# U-he Synths - how big and demanding are they really?



## PeterKorcek (Apr 6, 2015)

Hi, I'm sorry, but can't find any info about this on the net, especially the first part, i.e. the filesize of the synths - on u-he's website it says 30MB space whatever synth I click on and there is no real info anywhere to be found.

About the second, it says everywhere how CPU hungry it can be even though you can scale the intensity. I would like to install the synths on my slave computer as it is quite powerful (have there EW Hollywood Series installed + Omnisphere) - specs are i7 4930 6-core, all SSDS, 64GB RAM 1866MHz.

Should I install Diva on separate SSD or I can put them all on 1 disk, even with Omnisphere let's say? What is the "usual" CPU hit with several rich, polyphonic patches of Diva and Zebra?

I know I ask generally, but I just want to get at least rough idea about the CPU usage, thank you very much for the info 8) 

(o)


----------



## Tanuj Tiku (Apr 6, 2015)

SSD has no role to play with synths unless its something like Omnisphere with lots of sample content. 

Even then I have not had any problems with running Omnisphere on conventional hard drives for years. You could speed up loading but its good enough for me. 

Diva and Zebra will hit only your CPU. Zebra over all is fine, you can run multiple instances without any issues even in some very demanding situations.

Several instances of Diva playing rich polyphonic chords will however punish your CPU.

It is the most demanding synth I have ever used but the results are stellar, unlike any other synth. 

Not to say, it just won't work. I can run 25 instances with 8 reverbs loaded for VSL, 40GB RAM footprint, about 90% on UAD, about 80 more plug ins in cubase of various kinds, including 3-6 instances of B2 reverb (which is very heavy). 

At this point, the CPU will feel the heat but it still works really well. 

The thing is, you can have multiple instances of Diva - I once had 30 of them in one project but if you play more than 5-7 at a time with lots of other things loaded like the ones I mentioned, it will crush your CPU. 

But, my 6-core is older - 3930K. It is however overclocked to 4.2 Ghz so it can really take a beating. 

It all depends on how complex your synth work is. It also depends on the type of patches and programming with in-built effects. 

I like to layer my percussion with synth white noise percussion a lot. So in a hybrid situation the CPU will be stressed. 

Use the multi-core option and use the draft setting with best setting for offline render. It does really make a difference!

For most situations, your CPU will not break a sweat at all but if you go crazy, Diva will be the first to hit your CPU. But at the end of the day, nothing sounds like it. What I am trying to say is that, this should not discourage you to buy Diva. You can simply print a few tracks and you are ready to go further. Again, it depends on how complex your synth work is. 

Otherwise, it works like a charm - never crashed on me. 


Tanuj.


----------



## PeterKorcek (Apr 6, 2015)

great info TT, thanks very much! and what about the installation size - how much disk space these synths eat up?


----------



## Tanuj Tiku (Apr 6, 2015)

Can't be more than 30MB as stated on their website! The zipped download is only 25MB!

In my VST folder, it shows about 8MB. There may be some files elsewhere. 


Tanuj.


----------



## PeterKorcek (Apr 6, 2015)

thanks - - - that is quite curious, at least to me, that only couple of MB can be potentially devastating to the CPU 

anyway, thanks for help


----------



## Tanuj Tiku (Apr 6, 2015)

Yes, it depends on what you are using. For sample libraries it is streaming from the disc and loading it up in RAM.

For all synths which have no sample library and things like Sample Modeling, it is the CPU that has to do the work. 

Enjoy your purchase! If you like creating your own synth sounds, you will be pleasantly surprised with both Zebra and Diva. 


Tanuj.


----------



## JohnG (Apr 6, 2015)

For some kinds of cues, I am using 40-60 instances of Zebra and Dark Zebra, not all playing at once, but all loaded and available. On playback, no real idea exactly how many voices it's taking but quite a lot, including reverbs, delays etc. I use an old 2008 macintosh so it's definitely not that demanding.

Tanuj may be talking more about Diva or some of the other u-he synths when he alludes to CPU stress -- I don't know. I hear they are awesome though.


----------



## anp27 (Apr 6, 2015)

u-He stuff generally aren't very demanding but with Diva being the exception. Zebra in particular is extremely friendly on the resources. Dark Zebra, because it uses Diva's filter can be a little more demanding depending on the patch of course. Some heavy Zebra patches can also be quite demanding but on the whole it is very efficient while still sounding great... one of the main reasons I use it a lot.


----------



## Fleer (Apr 6, 2015)

The new u-he Hive synth promises to be very cpu-friendly.


----------



## tokatila (Apr 6, 2015)

I have Diva, both Zebras and the new Hive.

In terms of CPU usage.

Diva > ZebraHZ > Zebra2 > Hive. 

Seriously Diva in divine mode is brutal. But as stated before you can use the "draft" mode while composing and put it to "divine" mode only when rendering. 

I have i5 - 3550 overclocked to around 4 gHz and can't layer (meaning playing together simultaneously) too many ZebraHZs and especially Divas without overheating my CPU. Can't give you exact number though.


----------



## Simon Ravn (Apr 7, 2015)

Bazille seems to be the CPU hog of all their synths. I tried a patch that with just a few notes brought a 3Ghz+ core to its knees. But that's pretty rare. All their synths are top notch IMHO so I don't mind them being CPU hungry (although Zebra isn't too bad, I have no problems using 10 different patches at the same time - depending on their complexity of course).

Haven't bought Bazille or HIVE yet but I am tempted, especially by Bazille.


----------



## doctornine (Apr 7, 2015)

Yeah I can concur on that - Bazille is the cpu hog of the uHe family.

Major strain on my machine, but worth it 

The others are pretty much no problem, even Diva is okay if you work in Draft mode.


----------



## Gerhard Westphalen (Apr 7, 2015)

On my computer which has a powerful 6 core xeon at 3.33ghz I can see movement in the asio meter in cubase when I play a zebra patch. I don't really see any movement with anything else so I think it really does use a lot more processing power than most synths. I'm not sure how many patches I'd be able to simultaneously run. With the extremely processor intensive patches, maybe 10. I'm scared to try running it on my laptop.


----------



## tmm (Apr 7, 2015)

When running at highest quality, it's

Diva >> Bazille >> ZebraHZ > Zebra2 > Hive

The thing that can put Diva ahead of Bazille is that it has better user ability to control the CPU usage. Bazille just has a HQ / not switch (which does make a difference).

Running in lowest CPU / quality mode, it switches to:

Bazille >> Diva / ZebraHZ > Zebra2 > Hive

Even in non-HQ mode, Bazille can get nasty, depending on the patch / polyphony. I'm not really sure if Diva or ZebraHZ is heavier once Diva is in draft mode.

I tend to write a lot with multiple instances of Diva in draft mode. When I'm ready for stems, I do solo / small groups in Divine mode.

Diva is plenty friendly in draft mode, and the sound quality / tone is to die for (even in draft mode, but especially in great / Divine mode).


----------



## Living Fossil (Apr 7, 2015)

Ok, there's a lot of information here so far, but there are some things to be said:

First of all, you can't generalize the CPU hit of Zebra and Bazille.
Depending on what you are doing, it can be between very low, or even much higher than DIVA's hit.
That's simply because of their (quasi) modular nature.
I've met Zebra sounds that burn the CPU with just one voice played; and there are Diva sounds that don't really hurt.

Then there has to be said that Diva has been optimized quite a bit in the meantime.
But still it is - at least for me - a synth that normally carries the duties that need the "extra-quality". 

ACE hasn't been mentioned so far.
Like Diva it has different quality settings.
There were situations were sounds were fantastic at low settings and totally lost their charme in high quality mode.
So be sure to check out the different settings.
If the sounds are cruel to your CPU, bounce them in place as soon as it's possible.
Since you can keep the instance bypassed, you still can make changes whenever they suit your needs.

Hive is new, but still beta.
It's low CPU demand is relative. Depending on what you're doing, it's high.
It's labelled "low" because on an other synth, the same voice architecture (with massive supersaws) could be even more demanding.)

Anyhow, those synths have one thing in common: they all sound great.
And one thing that makes them really appealing for me is the fact that their sound merges really well with orchestral sounds.


----------



## Tanuj Tiku (Apr 7, 2015)

I have not yet bought Bazille. 

But basically, it comes down to how many instances are going to play back at the same time in a passage and the complexity of the patch. 

Under average circumstances that is to say - moderate reverb processing, your basic eqs and some compressors will not break the CPU.

Draft mode does not sound that great to me. The presence and low end seem to have the most effect between different settings. I doubt you will ever be able to run in divine mode even under average circumstances beyond a few instances. The middle setting works best for me as a compromise. 

Of course, higher clock speed will help. Stock CPU speed will yield different results. I am running at 4.2 Ghz (overclocked) 6-cores which maintains an average CPU temp of 24-28 degrees under low stress, 35-40 under medium, 40-50 under high and it will touch 60 degrees under the most extreme situations momentarily. 

From my experience, Zebra is way more CPU friendly than Diva. I am guessing its the filters. And that is what is giving part of the sound to Diva. I believe it was modeled after Hans Zimmer's moog modular filter. 

Printing will be necessary when it gets insane in there 

So, in the end I guess mostly the same points everyone else has made! Ok...Its 5:30 in the morning here...just wrapped up for the day!


Tanuj.


----------



## synthpunk (Apr 7, 2015)

Didn't I read Hans has a dedicated Uhe Slave with hundreds of instances ? Would be interesting to see the specs on that machine.




Tanuj Tiku @ Tue Apr 07 said:


> I have not yet bought Bazille.
> 
> But basically, it comes down to how many instances are going to play back at the same time in a passage and the complexity of the patch.
> 
> ...


----------



## PeterKorcek (Apr 8, 2015)

its slightly off-topic but do not want to start another thread...

Does anyone use these synths on slave computer with VEP? how is the automation for you, are there any problems, or even problems with basic functionality? I would like to have these synths on my slave to take off the CPU burden from my master. thanks


----------



## synthpunk (Apr 8, 2015)

Are you sure Tanuj ? My instances of Reaktor seem to load allot quick from SSD than USB3, but that may one of the exception like you said with Omni.



Tanuj Tiku @ Mon Apr 06 said:


> SSD has no role to play with synths unless its something like Omnisphere with lots of sample content.
> 
> Even then I have not had any problems with running Omnisphere on conventional hard drives for years. You could speed up loading but its good enough for me.
> 
> ...


----------



## zvenx (Apr 8, 2015)

It would load quicker, but afaik unless it is streaming it won't operate better.
rsp


----------



## windyweekend (Nov 28, 2017)

PeterKorcek said:


> its slightly off-topic but do not want to start another thread...
> 
> Does anyone use these synths on slave computer with VEP? how is the automation for you, are there any problems, or even problems with basic functionality? I would like to have these synths on my slave to take off the CPU burden from my master. thanks


Two years late to the conversation, but would love to know the answer to this. Just picked up Zebra and plan on VEPing it....


----------



## synthpunk (Nov 28, 2017)

We now have a Virtual Synth Forum here as well btw...
https://vi-control.net/community/forums/virtual-synths-omnisphere-u-he-reaktor-etc.131/

Depends greatly on your machine really. Zebra2 & Hive should fine in most cases.

Zebra HZ, Diva, Bazille & RePro-1/5 are more cpu intensive and benefit from Multicore on, The Draft/Good modes, HQ off, ZZZ mode on, etc.

Experiment with number of cores in VEP. I no longer use it and cannot remember if having multicores selected helps Zebra2 performance in your DAW or not.


----------



## windyweekend (Nov 28, 2017)

synthpunk said:


> We now have a Virtual Synth Forum here as well btw...
> https://vi-control.net/community/forums/virtual-synths-omnisphere-u-he-reaktor-etc.131/
> 
> Depends greatly on your machine really. Zebra2 & Hive should fine in most cases.
> ...


Ok. Thanks. Will try it out. Was more worried that it wouldn't play nice at all, rather than performance.


----------

