Waldorf Microwave XT

Easy and fast user interface. There is functions in menus that still me open manual from time to time.. but that also is a sign of a good synth which is filled with functions and parameters.

There is something that newer Waldorfs lack -like some exotic filter modes.. also option to add aliasing to sound is great! There was 5 stages of that i think. I am too lazy to check from it now but that's not important.
What is is that there is understood that sometimes ugly can be very beautifull! Like some of those filter modes. :D
When used with certain wavetables they help to create sounds that reminds me of tortured monsters. :)

If it is used with other gear it has enough polyphony even without expansion. It's no workstation.

Sounds are extremely good. Many people claim from their synths that this or that is best synth in the world but with Waldorf XT even i have to use that clichee.
Soundwise it's best i have ever heard. And i have used lots of stuff including analogs, FM-synths, VA's, PM's, iPD's and samplers.

It has some sort of X-factor which makes sounds incredibly delicious.

I also have Waldorf Q and OK, it that has some improvements, especially in effects section but i have to say that XT is capable to even more unique and sweet sounds than that.

It has been reliable, without one incident. When i won it from EBAY and i turned it on it's display was flashing. When i opened it i found out that there was one ribbon cable loose, i corrected it and it worked just OK after that.

No OS crashes etc.

Build quality is good. Knobs and buttons act promptly.

No opinion.

It would be last equipment that i sell if i run totally out of money. And first thing i would buy back!

I've submitted a review of the Microwave XT before, but I feel like it deserves an update. Any criticisms I had initially were errors on my part before I had time to become more accustomed to using it. There still may be a slight learning curve for some people, but once you discover the logic of the layout, both programming this synth and navigating through its menus becomes a breeze! It's inspiring, and rarely ever is my creative process stifled when I create with it.

The feature set is enormous and slightly overwhelming at first, otherwise there's no way I can complain about all this power. Waldorf provides full MIDI implementation over all of the parameters within. I have 10-voices of polyphony in my XT which is fine for my purposes, but you can increase it to 30-voices if you purchase and install the optional expansion card. The programmable arpeggiator is awesome and the effects section--though not the world's best--is certainly a welcome and usable feature. Still the Mod Matrix has to be my most favorite thing about this instrument, next to the patch randomize utility. As a whole, the wealth of all the internal modules and wavetables take sound programming to levels far-far beyond what's possible with most other synthesizers.

If small children are nearby, you should use the Microwave XT with extreme caution! This synth is a menacing beast that's capable of producing nightmarish, insane, and freaky other-worldly sounds to no limit. Though you'll definitely want to create your own patch libraries--or even your own wavetables--there are a number of different user sound sets and factory sets available on Waldorf's website that are absolutely outstanding. One that I really like: the wavetable "1-2-3-4-5," demonstrates the Microwave's ability to actually synthesize speech!

9-years owned and still no problems.

Phenomenal. I've proudly used my XT for nearly a decade and can't imagine that I will ever sell it. The sound potential is virtually limitless and the quality is beyond compare. The vintage PPG Wave sounds the closest in nature to the Microwave XT; other than that, it's nearly impossible to describe. If you ever get a chance to really dive into it, you'll know exactly what I mean.

It's not too terribly hard to program once you get the hang of it, but there is a definite learning curve. Still, if you've ever tried programming a PPG Wave, you'll probably find the Microwave XT significantly more intuitive. The patch randomize function is awesome for creating new patches with beastly-wild-alien characteristics, and the versatility of the mod matrix is destined to blow your mind. Now as for programming sounds that can be easily used in musical ways???(without consuming the entire frequency range of your mix)???you???ll need to put a bit more time & effort into it. It's SO well worth it when you do though. Also, the user's manual is absolutely necessary if you want to explore the magnificent power of this synth, so if you don???t have one you should download the PDF version of it on Waldorf???s website. In my opinion, it???s very well written and clarifies everything in a concise step-by-step fashion.

The feature set is enormous and slightly overwhelming at first, otherwise there's no way I can complain about all this power! Waldorf provides full MIDI implementation over all of the parameters within. I have 10-voices of polyphony in my XT which is fine for my purposes, but you can increase it to 30-voices if you're able to purchase an expansion board???which has now become difficult to find. The programmable arpeggiator is just incredible and onboard effects are nice. This is a dedicated synth module, so there???s no built in sequencer or multi-track recording capabilities???but that???s the job of a PC anyway.

Let me be forthright...If small children are nearby, you should use the Microwave XT with extreme caution! This synth is a menacing monster that's capable of producing nightmarish, insane, and freaky other-worldly sounds to no limit. DO NOT expect to get grand pianos or other typical kinds of sampled instruments out of this synth. That???s not what it???s designed to do. But if you want something that???s far more unique, with distinctive and ???Massive??? sound characteristics; then this may be a dream-come-true for you just as it was for me. Not all the presets are great. Many are decent but a few are fascinating; especially some of the patches that are available for users to download free online. Patches like ???1-2-3-4-5??? demonstrate the Microwave???s ability to produce robotic sounding voices and words from scratch!

I've had mine for nine years and it still works like new.

Phenomenal. The only reason I've given it a "9" instead of a "10" is because it can be somewhat tricky to program. I???ve proudly used my XT for nearly a decade and can???t imagine that I???ll ever sell it. The sound potential is virtually limitless and the quality is beyond compare. The vintage PPG Wave sounds the closest in nature to the Microwave XT; other than that, it???s nearly impossible to describe this synth. If you ever get a chance to really dive into it, you???ll know exactly what I mean.

no so easy to grasp. take your time with it.

8 voice. how I want the 30 voice expansion. anyone know where I can find it? all i have to say is 44 knobs and an incredible filter.

sound quality is classic. thank you waldorf.

tank build.

great people...waldorfarians.

excellent vintage buy. this synth will gain value. nothing sounds this great in a mix.

What software version are you using?
Latest and last OS update.

How do the presets sound?
Not sure i can actually remember as they are loads of soundsets you can upload to this thing. In the case of the soundset i am using at the moment it sounds great, harsh clanging leads, expansive and growly pad and some mad squeely noises that come from god knows where.

How hard is editing patches? Does a patch editor make a big difference?
Very hard editing a patch, you can tweek here and there, but with the advent of patch editors (which this doesn't have) and soft synths it really is a chore getting into the guts of this thing.

How is the manual (if there is one)?
Thick and moderately useful of you've got the time. The contnes and index can usually send you to the right area that you need.

Features are listed in the reviews below. To add to that in the last few years their have been a number of both hardware and software synths that put the features of this fella in the shade, there are effects and arppegiators, but they are pretty basic.

In a word mad. There is no other synth that sounds like this. It can create the most distinctive insane noise you could ever hope for. How useable these are depends on what kind of track your making, but for pure fun you can't knock the racket this fella makes.

No probs

Waldorf in currently attempting to come back from the dead. There are on various other web sites OS updates, FAQ's sounds sets and all sorts.

Couldn't do without it. Bought it about 4 years ago and love it to bits.

Still using version 2.09 from around 1998. The presets remind me of my Jupiter 8 with effects added. Other presets are very cool and some are lame. Editing seems pretty simple and the manual is OK. I, for one, can not figure out how to process external sounds at all. If anyone can help me there please email me (use the contact form on my web site www.anti-m.com). Please help.

No problems with polyphone and the built in effects are good. Handles midi quite well without errors (I have an old roland w-30 and it has midi errors all the time).

The sounds are much more expressive than some of my other keyboards (korg wavestation and korg trinity plus. Better onboard fx too. I am using this for very heavy synth rock and techno. Kind of like if Depeche mode did harder stuff. It sounds great for this kind of thing. The synth basses are cool but the tech drum sounds are kind of lame. Not really a realistic sounding synth but it's not supposed to be, in my mind anyway.

No problems other than it didn't like my power strip that everything else liked. Had to upgrade the strip. Pretty industrial.

This is a unique unit, I wouldn't want to part with it. We are using the following. Kawai k4, Korg Wave station, Korg trinity plus, Akai s5000, Eventide ultra harmonizer, Roland Jupiter 8, Kurzweil pc2x, Roland juno 60, roland w-30 and a lot of racks for fx. Recording in digital performer 4.5.

The only thing that I hate is not being able to figure out how to process external input. Please help if you can.

I bought this via eBay for ?425. I was looking for a PPG 2.2/2.3....
I know what I want it to sound like and that it is capable of producing the sounds - but it is a little tricky on the programming side. The slightest turn of a knob (and there are a glorious 44+ !!)can dramatically change the sound. This is especially true when changing wavetables or the wavetable envelope. But that said - it is fairly logical. The manual is pants...

Built in effects sound a little harsh to my ears.

Very broad range of sounds. Classic Wang Chung basses, trademark PPG sounds that are indescribable...so I won't try!! and some pretty wierd fx. Sould quality is very good.

Only had it 3 months - ok so far.

Not tried

Would either replace with same or splash out on a PPG 2.3

Other eqpt includes:
Access Virus Classic
Korg Wavestation
Yamaha SY77
Casio CZ1000

Very easy to program with its plethora of rotaries.The presets suck (big suprise).The manual is excellent,the best i've come across.Those crafty Germans actually give some synthesis theory and history in the well written manual( a novel concept)

10 voice polyphony is plenty to keep one occupied . I have not programmed many multi's yet . There could easily be some masking difficulties due to the deep sonic potential of individual "instruments" in a multi.More than a couple sounds per multi is almost always overkill. I would love a 30 voice version , it's almost scary to think about the 30 voice beast. There are plenty of Midi capabilities, way more than I need.No sequencer here . Extremely easy to use by anyone remotely familiar with subtractive\analog synthesis.

Very convincing piano, bells, organ, other than that ? It can sound much more "analog" than many give it credit for(route it thru a tube amp,analog effects etc.to give it the missing bite, you wankers)Formant wavetables make speech synthesis somewhat possible! This synth is best suited to electronic music due to it's relatively abstract approach to sound design and analog-like controls. John Tesh workstation lovers might be dissapointed? Intrepid psychenauts will be pleased.The effects are O.K. but I prefer my vastly superior outboard gear(doesn't everyone?)It seems nice and responsive to me but for those who want their synth to react like a concert piano I'm not so sure.It is anything but static with it's copious modulation and expression capabilities.It responds to velocity and aftertouch both of which I never use.This synth has a very wide range of sonic possibilites. All of your meat and potatoes synth sounds are in this box, but the wierd stuff is where it shines. Wavetable madness ,FM, lots o' filters, great envelopes, great arpeggiator, plus all those rotaries for real-time manipulation.

This thing is very sturdy BUT...Mine has some dodgy outputs .The right/mono output is loose and occasionally intermittent much to my horror. I hate companies for not making I/O ports indestructable as they are the achilles heel of all audio devices. The power cord is also very loose in its receptacle which is very disconcerting. These problems are most likely due to its former irresponsible owners not its construction. I will gig with it once I get it in a pop-up mixer case and fully programmed. It hasn't crashed or acted the least bit strange like some have described.

Out of buisness what a shame and how unnerving.

If I lost this I would buy an Xpander.I've been playing for 5 years and own 2moogs ,2oberheims and a prophet+lots of boutique pedals+home studio.It can be made to sound analog or can sound like a modded speak and spell. I compared it to a nord lead 2 and a novation nova . I liked both but thought the XT was the best value and a little more unique( and German!)I wish it had more outputs a digital out and an analog filter(waldorf Q+) With its great interface and sound this is very condusive to the creative process. These synths are going pretty cheap and blow away most of the V/A competition, and they look really psychedelic." The aim of the game is to feel real good"

Using latest software version. The prestes are uninteresting but good starting off points, mostly they do not take much advantage of wavetable synthesis. Editing patches is a pleasure compared to most synths thanks to the 44 knobs, not to diffucult at all.

I have the ten voice version, which can be frustrating at times for how I use it. 2 Wavetable Oscillators, ring mod, noise source, sync and FM, 2 LFO's with delay, 4 envelopes, one being a very versatile multi-stage envelope for wavetable sweeping, although it can be applied to most anything, flexible arp. though not as much as say the Nova's which I used to own, probably had the best arp I've used. There is a rather generous supplly of filters along with the usual multi-mode lo, hi ,notch and band-pass, Sinus Lowpass, Which is more full and grungy then a standard low-pass, FM lowpass, which uses OSC 2 as the source, Wave-shaper, which can create some truly destructive filtering, depending on the wave-shape selected from the current wave-table, Low-pass+Band-pass ( self explanatory), and a SH lowpass filter for low-fi. Effects are pretty tame, chorus can be either on or off per program, and the overdrives are pretty weak, I do like the delays and wahs though. The modulation matrix makes this a very flexible synth, although not to complicated, since you can just alter what you will without getting to crazy with every slot available. Some of the wavetables I can take or leave, like the saw and pulse wavetables, I really like clipper, X-mas bells, and the formant waves and I wish there was more of these.

Well, this is where it let's me down. I could see this synth falling in to the love it or hate it category. Sometimes I really enjoy working with it, other times I just can't stand the tone of it. It can have a kind of a cheap quality to it dare I say. You might have heard it sounds very digital which is true. I have a love hate reltionship with this synths sound in general, if theres a fantastic rich sound lurking in there the presets don't hint to it. Sometimes wavetable synthesis to my ears sounds kind of silly and uninteresting, and at times it can sound like a glorified arpeggiator, I prefer FM, and wish they'd make an FM synth with this kind of interface and filtering. I think I'll probably go the software route in terms of wavetable, for all the criticizing I delivered to a basically decent synth it has grown on me... a little, and the software wavetable synths offer much more to work with and cost much much less. I'll probaly end up selling it and putting the money towards a very good analog synth, like an Xpander or Andromeda, which software can not accomplish for a fraction of the price. I try to keep my set-up minimal and don't make much money, so if I want to get something else, I usually have to sell whats not essential, but I will be sad to see this synth go I think, eventhough theres quite a few things about it I don't care for. I used to be primarily interested in extensive modulation and diverse synthesis, but now I'm more concerned with tonal quality, and the tone of this synth just does not agree with me, a pity. I'd like to see Waldorf go the analog XT + route and add 2 extra oscillators and more interesting wavetables and see how that sounds, but it's probably a pipe dream. It should be noted that I never made my own custom wavetables or processed through an effects unit that was not budget.

I have not ever had a problem with it malfunctioning, as it is I think it is a very reliable machine. It's also very well built.

I e-mailed them once about a power cord I needed and never got a response. The HC keyboard forumites were much more helpful ( wish I didn't get banned for to much posting when I was... ahem...soused). Waldorf can be forgiven for not responding I suppose as the future of the company was uncertain at the time and I'm sure they had they're hands full.

I think even though it's not quite for me all together, I'll say yes it is well worth what I paid, although software provides a lot of competition, hmmm... If it was lost or stolen I'd out of luck wouldn't I? As you can guess I probably would not buy it again. I've been playing synths for five short years, my other gear includes a K2500X with all ROMS, a Virus B, and a ESQ-1 ( won't be selling these anytime soon) along with the XT, a micro-Q, and a MKS-70, trying to sell these and put them towards a decent analog then go the software route, I also have a intel celluron 1.8 GHZ computer running FM7 (fantastic and fun to use) Absynth, Fruity loops, Pro52( yechh..) and Tasman(great). I was considering getting a Nord Modular when I got this but didn't like having to rely to heavily on computer editing, I might look into it or the G2 down the road as I've heard much praise and really great interesting songs made with it. I wish the XT had better wavetables, 2 extra oscilltors, LFO's with fade in hold and fade out, a better patch randomizer, where you could slightly randomize an existing patch or just randomize the mod matrix etc, and better filtering at high resonance levels, hell better filtering over all. All this said I think some people will find this synth to be a kindred spirit, and will love what it can do and how it sounds. Listen to some of the demos, the one at vintagesynth.org gives you a good clue to what the tonal quality is and to a lesser extent what it can do. Contact me if you'd like to buy one cause I'm selling mine. Almost good.

Come on. This thing has 44 knobs! Once you figure out the menus, this thing is very easy to use. I read the manual while first playing with it to make things easier. The wavetable synthesis may be harder for people to get a grasp on though.

I have gone through plenty of the soundsets for this (available on their website) and emulate many, many other synths! I can't even begin to explain how easy this thing is to knock out a quick, simple patch.

Pretty wicked features, I'm sure you know if your reading this. The best thing about this is the mono input. You can run beats through the Wavetable Filter, and it sounds nice!

You can make almost any sound with this thing (although acoustic sounds are much harder and requires wavetable work). Great for slammin bass, soft pads, sharp leads, weird blips blops beeps etc. I've also heard great presets of the hammond organ, rhode sounding keys etc.

OS and synth have never given me a problem. Damn stable, I would use it on a gig without a backup. I would also take good care in moving it though as with any synth! :)

Never had to deal with them. So I'll leave this blank.


ALBATROSS!!

I would cry, then probably try to find a shadow XT!