Zebra 2.1 Group Buy Anytime Soon?

[liars&ashes]

----Maybe Urs will do a bundle deal soon, since he's got several plugs for sale these days, and he's always been a value for $ kinda guy. Although if that crossgrade deal is still available, that's 25% off right there, I'd jump on that one if you're serious about having a Zebra in your zoo.

Jeff

[Jeremy_NSL]

Have you seen the dinosaur crossgrade deal?
http://www.zebrasynth.com/index.php?item=DC

$50 off... Even at twice that price Zebra doesn't really have an equal. That said I am having *alot* of fun with the Massive demo which costs $299.

[ion_null]

Jeff ... to clarify for everyone ... is that a valued addition to your "heavy petting zoo?"

Thanks for the laugh.

Cheers, Eric

[Timfonie]

Have you seen the dinosaur crossgrade deal?

I did. Together with the introduction price I payed less than 100 euro. Hopping in quickly when a new Urs product is introduced is a sensible thing to do.

The number of presets is growing every day. Currently I find many more useful presets included than when Zebra2 was just released.

That said I am having *alot* of fun with the Massive demo which costs $299.

Ouch! That's far too much for only a demo.

[spritex]

the workability of this is hard to assess in the demo period.

I don't quite understand this. The only demo limitation is that it starts deciding the played notes after a while.

[pdxindy]

As far as I can tell in the 10 mins. or whatever demo time, to get any real dimension to the VA sound with this synth requires that two parallel two osc. + 1 filter etc. instances be implemented and run panned apart.

The demo does not have a time limit. The notes start being 'random' (not really random) but you can keep playing/tweaking.

Also, give it some more time because you do not need 4 osc and 2 filters running parallel to get some dimension. Zebra2 has a stereo path throughout. Set an Osc to dual or quad and use the width control. Zebra has one of the more organic, lively sounds in a synth, even with 0 effects.

And as someone else suggested, you can make a template preset with 2 channels of each 2osc/filter with modulations set up and just work with that as a starting point.

I used the demo for a while before I decided Zebra was worth it for me. The early beta did not have many presets so it took some exploring.

[pdxindy]

besides the dinosaur crossgrade, do keep in mind that there is no dongle or C/R and the licensing agreement is very nice. You can install Zebra2 on as many computers as you have and use yourself. So if you have a couple workstations in your studio and a laptop, you can put Zebra on all 3. Many licensing agreements do not allow this.

[cleverr1]

the workability of this is hard to assess in the demo period.

I don't quite understand this. The only demo limitation is that it starts deciding the played notes after a while.

Hi,
Please let me explain. Perhaps I'm drilling a bit deep for a demo here. I've got a project up with a wonderful Virus sample and several VSTIs trying to get in the same league in a workable quality/cpu way, not really caring about the absolute sound per say, but the vibe being everything. Unfortunately the demo time limit is impeding progress at this level. With what I've heard already, if this synth was $99 I'd grab it now. But for $199 I want to hear at least a parity in quality with the best of the rest, and also some unique other factor that would make this worthwhile. The presets don't get near this in the area of sounds I'm looking at, so I'm in the dark. Before the new filter the Zebra 2.0 demo was a clear loser in this line up, so 2.1 is a big big step forward. I have wasted far too much money on VA VSTIs to ever jump again on the basis of assuming that "if it does "A" well then it should be pretty good at "B"too.

On the other hand, if you like the presets then I agree that 10 mins should be plenty of time.

Beej,
That sounds great. so is there a way to define controller routings to any non-unique destination? - that would allow a double 2 osc. VA config. to have a single set of controllers for the duplicated parameters... that would work!

Regards all

[beej]

That sounds great. so is there a way to define controller routings to any non-unique destination? - that would allow a double 2 osc. VA config. to have a single set of controllers for the duplicated parameters... that would work!

I'm not totally sure what you are wanting to do, so forgive me if I interpret your requirements wrongly, but:

You can do it a number of ways. You could assign the parameters and ranges you want to the XY controls and use external controllers to mod those (say, mod wheel controls X1, with X1 routed to control the cutoffs and resonances of multiple filter modules, and say the pwm speed of multiple oscillators).

Or you can use the mod matrix with mod mixers, which can mix multiple mod sources to mod destinations. And you can MIDI learn any controls (right click on them) - I'm not sure offhand whether you can route one MIDI controller to multiple parameters.

But that should get you going anyway...

[alexibm]

I was luck one ...I got my copy for lower than anyone else
Introductory price was 170, I used Dinosaur Cross grade and got the thing for 120

[pdxindy]

On the other hand, if you like the presets then I agree that 10 mins should be plenty of time.

It has been a long time since I used the demo, but if I recall, you can delete the instance and open Zebra again for another 10 minutes. Or do you have to quit and relaunch the host? Anyway, I spent a few dozen focused hours playing around with Zebra before I decided to buy it. I think you are smart to take your time and decide if a synth is for you.

[cleverr1]

As far as I can tell in the 10 mins. or whatever demo time, to get any real dimension to the VA sound with this synth requires that two parallel two osc. + 1 filter etc. instances be implemented and run panned apart.

The demo does not have a time limit. The notes start being 'random' (not really random) but you can keep playing/tweaking.

Also, give it some more time because you do not need 4 osc and 2 filters running parallel to get some dimension. Zebra2 has a stereo path throughout. Set an Osc to dual or quad and use the width control. Zebra has one of the more organic, lively sounds in a synth, even with 0 effects.

And as someone else suggested, you can make a template preset with 2 channels of each 2osc/filter with modulations set up and just work with that as a starting point.

I used the demo for a while before I decided Zebra was worth it for me. The early beta did not have many presets so it took some exploring.

Sorry dude, I'd already set 3 oscs. to quad, panned and detuned them and tried really really hard, but Korg's (and the Access Virus's) global unison and spread knocks those efforts into a cocked hat!
Without a global unison, parallel is the only way to achieve real dimension with this synth. That's not a negative, it just means you have to do a bit more work.

[pdxindy]

Without a global unison, parallel is the only way to achieve real dimension with this synth. That's not a negative, it just means you have to do a bit more work.

ahh... we have a different meaning to the word dimension...

[cleverr1]

That sounds great. so is there a way to define controller routings to any non-unique destination? - that would allow a double 2 osc. VA config. to have a single set of controllers for the duplicated parameters... that would work!

I'm not totally sure what you are wanting to do, so forgive me if I interpret your requirements wrongly, but:

You can do it a number of ways. You could assign the parameters and ranges you want to the XY controls and use external controllers to mod those (say, mod wheel controls X1, with X1 routed to control the cutoffs and resonances of multiple filter modules, and say the pwm speed of multiple oscillators).

Or you can use the mod matrix with mod mixers, which can mix multiple mod sources to mod destinations. And you can MIDI learn any controls (right click on them) - I'm not sure offhand whether you can route one MIDI controller to multiple parameters.

But that should get you going anyway...

Thanks, that sounds like exactly it. I would want to create parallel oscs. and filter "synths" and control the cutoff amd/or resonance on each filter with the same controller.

The enthusiasm and helpfulness of the Zebra users on this forum speaks volumes!

Thanks again.

[beej]

I was luck one ...I got my copy for lower than anyone else
Introductory price was 170, I used Dinosaur Cross grade and got the thing for 120

I think I can beat that. I forget the exact figures, but I got Zebra 1.5 in the first group buy. I think it ended up being about 90 bucks or so. Plus the $20 upgrade "fee" to Zebra 2 (which was still way too cheap!)

*And* I also sent Urs a dinosaur crossgrade pic (which he never used anyway) and Urs generously said he'd waive the $20 upgrade fee, but I wanted to pay it anyway...

In any case, worth the money at twice the price!