Dark Zebra diva filters ..fm capable ?

[EvilDragon]

It'd still be a dog even after any sort of redesign, considering it has like 3-4k parameters per part... In fact it might even be slower to use as a consequence...

[jacobh]

I used the promo to upgrade to zebra hz , just because of the amazing sounding filters ...
If I want filter fm or another flavour I go for tranzistow, reaktor and talmod .
Try tranzistow , learn it inside out , ..you will not be dissapointed , you can do almost anything with it , audio rate matrix if you wish to do so ..feedback routings , amazing zdf filters etc..
Zebra hz has a moog resonator with 4 bands , tranzistow has an 8 band resonator , each band can be lp,hp bp or notch , for it's source and destination ..so you can morph the resonator bank .
To top it off, there are 4 of these banks ..
Imho it's the best sounding and deepest vst out there besides reaktor , the learning curve is verry steep but so worth it .
It is not a commercial project but a labour of love created by a true Genius .
Don't forget to donate or create patches for it ( I am still working on a set of 200 )
If people only knew what tranzistow was capable off, oh boy

Thanks! Tranzistow sounds interesting, but I just went to check it out, and it seems to be PC only? No go for me on a Mac.

For Reaktor, it seems their only really authentic analog sounding polysynth is Super 8? But this one doesn't have multiple filters in series, and limited filter characters, so it's not capable enough for my needs. Any other Reaktor analog polysynths that are better?

Thanks!
Jacob

[jacobh]

So unlike the xmf filters , they are not fm capable ?
That's a big of a bummer , loving the xmf filters but dislike them with high resonance ( being spoiled by talmod and tranzistow ) , was hoping that dark zebra would step it up a notch , but no filter FM is no go for me .
The change of updated xmf filter algoritms ( to zdf ) is also pretty small I guess
Let's wait for zebra 3 then ( fingers crossed )

I agree! This is a big disappointment for me as well. I've been searching for my personal "ultimate analog synth", as I'll call it. My ultimate analog synth which would include the capability for filter FM along with multiple analog filters, and the capability to change decay time with velocity, with that vintage analog sparkle. I've tried many different synth, and the closest I've come to it is either Diva or VK-2, both which have an awesome sparkling, punchy, saturated analog quality to them, but can't modulate envelope times with velocity.

I had thought that maybe I had finally found the holy grail when I found out that ZebraHz had Diva's filters (which seems under-advertised by U-he), but now I'm at a bit of a letdown when I found out that the Diva filters in ZebraHz don't support audio rate modulation.

I've tried many VA synths, and all of them seem to have a letdown in some area. If any of you have suggestions of what would fit my ultimate analog synth (the quality and sonic versatility of Diva, but supporting modulating envelope times with velocity), I'd love to hear it?

Thanks!

Try out Dune 3 and Massive X, though their oscillators aren’t analog modeled like Diva’s. For the whole analog package, try Repro and Legend. If you don’t mind using mono sounds, Monark is awesome and its components can be used in Reaktor Blocks to make whatever combo you can think of. Most Reaktor filters can be FM modulated.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Dune 3: I haven't been able to properly demo Dune 3 because my 30 day demo expired before I had the time to try it out. Maybe I'll have to find another way to demo it... but from the sound demos I've heard it it sounded a lot more modern than analog. Didn't seem like it had enough analog dirt and grit, but I'll see if I can find a way to give it a try. Thanks!

Massive X: doesn't work on my old music making machine because it requires some of the capabilities of newer CPUs, so it won't run at all on my old Mac Pro. But if as you say, the oscillators are not analog modeled, then it doesn't seem so interesting to me. Maybe I'll have to give it a try on my newer Macbook though.

Repro: Sounds nice for what it is, but is rather limited when compared with something like Diva. Repro only has a single filter (not two in series) and it doesn't have much options for different filter types.

Legend: Has a great analog sound, but I haven't found a way to modulate envelope decay times with velocity, so it suffers the same deficiency as Diva, but is not as capable as Diva (with all of Diva's different swappable modules). Legend also doesn't have multiple filters in parallel.

Reaktor: I'm really looking for a polysynth. If Reaktor Blocks could work polyphonically, I'd be in heaven.

I appreciate the suggestions! It really seems that my ultimate virtual analog synth doesn't exist yet though... All of the components exist in different synths, but nobody has put them all together in a single synth, that really sounds analog.

[zerocrossing]

It'd still be a dog even after any sort of redesign, considering it has like 3-4k parameters per part... In fact it might even be slower to use as a consequence...

A big part of Tranzistow’s issue is that there is little visual differentiation between elements. That alone could make a huge difference in being able to more quickly get an idea of what’s happening in a patch. As it is, it’s often hard to figure out what control is set to what parameter. I’m not saying it should ever be straight skeuomorphic, but there are ways to visually tie things together and suggest at their behavior that would make it much better without too much work. I kind of get the idea that he likes how difficult it is and has a bit of romance towards that DOS spreadsheet vibe.

[zerocrossing]

So unlike the xmf filters , they are not fm capable ?
That's a big of a bummer , loving the xmf filters but dislike them with high resonance ( being spoiled by talmod and tranzistow ) , was hoping that dark zebra would step it up a notch , but no filter FM is no go for me .
The change of updated xmf filter algoritms ( to zdf ) is also pretty small I guess
Let's wait for zebra 3 then ( fingers crossed )

I agree! This is a big disappointment for me as well. I've been searching for my personal "ultimate analog synth", as I'll call it. My ultimate analog synth which would include the capability for filter FM along with multiple analog filters, and the capability to change decay time with velocity, with that vintage analog sparkle. I've tried many different synth, and the closest I've come to it is either Diva or VK-2, both which have an awesome sparkling, punchy, saturated analog quality to them, but can't modulate envelope times with velocity.

I had thought that maybe I had finally found the holy grail when I found out that ZebraHz had Diva's filters (which seems under-advertised by U-he), but now I'm at a bit of a letdown when I found out that the Diva filters in ZebraHz don't support audio rate modulation.

I've tried many VA synths, and all of them seem to have a letdown in some area. If any of you have suggestions of what would fit my ultimate analog synth (the quality and sonic versatility of Diva, but supporting modulating envelope times with velocity), I'd love to hear it?

Thanks!

Try out Dune 3 and Massive X, though their oscillators aren’t analog modeled like Diva’s. For the whole analog package, try Repro and Legend. If you don’t mind using mono sounds, Monark is awesome and its components can be used in Reaktor Blocks to make whatever combo you can think of. Most Reaktor filters can be FM modulated.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Dune 3: I haven't been able to properly demo Dune 3 because my 30 day demo expired before I had the time to try it out. Maybe I'll have to find another way to demo it... but from the sound demos I've heard it it sounded a lot more modern than analog. Didn't seem like it had enough analog dirt and grit, but I'll see if I can find a way to give it a try. Thanks!

Massive X: doesn't work on my old music making machine because it requires some of the capabilities of newer CPUs, so it won't run at all on my old Mac Pro. But if as you say, the oscillators are not analog modeled, then it doesn't seem so interesting to me. Maybe I'll have to give it a try on my newer Macbook though.

Repro: Sounds nice for what it is, but is rather limited when compared with something like Diva. Repro only has a single filter (not two in series) and it doesn't have much options for different filter types.

Legend: Has a great analog sound, but I haven't found a way to modulate envelope decay times with velocity, so it suffers the same deficiency as Diva, but is not as capable as Diva (with all of Diva's different swappable modules). Legend also doesn't have multiple filters in parallel.

Reaktor: I'm really looking for a polysynth. If Reaktor Blocks could work polyphonically, I'd be in heaven.

I appreciate the suggestions! It really seems that my ultimate virtual analog synth doesn't exist yet though... All of the components exist in different synths, but nobody has put them all together in a single synth, that really sounds analog.

You’re butting up with an issue of processor limits. To get a really good analog emulation seems to really take quite a bit. Diva doesn’t sound as good as Repro, but you get more features and more voices and it was made at a time when processors were slower. Massive X and Dune 3 really are the best, IMO, at giving good analog filter models but with a healthy feature set. The thing they don’t really do is emulate the nature of VCOs, VCAs, per voice deviation, etc. It’s one of the reasons I keep some hardware synths in my studio. Something like a Prophet 12 will give you a feature set that’s more in the realm of a Dune 3 but with true analog filters, feedback, etc. (still not a VCO sound, though) Of course, the Prophet 12 will cost you at least $1000 if you go for the desktop. Another option is the Peak, but again a bit over $1K and it doesn’t really sound like a VCO synth either. My 002 actually can sound very analog, more than the 12 or the Peak, but no filter FM. Prologue has VCOs and a digital oscillator, but no filter FM and a rather thin feature set.

Anyway, I’m with you. I’d love a synth, hardware or software, that had VCOs (or very good emulatons), wavetables, with plenty of FM abilities and modulation galore. There’s nothing quite like it... yet. I’ve basically decided that layering is the way to go.

[pdxindy]

I appreciate the suggestions! It really seems that my ultimate virtual analog synth doesn't exist yet though... All of the components exist in different synths, but nobody has put them all together in a single synth, that really sounds analog.

Nobody has put them all together because CPU use would be extreme

My best compromise is using Bitwig. Bitwig has the selector devices that have a round robin mode. So I can make a mono version of a synth and then use Bitwig modulation to add modulation that isn't there in the synth itself.

For example, I can take RePro and make multiple instances, each playing in mono. Then use a Bitwig modulator, whether envelope, or velocity etc etc and use that modulate envelope decay. With those instances as layers in the Bitwig Instrument Selector, I set it to round robin mode and each note goes to the next layer so they become polyphonic.

Bitwig's modulation system is amazing and added to RePro, Diva, Legend etc, it opens up a new vista of possibilities with those synths.

The is also Cytomic's The Drop filter which could be added after the synth as a second filter, but cpu starts to become a problem.

[himalaya]

I appreciate the suggestions!

Here's one more: Cypher2

Here a silly example of filter FM in Cypher2 where I used it to make these funny alien voices.

I can translate some of what they are saying:

Alien 1: "Listen...do you remember those monks from Tibet, those bold guys who can use their voice to make this deep, growly drone? You used to be able to do the same. Can you try it?"
Alien 2: [instantly breaks into deep voice chant...]

Alien 1: "oh that's rough. You haven't been practicing, have you..."
Alien 2: [can't translate this....seems like a series of expletives in a different dialect].

Then they go off in this weird dialect and I can't understand what they are saying... Must be from the north.

www.electric-himalaya.com/stuff/Cypher2 ... vocals.mp3


(sorry Uhe friends for posting about another synth here)

[carrieres]