KVR Audio

shonoob · Post by **shonoob** » Mon Dec 14, 2015 6:37 am

I like the tool, but I am still unfamiliar as to what its strengths are as a VST instrument. What do you guys like about it? What kind of sounds does it excel at? Is it true it is somewhat similar to Sylenth1? I just very recently traded for it but haven't had much time to use it as I have been extremely busy, would like to get some input on it for near future reference, and possibly inspiration for when I next use the tool.

Thank you!!

deastman · Post by **deastman** » Mon Dec 14, 2015 7:26 am

Yes, it is somewhat similar to Sylenth. Its a fairly low CPU usage synth designed with EDM applications in mind. I don't make EDM, but I still think its a great, lightweight synth for most general applications.

Kinh · Post by **Kinh** » Mon Dec 14, 2015 8:03 am

Yeah its definitely an EDM thing. The sounds are quite good and diverse. The problem I have with it is the arpeggiator. I cant use any of the BPM or "Loop" presets because they dont retrigger, where you take your finger of they keyboard is where it starts from. This happens when you hit play on your DAW. Its a shame, that was one of the main reason I bought it. I demoed it on its own.
Has anyone found a fix for this?

mostlyjustj · Post by **mostlyjustj** » Mon Dec 14, 2015 8:18 am

If there's one thing I like about Hive, it's that it's very immediate. The main screen has all of the obvious controls on them in a very easy to see and tweak format. This makes it good for getting sounds out quick for experienced users (and learning for beginners). My second favourite thing is that between the 2 oscillators and the unison controls, you can get very BIG sounds fast and easily - good ones, as the quality is excellent as you'd expect from uhe! My third favourite thing is the flexible arp. which is roughly the same as the one on zebra - with the added bonus that you can lock it in for preset browsing.

In summary: I don't think you'll find anything in hive that you can't do with other synths, but for me it's great because it doesn't slow me down which makes it a great go-to for typical synthy sounds!

Edit: Actually I don't like the 'arp' per se but what is referred to as the 'sequencer' section of the arp page. I use it for arps. I gjust use the transpose values to create the note pattern I want which I find is much more fun for creating and playing arps, rather than being stuck with using the normal method by playing chords and setting a pattern to play the notes in the chord which I find kind of limiting. Playing multiple keys (ie chords) WITH the sequencer is extra fun too

mcnoone · Post by **mcnoone** » Mon Dec 14, 2015 9:18 am

It's a simpler setup, which makes it easy to program.
Specific settings changes can create big tonal changes fast, for a faster variety of tones to compare to, which leads to more diverse tones in a shorter time period.
It is capable of going way beyond any single genre of musical style.
My favorite software synth atm.

Chris-S · Post by **Chris-S** » Mon Dec 14, 2015 11:37 am

Kinh wrote: I cant use any of the BPM or "Loop" presets because they dont retrigger, where you take your finger of they keyboard is where it starts from. This happens when you hit play on your DAW. Its a shame, that was one of the main reason I bought it. I demoed it on its own.
Has anyone found a fix for this?

Did you already post your issue in the u-he forum?

dsan@mail.com · Post by **dsan@mail.com** » Mon Dec 14, 2015 1:35 pm

Kinh wrote:Yeah its definitely an EDM thing. The sounds are quite good and diverse. The problem I have with it is the arpeggiator. I cant use any of the BPM or "Loop" presets because they dont retrigger, where you take your finger of they keyboard is where it starts from. This happens when you hit play on your DAW. Its a shame, that was one of the main reason I bought it. I demoed it on its own.
Has anyone found a fix for this?

Turn off "Sync". Then it will start from the beginning of the sequence.

I had asked this in the u-He forum a few weeks ago and Chapelle was kind enough to respond

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 1&t=450349

Cheers!
dsan

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Mon Dec 14, 2015 1:54 pm

shonoob wrote:I like the tool, but I am still unfamiliar as to what its strengths are as a VST instrument. What do you guys like about it? What kind of sounds does it excel at? Is it true it is somewhat similar to Sylenth1? I just very recently traded for it but haven't had much time to use it as I have been extremely busy, would like to get some input on it for near future reference, and possibly inspiration for when I next use the tool.

Thank you!!

I can only judge by demoing it for a couple of hours, but, although it may look similar to Sylenth1, and the approach is similar, to create a simple synth with a small CPU footprint, i much prefer Sylenth1. Hive has sort of a metallic, harsh character, the filters IMO don't sound as good as Sylenth1, and by that i mean rather the character of the filters. I feel like Hive's filters rather sound like the ones in Bazille, so rather on the harsh, vintage electronic side, than being on the creamy side like Sylenth1's. Like the unison in Sylenth1 better too. Overall i was a bit disapointed when i demo'd Hive, maybe i expected too much that it was exactly in the same ballpark than Sylenth1. Anyway, i just can recommend to demo it, if you're not sure. Also, consider other options. If you're looking for a Sylenth v2, then Spire might fit the bill better (actually i think Spire sounds better than Sylenth, and has many more synthesis options, and just got an update which makes it very CPU efficient too). But that's just my opinion, feel free to disagree.

llze · Post by **llze** » Mon Dec 14, 2015 2:04 pm

i use Hive very often currently, i really like the option with the 3 different synth engines, Normal/Dirty/Clean, this can lead to a lot of different sounds, way more flexible than Sylenth. Also the routing and modulation options are superior to sylenth. Then Hive has pulse with modulation, wich is another +.

fluffy_little_something · Mon Dec 14, 2015 3:25 pm

chk071 wrote:I can only judge by demoing it for a couple of hours, but, although it may look similar to Sylenth1, and the approach is similar, to create a simple synth with a small CPU footprint, i much prefer Sylenth1. Hive has sort of a metallic, harsh character, the filters IMO don't sound as good as Sylenth1, and by that i mean rather the character of the filters. I feel like Hive's filters rather sound like the ones in Bazille, so rather on the harsh, vintage electronic side, than being on the creamy side like Sylenth1's. Like the unison in Sylenth1 better too. Overall i was a bit disapointed when i demo'd Hive, maybe i expected too much that it was exactly in the same ballpark than Sylenth1. Anyway, i just can recommend to demo it, if you're not sure. Also, consider other options. If you're looking for a Sylenth v2, then Spire might fit the bill better (actually i think Spire sounds better than Sylenth, and has many more synthesis options, and just got an update which makes it very CPU efficient too). But that's just my opinion, feel free to disagree.

Have they reduced CPU load to Sylenth levels by now? CPU load and all those tabs have made me ignore it so far. With Sylenth it is only two layers/tabs. With Spire everything comes in tabs

I agree on the sound, Sylenth sounds more pleasant than Hive to my ears as well. Owned both, sold Hive, kept Sylenth...

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Mon Dec 14, 2015 3:29 pm

fluffy_little_something wrote: Have they reduced CPU load to Sylenth levels by now?

I don't know, but as far as i could see, the same patch uses about 1/3 of CPU of what it used to use. There also was a video posted by the Spire developers once, which showed that it used about the same amount of CPU for the same patch as in Sylenth1. Hard to say though, e.g. the effects in Spire are different to the ones in Sylenth, and most probably a bit more modern code, and better sounding, so difficult to compare.

About the tabs: Yeah. There's gotta be a compromise though between complexity and GUI space, so it's hardly makeable without tabs i guess. Most more complex synths have them. It's easier to get all the stuff on one page with the likes of Sylenth and Hive.

fluffy_little_something · Mon Dec 14, 2015 3:34 pm

Hive uses more CPU than Sylenth as well, despite U-he's claims to the contrary...

llze · Post by **llze** » Mon Dec 14, 2015 3:37 pm

fluffy_little_something wrote:Hive uses more CPU than Sylenth as well, despite U-he's claims to the contrary...

any proove?

fluffy_little_something · Mon Dec 14, 2015 3:39 pm

Suloo wrote:
fluffy_little_something wrote:Hive uses more CPU than Sylenth as well, despite U-he's claims to the contrary...

any proove?

My computer's hiccups

HcDoom · Post by **HcDoom** » Mon Dec 14, 2015 3:54 pm

I find Hives supersaw not so good...it has ugly metallic/plastic sound to it. And I have feeling that something is wrong with the attack, I played with phases, but didnt help. To me, Hive excels at simpler sounds...like dirty bass leads, simple plucks, etc...

Anyone here use Hive?