Zebra 3 Public Beta (final beta)

[PieBerger]

It's 2025 and after 11 years of development Zebra3 is finally in public beta and it's still not good enough

Users need unlimited LFOs, MSEGs and envelopes, with deep feature sets each, cutting edge DSP, effortless workflow and all for $99 new or a free upgrade from version 2 that they bought 15 years ago

[Urs]

It's 2025 and after 11 years of development Zebra3 is finally in public beta and it's still not good enough

Users need unlimited LFOs, MSEGs and envelopes, with deep feature sets each, cutting edge DSP, effortless workflow and all for $99 new or a free upgrade from version 2 that they bought 15 years ago

No worries. I'm sure that most people come around once they spent some time with it.

There is sooooo much functionality that people might be missing at first glance. Like the additional LFOs in the ModMath modules. The dedicated Vibrato LFOs. The built-in envelopes in the noise modules, the Modal Synthesis and the Oscillator itself ("Spectral Decay").

People might not know that the envelopes can key track... like, be twice as fast with every octave. Things like that may not be obvious at first, but once explored become indispensable tools...

[ThoughtExperiment]

I have been having this conversation for 20+ years btw... Zebra 1.5 came out in 2004 or so?

I may be stubborn, but I am convinced that Zebra's success is not *despite* its "module shortage" but *because* of it.

Please don't add any more modules, my poor old brain can't take it

So many of these 'more of everything' pleas come from a purely sound-design standpoint (IMO). What I mean is, you might hear a pad where everything under the sun is modulated by everything else under the sun, and you might think 'WOW' and maybe get lost in all the complexity for a few minutes. Then when you try to fit this incredible pad into a composition you find it impossible to mix such that you can hear every nuance of the pad as well as every other element. One of the things I've always loved about Zebra is how easy it is to mix several instances into a track - they just play nicely together

It is nice to hear some of the more 'characterful' sounds coming out of Z3 but, for me, the modulation potential that's already there is more than sufficient.

[PieBerger]

It's 2025 and after 11 years of development Zebra3 is finally in public beta and it's still not good enough

Users need unlimited LFOs, MSEGs and envelopes, with deep feature sets each, cutting edge DSP, effortless workflow and all for $99 new or a free upgrade from version 2 that they bought 15 years ago

No worries. I'm sure that most people come around once they spent some time with it.

There is sooooo much functionality that people might be missing at first glance. Like the additional LFOs in the ModMath modules. The dedicated Vibrato LFOs. The built-in envelopes in the noise modules, the Modal Synthesis and the Oscillator itself ("Spectral Decay").

People might not know that the envelopes can key track... like, be twice as fast with every octave. Things like that may not be obvious at first, but once explored become indispensable tools...

Resistance is futile

I agree, there is a lot to take in and a lot of concepts that will be new to people, especially the open ended triggering which is typically limited to modular soft/hard and specific hardware like the Hydrasynth. It's nice to open synths like Serum, Pigments, Current etc. and for them to all feel familiar, therefore making it easier to switch between them to exploit their strengths, but having tools that allow for different ways of working are very much welcome too. I imagine that once users start breaking their old habits, having more MSEGs that you can do less with, might start to feel limiting in other synths, for example

[billinder33]

Is there a demo for this and if so what are the restrictions? Noise burst? Unlimited for X number of days?

[Urs]

Is there a demo for this and if so what are the restrictions? Noise burst? Unlimited for X number of days?

There is a license card for beta testing that allows for full access for as long as the beta version works (May 2026 or so)

viewtopic.php?t=625544

[biberact]

Please don't add any more modules, my poor old brain can't take it

Potential solution:
Add a checkbox in the settings to extend the number of MSEG's from 4 to 8
-> win-win

[PieBerger]

Please don't add any more modules, my poor old brain can't take it

Potential solution:
Add a checkbox in the settings to extend the number of MSEG's from 4 to 8
-> win-win

Lose for keeping everything in fours though

[billinder33]

Is there a demo for this and if so what are the restrictions? Noise burst? Unlimited for X number of days?

There is a license card for beta testing that allows for full access for as long as the beta version works (May 2026 or so)

viewtopic.php?t=625544

Thanks Urs.

Zebrallette is an amazing oscillator and I prefer simple synth architectures that put out nasty, aggressive sounds, so this may be right in my wheelhouse. All the presets I've heard demoed online sound like tones I'd actually use in the real world. Gonna give it a spin this weekend.

Thanks for the chronic GAS flareup... I need another synth like I need a hole I my head!!!!!

[Artie Fichelle]

The presets do not follow my taste. But I am sure the architecture allows me, to come up with presets that sound like real instruments. Just needs time to learn alot.

[tq]

And just a very simple one - I set CTRL A to D to CC14 to 17 in the settings, but the dials/controls in Zebra do not move when turning my encoders on the keyboard. I must miss something very basic here. Also dragged the CTRL via the green line to some elements, like the cutoff, but… nothing. Using a NI MK3 keyboard here.

We have some open tickets for this. It's one of the areas we're hoping for feedback for.

But we'll surely add visual feedback to ABCD, and we very likely also make them automatable.

Excellent - actually, I thought I was doing something wrong, as I could hear something going on, but did not see any result. It's good that this is on the to-do list, as it might confuse a lot of the average users.

Also dragged the CTRL via the green line to some elements, like the cutoff, but… nothing. Using a NI MK3 keyboard here.

Dragging the control onto a target creates a new mod matrix slot. Of course, you will also have to dial in some modulation depth. Go to the mod matrix tab to do that.

Yeah, I thought I had checked the mod matrix, but maybe I looked in the wrong place. Still need to find my way around Zebra 3 - but I am sure it will sink in soon. As I said above: I could hear something going on, but I was expecting some kind of visual feedback. Simple as I am, I expected to just turn the knob, and then see the results...

[Urs]

The presets do not follow my taste. But I am sure the architecture allows me, to come up with presets that sound like real instruments. Just needs time to learn alot.

There will be a lot of those as well, I presume. It definitely is possible to do a lot of realistic sounding instruments. But I don't think it was the focus with the preview set of the factory library.

[Viktor [TUC]]

The presets do not follow my taste. But I am sure the architecture allows me, to come up with presets that sound like real instruments. Just needs time to learn alot.

Yeah, we're never focussed on realistic instruments, although I do enjoy the occasional exercise just to see how far one can take it into realism. I love when a synth sounds like a synth, our libraries probably reflect that.
There will be a few realistic or semi-realistic ones, like Urs said, but it's not going to be the main focus (in case that's what you were expecting). I'm aiming for a broad palette.

Viktor
u-he team

[wagtunes]

Urs has explained Zebra 3's "limitations" better than I ever could. So those of you not happy with it, go play with another synth. Zebra 3 is obviously not for you.

Sheesh.

[Viktor [TUC]]

A bit of heated discussion is fine for us, people like what they like, they're just passionate about things.
No synth is for everyone, and that's perfectly alright.

Viktor
u-he team