u-he

Beardedone · Post by **Beardedone** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 4:26 pm

Hey Beardedone, the closest Apple Logo I have is at the PC... it's on the Apple Display (necessary to feel comfortable with XP)

Urs

Now that's a heterologous relationship!

Btw Word is that a well known developer has come back to the PC from Macland

Urs · Post by **Urs** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 4:32 pm

Beardedone wrote:Btw Word is that a well known developer has come back to the PC from Macland

Bill Gates?

OMU · Post by **OMU** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 5:01 pm

Nooo
It's all about Stevie wanting Intel chips

Beardedone · Post by **Beardedone** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 5:08 pm

No i meant Art Gillespie, beloved maker of good old pHATMAtik Pro. Check the October contest thread in the KVRAudio Music Café

Urs · Post by **Urs** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 5:39 pm

Hehe... yeah... Art!

Oki, Friday again! - Big news: I love the new MultiStage envelopes. At least the gui. I havn't glued the dsp part for them yet, mostly because I wanted to have the usability aspects first. But as everything is working nicely, this will take just another day.

However, I have decided to leave them alone for a few days, so I can see how I still like them next week. It's important to get some distance to stuff.

Instead, I have started to implement a chorus/flanger/phaser modulation effect. Inspired by the release of the UAD/Roland Dimension D, I thought it should become something pretty unconventional. Unlike that one, it will have *a few more knobs*. You know me!

For those who've missed the little tune from previous page, here's a little bump:

http://www.u-he.com/music/Zebra2JuiceBass.mp3

Laters,

Urs

Hunter · Post by **Hunter** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 5:44 pm

Urs wrote: http://www.u-he.com/music/Zebra2JuiceBass.mp3

bass, sharp'n'punchy

Urs · Post by **Urs** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 8:29 pm

Hehe, thanks

And now... some chorus stuff... it's slowly coming to the point I like. Subtle, warm and leaving the bass as it is:

http://www.u-he.com/music/Zeb2Chorused.mp3

That's a short, crappy line with 1 osc, 1 filter and a low-end-booster. First 8 bars are without chorus, next 16 bars are the same stuff with chorus. I think it shows how the deep bass is still present and it's not getting too muddy despite 50% effect mix... what do you say?

Cheers,

Urs

David · Post by **David** » Sat Oct 15, 2005 3:21 am

Ummm..kin I interrupt with a question about availability, upgrades from 1.5, etc.? The sounds samples here are thrilling, so I’m itching....should I go ahead and get 1.5, or just wait (re: $$)?
Thanks!
dc

Urs · Post by **Urs** » Sat Oct 15, 2005 9:08 am

David wrote:Ummm..kin I interrupt with a question about availability, upgrades from 1.5, etc.? The sounds samples here are thrilling, so I’m itching....should I go ahead and get 1.5, or just wait (re: $$)?
Thanks!
dc

If you have a Mac... and if you like Zebra 1.5... get it as long as it is available.

Zebra 1.5 runs side by side with Zebra 2 and the upgrade is free for people who bought it on or after May 1st 2005. (The upgrade is gonna be 20$ otherwise)

Zebra 1.5 is gonna disappear on the day Z2 is released (well, maintenance updates such as PPC->Intel move will naturally happen, but you can't buy it anymore!)

Why not wait? - Z2 sports all the concepts and features of Z1.5, but they are improved heavily. The difference is like 16mm film and Cinemascope. While I think that Z1.5 is a truely great synth, I - like many users - found that some things could be made better, so I dropped preset compatibility in favour of better consistency, better look & feel, better sound. Thus, only the best presets will be converted and they'll not necessarily sound 100% identical.

Some examples what's different:

Both have a delay (uhm, Z2 is gonna have 2 delays...) in the effects section. These have built-in limiters and overdrive on feedback. But Z2's limiter pumps less and its overdrive sounds crunchier. While you could modulate delay time in Z1.5 only in the millisecond setting, Z2's only has Sync modes - which can be modulated for each of the 4 taps (Z1.5 has only 2 taps). And while delay time modulation in Z1.5 was a lo-fi feature, it's much more tapey in Z2. Thus the infamous presets by Bitshift ("Don't sneak up behind me - Dammit", "it's supposed to do this" etc.) will definately sound different - not necessarily worse!

Zebra 1.5 has so called "LineMix" modules in the modular voice section. These distribute the signal across channels in the Grid. They are the most "never-got-how-they-work" modules in Zebra. They're just not intuitive to use. Thus they'll be replaced by more straight-forward mixing modules.

While Zebra1.5's Comb filters have auxiliary outputs for recursive structures (think physical modeling), and while these are somewhat great and flexible, they were replaced by more powerful comb filters that offer everything needed inside one module. Although some flexibility is lost here, you get way better quality and much easier to use stuff.

Also, some filter types have changed. I.e. the shelving and peaking eq types are now as smooth and efficient as Filterscape's (a little copy & paste was allowed, I guess

).

Don't get me started on oscillators. This is a completely different world now. The "Dissonant" waves have been replaced by specialized FM oscillators. All other waves can be reproduced within one waveset in Zebra2. Zebra2's oscillators are stereo, they sound smoother/warmer in the mid range, they have built-in effects/filters (!)... you won't even bother to recreate anything Z1.5 in a Z2 oscillator...

However, I will try to write a preset conversion tool, but a lot of presets just can't be converted. Hence, having Z1.5 next to it isn't a bad idea for Mac users, even though you'll hardly look at it when Z2 is out! This year, definately.

Cheers,

Urs

David · Post by **David** » Sat Oct 15, 2005 9:22 am

Yumm! Thanks!

oknussen · Post by **oknussen** » Sat Oct 15, 2005 11:23 am

Urs wrote:[can't be converted. Hence, having Z1.5 next to it isn't a bad idea for Mac users, even though you'll hardly look at it when Z2 is out! This year, definately.

Cheers,

Urs

This year - as in 2005? That is exciting!

Derek up North · Post by **Derek up North** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 8:25 am

Urs wrote:Hehe... yeah... Art!

Oki, Friday again! - Big news: I love the new MultiStage envelopes. At least the gui.

Go on, show us - you know you want to

Regards,

Derek.

Urs · Post by **Urs** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 8:46 am

Derek up North wrote:Go on, show us - you know you want to

Heh... a small screenshot of the MultiStage stuff is posted on the previous page

It'll visually be quite exactly like that. Just some indicators for grid snapping, edit mode etc. will be added to the bottom. Everything else (meta controls for start point, loop length etc.) will be ordinary knobs next to them.

Oh... and optionally you can see *all* envelopes in one window... that's still on the to do list though...

Cheers,

Urs

OMU · Post by **OMU** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 10:37 am

I think I'll buy the thing

haydxn · Post by **haydxn** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 1:30 pm

are pc users allowed to upgrade from an unused mac z1.5?

u-he

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