Close Menu
SUBSCRIBE
News

U-he Will Soon Release Free Zebralette 3 – Here’s What We Already Know!

By 24 Comments3 Mins Read
U-he to update a classic free synth with the coming release of Zebralette 3

U-he will update a classic free synth with the coming release of Zebra 3. Here’s what we know about the forthcoming free Zebralette 3 plugin.

U-he is one of my favorite soft synth developers, and I’ve been a fan for some time, while Repro 5 has long been the go-to for me.

Any news from U-he interests me; however, this particular news is very interesting because it involves the return of a classic and one of the best free synths ever; Zebralette 3.

Zebralette is a mainstay in our best free synth VST list, and I expect this new release to cement that position even further.

U-he showcased Zebralette 3 at Superbooth 23, and I’m ashamed to say I didn’t get any time with it.

Superbooth is organized chaos in the most beautiful way, and as much as I planned to see everything, I got lost in blissful ignorance (and headphones) with too many instruments too many times and ended up against the clock.

Our good friend, Tom from Synth Anatomy, interviewed Urs Heckmann about the forthcoming Zebralette 3.

YouTube video

I might have missed out on U-he this year, but the release of Zebralette 3 will go some way to make up for that.

I should also mention that there will be a new flagship Zebra 3 release, and as with previous years, Zebralette 3 will function as a lite version of the paid product.

Despite not having the full functionality of the paid version and just a single oscillator, Zebralette 3 is a potential game-changer in free synths. The new engine looks to be deeper and more flexible than ever, which is quite an exciting prospect.

Some exciting additions to this release are an entirely new oscillator module and a powerful built-in editor. The new oscillator module offers various synthesis types, including Wavetable, Morphing, VA, Additive, and Spline Wave.

The editor allows you to draw and manipulate waveforms in more ways than we could list, whether you want smooth morphing or absolute carnage.

Like the Zebralette 2, the new release will feature an MSEG (multi-stage envelope generator), but this one has been completely reworked to be more flexible and easier to use. As expected, Zebralette 3 will feature a bunch of oscillator effects to extend the scope of possibilities even further.

It seems like Zebralette 3 will be familiar enough to anyone who has tried previous releases, but we should be in for a surprise with the depth of its capabilities, and that’s awesome because the old one was great!

Zebralette 3 won’t be released till the end of 2023, but it’s definitely one to look forward to.

It will be available for macOS and Windows.

And lastly, don’t forget it’s the last week to grab that free Moogerfooger at Plugin Boutique.

Watch video: Zebralette 3 preview

More:

Avatar photo

James is a musician and writer from Scotland. An avid synth fan, sound designer, and coffee drinker. Sometimes found wandering around Europe with an MPC in hand.

24 Comments

    • alex

       on

      Yep, that’s what I use. One of my favorite synths ever. Also, comes with its own installer, so one doesn’t have to install the trial version of Zebra to use it (not a deal breaker, though, and I’m surely gonna try the new version when it get released). Anyways, U-he remains one of my favorite devs.

      Reply

  3. racebannon_

     on

    u-he makes some of the best damn VST instruments and effects. Next to Sylenth1, Diva is my next most used softsynth, but Zebra2 has given me the most “whoaaa that’s crazy!” reactions out of the bunch.

    Reply

  4. Prank Meteors

     on

    I really appreciate how U-he continues to support AND update(!) all of their freeware synths. They’ve been incredibly useful to me over the many years I’ve had them.

    Reply

      • Dirk

         on

        I can still use the old vst (Apache – Native American Flute, Blaque – Dark Electric Guitar) but they donot showup in my account

        Reply

    • Only Fate

       on

      DIRK, Those free plugins won’t download. You click on the download button and it redirects you to saying “Your cart is currently empty.”. I signed up with them. There’s no add to cart feature. Going to have to create a support ticket with them.

      Reply

      • Dirk

         on

        I did download them today (WIN_Toybox111_Installer 11.03 o’clock), but I had to make a new account and I used my old data (name ,,.)

        Reply

        • Only Fate

           on

          Ok, I got them to download by adding them to my cart on my cell phone. Otherwise it wasn’t working on the computer. Thanks.

          Reply

        • Dirk

           on

          Sorry I just tried to log into my account which didn’t work!!
          It’s not my side I really liked the Apache ..
          Maybe the next days they’ll fix it!!

          Reply

            • alex

               on

              It’s possible to adjust the zoom to 33% to see the whole page. However, I gave it up, because recently I’ve stopped leaving my phone number to get a free plugin (I know I don’t have to leave a real number, but that feels very wrong).

              Reply

  8. Numanoid

     on

    Puremagnetik has released Leems “a VST inspired by 1980s chip sounds, the “vertical plane” and a supernatural, unsolved mystery from the English countryside”

    It comes with the album “Leems Boyste” by Petteril and is available now on Puremagnetik’s Bandcamp page. Through June 9th get The Leems Boyste for $3 (or name-your-price).

    Reply
Leave A Reply