I always turn off the effects in Zebra2 and instead put it through SDRR, vocoders, speaker impulses, randomly fluttering gates, the more lo-fi Airwindows saturators and amps, notch filters, varying microdelays, etc. So I’d much rather see those kinds of things inside Zebra3, so that I could run them on a per voice basis and before Zebra’s filters when needed.

All the new oscillator and modulation source “craziness” is likely to be unnecessary in my work. In the Zebra2 factory presets and the third party soundbanks I have, 80% of the sounds are too obnoxious and cheap to use in anything except obnoxious music, which I don’t make. And it’s always because of too much “crazy” modulation instead of tasteful, subtle character.

I will of course eagerly buy Zebra3 the moment it’s out. I’m sure the improved filters alone will be worth the price. And perhaps they’ll have done some magic with the physical modelling. I loved the comb filter in Zebra2. Spent months learning it inside and out, making hundreds of presets from koras to basses to plucks to frame drums. Great fun. But ultimately there’s no character or grit to the comb filter, and even the most rudimentary recorded kora, bass or frame drum samples beat Zebra2 every time and end up in my songs instead. Even Zebra’s plucks usually get replaced by palm-muted string instruments, prepared pianos, kalimbas, rulers, popsicle sticks or pizzicatos, because they’re just so much more delicious and substantial than a physical modelling synth, so far. Perhaps Zebra3 will do better? I’m cheering them on!

Zebralette 3 has been in talk for many years now. I did not attend Superbooth 2021 because of the global pandemic. However, U-HE definitely showed off Zebralette 3 at Superbooth 2022 already. The UI back then was a blend of green and gray, and did not feature the keyboard section. Users that were interested, could check out the “alpha build” (which was more than stable!) without any restrictions and it was among the biggest booth magnet for two years in row.

Also, this is not a mere update”, it is a whole different thing.

P.S. The CPU usage is also on another level.