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Diva
User Manual
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U-He Diva User Manual

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USER GUIDE
VERSION 1.4.4
10. December 2019!
U-HE - HECKMANN AUDIO GMBH - BERLIN
Introduction 5
The Spirit of Analogue 5 .........................................
Control Bar 6 ..........................................................
Editing 7 .................................................................
Programming 101 8 ...............................................
Preset Browser 9
Overview 9 .............................................................
Directory Panel 10 .................................................
The ‘Local’ folder 10 .................................................
The ‘User’ folder 11 ..................................................
Smart Folders 11 ......................................................
Directory context menu 11 ........................................
Presets Panel 12 ....................................................
Preset Tagging 13 ..................................................
Search by Tags 14 .................................................
Search by Text 16 ..................................................
Upper Panels 18
Oscillators 18 .........................................................
TRIPLE VCO 18 .......................................................
DUAL VCO 20 ..........................................................
DCO 22 ....................................................................
DUAL VCO ECO 23 .................................................
DIGITAL 24 ...............................................................
High-pass Filters / Feedback 26 ............................
NO HPF (just feedback) 26 ......................................
HPF | POST 26 ........................................................
HPF | PRE 26 ...........................................................
HPF | BITE 26 ..........................................................
Main Filters 27 .......................................................
VCF | LADDER 27 ....................................................
VCF | CASCADE 28 .................................................
VCF | MULTIMODE 29 .............................................
VCF | BITE 30 ..........................................................
VCF | UHBIE 31 .......................................................
Envelopes 32 .........................................................
ADS 32 .....................................................................
ANALOGUE 32 ........................................................
DIGITAL 33 ...............................................................
Lower Panels 34
LFOs 34 .................................................................
Effects 35 ...............................................................
Chorus 35 .................................................................
Phaser 35 .................................................................
Plate (reverb) 36 ......................................................
Delay 36 ...................................................................
Rotary 37 ..................................................................
Tuning 38 ...............................................................
Amplifier & Pan 38 .................................................
Voice 39 .................................................................
Clock & Arpeggiator 40 ..........................................
Modifications 41 .....................................................
VCO 41 ....................................................................
Filter 41 ....................................................................
Feedback 41 ............................................................
Modulation processors 42 ........................................
Trimmers 42 ...........................................................
Scope 43 ................................................................
Configuration 44
MIDI Control 44 ......................................................
Preferences 47 .......................................................
MIDI Specialities 49
Multichannel MIDI 49 ...............................................
Polyphonic aftertouch 49 ..........................................
Tips and Tricks 50
So bite me! 50 ..........................................................
Bass boost 50 ..........................................................
Twin effects 50 .........................................................
Stereo without effects 51 ..........................................
LFO as ramp generator 51 .......................................
Voice map tricks 51 ..................................................
Modulation processor tricks 52 ................................
NKS 53
Troubleshooting 54
List of Modulation Sources 55
Credits 56

INTRODUCTION

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INTRODUCTION
While real circuitry can process a signal within a few nanoseconds, digital models calculate per sample, adding about a million times as much latency to each iteration. The cumulative effect of feedback latency in digital emulations is very noticeable. Oversampling and higher sample rates help reduce the latency, but conventional digital filters always “smear” at high resonance levels.
Methods of addressing the latency have been available for many years, but the implementations either 1) don’t model the complex distortion inherent in real circuitry, or 2) aren’t suitable for realtime processing. Common to all methods is that they predict output values and use that prediction in the current calculation.
Of course we can’t see into the future either, but our routines are fast enough to deliver at least a few voices in realtime. We calculate the filter with a few test samples and look at the deviation between the prediction and the result, then we use that deviation to calculate a better prediction. The goal, of course, is to close the gap as quickly as possible!
Diva applies a classic trial-and-error principle but includes a rather intelligent way (or so we like to think) of learning from mistakes. As a rule of thumb, Diva’s filters only need to be calculated once or twice in succession. However, it can take up to 15 cycles if the resonance is very high and/or the input is very complex, for instance noise.
Accuracy
Click on the MAIN button at the bottom of the window. In the panel above the button are two selectors called Accuracy and OfflineAcc. These are global parameters, they remain fixed across all presets per loaded instance:
draft CPU-friendly, but FM will sound rough and resonance is primitive (not ‘zero delay’)"..........
fast Fine for older computers and/or when you need more polyphony in acceptable quality"............
great The best compromise between quality and polyphony on high-power computers"........
divine Top-quality zero delay feedback filters – but can your computer can handle it? .......
OfflineAcc selects the resolution at which Diva instances are rendered to audio (offline). The two options are same (same as the Accuracy setting) and best. Some hosts have trouble rendering at the selected accuracy, while the better ones include an “inform plug-ins of offline rendering status” or similarly named option.

Control Bar

Save
First, right-click on the [save] button to check (or change) the format you will be using. Standard is .h2p, which has the great advantage of being cross-platform compatible. The .h2p extended format is the same but also allows per-line comments.
Important: If you have set the Save Presets To preference from the default user folder to the other option, selected folder, make sure that the folder in which you want to store your preset is already selected – if not, click on it first.
Click on the [save] button, give your preset a name and enter any other details. Preset description, playing tips etc. – anything you would like to appear in the PRESET INFO panel of the browser. Finally, confirm by clicking on the apply button. If you have loaded Diva as VST2, you will also see the option .nksf. See the NKS chapter.
MIDI activity
Small indicator which flashes whenever MIDI data is received.!
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INTRODUCTION
Data Display
Primarily, the central display shows the name of the selected preset or the current value of any element being edited. Clicking on the areas either side of the display steps through presets. Clicking in the middle opens a drop-down list containing all the presets in the current directory.
Undo/Redo
The two curved arrow symbols call Diva’s undo and redo functions – you can step backwards (or forwards again) through an unlimited number of edit points.
Multicore
Push this button to distribute voices between all available CPU cores so you can play more notes without ‘smoking’ your CPU. Multicore works well on recent processors such as the i5 and i7, but please note that performance can even be reduced if your CPU is older!
Note: Some hosts already offer multicore support, and having both active at the same time can lead to poorer performance for Diva. In such cases, try switching one or the other off.
Output
The final volume control for the preset. As this control doesn’t affect the tone, use Output (in preference to amp Volume) to balance the levels between presets.
u-he badge
Clicking on ‘u-he’ at the top right opens a popup menu containing direct links to this user guide, to our homepage, to our support forum, and to various social networks.

Editing

GUI size
To adjust the size of Diva’s user interface temporarily, right-click in the background and select from the list. The size is given in percentages and pixels (width times height).
To change the GUI size more permanently, go to the Preferences and change Default UI Size.
knobs
Values are adjusted via the usual click-and-drag, often allowing finer resolution via the SHIFT key on your computer. Knobs can be reset to their default values via double-click, and remote­controlled / automated via MIDI CC. Tip for wheel-mouse users: ‘mouseover’ and roll the wheel to edit values or scroll through a list (use SHIFT for fine tuning).
parameter locking
Clicking with the righthand mouse button on any knob or switch opens a context menu in which you can select ‘Lock’. A locked parameter can still be adjusted, but the value doesn’t change when you switch presets. To unlock again, right-click and untick ‘Locked’.
modification indicator
This synbol appears next to a control if it is being modulated in the Modifications panel.
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INTRODUCTION

Programming 101

Although Diva ships with a whole bunch of presets, she is meant to be tweaked – that’s why the interface is festooned with all those controls. Here’s a quick and easy tutorial to get you started:
1. Click on the PRESETS button at the bottom of the window, select the Local / 8 TEMPLATES folder and load the preset called INIT June-60. Click on the SCOPE button – this gives you access to Diva’s oscilloscope as well as all module panels.
2. Play a fairly low note (you do have a MIDI keyboard attached, right?). The shape you can see in Diva’s oscilloscope is moving in time with the tone of what you are hearing.
3. Find the TRANSPOSE knob in the lefthand (DCO) panel, and change it from 8’ to 16’. The oscillator is now an octave lower.
4. To the left of the TRANSPOSE knob are two faders. Double-click on the one labelled LFO2. The value of that fader (which controls pulse width modulation depth) is reset to the centre and the sound becomes static. Move the PW fader up and down while playing a low note. Watch how the shape changes, then leave it at minimum.
5. What you hear (and see) is a 50-50 mixture of 50% PULSE (i.e. a square) and SAWTOOTH. Click on the first SAWTOOTH option (silence) to isolate the pulse wave. Try the various HPF values, then leave it at 0.
6. Double-click on the PW fader (resets it to 25% pulse) and take the other fader (pulse width modulation depth from LFO2) up to maximum. Go to the bottom left of the window, change LFO2‘s Waveform to saw up and change Sync to 1/4. The result is a slow pulsing sound.
7. Go to the VCF panel and play with the CUTOFF and RESONANCE faders. Then double-click on both to reset them. Still in the filter panel, take the second cutoff modulation knob (currently labelled LFO 2) down to about -30.00. You now have a rhythmic sound that will cycle through the notes in a chord if you play them at different times.
8. Activate the two effects (Chorus and Delay) at the bottom right of the window by clicking on the small round buttons (they will light up). If you like, experiment with the effects parameters for a while, especially the Delay controls. Add a bit of NOISE from the DCO panel!
9. In the LFO 2 panel, click on the lower righthand button and select ModWheel (or default). Turn Depth Mod up to maximum. The depth of all LFO 2 modulation is now 100% controlled by the mod wheel. Then turn Depth Mod down to minimum so that the wheel has no effect again.
10. Swap the oscillator type: Click on the DCO label and select DUAL VCO instead. Click both Sawtooth icons to switch them off, and activate both pulse waves instead. Turn MIX to the centre. Click on the NO MOD label and select LFO 2 instead. Change the value of that knob to -20. Similarly, replace the VCF CASCADE with BITE. Experiment with the filter controls until you get a nicely grungy, resonant pulsating sound (note that REV 2 sounds fuller).
11. Start again from step 1, and take more liberties this time - experiment!!
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PRESETS

Preset Browser

Overview

Click on the PRESETS button at the bottom of Diva’s window – you should see something like this:
Folders appear on the left, presets in the centre and information about the currently active preset on the right. If you can’t see any presets at all, click on Local. If you don’t see a PRESET INFO panel, click on the [≣] button in the top right and tick Show Preset Info.
The Local root contains a representative selection of presets copied from the subfolders. Note that a left-pointing triangle next to a folder name means that the folder is currently in its collapsed state. If you can’t see the category folders (BASS, LEAD etc.), expand Local by clicking on that triangle. After loading a preset (click on its name) you can step through all the others using your computer’s cursor keys, which makes it easy to audition them sequentially
The folders numbered 1 to 7 contain the main factory presets. The TEMPLATES folder contains some very basic presets for whenever you want to start designing your own sounds from scratch. THIRD PARTY contains presets kindly submitted by various sound designers, plus a subfolder called TREASURE TROVE! containing hundreds more sounds.
That’s actually all you need to know for now. Diva’s browser has many more features for users who want to dig a bit deeper: The file functions include drag&drop, a powerful search engine and more. For details, read the rest of this chapter!
Default preset
Whenever Diva is started it checks whether the ‘Local’ root contains a preset called default. If this file exists, it is loaded instead of the demo sound. Note: default will not appear in the browser.!
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Local
DIRECTORY TAGS
Search
RESTORE
initialize
BS TXSish BT dotted afterhour 01 (mw) BT flex butter seq (mw+vel BT juno hoovered bass (mw) BT the master himself (at+mw+pb) HS Albert Hall Mini HS All Processors HS Bass Nine HS Canterbury Creeper HS Chango Clique HS Chili Paste duo HS Divanity HS Duduwap 1 HS Fatima poly HS Gammond HS Hail Bob 1 HS High StraDIVAri HS House Dust HS I cant believe its not analogue HS Kit 1 acoustic HS Kit 2 electro HS Kromosaur HS Lounge Dust HS Model K12 HS Modular Bells HS Protocol HS Sparkle HS Strumpet HS Switched On Voicing
HS Sync Hangar HS Trans-Uranian Express HS Vulcan Pigs IW BP Strings Ensemble 1 IW Jump Brass IW Jupiter High Strings IW Mini Detuned Saw Lead IW Poly6 Strings JA WashingMachine JS Bud Pluck MK Bass In Tube MK Bass Pack Leader MK Brass Straight Up MK FX Scaled Resonance MK FX Wind MK Joy MK Pattern Grammaphone MK Pattern Metal Works MK Planet Earth MK Strings Short PWM MK Syncopat MM Choir In The Clouds PAK Karinanthon EP PG FilterConToUrs ROY EXPERIMENTAL God Particle ROY FX Cold December ROY FX Rewinding the Tape ROY Old Recipe SG Chica Go SG Crackpipe Organ
PRESET INFO
BS Deep Space Diva
BS Deep Space Diva
DESCRIPTION
USAGE
CATEGORIES
FEATURES
CHARACTER
/Local by Bronto Scorpio
mod wheel = cutoff
1 BASS 2 LEAD 3 POLY SYNTH 4 DREAM SYNTH 5 PERCUSSIVE 6 RHYTHMIC 7 EFFECTS 8 TEMPLATES MIDI Programs
THIRD PARTY User Search History Saved Searches Favourites Tags Author
push the modulation wheel…
ready
PRESETS

Directory Panel

If you don’t see this panel on the left of Diva’s Presets browser, click on DIRECTORY.

The ‘Local’ folder

Diva’s factory presets are sorted into folders 1 to 8. We recommend that you do not add or remove any Local presets, but save all your creations and third party soundsets in ‘User’ (see below).
MIDI Programs
‘Local’ also contains a special folder called ‘MIDI Programs’ which is normally empty. When the first instance of Diva starts, up to 128 presets from that folder are loaded into memory, to be selected via MIDI Program Change messages. It is a good idea to call those presets e.g. ‘000 rest-of-name’ to ‘127 rest-of-name’, as they are accessed in alphabetical order.
But that’s not all: the ‘MIDI Programs’ folder can contain up to 127 sub-folders, switched via MIDI Bank Select messages (CC#0). Send Bank Select first, then Program Change. ‘MIDI Programs’ is bank 0, sub-folders are addressed in alphabetical order starting with bank 1.
Changes to the MIDI Programs folder will only be updated after the host application is restarted. MIDI Program files cannot be a cannot be added, removed or renamed on the fly!
When Diva receives a program change, it will display the bank and program numbers to the left of the preset name e.g. “0:0” for the first preset in the first bank. In certain hosts e.g. Ableton Live, however, the first bank / preset is designated “1” instead of the correct “0”.
To avoid another possible source of cvonfusion, make sure that there are no junked presets in the MIDI Programs folder. All files there are indexed, whether they are visible or not.!
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Local
DIRECTORY
Search
User Search History Saved Searches Favourites
Tags
Categories Features Character Untagged (n)
Junk (n)
Author
1 BASS 2 LEAD 3 POLY SYNTH 4 DREAM SYNTH 5 PERCUSSIVE 6 RHYTHMIC 7 EFFECTS 8 TEMPLATES MIDI Programs THIRD PARTY
PRESETS

The ‘User’ folder

The best address for your own creations as well as soundsets from other sources. You can either select User immediately before saving the preset, or set a global preference which ensures that it will always be saved to this folder – see the preference Save Presets To.
Tip: It’s worth finding out where the User folder actually resides on your computer. Right-click on User and select reveal in Finder (Mac) or open in Explorer (Win).

Smart Folders

The other folders do not actually contain files, but display the results of querying a database of all presets. The content is therefore dynamic i.e. it will change whenever the underlying data changes.
Search History
Click on this folder to display the results of past searches (maximum 10). Whenever you need to make the results of a search more permanent, right-click and select save Search… The entry will be moved to the ‘Saved Searches’ folder – see below. To remove all searches from the list, right-click on the ‘Search History’ folder and select clear.
Saved Searches
This folder contains searches that have been saved via right click from ‘Search History’. To remove individual saved searches, right-click on the search and select delete.
Tip: Entries dragged from ‘Saved Searches’ and dropped onto real folders within ‘Local’ or ‘User’ will create a folder containing copies of all found presets!
Favourites
8 smart folders, one for each Favourite colour. See Presets context menu. Presets dropped onto one of the Favourites folders will be marked as such.
Junk
A smart folder pointing to all junked presets. See Presets context menu. Presets dropped onto this folder will be junked, and will therefore disappear from the rest of the browser unless made visible (see show junk in the Presets context menu).
Tags
Smart folders for each Category/Subcategory, Features and Character tag. Presets dropped onto these folders will adopt the corresponding tag. Presets dropped onto the Untagged folder will have all Category/Subcategory, Features and Character tags removed.
Author
Smart folders for each Author. Tip: Instead of signing each of your creations, you could sign just one of them, then select them all and drag them onto Author/(You)/. As the process cannot be undone, you should use this feature with caution.

Directory context menu

Right-clicking on any folder within Local or User will open this menu:
refresh: Update the contents of the browser. For Windows users this will be necessary after you have moved, added, removed or renamed folders or presets using Explorer.
create new… Insert an empty subdirectory.
rename… Edit the folder name.
reveal in Finder / open in Explorer: Opens a system window for
the clicked folder. Wondows: if you add, remove or rename any preset files or folders there (i.e. outside of Diva’s browser), you should always refresh the directory afterwards.
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refresh create new… rename… reveal in Finder *
move to Trash
on open expand to
PRESETS
on open expand to: These options determine how deeply the browser will open subdirectories whenever the GUI is opened again or the refresh function is called. The first option (none) collapses all folders, while the final option (all levels) reveals all nested folders.

Presets Panel

The central, unlabelled area of the browser is where you click to load presets…
Presets context menu
Right-click to open a menu containing functions that can be applied to individual presets.
mark as junk: Instead of deleting any unloved presets, you can mark them as ‘junk’ so that they (normally) disappear from the browser. See show junk below.
mark as favourite: Choose one of eight differently coloured dots. To remove the dot again, right-click on the preset(s) and select unmark as favourite.
select all, deselect: See Multiple Selection below.
show junk: Activate this option to display junked files (marked with a
STOP symbol), which would otherwise disappear.
rename…: You can change the names of presets using this function. Note that only the most recently selected preset can be renamed i.e. you can’t rename multiple files at once.
duplicate / copy to User Folder: The entry here depends on the status of the preference Save Presets To as well as on whether the source presets are in the Local or User folder. Selected presets are copied with a number appended to the name, which increments (just like the ‘Auto Versioning’ option) so that presets cannot be overwritten by mistake.
reveal in Finder / open in Explorer: Opens a system window for the selected preset. Remember: If you change anything there, refresh the directory (see the the previous page)!
convert to native / h2p / h2p extended / nksf: Converts the selected preset(s) into the format previously selected via right-click on the [save] button. For that final option, see the NKS chapter.
move to Trash / Recycle Bin: Moves the selected preset(s) to the system trash.
Restore
While in the browser you can audition as many presets as you like in any folders without losing the one that was previously loaded: Clicking the Restore button will get you back to where you started.
Scan / Ready
In the top right of the presets panel is a dark rectangle normally labelled ‘ready’. Whenever you use the refresh function (see the Directory context menu on the previous page), this turns into a progress indicator showing the preset database being refreshed. The process should only take a few seconds, even for a very large preset library.
Multiple selection, drag & drop
A block of presets can be selected via shift+click, and individual presets can be added to the selection via cmd-click (Mac) / alt+click (Win). Presets can be moved to a different folder via drag & drop. Use SHIFT etc. on your computer keyboard to highlight the files you want to move, click and drag them from the files area and drop them onto a target folder. To deselect, either click on an unselected preset or choose deselect from the context menu.!
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mark as favourite
select all
deselect
show junk
rename… duplicate * reveal in Finder * convert to h2p
move to Trash
mark as junk
mark as favourite mark as favourite mark as favourite mark as favourite mark as favourite mark as favourite mark as favourite
PRESETS

Preset Tagging

Categories“Tags” are elements of metadata i.e. information you can add to presets so that they can be found according to certain attributes.
IMPORTANT: Clicking on [save] isn’t required, as tags are updated automatically. The obvious advantage is that presets don’t have to be saved every time you edit tags. The main drawback is that you should only edit tags after saving your preset. If you edit tags while in the process of creating a new version of something, you would also be changing the tags in the original preset!
The Tagging Window
Right-click on the [save] button and select Tag this patch:
Categories describe a preset by analogy to instrument types or classic synth genres. Each one has its own set of subcategories. Features are technical classifications, and Character tags are pairs of opposites from which you can choose only one.
Tagging via PRESET INFO
Open one of the numbered folders and load any preset. In the PRESET INFO panel, right-click on CATEGORIES, FEATURES or CHARACTER and select or unselect tags from the menu. Note that This method only works for individual presets. If you right-click on an existing tag, the first option in the menu becomes remove tag…
The function create Search from Tags searches for presets with ALL the same tags.
Tagging via the Tags subfolders
You can tag presets by drag & drop onto one of the Tags smart folders. To remove all tags, drag presets onto the Tags/Untagged/ smart folder.
Auto-Tag Features
In the Preferences page is a setting that can make adding Features tags more comfortable. Auto- tagging is temporary, but you can make the generated Features permanent using the convert to function in the context menu of the presets panel – any automatically generated Features tags will be written into the preset data.!
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Bass
Leads
Keys
FX
Drums
Stabs
Seq & Arp
Other
Pads
Acoustic
Atonal
Breathy
Distorted
Drones
PWM
Lo-Fi
Rhythmic
Strings
Evolving
Categories
Arp
HostSync
Creative FXChord
Mono
Duo
Poly
Unison
Soft Attack
Percussive
Slow Release
Features
Clean
Wide
Soft
Harmonic
Bright
Constant
Phat
Inharmonic
Thin
Static
Moving
Aggressive
Character
Acoustic
Natural
Electric
Synthetic
Dirty
Narrow
Chords
Soundscape
Synth
Modulated
Dynamic
Modern
Dark
Vintage
Glide
CrossMod
Osc Sync
RingMod
Vocal
Brass
PRESETS

Search by Tags

Click on the TAGS tab to open this view. The buttons here let you set up search criteria according to tags with just a few mouseclicks:
There are four sets of buttons. The first three correspond to the tags in the tagging window (see the previous page), and the bottom row lets you find presets tagged as ‘Favourites’. Clicking on the [^] icon to the right will hide the options for that type of tag.
Categories and Subcategories
Here are just a few bullet points to get you started. Especially for Category tags, following a step­by-step tutorial is much easier than studying a full technical description. Try these:
Each of the Categories has its own set of subcategories. Not selecting any subcategory here means “show me presets tagged with any subcategory”. Click on [Leads]…
You can select multiple categories without specifying any subcategory if you hold Cmd (Mac) or Alt (Windows) while clicking on the category. Try that with the [Keys] button.
Selecting the subcategory with the same name as the category means “show me presets tagged without a subcategory”. You will not find any of these in the factory presets.
Completed category+subcategory tags appear below the subcategories as buttons with ‘off’ switches [X] so you can add other main categories by simply clicking on them.!
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Search
TAGS
Bass Pads Leads Keys FX Drums Seq & Arp Stabs
Other
CATEGORIES
Leads Brass Chords Distorted Guitar Lo-Fi Plucked
PWM Reeds Rhythmic Sync Strings Synth Vocal
Winds
Mono Poly Duo Chord Arp HostSync Modulated
Unison OscSync RingMod CrossMod Creative FX
Percussive Soft Attack Slow Release Glide
Bright Dark Clean Dirty Modern Vintage Phat Thin
Soft Aggressive Constant Moving Natural Synthetic
Wide Narrow Harmonic Inharmonic Dynamic Static
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
FEATURES
CHARACTER
FAVOURITES
PRESETS
Here’s a practical tutorial
•
Click on the DIRECTORY tab, right-click on the Search History smart folder and select clear. Double-click on Local/2 LEAD to restrict the scope of the search to that particular folder. The selected path /Local/2 LEAD appears below the Search field instead of preset folders.
•
Click on the TA GS tab. In the Categories, select [Bass]. Subcategory buttons appear and the preset window is updated to list all presets in 2 LEAD that are tagged as [Bass].
•
Now click on [Pads]. The [Bass] category is switched off, and the preset window is updated to list all presets in 2 LEAD that are tagged as [Pads] - there are 8 of these. Note that you still haven’t specified a subcategory yet…
•
Hold Cmd (Mac) or Alt (Win) and select the [Bass] category again. Although no longer outlined, the previously selected [Pads] remains highlighted and the list shows all 12 presets in the 2 LEAD folder that have either of those tags (disregarding any subcategories).
•
Click on the DIRECTORY tab again: The text #Bass:* #Pads:* appears in the editable field as well as in the Search History smart folder, which also shows the number of found presets. The colon separates the category from the subcategory, and the star (*) means “any subcategory, even none”.
•
Click on the TAGS tab again. Select the [Leads] category without holding down Cmd/Alt this time… the [Bass] and the [Pads] tags are removed from the search. Select [Chords] as subcategory. The result is a list of all 10 presets in the 2 LEAD folder that have the Leads:Sync tag. Immediately below the subcategory options you will see the complete tag in the form [Category:Subcategory|X].
•
Let’s get more hits by including another subcategory: Click on the [Distorted] subcategory. [Sync] remains selected, and the list of hits is updated to include presets which have either of those tags i.e. 45 in total. Click on [Chords] again and the tag search will find only 36 presets – all those that are tagged as [Leads:Distorted].
•
Click the [Bass] category. Below the subcategories, the [Leads:Distorted|X] switch remains in place because that tag is complete (category plus subcategory). Check out the category tags in PRESET INFO by clicking on several presets in turn: Each one will have either a Leads:Distorted tag or a Bass tag (disregarding subcategory), or both.
•
Click on the DIRECTORY tab. The text #Bass:* #Leads:Distorted appears in the search field as well as the Search History smart folder. If you are feeling adventurous, you can edit this and the results will be updated accordingly.
•
To the left of the grey search path is an ‘up’ [^] symbol. Click on this to exit the current folder i.e. change the search path from /Local/2 LEAD to the /Local root. The list of hits is immediately updated to 417 presets because the search now includes all of /Local.
•
Another click on [^] exits to the whole preset library i.e. /Local and /User. Clicking on the [X] symbol to the right of the search path will exit immediately. Try that.
•
Repeat the above a few times if necessary – you’ll soon get the hang of it!!
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PRESETS
Features, Character
These tag types are simpler. For example, let’s find all thin sounding presets with a slow release:
•
Click on the TAGS tab. If any Categories are still highlighted, click them to disable.
•
Select Features = [Slow Release] and Character = [Thin]. That’s it.
Summary
In the DIRECTORY panel, specify a search path via double-click. In the TAGS panel, select category tags. Add others if required to extend the search, but remember to hold down the Cmd (Mac) or Alt (Windows) key if you want to retain category tags that don’t specify a subcategory. Select Features, Character and/or Favourites tags to refine the search. Exit any search path by clicking on the [X] to the right.

Search by Text

The editable field immediately below the DIRECTORY and TAGS tabs lets you search for presets according to a string of characters i.e. text. The search normally looks into the preset name, the author, the DESCRIPTION and USAGE (see the PRESET INFO panel). It is not case-sensitive, and quotes are not required unless you need to include spaces in the text.
If you want to restrict the search to a particular path e.g. Local/4 DREAM SYNTH, double click on that folder. The full path (from Local or User) appears immediately below the Search field, and all other normal folders are hidden except any subdirectories within that path (there are none in this example). Note that the smart folders also remain visible.
The grey field in the above image is the Search Path.
The [^] button to the left moves the search path up one level, in this case up to /Local. Alternatively, you can navigate directly to any higher level by right-clicking on the path.
The [X] button to the right expands the path to include all Hive presets (i.e. either in ’Local’ or in ‘User’), and all the regular preset folders will reappear.
Try a text search: Enter three or four letters then hit Return. For instance, star will find all files containing the text string star (e.g. mustard or starters). Entering "star wars" (with the quotes) would find e.g. Battlestar Warship, if such a string existed in the presets.!
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Search
DIRECTORY
Search History
Saved Searches Favourites
Junk (0)
Tags
/Local/02 LEAD
Author
PRESETS
Syntax
Scope
You can limit the scope of the search to just the preset name or specific parts of PRESET INFO by using name (preset name), author, desc (description) or use (usage) followed by a colon. For instance, author:the finds all presets by sound designers whose author names contain ‘the’. Similarly, desc:space will find all presets with the word space in the description.
Logic
Important: The following logical operators can only be used between text elements.
AND requires that presets contain both words. It can be written explicitly if you prefer, but is not necessary. For example, star AND wars (or simply star wars) will find presets that contain both star and wars.
OR means that presets can contain just one of the words or both. For example, star OR wars will find presets that contain star as well as presets that contain wars.
NOT excludes presets containing the word. To find all presets that contain star but don’t contain wars, enter star NOT wars.
Tags
Regular tags can also be entered into the search field if preceded with a ‘#’. For example, name:"hs " #bass:* will find all presets with "hs " in the name that are tagged as Bass with any or no subcategory. The colon separates category and subcategory, and the star (*) means “any subcategory, even none”. Between multiple tags of the same type is an implicit OR, while between different types is an implicit AND.
Note: In the current version of the browser, tags must appear after any text items!!
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UPPER PANELS

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UPPER PANELS
Similarly, the lower switches activate waveform (shape) modulation – see WAVEFORM below. To specify a modulation source other than LFO2, click on the label and select from the list.
In this example, envelope 2 is modulating the waveforms of oscillator 1 and oscillator 2, but not oscillator 3.
SHAPE MOD specifies the amount of waveform modulation. This knob is also bipolar i.e. the amount of modulation can be negative.
FM 1->2/3 sets the amount that oscillator 1 frequency-modulates oscillator 2 and oscillator 3 (both equally). Frequency modulation is useful for complex, dissonant or even bell-like sounds.
Note: FM 1->2/3 can be modulated from within the Modifications panel.
The octave switches (32’ to 2’) and DETUNE (oscillators 2 and 3 only) determine the oscillators’ pitches. These controls are self­explanatory except for one special feature: The DETUNE knob acts like a 5-turn potentiometer that can also flip the octave over – try turning it beyond 5 or -5 and see for yourself!
The SYNC switches enable hard-sync for oscillators 2 and 3 (they both synchronize to oscillator 1). The pitch of a synchronized oscillator should normally be higher than oscillator 1, or at least modulated upwards via TUNE MOD.
Tip: For the maximum range of sync sounds, set osc 1 to 32’ and Transpose to 24.
Unlike in e.g. a Minimoog™, the WAVEFORM controls are not rotary switches. They are continuously variable – from ramp through triangle and sawtooth to square, followed by narrower pulse waves. For maximum PWM (pulse width modulation), set the waveform to 8.00 (25% pulse), switch on shape modulation (see above) for the oscillator and set the SHAPE MOD level to 10.00.
The MIXER panel contains volume controls for each oscillator as well as for the NOISE generator. Below the NOISE volume knob is a tone switch: PINK noise contains mostly low frequencies, while WHITE noise is full-range.
The FEEDBACK knob controls the amount of signal taken from behind the filter and fed back into the mixer – like the age-old trick of connecting the extra output on the Minimoog™ back into its audio input. Relatively low feedback values cause a subtle bass boost, higher values can create subharmonics or even wild howling noises. A natural side-effect of higher feedback is lower resonance, so you might have to compensate for that.
Although the mixer panel is an integral part of the Triple oscillator module, Feedback is also available for all the other oscillator types, as an alternative to high pass filtering – see there.
Note: The Feedback amount can be modulated from within the
Modifications panel.!
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UPPER PANELS

DUAL VCO

A slightly simpler model than Triple VCO, but with the advantage of independent (split) pitch control as well as multiple waveforms within each oscillator...
The two faders to the left both affect the width of pulse waves. PW sets the nominal width from very narrow through 50% to 100% (silence). The other fader adjusts the depth of pulse width modulation from the selected source (LFO2 by default), with zero in the centre. The switch below applies these settings to either VCO1 only or to both oscillators at the same time.
The octave switches (32’ to 2’) and DETUNE knob (oscillators 2 only) determine the oscillator pitches. Again, DETUNE acts like a 5-turn potentiometer which can also affect the octave range.
The central SYNC button synchronizes VCO2 to VCO1. When switched on, the pitch of VCO2 should be set higher than VCO1 (or at least modulated upwards). Tip: For the maximum ‘sync sweep’ range, set VCO1 to 32’ and Transpose to 24.
The 4-way switch (1 / BOTH / 2 / SPLIT) specifies pitch modulation targets for a pair of sources (ENV2 and LFO2 by default). To modulate VCO1 and VCO2 independently, select SPLIT here.
The two vertical rows of buttons select waveforms: Triangle, Saw, Pulse/PWM, Noise (VCO1) and Sine (VCO 2). Note that selecting multiple waveforms retains the overall volume.
CROSS MOD (cross modulation) is similar to FM 1->2/3 in the Triple VCO module (see the previous pages). The main difference here is that the cross-modulation amount can be modulated directly from within the oscillator panel.
In this example, the amount of cross modulation is being (positively) controlled from the modulation wheel.
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UPPER PANELS
MIX balances the volumes of VCO1 and VCO2. Note: As VCO1 includes a noise generator, it made sense to allow MIX to be modulated in the Modifications panel (via Noise & Dual VCO Mix). This means you can use e.g. an envelope or LFO to crossfade between the two VCOs.
SHAPE gives you a choice of three Dual VCO ‘hardware revisions’. Although this switch affects the sound of all waveforms, it is most noticeable with triangles:
ideal (the sweetest triangle)
analog1 (looks like a sine, sounds more like a triangle)
analog2 (brighter – like ‘ideal’ but with a ‘tooth’)
Note: These screenshots were made while playing the note C2. Like real analogue oscillators, however, the shapes of waves in Diva are not 100% the same at all pitches!
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UPPER PANELS
DCO
A single oscillator model (with sub-oscillator and noise), DCO delivers a more complex, brighter sound than the other analogue types...
The left half of this panel is the same as the Dual VCO but without the switches for VCO2. Cross-modulation is not possible without that second oscillator, but this lack is tempered by the DCO’s ability to add perfectly synchronized waveforms together.
The output is the sum of four sources: PULSE, SAWTOOTH, SUBOSCILLATOR (each offering a choice of different shapes) plus NOISE. Even without noise, the result can be quite complex:
+ + =
In the PULSE and SAWTOOTH selectors, the straight line means silence/off, and the 4th option from the top (in each case) is the one that reacts to pulse width settings:
these two are the only waveforms that react to pulse width settings
Similarly, the SUB-OSCILLATOR offers six different waveforms, all based on pulse waves. The top four are all one octave below the main oscillator, the others are both two octaves down.
At the top right of the DCO panel are two faders that control sub-oscillator and noise levels.!
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UPPER PANELS

DUAL VCO ECO

This one is fairly primitive because it emulates primitive hardware. There is no PWM or FM here but, as its name suggests, ECO has the lowest CPU-hit...
When switched to RING, the regular VCO2 output is replaced by ring modulation between the selected VCO1 wave and the VCO2 square wave.
Although the two oscillators can be tuned independently, both TUNE MOD sources (ENV2 and LFO2 by default) are applied to the overall pitch.
Because VCO1 includes noise, its volume can be modulated via Noise & Dual VCO Mix in the
Modifications panel.
One more thing: the shape of the triangle wave is rather interesting...
DUAL VCO ECO triangle wave as seen in Diva’s oscilloscope
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UPPER PANELS

DIGITAL

This model emulates a well-loved but unashamedly digital-sounding oscillator (including all the dirt and aliasing of the original) – plus a few extras:
Multisaw mode is 7 stacked sawtooth waves. DETUNE adjusts tuning spread, MULTI is the balance between the original wave and the detuned waves. Multisaw is great for fuzzy dance music sounds or for exceedingly rich pads.
TriWrap is a wrapped triangle wave – positive peaks appear at the bottom of the wave and negative peaks appear at the top. WRAP adjusts the threshold for the wrap function, BEND adjusts the horizontal symmetry.
Noise is ‘digital’ white noise with a resonant lowpass filter. TUNE adjusts cutoff, Q adds resonance (with significant loss of low frequencies).
Feedback is a saw sent through a short delay with feedback, creating tones similar to an electric guitar. TUNE adjusts the length of the delay, FEEDBACK sets the amount of feedback (also adds lots of digital distortion).
Pulse is a square/pulse mixture. PW adjusts the pulse width while SPIKE UP first turns the wave into a saw (at 3.00 already), then multiplies the saw for a complex 'pseudo-sync' effect. SPIKE UP can create some serious aliasing.
Sawtooth is a sawtooth wave plus synchronized sine. HARMONICS adjusts the level and polarity of the sine wave (set 50.00 for a ‘pure’ sawtooth with no sine component), BEND continuously shifts the sine up an octave.
Triangle is a triangle plus synchronized sine an octave higher. HARMONICS adjusts the level of the sine, while BEND adjusts horizontal symmetry. You might like to watch what happens to the waveform in the ‘scope.!
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UPPER PANELS
The OCTAVE rotary switch adjusts the pitch of oscillator 1 in octave steps. The TUNE parameter in oscillator 2 lets you adjust its pitch precisely within a range of +/- 30 semitones (for very fine tuning, hold down a SHIFT key on your computer keyboard).
The SYNC switch at the bottom of oscillator 2 activates hard-sync (oscillator 2 is synchronized to oscillator 1). To hear the effect, turn up both MIX and TUNE. Note: In Multisaw mode, sync is only applied to the ‘original’ wave, and has no effect at all in Noise mode.
The central panel specifies the modulation sources and amounts for each oscillator. Both oscillators share common modulation sources (so you can’t modulate the two pitches independently, for instance).
Example: In this image, the pitch of oscillator 2 is being negatively modulated by pressure, the second parameter in oscillator 1 is being positively modulated by KeyFollow, and the third parameter in oscillator 2 is being positively modulated by LFO2.
Along the bottom are five more controls:
TUNE MOD lets you modulate the pitch of both oscillators at the same time.
CROSS (cross modulation) adjusts the amount that oscillator 1 frequency-modulates oscillator 2.
RING replaces oscillator 2 output with the result of ring modulation between the two oscillators (like
in the DUAL VCO ECO oscillator model).
MIX adjusts the relative levels of the two oscillators.
HIGH QUALITY reduces aliasing artifacts at the cost of (usually) a bit more CPU…
On the subject of CPU usage: Please note that automating the Digital oscillator’s WAVE switches (see previous page) can cause massive spikes and is therefore best avoided.!
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UPPER PANELS

High-pass Filters / Feedback

While the Triple VCO oscillator includes a mixer, all other oscillator models allow the central panel
to be swapped out. There is a choice of filter feedback or one of three high-pass filter models...!
all four feedback / HPF panel options

NO HPF (just feedback)

The same as integrated into the TRIPLE VCO oscillator model (see there). The single knob controls the amount of signal taken post-filter and fed back into the mixer. Effects range from mild bass boost to subharmonics / low-frequency howling.

HPF | POST

Although located to the left of the main filter, this model actually comes after the main filter in the signal path. It doesn’t affect the tone of the main filter by changing its input levels, but either boosts the bass (BOOST setting) or removes low frequencies from the already filtered signal.

HPF | PRE

A high-pass filter before the main filter, with continuous frequency control. HPF | PRE can affect the tone of the main filter by sending it fewer low-frequencies to work with. Use this model e.g. to tame the output of the DCO oscillator, or to thin out a noise source etc..

HPF | BITE

A complete high pass filter before the main filter, with cutoff modulation and resonance control. Unlike the similar-looking ECO oscillator, this is actually the most CPU-hungry option – so you can expect some powerful tonal shaping. Note: The resonance control is called PEAK here.
Two REV (revision) models are available, with different characteristics. But be warned: either of them can BITE…
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UPPER PANELS

Main Filters

This is where a lot of Diva’s magic happens. The current version offers five main filter models, each based on a classic hardware filter (or two): Ladder, Cascade, Multimode, Bite and Uhbie...

VCF | LADDER

Classic 24dB per octave ladder filter based on the behaviour of a specific piece of monophonic hardware (the word on the street is that each unit that left the factory sounded at least slightly different – the one we borrowed is certainly special).
Either side of the Cutoff and Emphasis (resonance) knobs are three cutoff modulation sources with bipolar controls: Two user-definable (ENV 2 and LFO 2 by default) plus key-follow (KYBD).
In addition to the original specifications, VCF | LADDER offers bipolar filter-FM from oscillator 1 and a 12dB per octave (2-pole) option.
Note: Emphasis (resonance) and FM amount can be modulated from the Modifications panel.!
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UPPER PANELS

VCF | CASCADE

A cleaner sounding filter than Ladder, CASCADE offers a very similar set of controls...
Purely in terms of available features, the only difference between Ladder and Cascade is the Rough/Clean switch. Apart from altering the overall tonal character, it has a noticeable effect on the amount of resonance at the top end of its range.
Cascade is an all-rounder, and is particularly good for big smooth pads without generating too much grunge when input signal levels are high.
The 12dB per octave switch (click on the button) removes two of the four poles, resulting in a brighter sound while still retaining the overall character.!
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UPPER PANELS

VCF | MULTIMODE

Featuring extra high-pass and band-pass options, the multimode model is based on the filter in yet another classic polyphonic synthesizer or two...
All controls except the switch in the middle should already be familiar (assuming you have been reading about the other filter models above).
LP4 is a 4-pole low pass model, LP2 is a brighter 2-pole alternative.
HP is a high-pass (removes low frequencies) and BP a band-pass (removes both high AND low
frequencies i.e. allows only a band of frequencies around the cutoff point to pass through).!
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UPPER PANELS

VCF | BITE

Although VCF | BITE appears to have no distinguishing features compared to the other models, it actually sounds very different...
The tone is highly dependent on input signal levels, the selected revision (REV) and the value of PEAK i.e. resonance. Like the corresponding high-pass module, the lowpass BITE filter is a real character, able to deliver anything from solid 2-pole to screaming mayhem.
Tip: If you want to hear a lot of resonance (“Peak”), try low oscillator volumes! Even as little as 10% can be just right.!
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UPPER PANELS

VCF | UHBIE

Another classic, but a latecomer to Diva: Uhbie, a silky smooth 2-pole state variable filter with crossfade between three different types (low-pass through notch or bandpass, to high-pass):
the Uhbie filter panel
Again, most of the controls should already be familiar (they are the same as in other models): We have Cutoff with two modulation sources/knobs on the left, resonance and key-follow in the middle, and the amount of FM from oscillator 1 at the bottom right.
The switch and pair of controls at the top right are what make Uhbie special:
BR / BP switches the central position of MIX to either bandreject (notch) or bandpass...
MIX crossfades from lowpass through bandreject / bandpass to highpass. The source selector
and amount knob are used for modulating the mixture, as indicated by the arrow.!
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UPPER PANELS

Envelopes

The righthand panel comprises two envelopes one above the other, each with its own model selector. Note that the curves of envelopes within the same hardware synth (i.e. those used for amplifiers vs those used for filters etc.) often differ. This important but often overlooked detail has also been carefully modeled in Diva.
ADS
Simplified ADSR with shared decay and release times. The Release stage can be switched off so that even a long decay will stop as soon as the note is released.
This envelope was modeled on that same “specific piece of monophonic hardware” mentioned above, but adapted for polyphonic use.
Tip: Before switching RELEASE on in envelope 1, make sure that DECAY is set to a value that is also a suitable release time.
VEL (velocity) determines how much the envelope level is modulated (scaled) by MIDI velocity.
KYBD (keyboard follow) scales the attack, decay and release times according to the MIDI note
number. This makes the envelope of high notes shorter and low notes longer.

ANALOGUE

ADSR type modeled on the envelope of another famous but unnamed analogue synthesizer...
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UPPER PANELS

DIGITAL

Digital ADSR type modeled on a later (and significantly cheaper) successor to the above. The DIGITAL envelope contains two extra buttons labeled Q and C:
Q (quantize) gives you a slightly steppy sound (think e.g. Alpha Juno, Matrix 1000 envelopes).
C (curve) affects the overall curvature, giving the envelope more of an ‘S’ form...
DIGITAL envelope without / with C (curve) switched on!
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LOWER PANELS

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LOWER PANELS

Effects

At the bottom right of all windows except Presets you will see a pair of stereo effects. The upper selector specifies the kind of effect, and the square button at the top left is an on/off switch.
The two effects are arranged in series. This means that you can even set up two reverbs one after the other (e.g. one for complex early reflections and the other for the main reverb tail).

Chorus

Type Classic, Dramatic, Ensemble are based on real hardware effects. Ensemble is especially rich – it can turn a raw VCO into a classic ‘string machine’ sound.
Rate is the modulation speed. Use low values for slow stereo effects.
Depth is the modulation amount. Set to zero (with Classic or Dramatic) for static colouration.
Wet is dry/wet mix. Subtle Chorus can add stereo width without making the sound too “washy”.

Phaser

Type Stoned or Flanged – also based on real hardware effects. The Flanged type is more
resonant, and is particularly interesting when applied to bright sounds.
Feedback is the resonance amount control.
Sync synchronize the Phaser’s LFO to song tempo. See Rate below.
Stereo is a bipolar stereo width control. Note that with the Stoned type, maximum stereo width is
at +/- 25.00 (especially obvious if you turn Feedback up).
Rate controls the modulation speed. If Sync (see above) is switched on, the value is measured in beats (i.e. quarter notes) so the rate actually gets slower as values increase. Example: For one cycle every 3 bars in 4/4 time, set this to 12.00 (3 times 4).
Phase controls phase offset, from 0° to 360°.!
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LOWER PANELS

Plate (reverb)

PreDelay is a simple delay before the reverb starts. This is especially useful for retaining the ‘closeness’ of the original signal.
Diffusion adds a subtle chaos to the reverb, thus reducing metallic resonances.
Damp causes higher frequencies to fade more quickly than low frequencies. Damping emulates
the ‘warming’ effect of carpets, curtains, wood etc. in a room.
Decay controls the time it takes for the reverb to fade out
Size ranges from tiny bathroom to huge cathedral. Tip: It is well worth experimenting with all
combinations of Decay and Size!
Dry / Wet are level controls for the untreated and effect signals.

Delay

Left / Center / Right delay times across the stereo field, always relative to host tempo (BPM). " Integer values are exact semiquavers (quarter-beats), and Center defines the Feedback time. This configuration is unusual – it lets you set a repeat rate without hearing that particular “tap” (simply turn down Center Vol to zero).
Dry is the level of the unprocessed signal.
Center Vol / Side Vol are separate levels controls for the center tap and the stereo (L/R) taps.
Wow emulates slow tape ‘wobble’, ranging from subtle/spacey to almost seasick.
Feedback is the regeneration amount. 100.00 will give you an infinite loop if HP is set to minimum
and LP to maximum... well worth trying out!
HP / LP are cutoff controls for highpass and lowpass filters within the feedback path. Lower the value of LP for typical damping, increase HP to reduce the bass and mid frequencies.!
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LOWER PANELS

Rotary

A realistic rotary cabinet i.e. Leslie™ emulation, with tube-like distortion.
Mix is a dry/wet balance control
Out attenuates or boosts the output level (whatever the Mix value)
Stereo controls stereo width (you could call this “microphone separation”)
Balance controls the relative volumes of the horn and bass speakers
Mode (unlabeled) selects Normal, SyncBass or NoBass. In Normal mode, the horn and bass
speakers rotate independently, in SyncBass mode they are phase-locked. NoBass mode switches the bass speaker off – you might have to reduce Mix a little to bring back the bass
Controller determines which of the available modulation sources (mod wheel, control A, Control B or Pressure) will be used to modulate the speed
RiseTime adds a variable lag to the selected controller
Slow sets the Slow speed, with a range from about 10 seconds to 0.2 seconds
Fast sets the Fast speed, also with a range from about 10 seconds to 0.2 seconds
Drive is the amount of distortion. Note that distortion is also highly dependent upon the input level
– if there is still too much distortion in the signal when Drive is set to minimum, turn down Volume in the Amplifier & Pan section, then turn up Out (see above)!
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LOWER PANELS
Note: The following panels are switched via the ‘radio’ buttons at the bottom of Diva’s window...

Tuning

This panel is visible when either Main or Presets is selected:
Vibrato controls the amount that oscillators are pitch-modulated from LFO1 (remember that LFO
levels also depend on the value of Depth Mod).
Glide sets the basic portamento rate. Glide2 is a bipolar offset applied to VCO2 (Dual VCOs and Triple VCO) as well as VCO3 (Triple VCO). Range is the portamento “strength”, a u-he speciality. Lower values shift the beginning of the slur closer to the target note, which is great for sloppy intonation effects! GlideMode has two options:
time however far apart notes are, the glide will take exactly the same amount of time"........
rate when notes are further apart, glide is proportionally slower .........
Fine (fine tune) shifts the pitch over a range of +/- 1 semitone and Transpose shifts the pitch in semitone steps over a range of +/- 24 semitones. Up and Down set the pitch bend ranges, from 0 to 24, 36 or 48 semitones.
Microtuning: Diva supports the .tun microtuning format. Hundreds of tables are available online, most of them free. Put all your .tun files into the following folder:
WIN ...\Diva.data\Tunefiles (specifically for Diva)" MAC MacHD/Library/Application Support/u-he/Tunefiles/ (global for all u-he plugins)
After loading a microtuning file, switch it on by clicking the button.
Amplifier & Pan
This panel is visible when either Main or Presets is selected
VCA selection: either envelope 1 or a simple gate (thus freeing up Env1 for other purposes!)
Volu me is a bipolar gain control. Positive values can subtly overdrive the amplifier. Vol Mod is for
gain modulation via the neighbouring modulation source. Pan shifts the voice(s) towards the left or right. Pan Mod modulates pan position – to pan stacked voices apart, use StackIndex here.!
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LOWER PANELS

Voice

This (unlabeled) panel is visible while the Main or Presets tabs are selected:
Mode has five options:
Poly normal polyphonic"..............
Mono monophonic, each new note triggers the envelopes"...........
Legato monophonic, doesn’t retrigger until a space is left between consecutive notes".........
Duo duophonic i.e. split voices. Osc 2 follows the highest note, Note Priority is ignored"..............
Poly2 a variant of Poly in which voices in their release stages are stolen before new ones ...........
Note Priority only applies to Mono and Legato modes. The options are:
last plays the most recent note (digitally controlled synthesizers)"...............
lowest plays the lowest note (most classic USA mono-synths)"..........
highest plays the highest note (EMS as well as most Japanese mono-synths) ........
Accuracy is a very important global parameter, as it determines CPU-hit vs realtime audio quality (especially resonance). See page 6 for details.
Offline Acc determines the accuracy for offline audio rendering, and is also a global parameter.
Voic es sets the maximum number (2-16) of voices before note-stealing occurs. Mostly used to
guard against audio glitches while running CPU-intensive presets.
Stack sets the number of unison voices. Use Stack Tuning and/or the StackIndex modulation source to offset voices against each other. Note that stacking will eat up CPU!
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LOWER PANELS

Clock & Arpeggiator

This (unlabeled) panel is visible whenever the MAIN or Presets tabs are selected:
Clock
Clock selects a clock interval for the arpeggiator (and perhaps future additional features). Note that Diva’s clock is always synchronized to host tempo, there are no absolute times.
Multiply scales the clock interval from 0.50 (half as long) to 2.00 (twice as long).
Swing factor, 50% = 2:1 (triplet time), 100% = 3:1 (dotted note / strongest shuffle).
Arpeggiator
Arp switches the arpeggiator on/off.
Mode
played in the order the notes were originally played".........
up from lowest to highest".................
down from highest to lowest"............
up+dn 1 normal up & down "......
up+dn 2 up & down, repeating the top and bottom notes"......
random chaotic order .......
Progression determines when the arpeggio will proceed to the next octave:
serial plays all notes, then jumps octaves up (set Octaves to 2 or more)"............
round same as serial, but also jumps octaves down again (set Octaves to 3 or 4)"...........
leap plays a note, jumps octave up for next note etc. (set Octaves to 2 or more)"..............
repeat like leap, but repeats the same note for all octaves before playing the next one ..........
Octaves (1 to 4) transposes the arpeggio according to the Progression setting (see above). The current octave is indicated by the vertical row of LEDs.
Restart (none, 4 – 10, 12, 14, 16, 24, 32): This sets the number of notes the arpeggiator will play before it starts from the beginning again, as indicated by the bottom LED in the row. The idea is to help keep arpeggios musically ‘in meter’ e.g. 4/4 time.
Experiment with the setting ‘8’ first. Note that setting low values here can cause the arpeggiator to restart before all your notes have been played.
Note that the results of arpeggiation depends on the selected voice mode: multiple overlapping release phases (poly), single overlapping release phase (poly2), single retriggering of the same voice (mono) or single trigger i.e. no retrigger (legato as well as duo).!
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LOWER PANELS
Modifications
Many synth enthusiasts like experimenting for hourson end with the more esoteric features of their chosen instruments. Diva doesn’t disappoint – click on MODIFICATIONS to open this panel:
The upper half includes options that aren’t available in the module panels (for instance resonance modulation), plus a few that are only available in certain modules. The lower half contains a bunch of simple modulation processors with input selectors – see below for details.
VCO
FM & Cross Mod Depth lets you modulate the FM amount in the TRIPLE VCO (and perhaps future oscillator models) from the selected modulation source. Note that this feature mirrors the extra Cross Mod parameters in the DUAL OSC model.
Noise & Dual VCO Mix lets you modulate the level of Noise (or the oscillator also responsible for noise) in all oscillator models, from the selected modulation source. For the Triple VCO and DCO models, this is easy because the noise generator is a separate audio source in both cases. In Dual VCO and Eco models, however, it modulates VCO1 level because noise is an integral part of VCO1. In the Dual VCO (not ECO) model, it does this by modulating Mix – great for cross-fading between the two oscillators. For the sake of consistency, Mix is also modulated in the DIGITAL model – although both oscillators are capable of generating noise.

Filter

Resonance Mod lets you modulate Resonance / Emphasis / Peak from the selected modulation source. There is no equivalent within the main oscillator panels.
Filter FM Mod lets you modulate the amount of filter FM (OSC1) from the selected mod source.

Feedback

Feedback Mod lets you modulate the amount of Feedback from the selected source. This only applies if the oscillator model is Triple VCO, or Feedback is selected as the central module.
parameters modulated here
This isn’t a button or knob, but a reminder that wherever the (M) symbol appears in the main panels, the neighbouring parameter is being modulated from within this panel.!
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LOWER PANELS

Modulation processors

rectify converts all negative values in a modulation source to positive values
invert turns a modulation source upside-down – negative becomes positive, and vice versa
quantize creates discrete steps – the value is a division factor: the lowest value 2.00 means two
steps if the input is unipolar (e.g. envelope), and four steps if it is bipolar (e.g. LFO)
lag slows down abrupt changes in the source e.g. makes square waves more rounded
multiply outputs the product of two modulation sources
add outputs the sum of two modulation sources

Trimmers

The TRIMMERS panels let you detune voices, add a variable degree of ‘slop’ to cutoff frequencies, envelope times, pulse width and glide times – and more.
OSCILLATOR VOICE DETUNE lets you detune voices (per oscillator!). Double-click to reset. LEDs indicate which voices are currently being played. They are arranged in pairs (01/09, 02/10, 03/11, 04/12 etc.)
Voice Map Modulator specifies values for the modulation source VoiceMap. Use VoiceMap for any offsets you like, e.g. panning, cutoff, resonance.
Note: The Oscillator Voice Detune and the Voice Map Modulator have 8 knobs (per row) for all 16 available voices. Presets with more voices than 8 ‘reuse’ those values.
Detune Amt (amount) is a scaling factor for all the OSCILLATOR VOICE DETUNE knobs. Keep this low for “good tuning”!
Voice Drift is a slow wavering of the overall pitch. Again, keep values low for “good tuning”
Voic es and Stack are the same as in the Main / Voice panel. They are included here for your
convenience while adjusting STACK TUNE.
VARI ANCE applies random offsets (‘slop’) to cutoff, envelope times, pulse widths and glide times. Similar to OSCILLATOR VOICE DETUNE (see above), but instead of having individual knobs per voice, each parameter has an associated button which randomizes the 8 values.
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LOWER PANELS
LED Colour determines the colour of all indicator lights in Diva. An automatable parameter!
RESET PHASE only works if Transient Mode (see below) is set to osc reset. The 3 knobs set the
phases at which the 3 oscillators will be reset every time a note is played. This feature is particularly useful for sounds in which the attacks need to be very consistent. Tip: the most percussive setting is seldom zero – you will need to experiment!
Transient Mode options affect how the first few milliseconds of new voices are handled in all voice modes except Legato. The effect is seldom obvious, but when attack times are set to minimum, the choice of transient mode can make all the difference between punchy and clicky.
The analog option means that nothing is reset (like in old analogue synths) – oscillators retain any direct current (DC) component. With the dc reset option, DC offset is removed. The vcf reset option also causes the filter to reset, ensuring that previously played notes have no effect on the current voice. The osc reset option also resets the oscillator phases to the RESET PHASE values.
Bipolar Noise is best left switched on. Included for reasons of compatibility with early presets.
STACK TUNE sets the pitch of each stacked voice within a range of +/- 2 octaves. Set Stack (see
above) to a number other than 1, and use these knobs to create ‘megasaws’ (set all values very close to 0.00), one-finger chords etc..

Scope

Every synth needs an oscilloscope...
Frequency controls horizontal resolution, and Scale controls vertical resolution
Note that Diva’s ‘scope takes its signal from before the effects.
Context menu
Right-clicking anywhere within the oscilloscope window lets you switch the drawing mode. The options glow, fire and wind add different fade-out effects at the cost of extra CPU. These modes are also a bit more sluggish than eco or fast. Tip: If you need to keep CPU-usage down to an absolute minimum, select the eco (economy) option.!
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CONFIGURATION

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CONFIGURATION
The MIDI Learn window is a translucent overlay, with MIDI-learnable elements shown as selectable outlines. Controls that are already connected appear filled (like 3 sliders and a knob in the image). The outline of the currently active control is highlighted (like the oscillator ‘MIX’ knob in the image).
You can still select MAIN, MODIFICATIONS etc. here, but not the module panels. As ‘Digital‘ has a very different parameter set than ‘Triple VCO’ (as an extreme example), to MIDI learn everything in Diva you will need to exit configuration mode and swap the modules out.
Try this: Click on the CUTOFF knob/slider and send Diva some MIDI CC data (move a knob or slider on your hardware MIDI controller). Then switch to the MIDI Table and check the list…
MIDI Table
Click on the configuration button and select the lower MIDI icon button to open an editable list of all current MIDI CC assignments.
Parameter
The first field displays/selects one of Diva’s many parameters, which are sorted into sub-menus according to module. Click on the ‘Add’ button at the bottom left and experiment with this field, then delete the assignment again by clicking on the [X] to the right of the line you just created.
Here’s an experimental feature… At the very bottom of the Parameter menu are two extra options. Select Last Clicked Control, enter a Controller number and exit the configuration pages. The most recently clicked knob or switch will now respond to that CC! The Fine option is similar, but with a significantly reduced range.
Channel / Controller
The next two fields are for MIDI channel and CC number. Diva is channel-sensitive, you can map up to 16 channels of controller assignments.
Mode
Specifies the range and/or resolution of values.
normal full range, continuous .....................
integer full range, whole numbers only .....................
fine 0.01 steps between the two integers closest to the current value ..........................
The next two options are only useful for adjusting oscilllator pitch via a pair of controls:
octaves 5 discrete values ....................
semitone +/- 6 semitones .................
Setting these up isn’t particularly straightforward, but if you have done it once you can easily do it again – see the next page for a quick “learning-by-doing” tutorial.!
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CONFIGURATION
Tutorial: Oscilllator pitch control via two CC
•
Load INIT Jupe-6 from the TEMPLATES and set the oscilllator MIX fully clockwise (VCO2 only).
•
Click on the configuration button and enter the MIDI Learn page. Click on VCO2 octave rotary switch – note that the DETUNE knob will also be highlighted. Move an unused knob on your controller hardware, preferably one that that has another unused knob next to it (you will be assigning that one manually).
•
Exit the Configuration pages and test the setup so far. The learned control (CC) will sweep both rotary knobs smoothly through the entire range. Several users will prefer this behaviour.
•
Click on the cogwheel and open the MIDI Table. The OSC:Tune2 assignment will appear there. Set its Mode to octaves instead of normal. The learned knob will now only switch the the octave.
•
Use the Add button to create a fresh assignment. Set Parameter to OSC / Tune2 (i.e. the same as the learned knob), Controller to the CC corresponding to that other unused knob, and the Mode to semitone. Move the newly assigned knob to its central position.
•
Exit the configuration pages and test the final setup. The first knob (CC #03 here) will only affect the octave rotary switch, while the second knob (CC #04 here) smoothly adjusts the semitone offset. Bazinga!
Type
Specifies the type of hardware. By far the most common is Continuous 7-bit.
Encoder 127 unipolar encoder ................
Encoder 64 bipolar encoder ..................
Continuous 7-bit 7-bit MIDI CC (standard resolution, most common) ..........
Continuous 14-bit 14-bit MIDI CC (high resolution, quite rare) ........
Remove
To remove individual assignments, click on the small [x] to the right of the line. To remove all assignments, use the Delete All button at the bottom.
Control A, Control B
Local versions of the Preference settings Control A Default and Control B Default (see below). These replace Breath and Xpress used in previous versions of Diva. Note: The assignments here are saved per instance with the project, not with presets.
!
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CONFIGURATION

Preferences

To open the Preferences window, click on the ‘tools’ icon:
CONTROLS
Mouse Wheel Raster: If the wheel on your mouse is rastered (you can feel notches as you roll), activate this. Each notch should then increment any parameter in Diva by a ‘sensible’ step.
APPEARANCE
Default Size: The GUI size for each new instance of Diva. Note that you can temporarily change the GUI size without entering the Preferences page – right-click in the background.
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CONFIGURATION
Default Skin: This option will only appear if Diva finds at least one alternative skin when it loads. Change this to set the global default.
Gamma: The overall brightness of the Diva GUI (brighter, bright, neutral, dark or darker).
Oscilloscope: This setting (eco, fast, glow, fire or wind) affects the appearance of waves in the
oscilloscope. Eco is the most CPU-friendly, wind the most CPU-intensive.
Text Antialiasing: Normally on. In rare cases, switching this off will improve readability.
PRESETS
Auto Versioning: If switched on, an index is appended to the preset name and automatically incremented each time you save it. For instance, saving ‘Space’ three times in a row would give you three files: ‘Space’, ‘Space 2’ and ‘Space 3’.
Save Presets To: Choosing the user folder option causes all saved presets to land in the User folder instead of the currently selected one.
Scan On Startup: Whether the preset library should be scanned and the database recreated when the first instance of Diva is started, e.g. when you reopen a project.
OTHERS
Auto-Tag Features: Setting this preference to an option other than never can make tagging presets less of a chore. The on load option causes Diva to generate appropriate ‘Features’ tags whenever a preset is loaded, hiding any existing tags. The if empty option is similar but doesn’t hide existing tags. See the NKS chapter a few pages on.
Note that auto-tagging is temporary. To make the automatically generated ‘Features’ permanent, you can (mis)use the convert to h2p function in the context menu of the presets panel. Exporting to a different format also writes any generated Features tags into the preset data.
Base Latency: If you are certain that your audio system – hardware as well as software – uses buffers that are a multiple of 16 samples in size (please refer to the respective documentation), you can safely disable Diva’s base latency here. Otherwise leave it set to ‘16 samples’ to prevent crackles. Note that a new Base Latency setting will only take effect when the host allows e.g. on playback or after switching the sample rate. Reloading Diva will always work.
Control A/B Default: The list of modulation sources in previous Diva versions included the fixed MIDI controls Breath (CC#02) and Xpress (CC#11). While retaining backwards compatibility, we replaced them both with the user-definable Control A and Control B sources.
MIDI Control Slew sets the strength of parameter smoothing for all performance controls – pitch bend, modulation wheel, Control A/B and Pressure. The default setting is ‘fast’.!
ABOUT THOSE BUFFERS
Diva processes audio in chunks of n x 16 samples. This so-called ‘block processing’ method significantly reduces the CPU load and memory usage of all our plug-ins.
If the number of samples to be processed is say 41, Diva processes the first 32 and keeps the remaining 9 in a small buffer (16 samples is large enough). Those 9 samples are then processed at the start of the next call… and so on.
The extra buffer is only necessary if either the host or audio driver processes ‘unusual’ buffer sizes. In the many host applications that process buffers of e.g. 64, 128, 256 or 512 samples (all multiples of 16), try switching it off so that Diva can process latency-free.
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MIDI
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TIPS & TRICKS
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TIPS & TRICKS

Stereo without effects

Diva’s signal is basically mono (with pan) until processed by the effects. However, stacked voices can be panned apart – try this:
•
Load TEMPLATES / INIT Alpha. Go to the TRIMMERS panel and set Stack to 2. Turn the second (2) Stack Tune knob up to 4.00 – a major third interval. Play your keyboard and watch the voice activity LEDs light up in pairs. Note that you can only play 3-note chords before voice-stealing occurs. If your system can handle it, set Voices to 16 for 8-note polyphony.
•
In the MAIN panel, click on the selector next to Pan Mod and select StackIndex as source instead of LFO2. Slowly turn the knob to maximum and hear how this pans the two notes apart.
StackIndex doesn’t have to be used in such a static manner. It could be multiplied with an LFO, for instance: Go to the MODIFICATIONS page, select LFO2 and StackIndex as the two multiplicands. Then go back to the MAIN panel and replace the Pan Mod source (currently StackIndex) with Multiply.
Also try modulating cutoff with Multiply instead of LFO2. Your VCF and Amp panels would then look something like the image here.

LFO as ramp generator

If you don’t need both LFOs for cyclic modulation, you can use one of them as a ramp generator (a simple envelope). It’s all about the LFO’s Delay parameter:
•
Load TEMPLATES / INIT Jupe-6 and turn the oscillator MIX up to 50.
•
Turn VCO2 pitch modulation (the knob below VCO1 octave range, labelled LFO2) up to exactly
1.00. The pitch of VCO2 now wanders in a drunken stupor around a central pitch. Change the LFO2 Waveform to sqr hi-lo. VCO2 now jumps a semitone above and below.
•
Turn LFO2 Rate down to minimum and set VCO2 detune to exactly -1.00. Everything is now back in tune. Finally, turn LFO2 Delay to about 20 – yes, it’s all about the Delay parameter!
Of course it would have been easier to use envelope 2, but it’s good to have that envelope free for cutoff duties. On the other hand, we could have used LFO2 for cutoff and envelope 2 for VCO2 pitch instead. Hmm... that would have been easier (envelopes are unipolar), and perhaps more interesting (full-spec ADSR instead of ramp)…

Voice map tricks

Looking through the presets in Diva, the Voice Map Modulator isn’t used very often. Perhaps all the other ‘slop’ parameters are enough to get by, but to surgically ‘detune’ any modulation target you like over a wide range, you do need those knobs...
Chord inversions
•
Load TEMPLATES / INIT Jupe-8 and go to the Trimmers page
•
Set the Voice Map Modulator values to -100, 0, 100, 0, -100, 0, 100, 0
•
Use VoiceMap to modulate oscillator pitch, amount = 12.00 (or 7.00 if you like Jazz)
•
Switch the Effects on, adjust filter settings to taste etc. and play simple triads
Cutoff offset
•
Load TEMPLATES / INIT Minipoly, then and change the Voices parameter to 4. Double-click on Cutoff and turn EMPHASIS up to about 80.
•
Replace the second cutoff modulator (currently LFO2) with VoiceMap and turn it up to about 30.
•
Adjust the first four Voice Map Modulator knobs to taste while repeatedly playing the same note.
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TIPS & TRICKS
Dual oscillator crossfade
Two of the oscillator models in Diva have a balance (MIX) control instead of individual oscillator levels – DUAL VCO and DIGITAL. In the Modifications page, modulate Noise & Dual VCO Mix to crossfade between the two oscillators.

Modulation processor tricks

Mastery of the modulation processors in the Modifications page is the key to making seemingly impossible sounds in Diva, and a fantastic playground for experimentation. A few examples:
Quantize
•
Load TEMPLATES / INIT Mongrel-2, turn envelope 1 Sustain up to maximum.
•
In the oscillator, turn the lower of the two TUNE MOD knobs up to maximum. You should hear a cheap “alarm siren” sound caused by LFO2.
•
Open the Modifications page and specify LFO2 as input for the QUANTIZE processor. In the oscillator panel, replace that LFO2 modulation with Quantize. Change the LFO2 Sync to 1/2.
•
Specify Quantize as input for the LAG processor, go to the oscillator and replace Quantize with Lag. Turn the Lag time up to about 22.
•
Experiment with different LFO2 waveforms, Sync and Quantize values.
Rectify
Here are a few examples of what you can do with the rectifier – try them out!
•
Double the speed of a triangle or sine LFO
•
Change a saw LFO into a triangle
•
Change a square LFO into a constant (DC)
•
Make your pitchbender unipolar
All processors
Load HS All Processors from the Local folder, and open the Modifications page. This preset uses all of the modulation processors, but it’s still fairly easy follow:
•
LFO1 > Lag > feedback modulation
•
LFO1 > Lag > Add with Inverted Mod Wheel > cutoff modulation
•
LFO2 > Quantize > shape modulation of VCO1, cutoff modulation
•
LFO2 > Quantize > Rectify > pitch modulation of VCO1
•
LFO2 > Quantize > Multiply with LFO1 > resonance, filter FM
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NKS
Saving as .nksf is only possible in the VST2 version
Mac owners can use – temporarily if necessary – any host application that supports VST2 e.g. Cubase, Ableton Live, Cockos Reaper, Presonus Studio One, Bitwig Studio…
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TROUBLESHOOTING

Troubleshooting
Intermittent crackling sound?
That’s Diva’s only demo restriction. To purchase a license, go here and click on the shopping cart symbol. If you already own a license, click on Diva’s data display and select “enter serial number”.
File permission problems?
Windows 10 doesn’t like files and folders being moved around after Diva has been installed, so please specify suitable paths during installation. If you try to set a “Data directory" path in one of the Program Files areas, please do not ignore the warning!
Our plug-ins can reside anywhere, but the Data directory must have unrestricted read/write access (for instance, C:\Users\*YOU*\Documents\u-he\ should be fine). The cure for most file permission problems is to completely uninstall Diva, then reinstall following the above advice.
CPU overload?
Diva is very demanding, especially in ‘divine’ mode. You will need quite a powerful computer. Even if your system only delivers one or two voices before the CPU starts complaining, there are still a few things you can do before thinking about upgrading your hardware:
•
Lower the Accuracy setting – it really doesn’t have to be ‘divine’ all the time!
•
Lower the polyphony and/or switch the Mode (Main panel) to Poly2, then resave the preset.
•
Try activating multicore. This is not an adequate replacement for freezing tracks etc., its main purpose is to let users play one instance of Diva with as many voices as possible. If a project includes many instances of Diva, please check that as few as possible have multicore enabled. In certain combinations of hosts, drivers etc., multicore can even cause drop outs and stalls.
•
Use Diva purely as a monophonic synth, e.g. by locking the ‘legato’ voice Mode. Remember that many treasured classics are “only” monophonic.
•
Avoid automating the ‘Digital’ oscillator’s WAVE switches, which can cause serious CPU spikes.
Out of tune?
First of all, you have good ears! Diva emulates classic analogue hardware, and many of the presets (including some of the template files) have been programmed to sound very similar to wobbly old synthesizers. Some people actually like that...
However, the amount of slop is optional: Go to the Trimmers page and turn down Detune Amt as well as Voice Drift before saving a sound. Then read all about the Trimmers.
Missing switch automation?
Host automation of several ‘switch’ type parameters in the middle of a track would almost inevitably cause CPU spikes, crashes, loud noise bursts and other erratic behaviour. So we decided not to expose these parameters to host automation. Note that you can still MidiLearn the switches.
Other problems?
If you are truly stuck, you can contact us via our support page. You could also help us improve Diva by sending us a log file: To set this up, create a new text file and name it Diva.log (not Diva.txt). Once the problem occurs, quit your host application and send a copy of Diva.log to
support@u-he.com together with a short explanation of the problem. Please also state your
operating system and host application. Thanks in advance!!
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MODULATION SOURCES
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CREDITS

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