U-he Uhbik 2 is a free update to its effects plugin collection, featuring new sound design options, updated visuals, and more: now in public beta.
The plugin most people are probably waiting for is Zebra 3 from u-he. As reported, there seems to be a public beta this year, and probably even an official release. The Berlin-based company is currently working on more than just Zebra 3.
At Superbooth 2025, U-he showcased Uhbik 2, a major free update for its effects plugin bundle for macOS and Windows. Good news, Uhbik 2 is now in public beta.
u-he Uhbik 2
Uhbik is a popular effect plugin bundle that’s a bit dated. This is especially noticeable in the UIs, which no longer match the designs of u-he of 2025, like the patch browser and more. U-he Uhbik 2 brings all of this up to date and even more.
The first major change is the names. Where the old versions were designated as A, D, and F, the new versions now have proper names, making it easier to remember what each one does. For example, the granular processor now calls Grainshift, or the reverb Ambience.
Uhbik 2 also supports surround formats up to 7.1. This will please many music producers, especially in the film industry. Then, u-he is also working on a Uhbik rack version that could load multiple Uhbiks to create and save an effects chain. This, however, is a new feature that will be introduced in the future.
As a reminder, Uhbik 2 features 10 creative effect plugins, including a new compressor plugin.
- Ambience: plate reverb with early-reflection and three operation modes
- Compressor
- Delay: plugin is inspired classic tape echo units
- EQ: a semi-parametric equalizer
- Flanger/chorus with two traditional flavours: the twin tape machine method and the bucket brigade stomp box type
- Grainshift: grain pitch shifter effect
- Phaser: it features 42 all-pass filters with granular pitch shift or vocoder operation modes
- Runciter: distortion filter
- Shifter: frequency shifter
- Tremolo: with customizable patterns
Built-in Modulation
Another significant new feature is the built-in modulation in each U-He Uhbik 2 plugin. You can now work with a multi-mode envelope (envelope follower, attack/decay, cyclic, one-shot), a customizable 128-step modulation sequencer (also known as “mapper”), and a multi-wave LFO.
A four-slot modulation matrix handles all this new modulation power with drag-and-drop mod mapping support. In addition, the matrix contains further modulation sources, including the mod wheel, pitch wheel, aftertouch, velocity, and more.
Furthermore, each Uhbik 2 plugin now features an advanced preset browser with categories, tags, and additional options. According to u-he, your existing user presets from the previous version are still supported. You just have to manually copy these over to the new preset folders, as they have also been renamed.
Additionally, U-he Uhbik 2 will no longer support VST2, as the format has been discontinued, and also for 32-bit systems.
The plugins are currently in public beta. There are still bugs and some things that aren’t fully functional yet. The full list of known issues is on the u-he KVR Audio forum. Therefore, they don’t recommend using the plugins in large projects where you need to be sure everything will work.
First Impression
Plugin miracles still happen. Not as long as with Zebra 3, but we’ve been waiting for a Uhbik update for a while. I’m glad it’s finally here. The new versions look very exciting and offer many new possibilities.
Since I’ve been a Uhbik user for some time and purchased it myself, I’m excited to test it out, especially the new modulation options look tasty to use.
You can purchase Uhbik 1 now for 149€. The price will go up to 199€ upon the official release of Uhbik 2. You can save 25% off during this public beta phase. Uhbik 2 will be free for existing Uhbik license owners. It runs as a 64-bit only VST, VST3, AU, AAX, and CLAP plugin on macOS, Linux, and Windows.
The public beta is available in the KVR Audio Forum.
More information here: U-he / KVR Audio Forum
Available at my partner
Wooo-Hooo!!!
I’m just a bit excited.Been looking forward to this for a long time.