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Some questions about u-he Diva to those experienced
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| jsrobinson |
I've read a lot of various discussion about u-he Diva lately and have tried the demo. I still have a lot of experience to gain in sound design having used mostly Zebra so far. I'm interested in finding out if Diva might worth it in the long run. What separates it from Zebra and other choices to an experienced sound designer?
No desire to start a "this vs. that" thread, I'm simply wondering if Diva's grand claims hold any water once one gets reasonably competent with sound design.
Specifically I'm asking "What might Diva be able to accomplish that something like Zebra can't already do - if anything?" Can anyone actually reference an "analog" type sound which Diva can produce other software simply can't, or is Diva largely hype?
Thanks for any input folks :) |
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| tehlord |
Diva was created to sound 'moar analogue' and in fact is modelled from a load of old anaolgue synths.
In terms of pure sound design, Zebra will be more competent most of the time as it has more stuff in it to play with and route. Saying that, Diva will have it's own character and does sound very nice, albeit still a little sterile to my ears.
The next version of Zebra allegedly has a lot of Diva technology inside it such as filters etc so maybe wait for that if you're undecided about Diva. |
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| cryophonik |
Diva's interface is more conventional in that it has fixed parameters, whereas Zebra has a semi-modular architecture. Some people find Zebra less than intuitive because of that, but you're obviously already used to it and probably already realize the benefits of only seeing the modules that you are using.
My personal feeling on Diva (yes, I own it) is that it is a great synth, but that it is way over-hyped for how "analogue" it sounds, even by particular people over on KVR who I know for certain have little experience with real analogue gear. Not that any of that is important or should have any bearing on whether or not you should consider buying it, but I think that it is worth pointing out that much of the Diva talk is just hype.
As for the sound, tehlord nailed it IMO. The main problem I've found with it is that it has this huge sound that can consume a mix, unless you EQ it down to something that can work in busy/semi-busy mix. But, by then, it sounds like any other synth in your track, but it's using 50% or more of your CPU!!! So, it's definitely better suited for sparse mixes IMO where it can have more room to let its character come through and, hopefully, leave enough CPU for a couple of other synths. Freeze is a function that your DAW should definitely have if you're going to consider it, though.
Lastly, I think that maybe one good way of comparing the two is to go listen to Arksun's Diva and Zebra soundbanks back-to-back:
http://www.arksun-sound.com/products.html |
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