Comparing Dune 3.5 With Hive 2

[3ptguitarist]

For pads, which one is better? I like what I've heard on youtube from Dune 3 for pads, but can Hive 2 match the ambient and atmospheric pads that Dune 3 can make?

Hive can do gorgeous ambient and atmospheric pads... Here's a sound demo of one of mine in Hive (single instance and no added FX)

https://dandelionaudio.com/sound/Hive21-DR3.mp3

That sounds good! Thanks for sharing.

How does Hive do vs Dunes layer system?

[3ptguitarist]

I feel like saying pads and not defining what kind of pad or purpose for the sound makes discussions of pads difficult. Some are just one finger pad that just does everything, or it can be played along with other instruments.

I love pads that are in the background of a piano (I usually just do a bunch of delays and eq of the piano I am backing) but I go to Diva or Zebra for 90s pad sounds. It also can be an atmosphere more like sound design. It can also be an ambient moving sound that Brian Eno just made you sit in silence for 12 minutes as a sorbet to your emotional pallet.

So what pads are you looking for? If its modulating a lot Hive does that well. If it's an old-school lush analog sound than Hive can do some things but Dune is better for that.

In this case, I'm looking for atmospheric, lush, and at times, evolving pads. I like soft sounding and relaxing pads. I want the ability to modulate and the ability to make simpler smooth and lush pads.

I already have Diva, I'm thinking about getting Dune (most likely from a seller). But Hive is on sale right now, so I wonder if Hive would satisfy my needs for pad sounds.

[midi_transmission]

Customer friendly copy protection: Doesn't get in your way and is easy to activate. Frankly, most (audio) software has a customer friendly copy protection in those regards. I know, KVR likes to complain. And, it's also (not just) a bit of a political issue.

I tried to activate an older game on my Windows 11 PC today, by the way. Not only did I have to install the copy protection system manually (former Windows versions had it pre-installed), no, it also happened that the activation servers obviously have been shut down in the meantime. Which means I ended up with a not to activate game. Meh. Could get a crack (It's legal in Germany when the copy protection prevents you from being able to activate or play the game), but, I'm scared of malware on these sites.

Where were we? Oh, yes, copy prtections on audio software. Didn't have such issues with it yet.

Nah, let's not get a discussion about that topic in this thread.

Let's leave it like that.

[midi_transmission]

I think my conclusion is get both if you like both. Searching for the better one makes only sense when the properties are very similar. Both are synth, but they are different enough that I don't think it's possible to answer.

The question should rather be focused on what are the unique strength of each product. I think the title "comparing" is a good one. More often than not it is a "versus" topic.

[pdxindy]

For pads, which one is better? I like what I've heard on youtube from Dune 3 for pads, but can Hive 2 match the ambient and atmospheric pads that Dune 3 can make?

Hive can do gorgeous ambient and atmospheric pads... Here's a sound demo of one of mine in Hive (single instance and no added FX)

https://dandelionaudio.com/sound/Hive21-DR3.mp3

That sounds good! Thanks for sharing.

How does Hive do vs Dunes layer system?

I prefer using my DAW to layer stuff. It is very easy to layer a couple instances of Hive in my DAW. It is also more flexible. I can layer one instance of Hive and one instance of Diva, or whatever combo I want. I can put any fx on each layer that I want. I can easily do keyboard splits and so on. I find the workflow better in my DAW than having layers in the synth.

So because of that, I use synths without layers the most.

Different people have different viewpoints. I suppose Dune has the advantage of having presets with layers already there. But I mostly craft my own in terms of layering different sounds anyway.

[3ptguitarist]

For pads, which one is better? I like what I've heard on youtube from Dune 3 for pads, but can Hive 2 match the ambient and atmospheric pads that Dune 3 can make?

Hive can do gorgeous ambient and atmospheric pads... Here's a sound demo of one of mine in Hive (single instance and no added FX)

https://dandelionaudio.com/sound/Hive21-DR3.mp3

That sounds good! Thanks for sharing.

How does Hive do vs Dunes layer system?

I prefer using my DAW to layer stuff. It is very easy to layer a couple instances of Hive in my DAW. It is also more flexible. I can layer one instance of Hive and one instance of Diva, or whatever combo I want. I can put any fx on each layer that I want. I can easily do keyboard splits and so on. I find the workflow better in my DAW than having layers in the synth.

So because of that, I use synths without layers the most.

Different people have different viewpoints. I suppose Dune has the advantage of having presets with layers already there. But I mostly craft my own in terms of layering different sounds anyway.

Interesting method. What DAW do you use to accomplish all of this?

[pdxindy]

Interesting method. What DAW do you use to accomplish all of this?

I use Bitwig but other DAW's are also capable of such layering. Live for example has the Instrument Rack and it's even easier in some ways than Bitwig. Studio One and Waveform both do similar. I'm not that familiar with other DAW's.

It's my opinion that DAW's are the best place for layering (except for sound designers selling presets). I have never once wished that my commonly used synths like Hive, Diva, Vital, etc., had layers. I prefer they stay simple and efficient in the GUI.

[THE INTRANCER]

Interesting method. What DAW do you use to accomplish all of this?

I use Bitwig but other DAW's are also capable of such layering. Live for example has the Instrument Rack and it's even easier in some ways than Bitwig. Studio One and Waveform both do similar. I'm not that familiar with other DAW's.

It's my opinion that DAW's are the best place for layering (except for sound designers selling presets). I have never once wished that my commonly used synths like Hive, Diva, Vital, etc., had layers. I prefer they stay simple and efficient in the GUI.

Hive has a form of layers in which to generate thicker-sounding patches by including all the oscillators and subs, so programming really isn't much different. But synths with separate individual layers don't just provide more of what you have already but a different way of composing new and interesting music. Rapid is a good example of this where you can create an entire track with just one instance and record it live, then bounce it down and record another section. With Dune 3.5 you could use a few drum loops, a few pads and an arpeggiator across the layers. When you have a system where you have patches based on this, you can take it to any other DAW and use it there. There would be advantages for Hive to have the option of using layers in the way like those I mentioned. Not everyone creates music in the same way.

[BONES]

I prefer using my DAW to layer stuff.

I prefer to find sounds that work all by themselves.

I suppose Dune has the advantage of having presets with layers already there. But I mostly craft my own in terms of layering different sounds anyway.

If you look at DUNE's factory sounds, so many of the layers are doing nothing and you can switch them off without affecting the sound noticeably.

Interesting method. What DAW do you use to accomplish all of this?

Is this meant to be a joke? DAWs are built around layering all your parts to create a piece of music.

Rapid is a good example of this where you can create an entire track with just one instance and record it live, then bounce it down and record another section.

That sounds like a complete waste of time to me. What advantage does that give you over anything else?

With Dune 3.5 you could use a few drum loops, a few pads and an arpeggiator across the layers.

You could but, again, why would you? I mean, maybe if we didn't have DAWs but we do so what's the point?

[pdxindy]

Rapid is a good example of this where you can create an entire track with just one instance and record it live, then bounce it down and record another section. With Dune 3.5 you could use a few drum loops, a few pads and an arpeggiator across the layers. When you have a system where you have patches based on this, you can take it to any other DAW and use it there.

Yes, it's an advantage having layers to be able to move from DAW to DAW... Not important to me at all, but could be to someone.

Besides that, who cares if I can create an entire track in one instance of a synth? That sounds like an exercise for the sake of the exercise. I create an entire track in one instance of my DAW. There is no reason for me to have a plugin that is like a mini DAW inside my DAW. That is unnecessary complication and redundancy. Plus my DAW is far better at being a DAW than Rapid is.

[THE INTRANCER]

Besides that, who cares if I can create an entire track in one instance of a synth? That sounds like an exercise for the sake of the exercise. I create an entire track in one instance of my DAW. There is no reason for me to have a plugin that is like a mini DAW inside my DAW. That is unnecessary complication and redundancy. Plus my DAW is far better at being a DAW than Rapid is.

If you separate what you as an individual do and want to do and look at the creative potential one system has over another for a specific purpose, you see the possibilities. Multi-layered synths can be used as a live performance tool on stage and you don't even need to have any other tracks running that could cause problems. Having performed on stage myself, I can tell you that there is a real buzz you get by actually playing an instrument and not just standing there trying to look cool as a sequencer plays in front of you. You don't need a big expensive workstation synthesizer to lug around for example either which is a bonus.

[pdxindy]

Multi-layered synths can be used as a live performance tool on stage and you don't even need to have any other tracks running that could cause problems.

I can use multiple instances of Hive on a single track too.

I have a setup where I use 4 instances of Hive, a couple instances of Polymer and a couple drum layers all on one track. I use my Linnstrument which has a channel per row mode. So each row on the Linnstrument controls one of the different instruments.

I can play all of them in realtime and/or trigger sequences on each with the ability to latch and unlatch each row on the fly.

The DAW is far more powerful and flexible for layering and realtime performance than one single synth.

[Urs]

The whole concept of Hive is “how can we take a 2-layer synth, display both layers on one screen and get more out of it than we sacrifice?”

So one of the things we did was, we looked at a popular dual layer synth, and figured out which redundancies could be removed while still being able to reproduce nearly 100% of its presets.

That was before we took Hive to the next level, i.e. before wavetables and before 2.x

So the one thing we sacrificed is the ability to copy and paste between layers. OTOH using Layers is literally defined by having redundancy. The opposite is reusability and efficiency. I believe that, because in Hive both layers can interact, one gets a lot more out of it than one would typically get out of two layers. And that’s what I think is why people don’t perceive Hive as a layer synth.

[Lbdunequest]

The whole concept of Hive is “how can we take a 2-layer synth, display both layers on one screen and get more out of it than we sacrifice?”

So one of the things we did was, we looked at a popular dual layer synth, and figured out which redundancies could be removed while still being able to reproduce nearly 100% of its presets.

That was before we took Hive to the next level, i.e. before wavetables and before 2.x

So the one thing we sacrificed is the ability to copy and paste between layers. OTOH using Layers is literally defined by having redundancy. The opposite is reusability and efficiency. I believe that, because in Hive both layers can interact, one gets a lot more out of it than one would typically get out of two layers. And that’s what I think is why people don’t perceive Hive as a layer synth.

I see hive 2 as a 1 osc dual layer synth. Sub oscillator is simply too limited for some tasks.

[Ultraindaclub]

thanks need to try dune 3.X