Waldorf Blofeld

I am a very novice synth programmer and this thing is a little daunting. The manual does a horrible job at giving one a good "getting started" starting point. The manual goes over extreme basics, but didin't really do anything for me, so I had to rely on playing with it to get to know it. As far as the layout of the synth, I think that they did a good job at trying to make the synth user friendly. Most of the paramaters can be reached by just pressing one button, but a few have to be reached by pressing and holding one button while pressing another.

The polyphony is good. I don't think I'll ever need the 25 voices at one time. I like the fact that it's 16 parts multi timbral and that the voices can be reached by catagory. It only has midi in, and one set of outputs, which doesn't bother me.
On a lot of it's presets it puts an unwanted delay that is easily removed...although it does seem like the delay has a tempo of it's own and doesn't react to the clock on my sequencer. The other effects are very basic with only a few paramaters, but are very clean sounding and allow the voice to stick out of the mix.
I really havn't figured out how to use the arpeggiator yet, but have only had it for one day, and feel that I'll be arpegiating in no time.

This is where all the difficulties in programming the synth are set aside. The synth sounds great. Some of the presets are scary and very tin-like, but a lot of them are cool and soft. I've got 3 other VA's, and figured that this synth would compliment the others very well--- and it does. It has a lot of sounds that my other VA's have, but it also has a lot of interesting and usfull voices.
It does have a little static on some of the voices, but it's very quiet and almost non existent.
I like how it can combine the harsh sounds of the wavetable with some soothing sounds of VA---I don't think there is a genre that this thing can't do. There are a lot of VA dance sounding presets, but there are a lot of warm and soothing pads.
I would give this a 10, but some of the sounds have an very anoing static noise.
The best thing to do is check one out and see if you like or dislike the voices...for me, they work great although I'm not so much a fan of the extremely harsh sounding voices.

It seems very reliable with it's metal body and metal knobs, but I'm kinda scared that the paint may rub of or get scratched off.
The knobs seem solid, but I wouldn't test them.

I emailed them once and they got back to me in a few days, so I guess that's better than not responding at all.

I love the size of the synth. It doesn't take up that much room, and fits well with my other synths as far as sound. I was considering the Virus Snow, but didn't have the money, so I went for the Blofeld instead...I think I made the right choice. I havn't really dove that far into the synth, but I feel that I'll get the hang of it in no time.
I don't love this synth yet, but i'm sure with a little more diving, it will be my go-to synth for my sequences.

Waldorf has tried to keep the cost low with this synth. That means: as little hardware as possible. It's got 8 knobs and 4 touch buttons. A graphic display tells you what you're doing. Let me start off by saying that this is not a synth for beginners. The options to tweak your sound are immense, but everything has to be done with a very limited set of controls. This means scrolling through numerous pages of control options. It's not a synth where you turn some knobs and see what happens. You've got to know what you're doing and plan ahead.

That being said, Waldorf have really given the menu structure and options some thought. I was able to get started with this synth without relying on the quickstart, or the manual (well written, but I needed to download it off the net because the accompanying cd was faulty). One thing that Waldorf have missed: A software librarian/editor for the PC. I can edit this synth without problems, but a software tool surely is a welcome addition.

I'm running software version 1.02, which means that a number of bugs you read about here and there are not bothering me - the whole thing has no stability problems that I'm aware of.

For it's size, Blofeld is suprisingly powerful. It can deliver up to 25 notes of polyphony, depending on the complexity of the patch. So far - I haven't run out of it. MIDI capabilities are good, but basic. No splits or multi-modes possible, which would have been nice. Also, Blofeld lacks a MIDI-Out, and an option to process sound from an audio input - something that's present on most of the current hardware synths out there.

All-in-all, on the hardware front, Waldorf stripped this box to the bare basics. The power is all in the software, and that where it shines. 3 VA/Wavetable oscillatores, 2 filters, 3 LFO's and 4 envelopes. Besides that you get 2 effect slots and a really versatile apreggiator.

As noted before, this synth is semi-modular. Besides a number of preconfigured modulation options you get a 16-slot modulation matrix where you can select a modulation source and target. I don't need to explain the wide range of options this gives you for sound manipulation.

How does this all sound?
The oscillator section is capable of creating a wide array of sonic textures, with options for FM, Ring Modulation, noise and sweeping through wavetables. The filters are great, with the option to drive the sound into white noise territory. And all this can be modulated beyond recognition. I'm not at all familiar with Ye Olde Waldorf Synths, so I can't compare sounds. But Blofeld at least sounds fat and full, plenty of low end, and it's able to stand out in a setting with other instruments.

This synth is not designed to do realistic piano or violin sounds. It's designed to sound electronic. And in that category it can go from super-smooth to out-of-control overdriven, and from bog-standard to not-plain-at-all weird. I personally favor dirty, overdriven sounds, and Blofeld just kills it! But also if you'd like to keep your sounds more civilised, Blofeld can be your friend. Vintage sounds, funky basslines or ethereal pads? It's there.

Of course, there is always a little complaining to do. I have little love for the builtin delay. If I variate delay time on a delay, I expect repeats to speed up/slow down, and pitch to change accordingly. Call me a traditionalist if you like. Blofeld delay does nothing of that kind. In an attempt (if I understand the manual correctly) to eliminate pitch changes on delay time variation, Waldorf have completely messed it up. Change the time, and be treated to clicks, completely trashing your sound. So this means I'll have to use a separate delay box. No killing offense, but a pity nonetheless.

I haven't got this unit long enough to truly reflect on reliability. All I can say is: It feels solid. The unit is made out of metal, knobs are stainless steel. It /weighs/. The adapter is a bit flimsy, but that doesn't worry me too much. I'd feel confident gigging with it without a backup.

Not dealt with them.

When you put everything together about this synth: The sound, the options, the way it feels and handles, it's good and bad points and the price: you can't be anything but impressed with Waldorf, and what they've pulled themselves out of the grave with. They have delivered a serious piece of hardware at a very competative price. (That is, if you're in the euro zone).

I don't consider myself an expert on synthesizers, but I've played around with various hard- and software synths over the years. The biggest plus about this synth for me it's that it's Evil. It can generate dirty, raw sounds without losing definition and still have headroom left to further crank the madness, and that was exactly what I was looking for.

It has it's weaker points, but these can be attributed to Waldorfs attempts to keep the price down. Call them compromises. The only real thing that is missing is a software editor, but that might still be released in the forseeable future. Overall, this is a killer synth for a killer price!