Your opinion about Zebra 2

[Urs]

But I don't know if there is a best list where users have rated Zebra #1?

Thing is, people often vote by brand. A brand with multiple successful products sees their rankings in those lists scattered across these products while brands with a single product get all their votes on the single product. Those brands often "win" even if their software is less popular that the titles of the brand with a wider portfolio. Otherwise NI would most certainly "win" all those lists, every time.

[Mr Arkadin]

But I don't know if there is a best list where users have rated Zebra #1? In the user survey on Musicradar 2019, it was ranked 11th. It doesn't appear at all in other lists. From U-He, Diva seems to be the most loved synth.
I can understand that, because I wouldn't rate Zebra very high myself, but Diva or Repro much better.
But that's just a matter of taste, there are certainly users who like Zebra 2 more.
However... I'm looking forward to seeing how Zebra 3 turns out.

Honestly, who cares about top ten lists for validation?

As a U-he newbie I just bought Repro and the other synth I'm interested in is Zebra, so horses for courses.

[The Nerdy Music Guy]

Yeah, I never really understood why I should care about these lists. Like, I know what works for me, why should I care what other people use and like? I hope that doesn't sound too arrogant, it certainly isn't meant to be.

Anyway, here is a dystopian Zebra pad for fun
https://soundcloud.com/user-589036812-2 ... -1-x-zebra

[surreal]

Yeah, I never really understood why I should care about these lists. Like, I know what works for me, why should I care what other people use and like? I hope that doesn't sound too arrogant, it certainly isn't meant to be.

Anyway, here is a dystopian Zebra pad for fun
https://soundcloud.com/user-589036812-2 ... -1-x-zebra

Cool sound!

[Mr Arkadin]

Yeah, I never really understood why I should care about these lists. Like, I know what works for me, why should I care what other people use and like? I hope that doesn't sound too arrogant, it certainly isn't meant to be.

Sounds perfectly reasonable to me.

[v1o]

Thing is, people often vote by brand. A brand with multiple successful products sees their rankings in those lists scattered across these products while brands with a single product get all their votes on the single product. Those brands often "win" even if their software is less popular that the titles of the brand with a wider portfolio. Otherwise NI would most certainly "win" all those lists, every time.

Would you say NI and Arturia are the largest players in this industry?

But I don't know if there is a best list where users have rated Zebra #1? In the user survey on Musicradar 2019, it was ranked 11th. It doesn't appear at all in other lists. From U-He, Diva seems to be the most loved synth.

Certainly back in 2006/7 Zebra 2 would have topped magazine top ten lists. People tend to vote for newer toys that have massive hype in these things. And I think if hard either hard sales data or downloads (if sales data is not available) were used to make these charts instead, that would be a more accurate reflection of real popularity.

[fisherKing]

anyone think we'll see zebra 3 in 2021? urs was discussing it in 2012. not urgent (for me, anyway); i am still getting use out of zebra 2. but wondering if it will be real in the near future (or the far future, or further in the future)...

[Urs]

Would you say NI and Arturia are the largest players in this industry?

Well, the largest player is Apple, most certainly. However, of those who build crossplatform plug-ins rather than DAWs (Ableton topping the list), I'm fairly sure it's NI (300+ employees), then a whole big void, then Spectrasonics and Arturia (30+ employees) and finally guys like us (< 30 employees).

[Urs]

anyone think we'll see zebra 3 in 2021? urs was discussing it in 2012. not urgent (for me, anyway); i am still getting use out of zebra 2. but wondering if it will be real in the near future (or the far future, or further in the future)...

Too many variables to predict anything. A fast distribution of vaccines would be helpful and raise chances that we get through this without too much trouble, and/or hire another developer or two. It may also make people less "edgy" and thus relieve our support staff.

Anyhow, I'm feeling more and more urge to deal with the centerpieces of Zebra3 which have had many attempts before, but I wasn't ever too happy about them and always got interrupted by distractions.

[fisherKing]

anyone think we'll see zebra 3 in 2021? urs was discussing it in 2012. not urgent (for me, anyway); i am still getting use out of zebra 2. but wondering if it will be real in the near future (or the far future, or further in the future)...

Too many variables to predict anything. A fast distribution of vaccines would be helpful and raise chances that we get through this without too much trouble, and/or hire another developer or two. It may also make people less "edgy" and thus relieve our support staff.

Anyhow, I'm feeling more and more urge to deal with the centerpieces of Zebra3 which have had many attempts before, but I wasn't ever too happy about them and always got interrupted by distractions.

i hear you; and, again, am happy with zebra 2, one of my oldest plugins, and still used regularly. thanks!

[v1o]

Yeah, I never really understood why I should care about these lists. Like, I know what works for me, why should I care what other people use and like? I hope that doesn't sound too arrogant, it certainly isn't meant to be.

Can you imagine if you really liked the Timbrewolf and then discovered its no.1 on many lists of worst synths of all-time? It's not practical to test every synth on the market so it's generally a good idea to see what's popular out there. I know I tend to check out synths that are generating a buzz on forums and or magazines.

[machinesworking]

Can you imagine if you really liked the Timbrewolf and then discovered its no.1 on many lists of worst synths of all-time? It's not practical to test every synth on the market so it's generally a good idea to see what's popular out there. I know I tend to check out synths that are generating a buzz on forums and or magazines.

I don’t even know where to start with this?

If you really like something, then other peoples opinions should mean absolutely nothing. My attitude if I liked the Timberwolf and found out it was universally hated would be filled with joy. At least timbre wise I wouldn’t be sitting in a sea of same.
You’re approaching buying a synth the way an 8th grader approaches purchasing tennis shoes. With the crowds opinion as not a prerequisite but literally the only thing that matters. 4damind and you, you’re just on a whole different plane of weird to me. 11th out of hundreds of soft synths as a bad thing?

[v1o]

Can you imagine if you really liked the Timbrewolf and then discovered its no.1 on many lists of worst synths of all-time? It's not practical to test every synth on the market so it's generally a good idea to see what's popular out there. I know I tend to check out synths that are generating a buzz on forums and or magazines.

I don’t even know where to start with this?

If you really like something, then other peoples opinions should mean absolutely nothing. My attitude if I liked the Timberwolf and found out it was universally hated would be filled with joy. At least timbre wise I wouldn’t be sitting in a sea of same.
You’re approaching buying a synth the way an 8th grader approaches purchasing tennis shoes. With the crowds opinion as not a prerequisite but literally the only thing that matters. 4damind and you, you’re just on a whole different plane of weird to me. 11th out of hundreds of soft synths as a bad thing?

I think you missed the point. What I said is that it's generally good to check out what's generating a buzz online because it's impossible to test every synth out there. That's why these magazine lists maybe useful to people.

Personally I find I generally tend to agree with the general consensus, most U-he synths including Zebra get near universal praise, all well deserved in my opinion. Honestly I think you're definitely more likely to be a nutcase if you enjoy things that are reviled by the general population.

[fisherKing]

Honestly I think you're more definitely more likely to be a nutcase if you enjoy things that are reviled by the general population.

this is where it all falls apart. are you saying that an unpopular synth can't, used by someone who actually likes it, have value? that's like saying that any song that sits just below the charts is trash.

any tool, in the right hands, can have value.

[machinesworking]

Can you imagine if you really liked the Timbrewolf and then discovered its no.1 on many lists of worst synths of all-time? It's not practical to test every synth on the market so it's generally a good idea to see what's popular out there. I know I tend to check out synths that are generating a buzz on forums and or magazines.

I don’t even know where to start with this?

If you really like something, then other peoples opinions should mean absolutely nothing. My attitude if I liked the Timberwolf and found out it was universally hated would be filled with joy. At least timbre wise I wouldn’t be sitting in a sea of same.
You’re approaching buying a synth the way an 8th grader approaches purchasing tennis shoes. With the crowds opinion as not a prerequisite but literally the only thing that matters. 4damind and you, you’re just on a whole different plane of weird to me. 11th out of hundreds of soft synths as a bad thing?

I think you missed the point. What I said is that it's generally good to check out what's generating a buzz online because it's impossible to test every synth out there. That's why these magazine lists maybe useful to people.

Personally I find I generally tend to agree with the general consensus, most U-he synths including Zebra get near universal praise, all well deserved in my opinion. Honestly I think you're definitely more likely to be a nutcase if you enjoy things that are reviled by the general population.

Sez the person with two dead sequencers in his sig.

Seriously, taking a look at a synth because it gets praise is one thing, ignoring or thinking that something is terrible because it's unpopular is another thing entirely. I mean if you don't see the ridiculousness of someone being concerned about a synth placing 11th on a popularity contest list, whilst you're acknowledging the virtues of an unpopular DAW...

What I'm saying is you and others have taken this way too far. You're coming across like pop musicians, the types that treat all other music as not as good because of chart placement.

100% without naming names any popularity list of top ten soft synths in any given year is going to have a good half of them IMO being flavor of the week, weak ROMpler level nonsense. You still have to sift through the garbage and 90% of the time these lists are generated by partial, non vetted means or even the reviewer himself.