Ableton Forum

Hey guys. I'm feeling the itch to dump another load of cash onto a softsynth to play with. I've already got a ton of toys but don't have...

Synplant -- gimmick, or great???

Zebra2 -- just basic bread&butter (and thereby redundant when I have fm8, absynth, sylenth1, operator, massive...) or something special??

I'm fond of both companies because I have&love MicroTonic and also have&love Uhbik......so I'm happy to support either, but not feeling financially self-destructive enough at the moment to buy both. sooo, which do you have? how much do you really use it? what do you find yourself doing the most with it?

thanks, as always -M

As much as I love and still use Microtonic, I have no love for synplant. To me, I can make interesting random sounds by breeding patches in Crystal.

So it has to be Z2 all the way, new worlds await

Kodama wrote: So it has to be Z2 all the way, new worlds await

but is Z2 more than just a VA style synth? what will it do for me that sylenth1 and all my NI softsynths won't do? Or is it just so good that I need it among the collection....just want to hear some opinions&hype
-M

Tough call. Z2 is definitely the more versatile, and I daresay better sounding (define better though). However, Synplant is probably the most fun I've ever had with a softsynth, I love that someone finally broke free the tired old synthesis methods and really forces you to listen to get good results (and I love the random nature of it). Oh yeah, it looks like a pot plant too.

if it has to be one or the other I'd go with zebra since you can do more with it, but if I were you I'd go for both since synplant is a really unique way of easily creating very interesting sounds.

Zebra all the way. Zebra definitely doesn't sound like anything from NI, and for that reason is a great compliment to Absynth and Massive etc. Zebra's filters are for lack of a better word, warmer and more rounded sounding than anything else really. Urs did a spot on imitation of the Little Phatty with his old school lowpass for instance.


Personally I find I end up making really other worldly organs, and semi percussive sounds, along with straight weird stuff with it. Synplant I seriously doubt is as deep as Zebra, some guy made a really good sounding violin with just Zebra's comb filter for instance.

I've met Urs IRL and the man is straight up a good person, as well as interesting and creative. Your money is well spent feeding his drinking habit!

Zebra is the most versatile and one of if not THE best sounding soft synth out there imho... it just depends how deep you want to get. Synplant seemed a bit random to me tho i know people that love it. There are demos for both, give em a whirl man

catalyst wrote:Zebra is the most versatile and one of if not THE best sounding soft synth out there imho... it just depends how deep you want to get. Synplant seemed a bit random to me tho i know people that love it. There are demos for both, give em a whirl man

Zebra2 defenitely , is really versatile and with lots of posibilities.


yes Z2 !

serious synplant lover right here. that thing has loads of character.

same here, i love synplant, fantastic bit of kit.

and whilst zebra is highly rated and very versatile i just didnt like its sound, always feels like its just lacking in character.

best to try the demos and take it from there.

Synplant is the one.
Total new way of creating sounds.

for me its synplant as well.. I never got on with Zebra

Depends what you're looking for...

Zebra: deep, versatile, great sounding, covers the bread 'n' butter with ease.

Synplant: inspiring, fun, quirky, unique yet highly useful sounds (ymmv depending on genre).

My choice would be Synplant simply because I'm well covered for basic and deep synths. Synplant is fresh.

Because of the random nature of synplant, its best to get it AFTER you're already sorted with traditional synths that offer direct sound manipulation. Synplant is great fun and gets you tons of interesting stuff, but it is RANDOM. Even if you edit the DNA, you cant modulate the DNA parameters. The branches do it randomly. Its a good thing to come up with fun stuff but if you want a specific sound you'll have to rely on traditional synths first. Zebra is among the best out there so get that first, then consider synplant

mholloway wrote:Hey guys. I'm feeling the itch to dump another load of cash onto a softsynth to play with. I've already got a ton of toys but don't have...

Synplant -- gimmick, or great???

Zebra2 -- just basic bread&butter (and thereby redundant when I have fm8, absynth, sylenth1, operator, massive...) or something special??

You've got pretty much the same synths as I do. Though I've had lots of synths and bought and sold various ones, NI Komplete has been with me a while and I still consider it the creme of the crop. But the three main synths that I have found to be worth having in addition to Komplete 5, are Sylenth1, Alchemy, and Zebra2.

When Zebra2 came out, what really got me was the modularity of it, and the potential to make hybrid sounds that were like crosses between physical modelling and digital synthesis. It has this special character that is sharper than my other synths, so I just had to have it. It always sits well in a mix. It stands cuts through without overpowering things. So basically, you can't go wrong there, zebra2 is always a worthwhile addition. But...

I tried synplant for a while and though I never ended up buying it, I still think it's frickin' cool. I really didn't buy it because I don't want to expand my synth collection any more, but the low cpu use and fun sound design of it still appeals to me. Sometimes you want to find new sounds but not necessarily have to program or go through presets forever.

So you have to ask yourself, do I want to learn a new modular monster which will overlap a fair bit with your existing synths (although still have huge possibilities and its' own sound quality) or have a new fun toy which really doesn't have any overlap with what you have and yields instant results.

Oh shit, I think I might have just convinced myself to buy synplant. Crap.