Zebra 3 - final beta Rev 21625 April 8th

[exmatproton]

This only happenes with this specific preset and only when interface zoom is NOT 100%
Must be a combination of things in this preset that triggers this.

Thanks a bunch, I can reproduce it. Seems to happen on Windows only. Best to stay at 100% GUI size for now. Or use an even number, like 160%. It seems to happen with odd numbers, like 130 or 170%. We’ll look into it asap.

i am really sorry...130 and 170 aren't odd numbers....

[Urs]

13. This appears when clicking on elements that could be mistaken as controls, imo it takes an unreasonable amount of time for this to disappear, I wonder if it's more a hindrance than a help.

So until yesterday morning these vanished very quickly. Then I fixed a bug that would cause the module animation to use too much CPU when changing presets. But that stalled the ticks which made the hints disappear. We did not notice in time, as we were just happy that preset Switching was back to normal.

Will be fixed in the next version, I promise they won't be so annoying anymore.

[benmason]

Just some more suggestions on the UI/UX. By comparison to Zebra HZ, Zebra 3 has much more space yet in HZ I can clearly see all the fonts where's in Z3 I'm struggling to read it besides the coloured text and the modulation parameters at the bottom. Clearly a font and/or colouring issue for the text. In HZ those knobs have more of a 3D shadowing effect which makes them look like they pop out a lot more.

A modern synth example close to what you guys currently have would be Pigments and in that the text is very readable and the knobs have a lot of pop with colour contrast and shadowing.

Not necessarily a problem but a personal design preference I'd like it if the back panels for all the modules and even the piano and main grid had a bit of character like a matte/metalic/slight colour fade/ more shadowing just something for it to have that premium look. The border between the main grid and the blank zebra art in the empty spaces looks almost indistinguishable. Personally I'm not a fan of something like Phase Plant's colour scheme and how it too feels quite flat and I think in terms of colour this looks very close to it.

[Andrei Marchenko]

First of all I want to say thanks for your work, U-He, folks!

I have a comment from position of UI/UX Designer — the UI of the plugin is perceived like grey spot with no any visual difference between modules. It's really complicated to focus attention on something because eyes loosing the focus constantly.

[stippenstoh]

Not necessarily a problem but a personal design preference I'd like it if the back panels for all the modules and even the piano and main grid had a bit of character like a matte/metalic/slight colour fade/ more shadowing just something for it to have that premium look.

As the name suggests it's impossible to please everyone's personal preference. For example I would not consider those suggestions as a visual improvement

The more important design choices are those that affect UX, I think they're on a great way with that.

[pdxindy]

I can't get over how much more I prefer the sound of Zebra3 compared to the predecessor.

I don't even mean complex patches, it's noticable with simple sounds as well. Am I tripping or is it that much better?

It is that much better...

[SamDi]

Here is my edit of the new GUI.

I removed the gradients behind the menus.
I made all the menus a color so they stand out from all the label text.
I'm still playing with the colors of modules and modulators.
I also moved the DC Offset button. Somehow it bothered me being right below the volume knob.


Z3 GUI Edit 1.jpg

Looks way better. Where are the resources to understand, how I can change the colors myself?

[cvale]

It would be nice to say there isn't anything in Zebra 2 that you can't do in Zebra 3, at least.

I took a deeper look into Zebra Legacy these days, and my gut feeling is there are still quite a number of things you can't possibly do in Zebra 3 (yet):

Zebra 3 has only 4 filter slots (although they sound better to my ears) compared to the 4 VCF/2 XMF/8 Diva filters in Zebra Legacy. No notch filter as filter option. All single filter so no SEM style morph/sweep. Zebra 3 also only has linear envelopes and 4 (morphable) MSEGs, so a few things might be harder to do in Zebra 3 as well.

Maybe we'll get there one day...

To be fair, after posting I did go back and open Zebra 2 and played around with the formant filter in there and it wasn't as cool as I remembered it being In fact, I'm pretty sure it's just a crossfade similar to what we have now in Zebra 3. So I might have been talking out my ass on that particular point, although I do stand strongly by my larger point about Guides not being the ideal way to handle morphing of oscillator FX parameters. And I'm definitely surprised more people don't seem to care (yet).

[daily patcher]

It would be nice to say there isn't anything in Zebra 2 that you can't do in Zebra 3, at least.

I took a deeper look into Zebra Legacy these days, and my gut feeling is there are still quite a number of things you can't possibly do in Zebra 3 (yet):

Zebra 3 has only 4 filter slots (although they sound better to my ears) compared to the 4 VCF/2 XMF/8 Diva filters in Zebra Legacy. No notch filter as filter option. All single filter so no SEM style morph/sweep. Zebra 3 also only has linear envelopes and 4 (morphable) MSEGs, so a few things might be harder to do in Zebra 3 as well.

Maybe we'll get there one day...

To be fair, after posting I did go back and open Zebra 2 and played around with the formant filter in there and it wasn't as cool as I remembered it being In fact, I'm pretty sure it's just a crossfade similar to what we have now in Zebra 3. So I might have been talking out my ass on that particular point, although I do stand strongly by my larger point about Guides not being the ideal way to handle morphing of oscillator FX parameters. And I'm definitely surprised more people don't seem to care (yet).

Im guessing the person that uses or even knows of the guide would be the same type of person that reads the manual where it is pretty explicitly stated why guides are used and the purpose that they serve so I’m guessing that’s why there aren’t too many people that are upset, even though they can be perceived as limiting

[ThoughtExperiment]

It would be nice to say there isn't anything in Zebra 2 that you can't do in Zebra 3, at least.

I took a deeper look into Zebra Legacy these days, and my gut feeling is there are still quite a number of things you can't possibly do in Zebra 3 (yet):

Zebra 3 has only 4 filter slots (although they sound better to my ears) compared to the 4 VCF/2 XMF/8 Diva filters in Zebra Legacy. No notch filter as filter option. All single filter so no SEM style morph/sweep. Zebra 3 also only has linear envelopes and 4 (morphable) MSEGs, so a few things might be harder to do in Zebra 3 as well.

Maybe we'll get there one day...

To be fair, after posting I did go back and open Zebra 2 and played around with the formant filter in there and it wasn't as cool as I remembered it being In fact, I'm pretty sure it's just a crossfade similar to what we have now in Zebra 3. So I might have been talking out my ass on that particular point, although I do stand strongly by my larger point about Guides not being the ideal way to handle morphing of oscillator FX parameters. And I'm definitely surprised more people don't seem to care (yet).

Maybe they don't care because they don't agree with your opinion?

[ThoughtExperiment]

Had the opportunity today to spend a few hours with this new beta. Don't take this the wrong way, but I never realized the first beta looked so bad

Seriously though, Zebra3 now looks like a brand new instrument and it sounds amazing. Well done to everyone at u-He - even to a coding ignoramus like me, it's obvious just how much work (and, let's just say it, love) has gone into this

Now, when can we expect that avalanche of u-He tutorial videos

[cvale]

It would be nice to say there isn't anything in Zebra 2 that you can't do in Zebra 3, at least.

I took a deeper look into Zebra Legacy these days, and my gut feeling is there are still quite a number of things you can't possibly do in Zebra 3 (yet):

Zebra 3 has only 4 filter slots (although they sound better to my ears) compared to the 4 VCF/2 XMF/8 Diva filters in Zebra Legacy. No notch filter as filter option. All single filter so no SEM style morph/sweep. Zebra 3 also only has linear envelopes and 4 (morphable) MSEGs, so a few things might be harder to do in Zebra 3 as well.

Maybe we'll get there one day...

To be fair, after posting I did go back and open Zebra 2 and played around with the formant filter in there and it wasn't as cool as I remembered it being In fact, I'm pretty sure it's just a crossfade similar to what we have now in Zebra 3. So I might have been talking out my ass on that particular point, although I do stand strongly by my larger point about Guides not being the ideal way to handle morphing of oscillator FX parameters. And I'm definitely surprised more people don't seem to care (yet).

Maybe they don't care because they don't agree with your opinion?

Tautology alert.

[cvale]

It would be nice to say there isn't anything in Zebra 2 that you can't do in Zebra 3, at least.

I took a deeper look into Zebra Legacy these days, and my gut feeling is there are still quite a number of things you can't possibly do in Zebra 3 (yet):

Zebra 3 has only 4 filter slots (although they sound better to my ears) compared to the 4 VCF/2 XMF/8 Diva filters in Zebra Legacy. No notch filter as filter option. All single filter so no SEM style morph/sweep. Zebra 3 also only has linear envelopes and 4 (morphable) MSEGs, so a few things might be harder to do in Zebra 3 as well.

Maybe we'll get there one day...

To be fair, after posting I did go back and open Zebra 2 and played around with the formant filter in there and it wasn't as cool as I remembered it being In fact, I'm pretty sure it's just a crossfade similar to what we have now in Zebra 3. So I might have been talking out my ass on that particular point, although I do stand strongly by my larger point about Guides not being the ideal way to handle morphing of oscillator FX parameters. And I'm definitely surprised more people don't seem to care (yet).

Im guessing the person that uses or even knows of the guide would be the same type of person that reads the manual where it is pretty explicitly stated why guides are used and the purpose that they serve so I’m guessing that’s why there aren’t too many people that are upset, even though they can be perceived as limiting

Uh oh, am I already being accused of being "upset"? KVR's gonna KVR I guess.

[ThoughtExperiment]

It would be nice to say there isn't anything in Zebra 2 that you can't do in Zebra 3, at least.

I took a deeper look into Zebra Legacy these days, and my gut feeling is there are still quite a number of things you can't possibly do in Zebra 3 (yet):

Zebra 3 has only 4 filter slots (although they sound better to my ears) compared to the 4 VCF/2 XMF/8 Diva filters in Zebra Legacy. No notch filter as filter option. All single filter so no SEM style morph/sweep. Zebra 3 also only has linear envelopes and 4 (morphable) MSEGs, so a few things might be harder to do in Zebra 3 as well.

Maybe we'll get there one day...

To be fair, after posting I did go back and open Zebra 2 and played around with the formant filter in there and it wasn't as cool as I remembered it being In fact, I'm pretty sure it's just a crossfade similar to what we have now in Zebra 3. So I might have been talking out my ass on that particular point, although I do stand strongly by my larger point about Guides not being the ideal way to handle morphing of oscillator FX parameters. And I'm definitely surprised more people don't seem to care (yet).

Maybe they don't care because they don't agree with your opinion?

Tautology alert.

Don't think so...I suppose I could've been rude and said 'don't agree with you' but I thought better of it, 'cause that's the kind of guy I am

[ElSonador]

Hey Urs, hey Community,

im very concerned about some behavior of zebra3 filters. I built a FM preset, which is attached to this post. I want to play with HP and BP Filter and expect to have no sub frequencies at all. As you can see in the screenshot, there are massive low frequencies which are not wanted. Do i have a twist in my head, or is there a twist in my preset. Im looking foreward for help. Thanx alot.

Im on Linux and just installed the BETA from 8th of Avril...

Bildschirmfoto vom 2026-04-09 18-35-04.png