Zebra 3 Public Beta (final beta)

[zvenx]

You know there is a manual that came with it right?
rsp

[coroknight]

You know there is a manual that came with it right?
rsp

God forbid we should expect an intuitive UI.

[jtsterays]

- Why can't I route anything to anything? That's such an awesome feature in synths like serum and phaseplant. It feels like 10 years of development should have allowed this.

Route as in modulation? like dragging env 2 box to filter cutoff in serum?

[BBFG#]

I was prepared for getting CPU overloads on my older v3/4c Xeon and been amazed that only two presets hit that. But even they didn't do it immediately. And loving it even more than I anticipated. Well done.

[Teksonik]

God forbid we should expect an intuitive UI.

"Intuitive" is subjective. I found the Mono-Poly-Legato switch in the first fifteen seconds.

Maybe it would be better if everyone spent some days instead of just a few hours with Zebra 3 before passing judgement on the UI. The more time you spend with a UI the more intuitive it gets.

Is it 100% perfect for 100% of the people? No, of course not there isn't one single UI that passes that test.

I'm finding it easy to navigate but of course some of the deeper features are going to require time on task and that's fine with me....that's half the fun of it.

[billinder33]

I have to say I'm a bit disappointed. Synths like Serum 2 and Phaseplant have pushed the boundary of intuitive UI, flexibility (like routing flexibility), and effects.

Intuitive UI:
- Really feels like a synth from 10 years ago with updated modules.
- Functionality spread in multiple places. Like some fx being available in both the middle grid and fx grid, while some fx are only available in the fx grid. In Serum all automation routing is listed in the matrix but in zebra some of it is on the units themselves, and some of it is in the matrix tab.
- Wasn't clear that the up/down arrows besides a mod target changed the mod amount. In many synths you can just click and drag the box itself to change the mod amount.
- Still not sure how to make a patch mono vs poly? Is that the pitches section?
- I was really hoping they'd refine the UI for editing curves after releasing Zebralette 3 but they haven't. It's frankly not intuitive at all. For example, you can morph guide curves but it's not clear that the 3 curves are meant to morph into each other, the UI makes it look like they're 3 separate curves. Why not have 1 guide curve with 3 "frames" on a timeline like wavetable frames?
- Routing should be a lot simpler. I should be able to just drag a source to a destination like in other synths.
- A lot of knobs and boxes in general.

Flexibility:
- Why can't I route anything to anything? That's such an awesome feature in synths like serum and phaseplant. It feels like 10 years of development should have allowed this.
- Unison is pretty basic. Why don't we have options other than detune to control unison mix and spread?

Effects:
- Very lacking. Take distortion for example, just 4 basic algorithms. No waveshapper or other advanced distortion.
- Pretty basic reverb?

Overall there is definitely some innovation in some places like the curve system is powerful despite the UI, but overall it feels like innovation was focused on a handful of areas and the rest is stuck in time from 10 years ago.

I don't have any experience with the old Zebra, but I thought Zebralette was a really interesting oscillator. So was really looking forward to seeing the new Zebra.

Glad you posted this kind of objective feedback. Sounds like a lot of similarity with the latest Omnisphere 3 - a lot of great new features but some older critical parts are still stuck in the past. Especially routing and modulation assignment systems. All the new synths have elegant solutions, why can't these expensive upgrades get it right?

Still GAS'ing hard for this one though.... Some of the YT vids just browsing the presets sound amazing. It definitely has a sonic character that I like.

[coroknight]

God forbid we should expect an intuitive UI.

"Intuitive" is subjective. I found the Mono-Poly-Legato switch in the first fifteen seconds.

Maybe it would be better if everyone spent some days instead of just a few hours with Zebra 3 before passing judgement on the UI. The more time you spend with a UI the more intuitive it gets.

Is it 100% perfect for 100% of the people? No, of course not there isn't one single UI that passes that test.

I'm finding it easy to navigate but of course some of the deeper features are going to require time on task and that's fine with me....that's half the fun of it.

That’s how all software works… you spend more time with it, and you learn it.

All I’m saying is I think it’s fair to expect more from a top tier developer especially given how long they’ve been working on it.

[HcDoom]

How long does the intro price last?

[Super Piano Hater 64]

- Routing should be a lot simpler. I should be able to just drag a source to a destination like in other synths.

You literally can do this. Hover over the modulator names along the bottom (or those little squircles outlined in off-white in the top left of every widget in the right column) and a target reticle will appear. Drag it to the thing you want to modulate.

[nusound mind]

Not bad on cpu all said, other than a handful. Very good/useable presets overall. Seems stable, only a couple times brief freeze up on a couple presets. It sounds like I thought an updated Zebra would sound, some of the patches are truly gorgeous.

Nice work guys, it's already sometihing I can envision beginning to make music with straightaway, so the stability is appreciated.

I'm slightly more impressed than I thought I would be tbh. Zebra2 wasn't one I used a lot, just the timbres and tones of it often didn't suit my tracks, but the sound quality of this coupled w/ the useable sounds make it so I can tweak to taste and be off and running. One of the seq's already made it into a track, very preliminarily (if that's a word) but quite seamlessly.

[Teksonik]

All I’m saying is I think it’s fair to expect more from a top tier developer especially given how long they’ve been working on it.

"More" as defined by who? You? Me? Everyone else?

Can one aruge that Zebra 3 is not a "Decade in the Making" upgrade from Zebra 2? Sure, I suppose that argument could be made.

Here's how I look at Zebra 3 so far...the upgrade price from Zebra 2 was very fair and Z3 is certainly a great synth so I'm quite happy with my purchase.

I've made 10 patches so far and although none of them are going to win me the Nobel Patch Prize, I had fun making them. The Osc options are very intriguing and are simply going to take time to master and that's part of the fun.

Let's keep in mind this is a first beta and some features are not fully implemented. So let's see what the future holds. I've allocated all day tomorrow to work with Z3 and will no doubt have a ton of fun. In this day and age that might be the most important thing.

[wagtunes]

Okay, I did this like a One Synth Challenge. All synths are Zebra 3. Only external FX are compression and limiting with the exception of a plate reverb on the snare. With the exception of the main ARP and the Kick, all patches were custom made. You can download them from the link below if you like them. No strings. My gift to the forum.

Here's the track

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim/real-peace

Here's the patches

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/7l34hm37 ... qc12d&dl=0

Only had one crash and it wasn't Zebra 3. It was a plugin on the track. So who knows what caused it. But so far, at least on my end, this thing is pretty solid on Windows 11, Cubase 14.

Any feedback is more than welcome.

[chagzuki]

I'm not sure whether to demo this. My first experience with Zebra was buying the legacy version a couple of years back. The workflow and UI never gelled with me and I haven't found the presets of much use. I love Diva and Repro.

Are the filters recycled from other u-he synths or are they new?

[jtsterays]

I'm not sure whether to demo this. My first experience with Zebra was buying the legacy version a couple of years back. The workflow and UI never gelled with me and I haven't found the presets of much use. I love Diva and Repro.

Are the filters recycled from other u-he synths or are they new?

All new codes.

[Funky40]

Congratulations @ U-HE. My highest anticipated piece of SW since looong. If not since ever.


how does it compare to Zebralette 3 soundwise ?
Same family of sound ? i like ZL3 very much.

I had to dismantle my ITB table this monday *completly*.
Curious as f*ck. Can´t play for the next 4 days or so......it´s killing me.