Other than Sample Import...

[strav100]

No point in bright oscillators - can't hear 'em unless you are a labrador.

[Urs]

If you have Cameleon - er.. no choice - Alchemy is waaayy cheaper

We're still in the u-he forum so we're all biased

(I'll traditionally wear my Camel Audio t-shirt during NAMM show though)

[glokraw]

What sold me on Zebra is the way it sounds.

snip

There's something about the unmistakable Zebra sound that grabs me and I can recognize it in someone's mix after about 1 bar.

snip

Urs has figured out how detune reverb and add unison to it
Nothing will sound like it until the chicoms kidnap him, and do the
mindmeld thing

[Vectorman]

I have messed a bit with the Brightness OSC FX and it doesn't really sound to me like it extends the frequency response higher, but rather accentuates frequencies towards the top portion of the oscillators' existing frequency curve. It doesn't sound like it forces the rolloff to suddenly slide higher up in the spectrum. I've never taken measurements with a scope, but it sounds to me like Z2's oscillators roll off a lot after maybe 10KHz at the most (anyone who HAS used a scope, or Urs himself, obviously, could correct me on that - that's just a rough guess). I may not be a Labrador, but I do think I can hear a bit higher than 10KHz, LOL. As I've noted, a lot of the time you don't even want all that top end on synth sounds because it would fight with other things - but for those times you do want it, it could be useful.

Granted, just a shift in frequency response alone would not automatically encompass and make redundant the sound of the other VA-type synths I occasionally throw into the mix for variety (there are obviously many differences in the approach to the coding of their oscillators and filters that result in an overall different "personality"). It's not that different from why I still occasionally throw a Wavestation or PPG 2.V sound into a mix even though Zebra has the wavetable sweeping category well covered...it's just a different color for the palette.

[JPTinAshland]

An update, just FYI - I went ahead and bought Zebra 2. ( after considering the discussion here, and working with the demo quite a bit )...

I'm thinking this will be "it" for me for awhile ; I hate the thought of compiling endless amounts of VSTis ( or AUs, as I'm a Mac Pro user ), and resist as much as humanly possible to add tons of these things. Seems like all of the guys I read about that have hundreds of these things, most of the time, neglect many of them, and just use two or three of them all the time, while the others are wasted money and end up just sitting on the hard drive.

To date, I have the Logic Studio Pro ( and all the VIs that are included ), Kontakt 3 & 2, Albino 2, impOSCar, Minimonsta, and now Zebra 2. The only piece of hardware I use now is the Yamaha Motif ES8 ( for sounds and the controller ).

I'm needing to make this collection, "it". ( Meaning, I want to make these work for whatever music I do, which is mainly orchestral soundtrack / Broadway show scoring, and smooth-jazz ).

So that's it - the LAST VI I buy. I really want to mean it this time. But for some reason, I remember myself saying that phrase before, and not too long ago.

A satisfied, new Zebra 2 owner,
JT.

[Ogg Vorbis]

So that's it - the LAST VI I buy. I really want to mean it this time. But for some reason, I remember myself saying that phrase before, and not too long ago.

A satisfied, new Zebra 2 owner,
JT.

Spoken like a true addict. Admit it, you're powerless over plug-ins and your life has become unmanageable.

[kodama]

If you have Cameleon - er.. no choice - Alchemy is waaayy cheaper

Maybe, but you can't even demo the thing yet....

If I bought every hyped-up synth with exciting teasers & videos, I wouldn't be able to pay rent! But only a few of those made me go for it.

BTW - Zebra came out with almost no hype - unlike Uhbik

[streifentier]

So that's it - the LAST VI I buy.

I really want to mean it this time.

"I really WANT TO MEAN it." means:
--> "I really try to mean it."
--> "I really mean to try it."
--> "I think I should try it."
--> "I really WAS trying it."
--> "At least I tried to try it."
Well, congrats to buying Zebra. It's a great, "very-good-sounding" synth, with a vast amount of great patches available (both free an commercial).

[mellotronaut]

So that's it - the LAST VI I buy.

I really want to mean it this time.

"I really WANT TO MEAN it." means:
--> "I really try to mean it."
--> "I really mean to try it."
--> "I think I should try it."
--> "I really WAS trying it."
--> "At least I tried to try it."
Well, congrats to buying Zebra. It's a great, "very-good-sounding" synth, with a vast amount of great patches available (both free an commercial).

a Streifentier that doesn't have a Zebra, can't be a Streifentier, but at least it could try it. Uhbikuously clear

[mcnoone]

A satisfied, new Zebra 2 owner,
JT.

Congratulations.
Have fun with it.
Here's my list of plug-ins I bought. Not as many as you, but it's enouph.
Zebra2.3
Got ZebraCM, Triple Cheese, and Zoyd too. Those are the free one's I use.