Waldorf Blofeld

I am currently using version 1.13. I find the blofeld very easy to use, i think a vst editor would finish it off nicely. The manual comes in handy if you really need to know something. The only thing ive used the manual for is to find the unison page! The presets are ok, some are really good. I will overwriting many of the patches.

25 voices, no keyboard, i havent run out of voices yet, and thats using in multi mode for dance music. But then again i am wary of the voice limitations and try to use the least voices i can with my patches. The effects are average, but after recording i can throw on external effects in my daw. So i dont mind.

The sounds are really good, my mate has a virus ti, and this thing can break out with some awesome bass and leads next to the ti. i was surprised myself, as after hearing the amazing sounds of the virus, that this thing could belt out just as good. i would love a sub oscillator on this thing though. the pads can be garsh or smooth, as with the leads and basses. i use this thing for dance music, mainly uk hardcore and it does the job well.

i dont know if i can depend on it, ive had some issues recording with it. I would have to switch it off to reset it. i also have trouble syncing in fl studio 8, but thats due to the DAW itself. these problems can be worked around, but a little frustrating.

Havent dealt directly with waldorf, but the module i have has a faulty knob, resulting in alot of frustration. but i called up my waldorf dealer and they are more than happy to replace it!

If it were lost or stolen, i wouldn't buy it agin. i would maybe go for a virus b or c or TI. Ive had the unit two weeks, and i have previously owned the virus powercore which i regretably sold on ebay. I don't love or hate the blofeld, its just an instrument. i much prefer the virus though. if this beast had better reverb and a sub oscillator i would love this thing. other than that, i sounds cool and it helps me make my music.

Surprisingly easy to use for the small number of knobs and buttons. The display is great, and menu diving is kept to a tolerable amount. Once you get familiar with this synth, you'll be flying around the OS, programming quickly and efficiently.

I hear there's a couple of patch editors for Windows, but none as of 2/2009 for the Mac. That's a shame, because at least half of computer musicians use the Mac. (Waldorf just released Largo, which is very much like a software version of the Blofeld, for both platforms, so hopefully a Blofeld editor for the Mac is on its way.)

Presets are a mixed bag, as with all synths--partially because some are not very usable, adn partially because some are several-year-old patches imported from the Q. Even if a patch editor never surfaces, there are ~1,000 patch locations here, and a librarian program seems like a must.

The manual is just OK. It's surprisingly short, it contains some errors, and it's got to be updated with PDFs every time an OS update occurs.

I have the desktop version, so there's no keyboard. The power adaptor is external, which sucks, but it's probably necessary in a synth this small. Effects are OK, but too few--the Nova had truly multi-timbral effects ten years ago, after all.

No hardware expansions, but software updates give it new features pretty regularly. Waldorf is very good with that, although their OS updates also seem to contain more than the usual number of bugs. Most of those get fixed over time. The latest OS update gave us a true multi-mode (you can save multis and use splits/layers) and "sample playback," but this is just playback of preset samples provided by Waldorf. Many people were expecting user sample playback, as in the Nord Wave, but that is not here yet. Maybe someday.

Three big features are missing that, if present, would make me hold on to this synth for life: user wavetables, decent polyphony, and a MIDI out jack.

Waldorf might be saving user wavetables for the Stromberg (if that ever materializes), or they may appear in the Blofeld or Largo someday. They're not saying. It's frustrating for me, though, because their Wave could do user wavetables 15 years ago; it can't be that computationally intensive by today's standards.

Don't be lulled by the claim of "up to 25 voices" of polyphony. Like the Micro-Q, that's only true for 1-osc, 1-filter sounds. I love the Blofeld's wavetables and comb filters, and those are huge drains on polyphony--many of my favorite sounds yield only three voices. That's hard to cope with.

The lack of a MIDI out and through jacks means that recording knob twists in a sequencer and integrating the Blofeld into a system with multiple hardware synths are both harder to do. If the Blofeld is your only hardware synth, the USB-MIDI jack might suffice for you.

The Blofeld sounds fantastic. It sounds a lot like a Q, but the addition of the PPG/Wave/Microwave wavetables and the range of drive curves add to the sound potential. It often sounds pretty digital, but it can do a very convincing analog emulation, too. I also have a Prophet 08, and a small number of Blofeld sounds even stand up to that. In a dense mix or on stage, it could easily substitute for an analog synth. If you use wavetables and comb filters it won't sound analog at all, but it will take you to territories that no analog synth could ever reach.

Seems great. The hardware is impeccable, and the software is very good. The bugs that it's got are minor, and they get fixed pretty quickly by Waldorf. My only reservation is that the power cord looks like it could be pulled out too easily on stage. Some duct tape might fix that.

Waldorf are excellent in this regard. Much better than huge companies that don't have time for their customers.

I love the Blofeld, but I think I'm going to replace it with a Q. I'd lose the drive curves, but that's OK with me. I'd also lose the additional wavetables, and that's a bigger loss for me, but most of the coolest sounding waveforms are present in the Q's Alt1 and Alt2 wavetables, so I think that loss will be outweighed by increased, reliable polyphony. (Three voices on many of my favorite sounds is just unacceptable.) Plus the Q processes external sounds, has a sequencer and a vocoder, and many more knobs.

I've whittled my rig down to a Prophet 08, a Kurzweil PC3, a Novation X-Station, and the Blofeld (which will probably be replaced by a Q very soon). This gives me actual analog sounds, the best acoustic sounds out there, and two fantastic VAs, so I no longer have gear lust when new instruments are introduced.

- using Latest OS 1.04
- presets are just ok , some of the good micro-q ones are floating amongst the 1000 available; easy to find converted micro-q patches online
- editing is great, set it to 'auto edit on' and every button push on the matrix gives the corresponding graphical display.
- i use the two main patch editors (official and unoffical); nice, stable, but not essential
- wouldn't complain about lack of 'knobs', matrix is as logical and quick as ever

- Never used multi-timbral, never ran out of polyphony either
- effects on waldorf products are never good so avoid them, d'oh
- Expansion? Lets see if this mythical sampling option on the keyboard version ever comes to the desktop; i would happily pay for this upgrade...
- I didn't use appegiators until i saw this one - fun, loads of options and so easy with the display

- I've owned the MW XT and the Micro-Q before. TBH, the blofeld sounds like a clean, streamlined Q with a few sparse capablities of the MW, with a super lcd screen. Suits me; the q series have always been superior 'digital-sounding' synths, goes well together with an analog or a true va like the nords.
- Best compared with an access virus (have owned a B, TI). Virus has more punchy plastic sound, works well with typically some bass, some obviously dance-y leads. But imho, i always sell a virus because for the majority of potential sounds, the pure oscillators have a sickly glassy weak sound. I have associated all my waldorfs with a dense, rich, deep digital sound.
- Blofeld excels at Pads, sustained Soundcapes (don't miss my jd990 anymore), FX, digital bass, spaced out bells and leads, and chaotic violent industrial things (yay, 'randomize' function)

- hard metal case, small compact circuit board, i feel it is made to last
- except... two of my knobs are slightly looser than the others, rubber feet on underside keep falling out, not a fan of the small clicky buttons :)
- one or two glitche; for example the edit buffer would pretend i had deleted all my patches. Always returns to normal if i switch on/off though

- 10 rating if it gets sampling upgrade (hint, nudge, etc)

- in last 3 years, i owned z1, mw xt, an1x, jd990, jd800, jd990ex, wavestation, jp8080, nord g1, prophecy, micro-q, jx3p, absynth, virus b, virus ti, ion, and some others i can't remember...
- all were bought second hand
- have two synths now
- both bought brand new, both were worth it, and i don't have any inclination to sell
- one is nord modular g2 (best hardware synth ever, arguably?), i won't look at another non-modular again, apart from...
- Blofeld!
- i make ambient/chillout in the vein of the best of the 90's , plus some modern electronic sound design
- always recommend a waldorf in one's setup

simple. Great interface. MIDI and USB. Plug-in and go.

ample polyphony. 16 part multi-timbral! great effects. Excellent programmable arpeggiator.

The most fun I've had since my Oberheim matrix-6 days (still got) but this is much more powerful/flexible and hopefully stable.
It's physically so tiny but with that incredible waldorf, razor blade, in your face sound. Very fast envelope generator which is great for fast staccato lines and punchy bass. Also capable of gloriously rich and developing ambient sounds and absurd efx. Great feeling knobs and solid stylish case design that looks classy and one of the best user interfaces since my JD-990 in my opinion.

There is some flakiness with the internal amp volume levels (distorts badly on factory settings) but this is fixable via bios flash from waldorf.
This is a bit too old school for me but forgivable cos of THE SOUND!.

An absolute gem bound for synth glory...just get 1.

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!