Well, there is certain kind of sounds based on Virus specific implementation of FM, which no soft synth other than Viper can exactly reproduce. Check the presets Nano, Collision, HNO3 and H2SO4 in Viper factory bank 3. Such sounds were very important in psytrance in the 00s. That's what really makes Viper special for me.
If we talk strictly about the features, Viper has cross-osc FM, vowel filter and global unison, which Hive doesnt have. Hive has real wavetables which Viper doesnt have.
u-he Hive 1.2 - free update - adds wavetables and more
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- KVRAF
- 5664 posts since 7 Feb, 2013
You may think you can fly ... but you better not try
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- Banned
- 11467 posts since 4 Jan, 2017 from Warsaw, Poland
Why oh why did you do this?! Now I need to get those Bazille and Zebra2 skins.
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- KVRAF
- 5664 posts since 7 Feb, 2013
Uhe has very strong fanbase at kvr, take this into account.
Dune3 is very good. There are certain important improvements from v2, like the new filters and some other things. If you have v2, i would say upgrading to v3 is your best bet.
You may think you can fly ... but you better not try
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- u-he
- Topic Starter
- 28067 posts since 8 Aug, 2002 from Berlin
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- Banned
- 11467 posts since 4 Jan, 2017 from Warsaw, Poland
Indeed, their filters are remarkable - I have Dune2, The Legend and Antidote (RE) and they do sound special: very creamy, warm and thick.recursive one wrote: ↑Fri Dec 14, 2018 9:38 pmDune3 is very good. There are certain important improvements from v2, like the new filters and some other things. If you have v2, i would say upgrading to v3 is your best bet.
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- Banned
- 11467 posts since 4 Jan, 2017 from Warsaw, Poland
And what would YOU recommend, Urs?
BTW, on old website there was a page with 3rd party skins & presets, but can't find it now. Is it gone?
Last edited by antic604 on Fri Dec 14, 2018 9:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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- KVRAF
- 25481 posts since 3 Feb, 2005 from in the wilds
The Uhm scripts are something special! There is an appealing sound quality to them. And yeah, they are really powerful... a skilled person can almost make a little synth right in the script.
I have no intention of ever making scripts. I'm happily making good use of them though.
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- KVRist
- 429 posts since 4 Jun, 2018 from The UK
I had a lot of fun having a go at learning the UHM script when the preview came out. It's actually surprisingly simple/easy to get started using the pdf and looking at the examples and presets. It's quite immediate and you can get a lot of interesting results from experimenting and changing numbers even if you don't completely understand the formulaspdxindy wrote: ↑Fri Dec 14, 2018 10:59 pm The Uhm scripts are something special! There is an appealing sound quality to them. And yeah, they are really powerful... a skilled person can almost make a little synth right in the script.
I have no intention of ever making scripts. I'm happily making good use of them though.
Having some scripting experience definitely helps get your head around things.
I made a bunch of wavetables but not even any patches or music with them. So many possibilities, and I mostly seem to be drawn to making interesting sounds
I mostly took a break from it because I wanted to make some music, so started doing the One Synth Challenge! I think the restrictions and simpler synths are helping me while I learn everything for production, and not just playing with synths
Hive is one of my favourite synths, I sort of wish during my GAS phase that I started with it and stuck with it
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- KVRAF
- 2675 posts since 14 Jul, 2005 from Australia
Like many here, I also own DUNE 2 and was considering upgrading to DUNE 3, and will absolutely admit it is a great sounding synth. But ultimately, from the time I installed HIVE 1.2, I just can't help sitting here and programming presets in it. The two synths are a world apart in terms of usability and throughout the years I've owned DUNE 2, I've surprisingly never actually used it in a production. I've always gone to Spire, Massive, Sylenth, Zebra, Omnisphere or HIVE first.
HIVE has also got really usable presets for real production work. The DUNE presets are so impressive but often feel more like demos of how the synth can sound layered (due to its 8 layers).
When I did my demo track for HIVE (Sonic Element - Beehive), I actually managed to produce the entire track (excluding the kick drum and a few cymbals) with HIVE alone, including the percussion. Now that it has wavetables, it could easily be used for cinematic music too.
When it all is said and done, this is totally a matter of personal taste though
HIVE has also got really usable presets for real production work. The DUNE presets are so impressive but often feel more like demos of how the synth can sound layered (due to its 8 layers).
When I did my demo track for HIVE (Sonic Element - Beehive), I actually managed to produce the entire track (excluding the kick drum and a few cymbals) with HIVE alone, including the percussion. Now that it has wavetables, it could easily be used for cinematic music too.
When it all is said and done, this is totally a matter of personal taste though
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- u-he
- Topic Starter
- 28067 posts since 8 Aug, 2002 from Berlin
Let's pretend you didn't already know
I read all those threads about the other synths and the this vs. that, and my impression is
- people seem to get all hung up on features.
- nobody talks about sound quality.
- people always want more visual feedback, but it's often too much when they get it.
- a lot of arguments about one-touch-compositions, not much talk about playability and presets one can actually make music with.
- on a positive note: People respect usability a lot more than appearance these days.
(Of course, some synths, e.g. Serum, offer ways to create additonal steps inbetween waveforms - some might even automatically render extra frames into memory - but this isn't what this is about. This is about how synths interpolate waveforms in realtime!)
We've tried to incorporate it into our new website, but this somehow got stuck. It's still available under https://u-he.com/PatchLibBTW, on old website there was a page with 3rd party skins & presets, but can't find it now. Is it gone?
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- KVRist
- 235 posts since 5 Jan, 2018 from Asheville, NC, USA
This. i'd be fine with a three knob synth with the engine of Zebra or Serum. Though it's a little funny hearing this from the guy who made Zebra...there is no end to that thing.
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- u-he
- Topic Starter
- 28067 posts since 8 Aug, 2002 from Berlin
Hehehe, I knew someone would say that, but I can easily point out that Zebra is all about economics - even if it may seem different at first glance. In a time when some people added one LFO for each knob and a dozen envelopes for half the amount of audio modules, Zebra offered a large, non-redundant diversity of synthesis techniques with a very limited (and ultimately sufficient) number of envelopes and LFOs, and a UI which made this manageable. The trick was to make the workflow task based. So unlike layer based synths, it has all "layers" or "elements" of a patch in the racks at once, but anything you'd work on (a task) would be visible at the same time, with very few exceptions.voidhead23 wrote: ↑Sat Dec 15, 2018 4:13 amit's a little funny hearing this from the guy who made Zebra...there is no end to that thing.
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- KVRist
- 235 posts since 5 Jan, 2018 from Asheville, NC, USA
Ah, that's a really good explanation. i'm not a synth guy, and find Zebra extremely easy to work with even considering its depth.Urs wrote: ↑Sat Dec 15, 2018 4:23 am ...but I can easily point out that Zebra is all about economics - even if it may seem different at first glance. In a time when some people added one LFO for each knob and a dozen envelopes for half the amount of audio modules, Zebra offered a large, non-redundant diversity of synthesis techniques with a very limited (and ultimately sufficient) number of envelopes and LFOs, and a UI which made this manageable. The trick was to make the workflow task based. So unlike layer based synths, it has all "layers" or "elements" of a patch in the racks at once, but anything you'd work on (a task) would be visible at the same time, with very few exceptions.
Anyway, this thread is about Hive. Still working my way through the update and evaluating, and haven't been able to test it in a song yet. Hive is still an oddball for me. i rarely start a song with it in mind but constantly reach for it while writing. i think the wavetable addition also fits snugly into Hive's sound and character, instead of changing it radically. Great work.
