Zebra 3 Public Beta Revision 20399

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Zebra Legacy (Zebra2)

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jtsterays wrote: Wed Jan 21, 2026 7:56 am Multicore is not supported yet, is that why my CPU usage is really high when doing chords? I did use the Diva-esque filter, but in the actual Diva it wasnt that bad.
Depends on the filter. Yellow uses a lot of CPU.

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Urs wrote: Wed Jan 21, 2026 7:59 am
jtsterays wrote: Wed Jan 21, 2026 7:56 am Multicore is not supported yet, is that why my CPU usage is really high when doing chords? I did use the Diva-esque filter, but in the actual Diva it wasnt that bad.
Depends on the filter. Yellow uses a lot of CPU.
Ladder, basic saw, 8 voices. It's almost 3x the CPU of Diva.

Edit: With Yellow, it's 4x.
Last edited by jtsterays on Wed Jan 21, 2026 8:09 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Yeah, I'd also like to see some more flexibility in the envelopes, but realistically there are so many possible permutations that it can quickly spiral into a wormhole of bloat, while you already have virtually infinite flexibility with the MSEGs. I'm sure you guys while get it right, no rush.
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jtsterays wrote: Wed Jan 21, 2026 8:03 am
Urs wrote: Wed Jan 21, 2026 7:59 am
jtsterays wrote: Wed Jan 21, 2026 7:56 am Multicore is not supported yet, is that why my CPU usage is really high when doing chords? I did use the Diva-esque filter, but in the actual Diva it wasnt that bad.
Depends on the filter. Yellow uses a lot of CPU.
Ladder, basic saw, 8 voices. It's almost 3x the CPU of Diva.
Diva with Mutlicore enabled, I guess?

I'd be happy to have both presets posted here, because last time I checked, Z3 did not use more CPU than Diva for a comparable patch.

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Urs wrote: Wed Jan 21, 2026 8:11 am
jtsterays wrote: Wed Jan 21, 2026 8:03 am
Urs wrote: Wed Jan 21, 2026 7:59 am
jtsterays wrote: Wed Jan 21, 2026 7:56 am Multicore is not supported yet, is that why my CPU usage is really high when doing chords? I did use the Diva-esque filter, but in the actual Diva it wasnt that bad.
Depends on the filter. Yellow uses a lot of CPU.
Ladder, basic saw, 8 voices. It's almost 3x the CPU of Diva.
Diva with Mutlicore enabled, I guess?

I'd be happy to have both presets posted here, because last time I checked, Z3 did not use more CPU than Diva for a comparable patch.
Yes, multicore. It's a very basic patch: just a single saw + Ladder filter (both in Diva and Z3). Both have long release and I just jumbled a bunch of random notes so essentially all 8 voices are being used.

Diva (great): 10%
Z3+Ladder (800hz): 30% with 200hz: 20%
Z3+Linear (800hz): 14% with 200hz: 12%

Windows, 5800x.

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jtsterays wrote: Wed Jan 21, 2026 8:17 am Yes, multicore. It's a very basic patch: just a single saw + Ladder filter (both in Diva and Z3). Both have long release and I just jumbled a bunch of random notes so essentially all 8 voices are being used.
Diva: 10%
Z3+Ladder: 30%
Z3+Linear: 14%

Windows, 5800x.
So then the CPU readout for Diva would capture 2-3 voices, while those rendered on other cores are not discounted. if you wanted to directly compare Zebra 3 performance to Diva, you have to turn Diva's Multicore option off.

We have not looked into Zebra's multicore option yet. It did not work with Zebralette, there were some issues and side effects. We'll look into it again at some point, but currently we're busy with a lot of other things.

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Urs wrote: Wed Jan 21, 2026 8:24 am
jtsterays wrote: Wed Jan 21, 2026 8:17 am Yes, multicore. It's a very basic patch: just a single saw + Ladder filter (both in Diva and Z3). Both have long release and I just jumbled a bunch of random notes so essentially all 8 voices are being used.
Diva: 10%
Z3+Ladder: 30%
Z3+Linear: 14%

Windows, 5800x.
So then the CPU readout for Diva would capture 2-3 voices, while those rendered on other cores are not discounted. if you wanted to directly compare Zebra 3 performance to Diva, you have to turn Diva's Multicore option off.

We have not looked into Zebra's multicore option yet. It did not work with Zebralette, there were some issues and side effects. We'll look into it again at some point, but currently we're busy with a lot of other things.
With it off it's 25%, still lower than Z3.

It's my main gripe with Z3 right now, with a more complex pad patch it's half the CPU meter which is unusable for me. But take your time, I can bounce it out atm.

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For a complex pad, I'm sure Vanilla is more than enough to rival Ladder.

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Yea, you're right. Speaking of filters, do you plan to add the Oberheim filter where it morphs into a bandpass? I can kinda do it with the EQ but it's finicky. Quite some character from that one.

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A new beta just went live. Let's continue the discussion over there: viewtopic.php?t=627219
That QA guy from planet u-he.

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after in depth testing zebra 3
1. folder module generates clicks from 1 to 16 settings
2 comb filter module can be very dangerous at higher feedback settings
3 in some scenarios after deleting all modules and re adding fmo module there is no sound
4. after adding some mod destinations under knobs there is no visual indicator
5 there is no way to save and reopen created presets in zebra 3
6 in my case after adding exciter mdule there is no exciter presets to chose from
Tested on win 11 fl studio

Spline osc editors and renderers are cool, but massive amount of chosen workflow solutions seem outdated ,compared to vps avenger 2 and phase plant 2 in my opinion

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Apologies if this has been answered earlier in this thread, but will all of the presets from Zebra Legacy be included in the final release of Zebra 3?

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syncline wrote: Wed Jan 21, 2026 9:05 pm Apologies if this has been answered earlier in this thread, but will all of the presets from Zebra Legacy be included in the final release of Zebra 3?
No, Zebra 3 is a completely new product. Similar in concept and all, but written new from scratch with many completely different algorithms and parameter sets. Therefore the presets are not compatible.

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art&sound wrote: Mon Dec 29, 2025 11:21 pm I love this thing in many ways. Can complement it more in another post, but I want to bring up the UI while there’s hopefully still some time to work on it.

Colors are used inconsistently, with varying brightnesses, which makes the UI feel unsettling.

I imagine the primary active color should be light grey (it’s called Zebra), and then use colors to help with navigation. Some issues:

- The comb and exciter are in different categories when choosing them in the signal flow, but they are the same color modules.
- No matter what color a module is, it’s green in the signal flow. (For example, despite distortion modules being red)
- I think color should have meaning. Why not color those modules in the picker and in the signal flow so it all makes sense? Just use subtle colors. Otherwise, there’s no reason for any of them to be green, and they should be light grey.
- The bright preset background color is out of control overly bright. Other u-he products have a darker background there, which is less distracting
- There are too many shades of green. Some are nice ones, and some are not. The color in the matrix is okay, but the other greens are a bit harsh.

The other thing that’s weird for me is the tabs. The presets tab feels funny where it is. It’s disconnected from the presets bar, unlike the other products, and the pitches tab is weirdly prominent for something that seems like more of an advanced feature.

Another thing, I love the big editors for oscillators and MSEGs, etc, but they take over the screen in a way that makes me forget how to get out. I wish it looked more connected to the button that enables it. And I get confused about my edits in the big window vs the little window vs the oscillator at the top left.

It’s a complicated synth so the UI is going to be complex, still, I think some UX improvements are possible with the things I’m talking about.

BTW, I have protanopia, and the current colors aren’t great for that either. :-)
I got a chance to try the updated beta, and FWIW, for me, all this feedback stands

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