Why I Hate U-He :-)

[GruvSyco]

...except that I started buying a few pieces of analogue hardware for the first time in decades)

same here. I started last fall. Probably been 15 or 20 years at least since I owned a hardware synth prior to that.

[JoeCat]

For me, ACE is the closest to an analog piece of gear, not because of its sound, but because it feels the most like its own "instrument" - it has it's own sound and even though it's modular it's more specialized.

Diva hits my CPU hard but I can always run at least one instance, and it occurs to me that, if Diva were a piece of hardware, I would of course record a track with it and work with audio in my DAW. Meaning for that particular workflow (which I'm starting to think is a solid alternative to the endless "tweak the sound 'cause I can" method I use now), there's no drawback to the CPU usage.

I'm always just close to purchasing Zebra, knowing it will probably ruin for me the joy of yet-another synth purchase (until Zebra 3 ). But it's coming...

[ddeez]

I am not trying to start a flame war at all but I have to know. I feel like Diva is the best sounding soft synth i have ever touched but to me zebra does not sound as full rich and bright naturally as diva does without processing. Am i missing something? If so, how would i go about achieving this in zebra?

[Doug1978]

This is a good thread too:

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=251389

[Compyfox]

I have to admit that I'm also speculating with one of U-HE's creation for quite a while now. It does sound different (love Tyrell Nexus6), but I'm bad at programming stuff myself. And I'm not in the mood to wade through tons of presets just to find the right one.

Though this all is a two sided medal. Granted, not every synth creation out there might sound "superb", especially the emulations. But one thing that is often underestimated is the usability.


Example:
I'm a fan of the E-MU Proteus (2000) rack range. The hardware itself is a pain to use, but the software port is (while still limiting) way more intuitive and usable. I can also save tons of presets without doing hardware dumps or stuff like that.

Granted, this all is possible with MIDIQuest as well, but I hope you get what I aim at.



So yeah...
Urs does some great stuff with his creations. But "sound" alone doesn't do it for me. I sometimes want the cheesy stuff as well to balance things out. And if I need to add a Yamaha XG synth to my sound array, then I'll add one.

This is why I keep all these old critters, or try to hunt one of them down from time to time in hardware form.

[3ee]

... It does sound different (love Tyrell Nexus6), but I'm bad at programming stuff myself. And I'm not in the mood to wade through tons of presets just to find the right one.

Go through all and mark favorites.
Either patches you love or you'll know they'll be useful for you.

Process will take some time, but imagine the benefits afterwards...

[PanzerD]

Jokes aside, I think we can call u-he a market leader at least in terms of product innovation and customer relations. All other companies should really benchmark themselves against u-he.

Sure there are lots of synths out there but its really hard to find one that has a quality and usability in balance like u-he stuff. I'm doing 90% of my stuff with zebra and that's tells me that there's something right about it.


Every time I wisit KVR I allways feel that devs are somewhere near, ready to solve any of my irrational problems. I just don't get that feeling about any other company in this business.

... but to me zebra does not sound as full rich and bright naturally as diva does without processing. Am i missing something? If so, how would i go about achieving this in zebra?

Yes. but zebra can do so much more than diva so there's really no comparison between them. Actually processing synths with external effects to obtain more sonic variety has become a cornerstone of my sound design. I didn't get diva even thou was really impressed with sound. Zebra is just so much more rewarding for me.

[Esgalachoir]

...I can simply drag and drop presets from one folder to another in the Diva GUI!!

Assholes!!

I...didn't...even realize...mind...blown...



P.S. (Also works with Zebra.)

[Urs]

...I can simply drag and drop presets from one folder to another in the Diva GUI!!

Assholes!!

I...didn't...even realize...mind...blown...



P.S. (Also works with Zebra.)

You can even drag a preset from a Zebralette instance over to a Zebra folder...

[PanzerD]

...I can simply drag and drop presets from one folder to another in the Diva GUI!!

Assholes!!

I...didn't...even realize...mind...blown...



P.S. (Also works with Zebra.)

You can even drag a preset from a Zebralette instance over to a Zebra folder...

I told you Urs is always here, always knowing what you gonna post even before you know it yourself.

[Urs]

I told you Urs is always here, always knowing what you gonna post even before you know it yourself.

I'm really just an internet junkie where the addiction is an actual benefit

[tehlord]

From this point forward, all corporate imagery should include you dressed as Gandalf.

[Sendy]

I've always loved the oscillators and filters in Zebra. Sure, that INIT sawtooth thing is probably the most plainly even sound ever produced by a synthesizer, but to me that's kinda the point. It's the ideal starting point to create character of your own design.

The filters, even the lowly VCF-types, also have just the right amount of flexibility and charisma. I still think building an exciter into the resonance of a filter was a masterstroke.

[Arrested Developer]

I am not trying to start a flame war at all but I have to know. I feel like Diva is the best sounding soft synth i have ever touched but to me zebra does not sound as full rich and bright naturally as diva does without processing. Am i missing something? If so, how would i go about achieving this in zebra?

I use both, and would simply say that they have different strong points.
While DIVA is probably the best existing emulation of analogue gear,
Zebra is - in my opinion - perfect in combination with real (orchestral) instruments:
probably this is in conjunction with the way its oscillators work & the whole mod. & processing possiblities.
It feels just organic without the "synthetic" flair that most synthies (also real high-end analogues) add to the resulting sound.
(still remember when i first demoed Zebra2 several years ago; when i played that "Drone-Darkness-Orchestra" sound (or something like this) for the first time (and then combined it with trombone samples), i knew that i have to buy this plugin.)

[ErikH]

I fully agree. For someone loving "contemporary classical" (From Scelsi, Penderecki, Ligeti, Henri... over the likes of Xenakis to Murail, Posadas etc) Zebra is a real instrument. An instrument that allows to really become creative and construct a specific sound based on nothing but the "VCO".
Long ago I had a Roland System 100, and well, there is some resemblance, only: Zebra is much more powerful and allows much more tweaking and adjusting.
I won't eliminate some of my other prefs ( Alchemy, Iris,...) but it has become my favourite synth a few hours after I first loaded it, one I'm automatically drawn to. Zebra is a series of Aha! experiences as somhow all pieces fall in place with it. And patches are a very good way to study, learn and "be inspired by" . And yes, it sounds very well indeed in combination with Kontakt.

What I would love to see here is a thread where beginning users could share patches, so more experienced users could (if they wanted) suggest some tweaks or shorter ways to obtain that same kind of sound. Many people would learn from that.
Just an idea.