u-he

sagetone · Post by **sagetone** » Sat Sep 01, 2012 6:58 pm

I don't mean to wear out this question that has been asked quite a bit already...

For those of you who own Zebra, DZ, and Diva - all three - how close do you think HZ comes to Diva in sound quality? Here's why I'm asking.

I have Z2.5 now. I bought it when Diva first came out and had to decide between the two, and ended up buying Zebra. Fantastic synth, and I don't regret the decision at all.

The $99 deal for DZ looks pretty sweet to me, the upgrade to Z3 is free, and so the Hans/Howard banks and the DZ version of Zebra area a subset of that. So, I am really close to buying DZ.

I would just like the opinion of the experienced U-He users on how close DZ comes to Diva. I know they're not the same, but I remember reading a few times that the DZ filters are the same as those in Diva. So I would think they're quite close, sonic wise. I'm not trying to get Diva by buying DZ, I'd just like to get close. It's a cost decision I'm making - right now, I can't shell out the bucks for both.

Thank you,
Todd

Ghostwave · Post by **Ghostwave** » Sat Sep 01, 2012 7:11 pm

First, replace all DZs by HZs in your post. Then, you might get an answer.

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Sat Sep 01, 2012 7:19 pm

Zebra HZ is not Diva at all... Entirely different... It is Zebra and if you want Diva, get Diva.

bmrzycki · Post by **bmrzycki** » Sat Sep 01, 2012 7:40 pm

Diva has different oscillators, enevelops, and effects. The filters are a big part of the Diva sound, true. However, you'll have to work to recreate a Diva patch with ZebraHZ.

The upside is there are patches possible with ZebraHZ that are impossible with Diva. It's hard to say if one is better than the other.

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Sat Sep 01, 2012 8:33 pm

Also the Diva filters in HZ do not have the filter FM as they do in Diva... so they are not identical.

There is just no way I would want to be without either

sagetone · Post by **sagetone** » Sat Sep 01, 2012 9:33 pm

OK, thanks all. You're feedback helps.

Karten, I said DZ because of Dark Zebra. Sorry I didn't get the name right.

hollo · Post by **hollo** » Sat Sep 01, 2012 11:53 pm

bmrzycki wrote:Diva has different oscillators, enevelops, and effects. The filters are a big part of the Diva sound, true. However, you'll have to work to recreate a Diva patch with ZebraHZ.

The upside is there are patches possible with ZebraHZ that are impossible with Diva. It's hard to say if one is better than the other.

You said, you can't afford both of them. You decided to get
Zebra, like me. I'm adore the Diva sound, but i wanted to have
a more open minded, versatile synth, with almost unlimited
possibilities.

With ZebraHZ if you cut down the Zebra3 upgrade price you'll
get an incredible soundbank and a half Diva to play around
for 70$. Then you'll soon get the streamlined Diva quality
osc, filters, + all the lovely stuff we are waiting from Zebra3.

ddeez · Post by **ddeez** » Sun Sep 02, 2012 6:14 am

i find the Diva osc. to make a huge difference in the amazing sound of diva, a sound that hz does not have...hz is great tho

Ghostwave · Post by **Ghostwave** » Sun Sep 02, 2012 6:46 am

sagetone wrote:Karten, I said DZ because of Dark Zebra. Sorry I didn't get the name right.

I get it but then the title is misleading as you compare a soundset with a synth.
I guess it should be "How close is ZebraHZ to Diva?"
Anyway, interesting discussion.

trance_lucent · Post by **trance_lucent** » Sun Sep 02, 2012 7:52 am

ddeez wrote:i find the Diva osc. to make a huge difference in the amazing sound of diva, a sound that hz does not have...hz is great tho

I remember Urs wrote that Diva makes almost perfect sawtooth (or other waveforms), and curve slopes are due to filter's work. If so, there is a good chance to recreate big portion of Diva sound in ZebraHZ.
OTOH there is a topic in this forum, and people said that fully opened D-VCF sounds identical to other filters, but Diva definetely sounds not like perfect saw when there is just one sawtooth plus filter is fully opened.
Just purchased the Dark Zebra, not tryed yet. Will test.

Howard · Post by **Howard** » Sun Sep 02, 2012 9:17 am

trance_lucent wrote:Will test.

Urs · Post by **Urs** » Sun Sep 02, 2012 11:31 am

trance_lucent wrote:
ddeez wrote:i find the Diva osc. to make a huge difference in the amazing sound of diva, a sound that hz does not have...hz is great tho
I remember Urs wrote that Diva makes almost perfect sawtooth (or other waveforms), and curve slopes are due to filter's work. If so, there is a good chance to recreate big portion of Diva sound in ZebraHZ.
OTOH there is a topic in this forum, and people said that fully opened D-VCF sounds identical to other filters, but Diva definetely sounds not like perfect saw when there is just one sawtooth plus filter is fully opened.
Just purchased the Dark Zebra, not tryed yet. Will test.

Yep, all our analogue synths post 1973 or so have perfect sawtooth waveforms. Major differences occurr in triangle and sine maybe. And we have quite a few to look at

The "bellyness" or curvature of a sawtooth is always mostly related to the inevitable highpass/DC filter in the signal chain, before, inside and/or after the lowpass filter.

To get that in Zebra, simply always put a highpass filter with a very low constant cutoff into the signal path, probably best right after the oscillators. Instant Rolandification if you ask me.

Urs

sagetone · Post by **sagetone** » Sun Sep 02, 2012 10:46 pm

Thanks all. Good input. And,I corrected the thread title.

ddeez · Post by **ddeez** » Mon Sep 03, 2012 2:55 am

Urs how do you feel the Divine/oversampling modes in Diva play into the crispness/greatness of the sound of Diva compared to Zebra?

Urs · Post by **Urs** » Mon Sep 03, 2012 4:20 am

ddeez wrote:Urs how do you feel the Divine/oversampling modes in Diva play into the crispness/greatness of the sound of Diva compared to Zebra?

Not much to be honest.

Try the "crisp" mode as opposed to "smooth" on the bottom oscillator tabs in Zebra. These give you actually more overtones than Diva.

u-he

KVR Audio

How close is HZ to Diva?