Your opinion about Zebra 2

[PieBerger]

Diva filters bring zebra on a whole new level

Yes and the alternative layout is quite nice too, I'm finding.

[gentleclockdivider]

I did prefer the 2.9 turqoise greeen/blue layout

[gentleclockdivider]

Anyway, it can do cheese trance

https://soundcloud.com/user-589036812-2 ... -1-x-zebra

See that's the reason why I dislike such synths for such sounds... the envelopes sound like paper when you close them (try Spire or Sylenth1 in contrast... lots of punch and pound to them when you use fast filter decay), and the filter resonance just adds that unpleasant stuff on top. Such supersaw/pluck sounds just sound lame on some synths.

There's a reason why everyone uses the "usual suspects" for such sounds. Even Hive, which is actually dedicated to such sounds, is just pale in comparison. IMO, u-he synths have other qualities, not necessarily "that" EDM sound.

They are not that slow and not paperlike , don't forget to turn off smooth attack
Here's arandom sequence , ( entered notes blindly in renoise ) , and playing with decay parameter and decay slope ( diva filters in zebra ) , switching between filters
When you hear just a (reso ) click , that just the the decay set to fully exp and zero decay
https://app.box.com/s/0q7oo44tzds7uclkeb0dg3bh3dsrgz02

[4damind]

In my view Zebra's stronged point always was the mellow and nuanced atmospheric or semi-realistic sounds (which I can appreciate but don't need much for my own music) but your acid example was nice.
...
I mean, you can probably push it to do more modern EDMish sounds, but there are synths that are just much better suited for that task, in my opinion.

I don't know of any well-known EDM/Trance artists using Zebra? Maybe Zebra is more for film music composers and Hans Zimmer is the only user (but only because Howard made him the presets)
Most people use other synths like Ana, Serum, Diva, Spire whatever, for a good reason...

[recursive one]

Anyway, it can do cheese trance

https://soundcloud.com/user-589036812-2 ... -1-x-zebra

See that's the reason why I dislike such synths for such sounds... the envelopes sound like paper when you close them (try Spire or Sylenth1 in contrast... lots of punch and pound to them when you use fast filter decay), and the filter resonance just adds that unpleasant stuff on top. Such supersaw/pluck sounds just sound lame on some synths.

There's a reason why everyone uses the "usual suspects" for such sounds. Even Hive, which is actually dedicated to such sounds, is just pale in comparison. IMO, u-he synths have other qualities, not necessarily "that" EDM sound.

It's far from the most authentic trance lead I've heard but it sounds nice on it's own. I like how the filter behaves here, I dislike how the unison sounds though, but that's probably a nitpicking.

As for Hive, I think I understand what you are talking about (not enough punch when you close the filter and try to make a pluck) but you can compensate for that using the shape sequencer - you can make a short spike (like an additional short envelope) which you may assign to filter input and/or some of the eq bands (low or mid). Moreover, you can modulate the amount of that modulation by the modwheel, which you will also use to close the filter. This way you can make a classic supersaw lead with an open filter, which will transform into a nice punchy pluck as you tweak the modwheel. Overall I like the unison in Hive much more than in Zebra.

Still Hive wouldn't be my primary choice for a classic trance lead (on the rare occasion I need that) but it can do that as well as 100 other things

My goto is ANA2; I like the variety and character of saw waveforms, filters and the readily accessible curve parameter on the nicely snappy envelopes. I can make a bass that sounds nice on its own with Hive, but they just always got lost in the mix for some reason

Don't have Ana2 but whatever synth I'm using, I found that using a multiband shaper, like Saturn, resampling it and manually adjusting the fadeout of each sampled note will drastically improve the bass definition. I wish there was a synth that i could use for the psybass right away without all that hassle but I'm afraid this is never going to happen.

I mostly make proggy stuff, 136-140 pbm. For the faster styles like fullon or night psy the whole thing may be different.

[gentleclockdivider]

In my view Zebra's stronged point always was the mellow and nuanced atmospheric or semi-realistic sounds (which I can appreciate but don't need much for my own music) but your acid example was nice.
...
I mean, you can probably push it to do more modern EDMish sounds, but there are synths that are just much better suited for that task, in my opinion.

I don't know of any well-known EDM/Trance artists using Zebra? Maybe Zebra is more for film music composers and Hans Zimmer is the only user (but only because Howard made him the presets)
Most people use other synths like Ana, Serum, Diva, Spire whatever, for a good reason...

So just because Mr Zimmer is a film composer and you're not a fan of zebra you're assumming it's not used by well known artists .
Woow
I am sure urs has a list of pretty well known names in the industry that use zebra
And about the envelopes ,the example I posted was just using the regular envelopes ,the mseg gives indepedent log exp control over both attack ,decay stage ,. blazingly fast

[PieBerger]

I wish there was a synth that i could use for the psybass right away without all that hassle but I'm afraid this is never going to happen.

but then you would *shock horror* actually have to write a tune instead of post processing a bass patch to death

This is my experience too, no matter the synth I always find the need for further processing to get them sounding, balanced, full and 'professional sounding', for lack of a better description. Even with the usual tricks, I can seldom get Hive or Serum to sound as good as ANA2. I'm really impressed with the ZebraHZ patch I made though, same peak and VU levels as a pro multisample basses I have but louder and more full, cutting through the mix more clearly etc.

That all being said, IIRC you have Rapid, how do you find the multiband distortion in there? I've been trying the demo and I think it does an OK job, not as good as Saturn, but the Pro 24 filter type is pretty nice, the envelopes are snappy with easy control over the curve and with keytrackable EQ bands and onboard multiband processing, it's the closest thing to an all-in-one solution with good results, I've come across. YMMV.

[recursive one]

I wish there was a synth that i could use for the psybass right away without all that hassle but I'm afraid this is never going to happen.

but then you would *shock horror* actually have to write a tune instead of post processing a bass patch to death

Well, actually when you have your kbbb prepared and mixed, the whole tune will assemble itself around it.

That all being said, IIRC you have Rapid, how do you find the multiband distortion in there? I've been trying the demo and I think it does an OK job, not as good as Saturn, but the Pro 24 filter type is pretty nice, the envelopes are snappy with easy control over the curve and with keytrackable EQ bands and onboard multiband processing, it's the closest thing to an all-in-one solution with good results, I've come across. YMMV.

Yes. I have Rapid and I like it for other things (e.g. Virus-style formant shift wavetable effects). The idea of trying it for the psybass is always sitting on the back of my mind, but when I start a new track I usually resort to my "sylenth bass protocol" because it kinda works

The MB distrotion in Rapid tends to have a very prominent effect, it sounds like distortion while for the bass you'd rather need a subtle saturation and the phase shift introduced by the crossover. TBH I don't think that disotrtion from Rapid would replace Saturn for that but maybe I'm yet to find the right settings.

That's the bass I made in Hive the other day btw. Might need more finetuning but here it is
https://vocaroo.com/1h5bPTgpGSb1

[surreal]

If I have Diva and Zebra is there really a need for Zebra Hz?

[gentleclockdivider]

If I have Diva and Zebra is there really a need for Zebra Hz?

If you want zebra's extremely powerfull synth engine to be sprinkled with diva's filters, then YES .

[Cepheus]

If I have Diva and Zebra is there really a need for Zebra Hz?

If you want to see wat the Dark Zebra adds to the sound of Zebra, just take a look at what the Unfinished is doing with his Zebra presets. His walktrough videos are first half normal Zebra presets, second half, the Dark Zebra versions in the Dark Edition. The latter ones are grittier, more analogue.
https://www.theunfinished.co.uk/shop/

[v1o]

See that's the reason why I dislike such synths for such sounds... the envelopes sound like paper when you close them (try Spire or Sylenth1 in contrast... lots of punch and pound to them when you use fast filter decay), and the filter resonance just adds that unpleasant stuff on top. Such supersaw/pluck sounds just sound lame on some synths.

There's a reason why everyone uses the "usual suspects" for such sounds. Even Hive, which is actually dedicated to such sounds, is just pale in comparison. IMO, u-he synths have other qualities, not necessarily "that" EDM sound.

As a Spire user I understand what you're saying about the snap to the envelopes and the more upfront sound. Basically Spire and Zebra have different strengths. But U-he will add newer more modern filters in Zebra 3 if you don't like the resonance. For years I thought all synth plugins could be programmed to be pretty much the same in a mix (it's just zeroes and ones after all). But there is more nuance to it. I'd say Zebra has many aces over Spire. You can get what I would describe as more organic and nuanced sounds out of Zebra. It's also much better designed and overall much better thought out. You can tell alot of brainpower was poured into it. Spire still has many rough edges with both UI and workflow, it is not quite as refined. Updates to Spire have been sporadic these days and it's not clear what sort of direction they are planning to take Spire in the future.

[chk071]

I agree. What I'm saying though is that for sounds like the one posted on the last page, I wouldn't touch Zebra if I have Spire. It's just perfect for such sounds.

Zebra can do stuff Spire can only dream about, but, that wasn't the question.

[digitalboytn]

I use a pallette of different synths that compliment each other...

Arranging 101...

An orchestra would be a little less dynamic if you only had 80 violins to work with

[zvenx]

Just said this elsewhere:

I took quite awhile to 'get' Zebra. I think I probably over the space of a year or two, downloaded it and tried the demo at least four times (might have been as much as six times) and it just didn't grab me and I couldn't understand what the fuss was...

Then for the fifth try I had access to some demo patches from a third party bank so I tried it again, and then I got it.

Zebra is a work horse.. She is not the pretty diva that Omnisphere (which I love dearly) is, Zebra blends with everything....it fits in the mix easily.....It won't say here I am!! See Me!!!. SEE ME!!!! Look at me damnit!!!!

It will be there in the background doing all it needs to do brilliantly, without a fuss or fanfare.

It is now and has been for the past eleven years since I got it, in my top 3 vstis.. (along with Kontakt and Omnisphere)

rsp