in practice - not always.

Yeah. I definitely prefer a tad less featured synths. Zebra is a bit overwhelming for me.

I see this argument brought up about Zebra and I don't get it. I can understand that it's daunting to modify and tweak presets. You have to understand all the modules and how they interact with each other. If you're a patch tweaker Zebra is probably not the right tool for you.

But making sounds from init is a completely different story. You can set up an OSC1->VCF->FX setup that is no more complicated than synth1. Exploring this initial layout will yield a ton of interesting sounds.

(And I am eagerly awaiting Z3 as well)

[wagtunes]

Zebra is kind of opposite end of the spectrum. Too much options and possibilities may be good in theory but in practice - not always.

Yeah. I definitely prefer a tad less featured synths. Zebra is a bit overwhelming for me.

I see this argument brought up about Zebra and I don't get it. I can understand that it's daunting to modify and tweak presets. You have to understand all the modules and how they interact with each other. If you're a patch tweaker Zebra is probably not the right tool for you.

But making sounds from init is a completely different story. You can set up an OSC1->VCF->FX setup that is no more complicated than synth1. Exploring this initial layout will yield a ton of interesting sounds.

(And I am eagerly awaiting Z3 as well)

See, I'm on the other end of the spectrum. For me, Zebra 2 isn't complex enough. It's limited for a modular synth, even though I don't really consider it a modular synth but that's a different argument for another day.

I wish Zebra 2 was more like Eurorack in structure, not so much in sound. Unlimited modules with a good 30 to 40 different kinds. All this including the various oscillator modulations that are capable along with the various filter types. That would be my dream synth. I get that it's never going to happen. But that would be one synth that I would truly get ridiculously excited about.

[chk071]

Zebra is kind of opposite end of the spectrum. Too much options and possibilities may be good in theory but in practice - not always.

Yeah. I definitely prefer a tad less featured synths. Zebra is a bit overwhelming for me.

I see this argument brought up about Zebra and I don't get it. I can understand that it's daunting to modify and tweak presets. You have to understand all the modules and how they interact with each other. If you're a patch tweaker Zebra is probably not the right tool for you.

But making sounds from init is a completely different story. You can set up an OSC1->VCF->FX setup that is no more complicated than synth1. Exploring this initial layout will yield a ton of interesting sounds.

Well, maybe you'll get it if you compare it to something like Hive, and try to use those side by side. And then try something like Spire, which is a tad more complex, but still light years aways from having the complexity of Zebra. I'm sure Urs and crew did everything to make Zebra as usable as possible. It's still a very complex synth which has a steep learning curve, before you're able to master it. More so than other synths. And, personally, i don't need so much complexity.

[recursive one]

Zebra is kind of opposite end of the spectrum. Too much options and possibilities may be good in theory but in practice - not always.

Yeah. I definitely prefer a tad less featured synths. Zebra is a bit overwhelming for me.

I see this argument brought up about Zebra and I don't get it. I can understand that it's daunting to modify and tweak presets. You have to understand all the modules and how they interact with each other. If you're a patch tweaker Zebra is probably not the right tool for you.

But making sounds from init is a completely different story. You can set up an OSC1->VCF->FX setup that is no more complicated than synth1. Exploring this initial layout will yield a ton of interesting sounds.

(And I am eagerly awaiting Z3 as well)

Depending on my mood from about 70% to 100% synth sounds in my tracks are made from init. I have some understanding of the most common synthesis methods, like subtractive, WT, basic FM configs, but far from the expert level. My goal is to make tracks, not sounds for the sake of it. When I'm dealing with Virus, Spire or Serum I often start with the init preset and tweak whatever I feel like to tweak and usually finally arrive to a useable sound. When I have this sound at hand I try to understand how things actually work and what else can be done in similar way in this or another synth, this is how I learn synths and I think many other people also do it in a similar way. With Zebra (I own a license too) I managed to make either pretty basic sounds or something that didn't sound especially good or wasn't musically useable. I understand that it is because I'm not competent enough to handle it properly but I still prefer using other synths that give me more immediate results.

[chk071]

Frankly, too much complexity can be off-putting. If i see all the cables of a modular, it turns me off. I guess that's also why synths like Sylenth1 and Hive are popular, because it doesn't overwhelm, but gives you enough functions on one page, to do classic bread and butter VA sounds, and more.

[wagtunes]

Frankly, too much complexity can be off-putting. If i see all the cables of a modular, it turns me off. I guess that's also why synths like Sylenth1 and Hive are popular, because it doesn't overwhelm, but gives you enough functions on one page, to do classic bread and butter VA sounds, and more.

Which is honestly surprised me about my success, business wise, with Softube Modular. Never expected it to do as well as it did, especially with that God awful browser system. Oh wait, it doesn't have one.

[chk071]

Which shows once again that it's not about the synth, but, about the type of sounds you sell. Try to make a EDM soundbank (or... something different to what you are doing), and the result could be a different one. Otherwise such sounds wouldn't sell like, or be made like hot cakes, for the respective synths.

[Zexila]

Every page different topic.

[recursive one]

Every page different topic.

And the same peeps

[pdxindy]

Yeah. I definitely prefer a tad less featured synths. Zebra is a bit overwhelming for me. A synth has to inspire me. I'm not very inspired by modulars, or, synth which offer me as much functionality as Zebra. Each to his like.

I don't like just adding endless features. Urs gives some real thought to the features in Zebra and has refused many feature requests to keep it from becoming an endless feature-fest. What is there fits well, and with multiple synthesis types, each one is not so complicated. So for me, Zebra is an excellent combination of diversity of possibilities while still being easy to use. I also find the semi-modular framework to be freakin genius! The 4 channels in the main grid and the 2 buses for the FX grid lets me do stuff so straightforwardly that I find lots of stuff is faster in Zebra than in various simpler synths.

It does take some learning, but once learned is fast and effective to work with. Maybe some people do not get past the initial curve. I regularly find simpler synths slower in comparison cause there are basic limitations that then require a rethink. For example, sending one Osc to a Delay and a second Osc bypass the delay... stuff like that would require 2 instances in most synths are trivial in Zebra. In that case it is faster. I encounter many such cases.

And of course, people are different and what I love about Zebra does not thrill someone else. Zebra happens to hit like the perfect balance of power and ease of use for me and may not for someone else.

[pdxindy]

Well, maybe you'll get it if you compare it to something like Hive, and try to use those side by side. And then try something like Spire, which is a tad more complex, but still light years aways from having the complexity of Zebra. I'm sure Urs and crew did everything to make Zebra as usable as possible. It's still a very complex synth which has a steep learning curve, before you're able to master it. More so than other synths. And, personally, i don't need so much complexity.

I find Zebra is easier to use than Spire. Routing in Spire is too limited which leads to other forms of complexity.

[knowix]

That's not what Hive is, Hive has been stripped to make it as low CPU as possible. That is the whole point of Hive is strip everything out that you can to "optimize" the CPU use.

I don't think that was ever the main point of Hive. Arguably the point of Hive was Urs having a bone to pick with commercial dance music and its lack of interest in his plugins

I've said it before and I'll say it again, for Hive to stand out more from Sylenth, Spire and Serum, it needs to find and amplify its unique character. Think about how Roland accidentally changed the sound of dance music, just by making their machines capable of making interesting sounds that caught the ear. Urs actually touched on a similar kind of unexpected magic quite recently with the Jaws module. I'm still convinced there's a relatively minor tweak to the oscillators in Hive, that would make people go "oh!".