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Diva, Zebra 2 or Dark Zebra?

DivingInSpace

Senior Member
Hi everyone. I have been eyeing the U-he synths for quite a while, but because of how rarely they go on sale, I haven't been able to convince myself to spend that kind of money on a new synth. After having worked a fair bit over the summer, and moved to a cheaper apartment recently, I might just be able to afford it with the 25% coupon and everything.

I have toned it down to three possibilities after playing around with some demoes: Diva, Zebra or Zebra+ Dark Zebra. I have mostly been playing around with Diva, Repro and Zebra demoes and found them all great, but Repro lacking compared to the two others. The sound demo of Dark Zebra sounds awesome too, but is pretty damned expensive (imo).

I already have a bunch of synths of cause, including the stock Logic Pro synths, my go to synth Serum, Synthmaster One + 2.9 and the ones included in komplete 11, but none of them actually seems to come close to either of the two U-he synths.

I really like Diva's analog feel, it is sooo nice and would be perfect for the occasional synthwave track I write, but Zebra and Dark Zebra sounds really great for cinematic purposes, with price being the downside. Also, the fact that Dark Zebra, a soundest and a couple of filters, cost $100 sounds pretty crazy to me. Is it really worth it, and does it make that much of a difference? What are the pro's and cones of each, and which one is your personal favorite?

How do I decide? Please send help.
 
It's worth the $100 to be able to study Zimmer's sound design.

That is a great point, I didn't think about it that way!

Also, afaik …. Zebra2 + Dark Zebra now gets you Zebra3 Update at no cost. This was still valid within last 24 hrs.

That doesn't sound half bad actually.

I am starting to consider biting the bullet and maybe even get all three, depending on how everything looks in a August, but that might just be me going crazy from listening to the demoes for the unfinished's soundsets for all three.
 
Well, my 2c worth, if I had to choose just the one from those listed I’d get Z2. Can always add Dark Zebra later ($99 iirc). Z2 sounds amazing and is extremely capable even without the Diva filters of DZ. My feeling is Z2 is more flexible than Diva, that’s why I’d go that way. However you already have several synths and maybe Diva offers something really different to what you already have?

Diva is special though. Such lovey sounds. I only have the demo at the moment but I was testing it out again a couple of days ago and it’s glorious. That voucher is burning a hole in my pocket. ...:cool:

Not sure if you’ve checked the impact of both options on your CPU/RAM?

Can I also make a suggestion while you’re demoing. Get some free soundsets from third parties and test them out in both options (Z2 and Diva).
U-he have some on their website but also take a look at @TheUnfinished, @hollo (hollow sounds) and @Jaap (triple spiral audio) who have some free sample sets to try out.
 
That is a great point, I didn't think about it that way!



That doesn't sound half bad actually.

I am starting to consider biting the bullet and maybe even get all three, depending on how everything looks in a August, but that might just be me going crazy from listening to the demoes for the unfinished's soundsets for all three.
Listening to @TheUnfinished demos should have a disclaimer with it ;)
WARNING: Purchasing required products inevitable after listening...

He does some awesome soundsets, so much so, that I don't really have anyone else's :grin:
 
Well, my 2c worth, if I had to choose just the one from those listed I’d get Z2. Can always add Dark Zebra later ($99 iirc). Z2 sounds amazing and is extremely capable even without the Diva filters of DZ. My feeling is Z2 is more flexible than Diva, that’s why I’d go that way. However you already have several synths and maybe Diva offers something really different to what you already have?

Diva is special though. Such lovey sounds. I only have the demo at the moment but I was testing it out again a couple of days ago and it’s glorious. That voucher is burning a hole in my pocket. ...:cool:

Not sure if you’ve checked the impact of both options on your CPU/RAM?

Can I also make a suggestion while you’re demoing. Get some free soundsets from third parties and test them out in both options (Z2 and Diva).
U-he have some on their website but also take a look at @TheUnfinished, @hollo (hollow sounds) and @Jaap (triple spiral audio) who have some free sample sets to try out.
Ahh those DIVA filters :)
Like melted butter on salmon crumpets with cream cheese (I think)...
 
That is a great point, I didn't think about it that way!



That doesn't sound half bad actually.

I am starting to consider biting the bullet and maybe even get all three, depending on how everything looks in a August, but that might just be me going crazy from listening to the demoes for the unfinished's soundsets for all three.
I should have paid more attention to the thread and I would see that you are already looking at Matt's sound sets. Good o. Most (?all) of the Z2 sound sets and some of the Diva ones have tasters to download and see what works best for your needs.
 
However you already have several synths and maybe Diva offers something really different to what you already have?

Diva is special though. Such lovey sounds. I only have the demo at the moment but I was testing it out again a couple of days ago and it’s glorious. That voucher is burning a hole in my pocket. ...:cool:

Yeah, i feel like the analog sound is something i am missing, and i really dig character of Diva! The CPU/RAM footprint seems to be manageable for my MacBook Pro. Zebra does seem really cool too though, and just the fact that there is so many well designed presets to reverse engineer could be a great factor for me to learn the more cinematic side of sounddesign though!

I should have paid more attention to the thread and I would see that you are already looking at Matt's sound sets. Good o. Most (?all) of the Z2 sound sets and some of the Diva ones have tasters to download and see what works best for your needs.

I don't have any of the above mentioned synths, but have listened to some of the Unfinished's soundsets to hear what the different synths are capable of, so don't worry you got it right the first time haha.
 
Matt his work for Zebra 2 and Diva really show what is capable with that synth and also you should check out the stuff from Pulsesetter, they really did some amazing things with Zebra, going a completely different way and making really great complex stuff with loads of richness.



And that is the beauty of Zebra 2 and the Dark Zebra, it can lead you to so many paths, whether it is ambient or EDM, cinematic or even nature sounding as you check out in Fred Nongat his demo for a new Zebra set



And also did something less cinematic a while ago



But then again Diva is also great and amazing, but much more pure analog fun!

 
Is the 25% off sale still valid and if so, how does one obtain the coupon code ? (my apologies for what's probably a dumb question).
 
in the past i hesitated for a long time to buy zebra2. i thought the concept was good, but the factory sounds of the demo version did not fit my sound world. it was not until zebraHZ/dark zebra was released that i decided to buy zebra2 because the sound hit my taste. that's how i found out how extremely versatile zebra2 is, and how many musical genres you can cover with it. it is the most versatile synth of u-he.
diva is wonderful. more versatile than repro. diva does better analog sounds than zebra in some areas. ...but with a limited budget, one should consider whether these differences is worth sacrificing more flexibility. how many times will you hear in a full mix the difference between an analog pad, horn, etc. from zebra and diva? .....of course, if you have the money, it is best to own both. :)
 
in the past i hesitated for a long time to buy zebra2. i thought the concept was good, but the factory sounds of the demo version did not fit my sound world. it was not until zebraHZ/dark zebra was released that i decided to buy zebra2 because the sound hit my taste. that's how i found out how extremely versatile zebra2 is, and how many musical genres you can cover with it. it is the most versatile synth of u-he.
diva is wonderful. more versatile than repro. diva does better analog sounds than zebra in some areas. ...but with a limited budget, one should consider whether these differences is worth sacrificing more flexibility. how many times will you hear in a full mix the difference between an analog pad, horn, etc. from zebra and diva? .....of course, if you have the money, it is best to own both. :)

Naïve 'synth' question and truly trying to understand. If I move ahead with Zebra2 & Dark Zebra ( with the oft stated Diva filters ), what are other salient Diva details which encourage its purchase as well ? :barefoot:
 
Yeah, i feel like the analog sound is something i am missing, and i really dig character of Diva! The CPU/RAM footprint seems to be manageable for my MacBook Pro. Zebra does seem really cool too though, and just the fact that there is so many well designed presets to reverse engineer could be a great factor for me to learn the more cinematic side of sounddesign though!



I don't have any of the above mentioned synths, but have listened to some of the Unfinished's soundsets to hear what the different synths are capable of, so don't worry you got it right the first time haha.
I thought you were using demo versions of Zebra (Z2) and Diva? If so, you can still use the small test sets from 3rd parties to explore further capabilities. However, iirc Zebra demo does this crazy thing where it messes with the pitch of notes after a while. Makes it difficult to test like that. Im not sure if the demo still does that. As others have said though Z2 is very versatile and can cover many genres and can get very complex. It’s wonderful.
 
Naïve 'synth' question and truly trying to understand. If I move ahead with Zebra2 & Dark Zebra ( with the oft stated Diva filters ), what are other salient Diva details which encourage its purchase as well ? :barefoot:
For me, it’s the sound of Diva that makes it special. Z2 has greater capabilities as a synth and also sounds beautiful. Try the demos if you haven’t already as sound is so very subjective.
 
Naïve 'synth' question and truly trying to understand. If I move ahead with Zebra2 & Dark Zebra ( with the oft stated Diva filters ), what are other salient Diva details which encourage its purchase as well ? :barefoot:

the concept of zebra is that of an extremely versatile synth. in addition, it can sound pretty analog. diva's concept is to exactly emulate the modules of different old analog synths. you can then combine these. the focus is therefore different for both.
 
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