Hello and welcome to our blog. We hope you are doing well. Today, we will discuss the Hive 2 plugin the U-he company makes. Before introducing this, we think it’s essential to introduce U-he. In this blog post, we are going to discuss the following topics.
- Introduction of the parent company.
- Introduction of the plugin.
- Features.
- Application and use cases.
- Some fun facts about the synthesizer.
- Comparison with the Serum VST.
- Review.
Introducing the u-he :
U-he is a Berlin-based company that makes digital synth plugins. Its founder is Urs Heckmann, a designer with a strong passion and love for synths. The company was founded in 2001.
Fun Fact about the u-he:
Let me tell you a fun fact about the u-he company.
- Like other successful companies, u-he was started by only one person. Later, it became very successful, and more teams were introduced.
- It has yet to be discovered what its first plugin was, but this company’s most popular releases are the Zebra2 and Diva VST.
1. Introducing the Hive :
This is a synthesizer plugin. A German company developed it called u he. The initial version of this plugin was created and released in 2015. This plugin is compatible with Windows, macOS and Linux. Nowadays, most companies are focusing on producing the emulations of the old studio synths. However, this plugin includes the characters and the old and modern synths. It has a clean and straightforward interface, which is easy to navigate. Beginners and advanced users can both use this with ease. It is capable of producing old and modern sounds.
2. Features :
Here is the list of all the features of this virtual synthesizer.
1. Subtractive Synthesizer :
- It is a subtractive synthesizer that also provides wavetables. Now, the question occurs: What are subtractive synthesizers? The answer is that subtractive synthesizers are those in which we design the sound using a rich waveform with harmonic content. Then, this sound passes through the filter section. Then, we filter the sound to get our desired sound. In these synths, the waveforms are created by Oscillators. The most common oscillators used in them are Sine, square, Sawtooth, triangle, and pulse. After that, we filter the sound with the help of the Sine, square, Sawtooth, triangle, and pulse filter to shape it. To shape the amplitude, we use the ADSR controls.
2. Stereo Oscillators :
- Regarding The oscillators, it consists of two stereo oscillators and various waveforms..
3. Inbuilt Effects:
- Nowadays, most plugins have built-in effects. It also has an inbuilt impact, as we mentioned above. This plugin has seven effects, which are in a specific order but can be changed. These effects are distortion, chorus, delay, phaser, EQ, reverb, and compressor.
4. Creative tools
- It also provides the Arpeggiator, step sequencer, scale quantizer, and user-definable XY control pads. The Arpeggiator creates rhythm by playing the midi notes in different modes. The step sequencer is mainly similar to the Arpeggiator, but more customizable. It allows the user to create complex and repeating melodic patterns. The scale Quantizer ensures that all the notes are being played on a specific scale. The XY control pads are used for different creative things. These X-Y pads are synced to parameters like filter cut-off, resonance, LFO rate, or oscillator pitch. In this way, the user can control these parameters with the help of XY pads. These XY pads are primarily used in live performances..
5. Three Synth Engines in one:
- This plugin uses three different synth engines.
6. Presets :
- This plugin’s preset library consists of 2400 presets. Users can also download more presets online.
3. Fun Facts :
Here are the fun facts about this plugin.
- This VST was released in 2010.
- It is easy for beginners as it provides all the basic presets for music production. However, it is hard for those who want to design their desired sound to master it. So, this plugin blends beginner-friendliness with profound sound design potential. Most plugins similar to Hive 2 are very heavy on the CPU processor. But this is not the case with Hive 2. It is also CPU-friendly. So, the plugin can be the first choice of producers who have low-spec computers.
4. Applications and Use Cases:
Now, let’s talk about the applications and use cases of this plugin.
1. Sound design :
This synthesizer is a plugin with versatile options like oscillators, wavetables, filters, inbuilt effects, and a function generator that offers extra envelopes, gate generators, LFOs, and slew limiters. This plugin has the potential to be used for sound design. It can create leads (fat basses, screaming leads, etc.) Pads (lush atmospheres, evolving textures)Keys (realistic pianos, electric pianos, etc.) Soundscapes (abstract textures, evolving drones)
2. Music Production :
It can also be used for music production. It has all the basic presets required to produce music of any genre. Some synths are designed for the production of a specific genre. However, this has a wide range of presets, and it can produce any genre of music.
3. Film Scoring and Game Soundtracks :
Besides music production, this plugin can create drones and other textural sounds. Thus, this plugin can also be used for film scoring and Game Soundtracks.
4. Live performance :
As mentioned above, this plugin is light on the CPU, and its performance is stable even on low-end PCs. So, this plugin can be favorable for live performance.
5. Comparison With the Xfer Serum :
Below is the list of points that are a comparison between these two plugins.
1. Difficulty to use :
This plugin focuses on simplicity of usage. Although it can be complex for those who want to design desired sounds, beginners can easily use this plugin, and it is also easy to understand.
This plugin is more complex in the case of the Xfer Serum VST. It is complex even for some experienced users.
2. User Interface :
The Serum provides an attractive and complex interface. On the other hand, this vst has a somewhat less handsome but simple and easy-to-navigate interface.
3. Learning curve :
It is considered easy to learn for most users. Its interface is simple and easy to understand. On the other hand, the Xfer serum is challenging to understand. The user has to give it some time to learn its functionalities.
4. Sound design :
Both plugins can be used for sound design, but Serum VST is more flexible and designed to make modern sounds. On the other hand, this can create different sounds, but it is limited in this case. It is used to create warm and classic analog sounds. The Xfer serum generates sharp, modern sounds, such as EDM leads and Lofi sounds. Sound designers mainly use Serum VST, and on the other hand this VST is mostly used for presets.
5. Synthesis Type:
This is a subtractive synth, and we also mentioned above what subtractive synths are. On the other hand, the Xfer Serum is a synth that mainly focuses on wavetable manipulation.
6. Presets :
This music production software comes with vintage presets like classic pads, leads, etc and the other hand the Xfer serum presets, such as EDM and techno, are designed for modern music.
Hive 2 Review :
In this blog post, I will share my personal experience using this plugin. I have used this plugin for four years and still use it in my projects.
- I love to design sounds. I used many plugins for sound design, but they all needed to be simplified and easier to understand. But when I used this plugin, I felt satisfied. I found its interface very simple and easy to understand. Though it took me weeks to master it, it was easier than other plugins. In this plugin, every portion is clearly labeled, which is a good thing.
- I found its sequencer easy to use. This plugin also gave me low latency. I could tweak knobs and instantly heard the effects of these knobs on my sound.
- One thing that made me less trusting of this plugin was its graphics. This plugin did not look as modern as others.
- One limitation of this plugin was that I could not design modern sounds. This plugin is mainly intended to make an analog sound. This plugin can be used for pads and chords, but I have yet to use it for leads. The lead presets of this plugin were not as modern as I wanted.
- Based on my experience, I rate this plugin 7.5 out of 10.
System requirements
- Windows 7 or newer
- 1GB RAM, more recommended
- Modern CPU (Sandy Bridge or newer recommended
- 1000 × 600 or larger display
- Original Publisher: u-he
- Version: 2.1.1
- Format: VST2, VST3, AAX
- Category: Virtual instruments and synthesizers
- Requires: Windows 7 or newer
- License type: Full
- Size: 312.1 MB
