Zebra 3 and Zebra Legacy

[OdoSendaidokai]

...
But whatever framework you use, which apparently is an Agile process, u-he is not just a software company. In an age when people launch companies that have NO user interaction, no help whatsoever from actual humans, u-he understands that we are not just buying software. u-he has the best support and the best community I have ever experienced. u-he is people, and that's how the magic happens. You care about every detail. Hence, you produce the best tools whatever it takes. So much respect for the whole team.

Absolutely! Communication is still the major key for long term success and trust. Using feedback to improve has such a value and has benefits for both sides.

[abstractcats]

LOL, yes. I got that.

Maybe you should ask them if the beta of Zebralette 3 and the much talked about preview of Zebra 3 at NAMM had something to do with their final push to finish Serum 2? - I guess they'll give you the same answer as I do: Not as much as people out there think.

I totally get the excitement, but what happens at u-he headquarters is a lot more complex, more involved and a lot less focussed on Serum 2 than such a simple answer warrants. In any case, we showed Zebra 3 at NAMM two months before screenshots of Serum 2 appeared. We also laid out our priorities for the release. So how could it be rushed by Serum 2?

(Btw I knew Serum 2 was coming many, many moons before word got out on KVR. Unlike what people out there think, most of us devs are friendly with each other and talk. I see no reason to feed any notion of rivalry here. I'm happy for Steve and Dave, and I have no fears whatsoever regarding Zebra 3, which people seem to read into things.)

Serum 2, looks so amazing! Pigments, is still my main synth, at the moment. Any chance of granular and Modaling engines, in Z3?
Sorry if I missed this info.

[Urs]

Z3 gets Modal resonators and some kind of Mallet/Impulse module(s).

Granular isn't available via samples, but it does get a granular texture generator (think "Clouds").

[Shiek927]

The real question is if Z3 has enough resonators to keep Hans Zimmer happy

[Fannon]

It's got to be at least 6, right?

[WatchTheGuitar]

I’ve heard about these exciting things called sines, sawtooths and square waves. Hope it has them.

[david.beholder]

First of all please don't put words in my mouth.

I'm not Serum user. But if you look in last six months lot of synths got lot of features and progress on Z3 looks like not existing and Zebralette is never meant to be flagship / headliner. But if you look at Z2 15 years ago it has way less competition by features and performance.

Second, I think @urs perfectly answered my question. That's one thing that differentiate this subforum: Urs and others know userbase and answer direct questions without problems.

P.S. How many years before release knob on moog envs in Diva )))) ?

[Urs]

I might add, there's a difference between recent developments of our competitors and what we're doing with Zebra 3. I'll be up front and say that I have no idea if this means anything, business-wise or not, but in my mind I'm hopeful for the long term game.

So the difference that Z3 makes is that it's rewritten from scratch, reimagined and therefore not preset compatible with Zebra 2. At first this may look like a disadvantage, because Z3 starts out with fewer presets than recent efforts of others, such as Serum 2 and, say, the latest Pigments.

But then, like these others, Zebra 3 still starts out with a *huge* user base right from the start, ranging in the tens of thousands. Those people will be hungry for presets, and I don't think this will go unnoticed by professional sound designers. Zebra 3 is going to give them a huge market, and those guys won't have to compete with a decade of existing content.

So while I think that initially "starting fresh" is a disadvantage for appealing to new users, I think it won't take long until there'll be a turnaround. There'll be loads of presets a year in or two, and those presets will be a lot fresher than the same old that we'd get with preset compatibility.

We'll see. The other day I browsed the current factory library of the next Zebralette 3 beta, and I think it's so fresh and different from what I associate with Zebra 2, I can't wait to see what people out there do with it, and with Zebra 3 once ready.

[david.beholder]

It was very quiet new Zebralette 3 beta announcement.

Thanks for the answer, Urs.

[bonch]

Zebralette 3 is a lot of fun to play with, so I expect Zebra 3 will be successful. If something is fun to use, people will use it!

[Urs]

It was very quiet new Zebralette 3 beta announcement.

Working on last minute bug fixes... should be ready any day now...

[sacer]

I might add, there's a difference between recent developments of our competitors and what we're doing with Zebra 3. I'll be up front and say that I have no idea if this means anything, business-wise or not, but in my mind I'm hopeful for the long term game.

So the difference that Z3 makes is that it's rewritten from scratch, reimagined and therefore not preset compatible with Zebra 2. At first this may look like a disadvantage, because Z3 starts out with fewer presets than recent efforts of others, such as Serum 2 and, say, the latest Pigments.

But then, like these others, Zebra 3 still starts out with a *huge* user base right from the start, ranging in the tens of thousands. Those people will be hungry for presets, and I don't think this will go unnoticed by professional sound designers. Zebra 3 is going to give them a huge market, and those guys won't have to compete with a decade of existing content.

So while I think that initially "starting fresh" is a disadvantage for appealing to new users, I think it won't take long until there'll be a turnaround. There'll be loads of presets a year in or two, and those presets will be a lot fresher than the same old that we'd get with preset compatibility.

We'll see. The other day I browsed the current factory library of the next Zebralette 3 beta, and I think it's so fresh and different from what I associate with Zebra 2, I can't wait to see what people out there do with it, and with Zebra 3 once ready.

Maybe you can do an AI preset rebuilder in future. Something like synplant2 that examines a preset build for z2 and reconstruct it in Z3.
This would solf the user base some time, rebuilding their Favorit presets manually.
I know it wouldn’t be possible for all presets and they won’t sound identical, but it could give some nice results or bring these presets to next level.
There are more than 10.000 presets available and it could save the users much time instead of rebuild a preset from scratch.
The AI could tweak and match parameters to prove wich different values comes sound wise close

[Urs]

If their favourite preset is a Zebra 2 one, hehehe, we have just the thing. No need to recreate it in Zebra 3.

[robisme]

If their favourite preset is a Zebra 2 one, hehehe, we have just the thing. No need to recreate it in Zebra 3.

Yeah, but I guess, the purpose is to tweak a Z2 preset with Z3 tools

[Fannon]

Recreating your favorite Z2 presets in Z3 could be interesting, especially if you turn out with something that is not identical but different in an interesting or good way. No automated conversion tool could do that for you, at best it would give you a shortcut to a starting point.