Electronic Music 411 - Waldorf Blofeld

05/03/08 + wakax

Waldorf Blofeld - any experiences yet ?

05/03/08 + Ochre

Is this a Micro Q with a shiny case or is it a totally different beast?

Recent blogs: Death of an Aura EP up on Bleep, Stars of the Lid gig last night, Ochre Download Store!

05/03/08 + wakax

hard to say

it's damn cheap - and i though i could get one.
( my ibook is slow ...

but is hard to say if its good or not ...
i'm curious how many complexe patches (timbres) can play simultaneous for example.

05/03/08 + ignatius

Ochre said: "Is this a Micro Q with a shiny case or is it a totally different beast?"

it's sort of 85% microQ w/a different case plus a few extra bits... at least from what i've read.

"Not only that, the Blofeld includes all ROM Wavetables from the mighty flagship Waldorf Wave as well as Microwave II/XT. Plus, lo and behold, the desperately requested "Upper Wavetable" from the good old PPG Wave! But, for the first time in the history of Waldorf and PPG, each of these two oscillators can have its own wavetable."

link

the microQ has wavetables too but sounds NOTHING like a mwXT. i owned a microQ for a time and sold it a while back. the XT is something i'll never sell. simply awesome. kills the microQ. who knows how it compares to the blofeld but if the blofeld is more of a microQ then i think it's a let down. however, i'm stoked that waldorf is back in business and i think the blofeld is a good first step towards a new product as it appeals to a lot of people in that format even though the price just jumped for the USA due to the weak ass dollar bill yall.

personally, i'd be interested if they were updating a synth like the microwaveXT. the filters in the XT are great and it just has its own sound that other waldorf synths don't have even if they do share all the same wave tables.

Recent blogs: Wireless electricity, Buried in Time #5 "Yavonemu", reminder Portland show tonight

05/03/08 + Ochre

If it's got a few more bells than the Micro Q then that's great news -- I hope it's quieter too, as the uQ has quite a high noise floor, I've noticed. But I really do like the uQ -- really crisp and bright. Love the waves for Plaid-ish bell tones -- I neglected the waves initially, but I'm finding more use for them, especially in tandem with some inter-osc FM.

I wish they still produced the Rack Attack though -- should have got one when I had the chance. Still use Attack VST these days, but I'm expecting the next revision of Cubase to inexplicably refuse to work with it or something. A hardware backup would be nice...

Recent blogs: Death of an Aura EP up on Bleep, Stars of the Lid gig last night, Ochre Download Store!

05/03/08 + dpmtl

Wolfram Franke mentioned the possibility of putting drum maps in the blofeld.I'd get one if they did.

Recent blogs: The Korg R3, Too many problems with software

edited: May 03 2008 + sweettrip

Ochre said: "
I wish they still produced the Rack Attack though -- should have got one when I had the chance. Still use Attack VST these days, but I'm expecting the next revision of Cubase to inexplicably refuse to work with it or something. A hardware backup would be nice..."

if they make a drumsynth unit like the Machinedrum but with the synthesis power of Rack Attack, they will make a lot of money. i used to own a Rack Attack but i sold it. i was very frustrated with the fact that i could not control parameters via MIDI CC. i kinda wish i didn't sell it and they are now pretty expensive used...

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05/03/08 + ignatius

the microQ has a drum mode that works well as does the nord lead2.

Recent blogs: Wireless electricity, Buried in Time #5 "Yavonemu", reminder Portland show tonight

05/03/08 + PYVND

It sounds amazing. Nobody near me has one to sell though and the price has gone from $600 to $800. I have also learned that although multitimbral (you can get around 4-5 parts out of it) it only has memory space to save ONE multi. This is a weakness when you've got something with 1000 patches and is advertised as 16 parts multi.

But yeah it sounds great. It is probably the next thing that I'll get although probably not for another 6 months. I may get it for the holiday season. I am conservative with my purchases though. I have heard it and it sounds very good.

05/07/08 + wakax

it has now a editor on pc.
link

05/15/08 + hogberto

there's a review of it in the new sound on sound, out today. they like it.

05/16/08 + jarvis

have you ever read a review of a new product they don't like?

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05/16/08 + sAMsKi

oof! harsh

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05/16/08 + flies

in answer to jarvis, yes, although i can't recall specifically. i like their gear reviews better than any i've seen elsewhere. I wouldn't try and stick this point if i didn't actually like their reviews so well.

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05/16/08 + PYVND

Yeah, SOS reviews are pretty good as reviews go. I think they tend to review products that are good to begin with, and they usually tell you where they fall short. They generally don't devote space to products that just plain suck.