Zebra2 or Bazille

[bookworm]

Which to get? What are their respective strengths? It is doing my head in.

Or should I be waiting for Zebra3? What is the anticipated release date? and features?

[bmrzycki]

Which to get? Well, that's not an easy question to answer.

Zebra's strengths:
Very flexible - the array of modules available make it possible to create a staggering amount of configurations and sounds.
Low CPU - Zebra2 will be 10 years old next year. It was originally designed for much slower processors. Nowadays you can run dozens of instances on a modern CPU with few problems. It's quite good at making both traditional analog and traditional digital sounds too.
Macros - the XY panes allow for creation and manipulation of sounds from a performer's perspective.
Tons of free and commercial sounds.

Bazille's strengths:
Modular approach - you can use oscillators as modulators, lfo's as sound sources, feed back filter outputs to multiple locations, etc. There are sounds that Bazille can do that would be very difficult to recreate in Zebra.
Modular workflow - when in the gearporn mode every aspect of the synth is available to you on one page. Some people prefer this workflow model. Zebra tends to have a bit more tabbing.

I prefer Zebra personally but I think Bazille's factory bank sounds gorgeous. Honestly, try both demos and figure out which one speaks to you more.

Finally, Urs has stated if you purchase Zebra2 and The Dark Zebra you will upgrade to Zebra3 for free. Otherwise there will be an upgrade fee that hasn't been announced yet. There have been no formal features announced for Z3 and no expected release date. I'd be very surprised if we saw Z3 in 2015 though.

[BBFG#]

If you can only get one, I would say Zebra and maybe add the HZ if you can.
This could give you a flexible sound palette where you may not miss the special charms of Bazille or Diva.

[V0RT3X]

bazille

[Elektronisch]

Both, they are good complimentary to each other.

[diaper@ky]

First rule of softsynth purchases.
Why have one, when you can have two for twice the price....??

[Erkenfresh]

If you buy Zebra2, the upgrade to Zebra3 is supposedly going to cost less than the price difference (maybe someone from U-he can verify that). So, there should be no reason to hold off on Zebra2 waiting for Zebra3.

Personally, I think Zebra2 is the better choice. It's a lot more straightforward to use with a quicker path to getting most sounds you would want. Bazille on the other hand is great for experimentation and coming up with some wicked sounds you can't make on Zebra. The cost there being the extra time it might take to get to that point.

[tedlogan]

Yes, buying Zebra 2 now means Zebra 3 will cost you around $30 only, or free if you also buy The Dark Zebra (ZebraHZ).

From the first post in the Zebra 3 thread:

Actually, we've started to work on Zebra3, that's true. Because we're not Apple and we're too excited to keep it a secret, we came up with a devlish incentive to still get Zebra2:

Price for Zebra2: 199$
Price for Zebra3: 249$
Upgrade V2->V3: 30$
Upgrade from Zebra2 + The Dark Zebra: Free


So, hehe, it really makes a lot of sense to get Zebra2 first. For one thing it's cheaper to upgrade. And then, you have access to a few thousand presets in Zebra2 which may or may not be ported to Zebra3.

Just a note: While ZebraHZ (the "upgrade" coming with The Dark Zebra) has Diva's filters, Zebra3 won't have the exact same ones.

More facts once we know them.

Cheers,

Urs

No-brainer to get Zebra 2. But deciding between Bazille and Zebra? Impossible. To me, that would be like deciding between being able to see and being able to hear, between breathing or eating.

But if you MUST...

Zebra is much lighter on CPU.
I'd say Zebra is the mature, wise old man that knows everything, whereas Bazille is the feral unfettered thing that lurks beneath the mountain. Both are awesome. My favourite is Bazille, but only just a by a little bit as I usually lean towards the weirder spectrum of sound.

There is a good chance that whichever one you demo/buy second will sound better than the one you tried first, but try not to be fooled by this old trick sound plays on our ears - although Bazille's filters are gorgeous.

[bookworm]

So, divided opinion on this.

Having looked at it in more detail what is there that Bazille can do that Zebra 2 cannot?

[tedlogan]

A quick example: In Bazille, you can have audio-rate modulations, like Filter 1's Lowpassed output modulating Filter 2's modulation targets, or even filter 1 itself or...pretty much anything that has inputs for cables.

Bazille has a pretty unique sequencer as well - 8 banks of 16 steps each, which has a rotate knob (switching between banks) which can also be modulated by almost anything. The sequencer has 4 outputs (1 every 4 steps) to modulate more stuff, in fact you can speed it up to modulate so fast it'll act like audio-rate modulation.

There'sm ore but I'm at work and have to get on with it.

Neither synth is better than the other by the way - it really is a matter of taste. I'd say you cannot go wrong with either. Good luck!

[Elektronisch]

So, divided opinion on this.

Having looked at it in more detail what is there that Bazille can do that Zebra 2 cannot?

Sound quality. Bazille sound is much more cleaner, organic, "real", lush, big.

Zebra 2 not so, but some things it can do much better and quicker.

[bmrzycki]

So, divided opinion on this.
Having looked at it in more detail what is there that Bazille can do that Zebra 2 cannot?

Sound quality. Bazille sound is much more cleaner, organic, "real", lush, big.
Zebra 2 not so, but some things it can do much better and quicker.

That's purely your opinion colored by your preference for Bazille. I have no doubt there are others that would apply those same words to Zebra and not Bazille.

It is difficult to characterize sounds that Bazille can do that Zebra cannot. The modular nature of Bazille is its biggest differentiator. Classic modular sounds are much easier in Bazille and using modules in non-standard ways is something that Bazille can do that Zebra cannot.

If you're serious about the purchase ask yourself a few questions (and be honest with yourself!):
1. Am I primarily buying the synth to play or tweak other people's sounds? If so then you should spend more time evaluating patches than the synth.
2. Am I primarily buying the synth to make my own sounds from scracth? If so then you should spend a lot less time flipping through presets and a lot more time at the init preset and seeing where the demo takes you. If you find yourself struggling to make sounds you like with the synth it might not be for you.
3. Am I primarily buying the synth to learn synthesis? If so then you may want to determine the kind of synthesis you want to learn and then decide if Bazille and/or Zebra can do that particular style. Then try the demo to see if you like the sounds of patches that work in that particular style and see if tweaking the patch yields interesting results for you to explore.
4. What kinds of sounds do I expect to make with the synth? Do you have a plan for it to be your go-to pad device or bass maker? Do you want something special to add something unique to your tracks? Are you looking for something that you want to explore and know in and out? Do you intend to mostly sequence it from your DAW or play it live with MIDI-mapped performance controls? Zebra and Bazille respond differently to these questions.
5. What is my CPU budget and expected use-case? Do you want a synth you can put on 15 tracks? Do you want one you play realtime? Is your computer relatively new or older? Zebra is more CPU friendly and Bazille can be downright Diva-esque at times. You may love the sound of Bazille but find out your CPU can't run more than 3 instances at a time.

No one is going to be able to tell you which one you will like more and fit the problem you're trying to solve. You're going to have to invest the time with each to determine which one is best for you. If you don't you may end up regretting the sale and trying reselling it on the marketplace at a loss. It really is in your best interest to download those demos, determine why you want Zebra or Bazille, and explore on your own. The demo restrictions of both are pretty tame and never time out. Use that to your advantage to really discover which of the two you want to invest in.

The best synth is one that keeps pace with you as you grow and change over time. Personally I've owned Zebra2 now for almost 10 years and every time I load it up it still surprises me or I find something new and interesting about it. It's been harder for me to make sounds with Bazille that I like but I need to explore it more before deciding if it's for me or not. Both make amazing sounds and are wonderful synths.

(TL;DR - you're gonna have to ask yourself what you want out of a synth and then demo both for that use-case)

[Elektronisch]

So, divided opinion on this.
Having looked at it in more detail what is there that Bazille can do that Zebra 2 cannot?

Sound quality. Bazille sound is much more cleaner, organic, "real", lush, big.
Zebra 2 not so, but some things it can do much better and quicker.

That's purely your opinion colored by your preference for Bazille. I have no doubt there are others that would apply those same words to Zebra and not Bazille.

Yes thats my words, but those are based on comparison of both synths. Im sure i would not the only one who would describe such difference.