Waldorf Pulse

Easy if you know analog synth programming.

Like a mini with extra mod options. The CC messages for every parameter are handy. I have a few stock sounds and tweak em with CC commands to get all the variation I need.

Aye, here's the rub. I do an authentic 80s sequenced gig (meaning real analog synths), I have a TX802 to do all the Yamaha digital, an MKS-70 for the Roland sounds, a Matrix 1000 for the Obie/Prophet sounds and an Akai S3000XL for drums and samples (and a QS 61. for a keyboard/Rompler sounds/sequence playback.) What's missing? Bass synths - ideally a Pro One (digga 1/8th note bass) AND a Minimoog (Madonna bass etc). Except I only have 3 rack spaces left in my 12 space rack. What to do?

So I tried a Bass Station Rack ($250). Sloppy/slow envelopes, limited mods and waveforms. But it SOUNDED great on the stuff it did well, the VA waveforms really were rich and the filter was lovely and warm.

It died, so I thought I'd move up a notch to the Pulse ($500). Sure it's more versatile, but when I listed to recordings of the old Bass Station, when it did shine, it sounded significantly better - richer, thicker etc. My MKS 70 also sounds richer and thicker on bass parts that it can do (Take My Breath Away....).

So I'm OK with it, BUT I'm not thrilled. It does Madonna Moog bass the best, the Pro One sounds (ie: Curtis chips)just don't cut it. Damn German mentality, everything has to be squeaky and clean. The filter especially could do with some dirt. And I don't mean input distortion.

Also there is (at least on mine) an unpleasant click when you open the filters up fast, quantizing I guess.

I will be looking for something else going forward, though I don't think I have many options.

Built very well. Haven't had it long enough to judge the other stuff.

????

I would not buy another one out of choice. I probably would have to go VA to get everything I want at the $500 price point. Perhaps one of those rack mount Moog clones (though that's $1K minimum).

I never should have sold my SH101 and Pro one waaaay back then...

v2.01
the presets aren't the best but who uses presets anyway?
Editing is a breeze, it would be nice to have a knob for every function, if this was the case this machine would stand a chance at tons of glory.

1 note, three osc's, two lfo's, extensive midi CC's control. four part matrix modulation for some modular esq programming. I've seen some idiots on here say this had DCO's or say it's virtual analogue, brother, it's just not true! Keyboard Magazine messed up their review saying it had dco's and the next month they retracted this and posted a letter from waldorf saying "the only thing that is Digitally controlled is the Pulse width modulation" The Oscillators are VCO's. Also to the guy who said this is a VA. and claimed how much more analogue his juno 60 is then this, I have a juno 60 w midi and had a juno 6 for many many years too, Juno's have DCO's (digitally controlled osc's) all you are doing is confusing potential users of this synth. So, either take a electronics class or do your homework, it's as absurd as the guy who told me how he liked yamaha fm synth because it was a great analogue. learn it or quit confusing the other newbies with false information.
I'm only giving this a 5 cause I would rather have had 99 patches I could write to instead of all the presets I don' use what so ever, a memory card of expansion could have saved the day.

very nice and expressive, with some programing or good pitch bend/mod/porta technique this can be rocked out in a very moog like way. I do sadly feel the filters aren't as warm and gritty as my old mini-moog or even my sonic 6. but this machine can do wonders with a good imagination. the matrix mod can keep things fresh.

never had even 1 problem with it, very reliable. I wouldn't play a show without backups, regardless of how reliable the machine was.

never had to call on them

bought this new when os 2.01 came out, if anything happened to it I'd get another one. I have $80,000 worth of recording and musical equipment from old vintage to modern wonders. This is a great synth for the value and has it's own special place in the studio.

V2.01 is the later Pulse and has (like the Plus) MIDI syncable LFO's and improved arpeggiator and chain function to stack more than one Pulse for a polyphonic monster.
40 user presets is a bit stingy but not a major problem the ROM presets are very generic prog rock styli but the random preset is alomst worth the money alone for endless stero analogue weirdness, who needs a VCS3?
The prgramming matrix is usable but not as nice as having a knob for each function but all parameters respond to regular MIDIcc and using a preset on a Doepfer Drehbank unlocks most parameters but you do loose the parameter reading using it this way so its best keeping the easy functions on an external controller and doing fine adjustments from the panel.
Manuals simple and easy to understand.

Probabbly one of the best featured modern true analogue MIDI monosynths out there.
3 VCO with cross modulation and sync(great for leads and strange clangs).
Four way mod matrix.
Full MIDIcc control.
Stereo panning as a mod desination.
Nice arpeggiator.
Random patch generator.
Most useful common modulation routings already patched like velocity to cutoff and volume.

Not a vintage sound but still has plenty of analogue balls that holds its own with the rest of them.
The filter overdrive has a very even range to give a huge pallet of sounds from just a single 24db LPF. Shame its not a multimode but I suppose you can't have everything. The resonance can steal little too much volume when cranked up but the filter tracks perfectly so you can make the self oscillation into a harmonic overtone, try that on a battered old Moog. You can almost get a nice 303 acid sound (without the decay) by having one VCO at low volume and assigning the right amount of velocity to volume/VCF envelope/resonance/cutoff.
The two digitally controlled envelopes are sharper than any analogue I've tried (2600, 4voice, Memorymoog, MS20, SH101)and have a range of triggering modes to suite any style.
Good range of rich n' raw analogue sounds across the spectrum although this is a modern German analogue so it can sound very precise and controlled but this isn't always a bad thing.

Can get the occasional stuck note but this maybe more down to the stuff I'm using it with.

Never needed it.

A modern MIDI monosynth and by far the best 2nd hand analogue bargin out there with a beefier analogue clout than its nearest rivals the Evolver (which is a different beastie altogether) ad the Superbasstation (easier to use but no where near on features) but for the same price a half decent vintage analogue you could buy all three anyway.
If you want that true analogue edge to your sound that your softsynths or VA's can't quite reach but don't want to shell out loads for a quirky unreliable 20yr old vintage then this synth should be 1st on your 'must buy' list just put a little aside for a decent MIDI controller if you haven't alreay got one.

I found this very easy to use within an hour of purchasing it second hand for ??50 (jealous?). although I am very new to synth jargon and learning new things everyday, this taught me more in an hour of tweaking than any other synth I have played with.

I didn't know anything about it when I bought it, and was a little disapointed when I found it was only mono not polyphonic. but when I began to play my disapointment vanished.
The previous owner left some nice sounds saved on it and makes for more interesting tweaking.

I don't know why but it sounds different whether i'm controlling it with my CS1x or a microkorg! could it be to do with the difference in keys sens of the conroller? as I say i'm still learning.
anyway the sounds that this thing creates are as simple or as complex as you like and the arpegiator is excellent and very responsive.

seems like a sturdy box, but the knobs seemed alittle bouncy.

-

I love it, and have used it for many bass sounds and messed up noises in my music. If I lost it somehow I would probably source another.

I cannot believe that certain reviewers of this machine are saying its a virtual analogue synth and in the same breath talk about its sound....This synth is all analogue and a deaf man on acid would be able to hear that it is analogue and not virtual.
I used to take notice of what people said on this forum especially the epressive sounds bit but now I realise that some are just clueless and would not know a decent synth if it came up to them and chewed their gonads.

THIS IS AN ANALOGUE MACHINE AND SOUNDS ANALOGUE BUT THE OSCs DO lack the warmth of some other analogues and can sound a bit clinical but at the end of the day it still rocks.

i am using software version 1.3

the presets have suffered some unfair criticism. i think they demonstrate that this is not just another tb303 sound-alike and offer an insight into the wierder end of the modulation capabilities.

very easy to use (in a synth tech kind of way). the controls are logically laid out and i was creating great patches within five minutes of switching the pulse on.

polyphony is excellent (1 voice)!

the midi capabilities are also great - i love the arpeggiator and the fact that every editing paramater can be accessed via CCs.

this is the pulse's raison d'etre - as it should be for all synths.

i have an sh101 and a bass station and i have to say that the pulse sounds the best by a significant margin. it can provide a much broader range of sounds than both of those units and also has a distinct presence in the mix (which the SH101 has, but not to the same extent). fantastic lead and bass sounds are available in abundance, but so are strange modular style groans, hoofs and clangs.

having three oscillators is great!

if i had to keep just one of my monosyths, it would be the pulse. for the price they are going for right now, it is a bargain. sometimes when i buy a piece of music gear i know it will not be in my set-up for long (eg roland r8, novation drum station, mc202, casio cz5000, behringer mixer). the pulse definitely does not fall into this category and i cannot imagine a time when i will want to part with it (see also: sh101, tr808).

it does chunky basses, searing leads and horrible atonal whale song clanking. it has none of the reliability issues of older gear and costs very little at the moment. what more do you want from a monosynth?

you have to bump around the interface a little to edit the pulse but it's very straight forward, with a logical layout and sturdy knobs.

at first, the pulse appears to be fairly meat and potatoes, but the filter matrix makes the sounds very tweakable---you really need to know a bit about synthesis to appreciate the full capabilities of the pulse though.

incredibly fat and punchy sound capabilities here. for bass and some leads this box is really amazing. not for everyone---but very unique and flexible. sits very well in mixes.

so far so good.

waldorf is no more. I would assume support to be limited.

I used the pulse for 95 percent of the sounds on my latest disc: [http://cdbaby.com/cd/boyeats]. when tweaked it mixes great with sounds both analog and digital alike. if you know some synth basics and are patient enough to edit patches you might really love this synth.

Version 2.01

Editing this thing manual isn't too bad. Paging through the menus does suck though... This things is really neat to have and gig conventiently all in a rack but if this thing had knobs and sliders it'd be a lot easier to create sounds with it. However, once you get over that, I'd say it's pretty easy to use, and very easy to figure out how to use. The only real pain is just pushing that button a lot, but compared to something like a Micro q, which I thought Really, really was not fun to try and edit via the small interface, the pulse is pretty easy.

Features are good for a monosynth. The mod matrix rocks. At first I was just learning about analog syntheseizers when I got this thing so I really underutilized it, but once I started messing around with it I discovered a whole new world to this thing.

The sounds are really good. I also have an Sh-2 and I've been trying to compare the sounds between them. The Sh-2, I think sounds a little more "rough", like it really cuts through the air, and the pulse sounds a little more like liquid (if those are at all understandable terms to use), but both of them produce excellent sounds. Sometimes I think one sounds a little better in a certian mix than the other. In retrospect though, I probably would have been fine to just use the pulse as my one monosynth. It's basses are great, and the high end can be really pretty too. We use this for noisey industrial, and it has that stuff down pat.

I've never had any problems with this, live or in the studio. It is very reliable.

never had to use the customer support, though I found the website helpful. The users manual in English, incidently, can be found at:

http://waldorf.electro-music.com/pulse/docs/pulse_manual_v2_0_eng.pdf

This thing rocks. A lot. If my Sh-2 was ever destroyed or stolen I'd probably not bother trying to get a new one, I'd just stick with this. I've used this thing in about every song I've written, and it's been really great to have. The combination of analog sound + extensive control & memory storage is better here than on any other analog synths I've found.

V. 2.01. Don't use the preset sounds: they're really awful. I'm used to program sounds with the mod matrix and, after 3 months, it was really easy to program. Of course it would be easier and faster with an editor but i just can't find one for mac os 9. Anyway, every function of the pulse has a midi CC and I created a console with all the pulse functions in digital performer, which is very handy for programming the sound while listening to your track.

Monophonic with 3 oscillators (the pulse + can replace osc3 by an external sound) it has a lot of possibilities due to the 3 oscillators, the matrix modulation (14 sources and 14 destinations), 2 enveloppes (these enveloppes can really change the character of your sound, especially for the basses, so don't hesitate to experiment with the decay and the sustain). The arpeggiator is fun, especially if you alternate legato and non legato notes, depending also in the trigger mode of the pulse.

Really great basses : digital, analog, acid, dub... Tremendous low end punch. You can even program a bass who sounds like an electric bass.
Great leads, acid lines, FX...
It can sound digital or analog but always very precise.

I have a problem that I can't solve : sometimes when there's a program change during the track, the sound of the pulse is modified.

Never used the customer support. I'm just sorry that Waldorf desappeared, their synths are fantastic.

It sounds really good in a mix. If it was stolen I would buy another one. I make almost all my basses with it (and they all sound different from one to one).

Although the interface is simple in concept, practically it is less than ideal. One button moves in a sequence through the various parameters; if you overstep one, you have to go all through the rest to get to where you want to be. Getting a midi box of some sort would definitely be an asset.

It has a superb arpegiator, and the mod matrix allows virtually everthing to modulate anything.

Bound to be a classic. Cuts like nothing else except perhaps a Prophet 5 or a Jupiter 6 in unison mode. At times it sounds on the grungy side, but can be smooth and buttery as well. Very tangy on the top end, and certain tonalities, especially whith a pulse wave, sound very sweet and sonorous. I had my girlfriend and my mother listen to it, and compare the lead sound on the Rob Papen web site, to a Yamaha CS60, and they both prefered the Pulse. I agree with them. Sometimes this obsession with all things vintage and VCO can blind people to the eternal verities of what sounds just plain good. Some people say its not fat or that its sterile. I disagree strongly. Because it has a form of digital control (although oscillators themselves are wholly analog) it sounds tighter than true VCOs yet is very rich and its general density of sound, is way fat, due to its 'discrete' circuitry.

Seems pretty well built, except for perhaps the knobs that have a cheapie plastic feel. Mine has a problem with noise that cuts in when adjusting the master volume-don't know if they are prone to this or not.

Waldorf I hear, is sadly defunct.

Unique and powerful. Perhaps It does'nt 'sing' like a Moog, but has its own very musical qualities that make it definitely in the same league. Some don't care for the sound of its oscillators and filters, but some aren't crazy about the delicate sound of the Mini either. Like the Mini, the Pulse demands full marks.

FREGLE - you really need to check your head and your information. The Pulse is very much an analog instrument. There doesn't have to be tons of wires and chips in a huge case in order for it to be truly analog. Have you ever opened up an ARP Odyssey's case? How 'bout a Sequential Pro-1? There isn't a lot contained inside those cases either - most monophonics don't have a whole lot of circuitry.
If you really need to have a more reliable opinion on the Pulse - check with a service tech - or open your machine up - you'll be able to tell right away.

since ravi clearly thinks i was wrong about the pulse being virtual analogue, i'll say it like this: analogue -> wires and electronic circuits do everything, virtual analogue -> DSP's model analogue behaviour. if it was analogue like my juno60 it would be 6 times bigger, 10 times heavier and 10 times more expensive. there would also be CV in's and out's.. clear now ravi?

Easy knob control, only slowed by page access but no big deal, easy to use.

Arpeggiator, midi, easy control-good features for a mono synth.

Two comparisons, one alongside today's offerings, the other re: classic analog. Along with the Nord, the best of the current mainstream analogs or VAs - more aggressive than the Nord, fairly cold vs. the warmth of the Nord, more cutting and bright. Thus, the ideal would probably be one of each as they complement one another well. Aggressive, cutting and bright Germanic sounds not dissimilar to a PPG or a Pro One in some respects sans some of the warmth, has that industrial sound down.

Re: analogs, as with much or all of today's offerings, you have more control over the parameters while losing some of the punch and much of the warmth of the classic analogs. More noticable upon direct comparison, heard in the context of today's music it prevails against all others on the market.

Made in Germany; something like being made in Japan.

Best of the current mainstream offerings of the last 5 years at least. Has some shortcomings but overall dominates; if you can't get some excellent sounds that scream play me, spend some time learning to program..

Having been apparently designed with a very specific market, the Pulse's presets are mainly in the Eurodance-and-all-its-incarnations area. There is, however, one arpeggiated preset that sounds EXACTLY like the intro to "Tell me when" by the Human League. But since Oakey took this one, I suggest you programme your own.

The editing matrix is alright, but two minor adjustments would've made the synth infinitely nicer to programme: dedicated buttons for each row (like found on the Yamaha A3000 sampler, which also uses an editing matrix) instead of one button to step through them, and endless rotaries (like found...well, on the Yamaha A3000). I have owned quite a few synths over the years, and the only one which I found harder to programme in terms of predictability is the Yamaha DX7s. I'm talking apples and oranges here, I know, but it's still true. With most synths, I can pretty much create a patch in my head first, dial it into the synth and the results will be pretty close. With Pulse, it just wasn't happening for some reason.

The manual was decent, I suppose, but I don't remember it too well, actually. You'll hardly ever need it, except maybe for functions like oscillator/filter tuning or performing data dumps.

The Pulse is a monophonic synth with good MIDI capabilities (velocity, aftertouch, clock synch, SYSEX, etc.), though these depend on the OS version somewhat. Versions 2.01 and above allow for the triangle LFO wave to be synchronised with MIDI clock, and also allow for more Pulses to be gouped together and play polyphonically. I never tried it myself (I was a few Pulses short), but it sounds cool enough. What isn't that cool is that in case you have an older version of the operating system, the only way to update is to get a new ROM chip.

No, I'm not high, I just didn't particularly care for the Pulse's sound. Sure, it can go really deep and its envelopes are fast, but there was no warmth and no phattness either, and as far as I'm concern, these are more important for making music than being able to go two octaves lower than any other synth.

Next, all that bottom end can disappear if the oscillators aren't detuned just right - which usually translates to "not too much". Since the oscillators' cycles are always exact (i.e. no drift), they will always interact in the same way and sometimes, there is noticeable bottom end drop-out when these cycles clash. Very annoying when you're programming a bass patch and you have to make compromises to overcome the synth's shortcomings.

In the higher octaves, this isn't noticeable, and since the synth's modulation matrix is flexible and allows for routing almost anything to velocity and aftertouch, the Pulse would actually make a fine lead synth.

The Pulse gives the impression of being a rather well-built synth, possibly with the exceptions of the knobs which may become somewhat wiggly through extensive use. I don't know how my machine was treated by the previous owner, but this is something you should check out when buying one. I don't know how much of a hazard the lack of power switch actually is, but it is slightly unsettling, I guess.

I never dealt with Waldorf directly, and now that they've gone bust, I wonder if I ever will. Their website was informative enough, providing downloads of manuals and patches for the synth.

Even though it made its mark on many of my songs as I used it extensively for a while, I sold my Pulse since I felt that it didn't add enough to my music - I feel that various other synths that I own, both analogue and VA's, do a better job. Most people like it a lot, however, so it's definitely worth checking out if you're looking for an analogue monophonic synth; it has a certain character that you may well find attractive.

The second-hand prices are very good, in my opinion, it's not overpriced like vintage gear, and it's still better than most. I got it for a fair price and didn't lose much money in the sale.

The last reviewer is wrong about one major thing: THE PUSLE IS NOT A VIRTUAL ANALOG OR DIGITAL IN ANY WAY! THE PULSE IS ALL ANALOG.

So if the last review thinks he hears and loves those digital oscillators, you can wonder about what people's reviews about sound mean at all.

i don't like editing this baby by itself... with a good controller-eyboard with some assignable knobs and sliders she comes to life, but even then all the possibilities quite often make your head spin... it was my first synth and it was a baaaad choice for first synth... it laid on the closet for a year or so and then i dusted it off and it didn't seem so esoteric anymore, so.. maybe i'm underrating it now...

it's only mono, and it has no sequencer, not enough knobs, no headphone-socket (!!) the text is not fluorescent so i have to use a light on stage... well, waldorf is not known for the 'bonus' features... what it does have more than enough is synth-features, if you are looking for an allround subtractive monosynth, this is your synth... u probably won't need much more than this (allthough i often catch myself wanting more pulses in my rack :) )

now this is why you buy a waldorf... they make the best sounding virtual-analogue machines in the business and this is no exception. It definitely sounds digital, but who cares, digital has a character of it's own. the oscs sound very rich for digital oscs and the waveforms are all very nice sounding, in fact, the waldorf may even sound too 'nice' if u understand what i mean... it's not really good if u wanna go acid-style or make a screaming lead. For strings and thumpy digital basses and spacey swooshes and blips it ROCKS, i mean really blows away all my other synths in those departments... but not to go aggressive or dark or distorted, not without other gear anyway.

i could kill 20 people with it and still use it to support my house afterwards... only the knobs would be long gone by then...

not needed yet

i like it a lot and use it a lot, if i had more money i'd buy a second one because i can use two in the kind of music i create (psytrance, acid, techno, DnB,...), but it's is certainly not my favorite synth, it sounds too average for that... not that that's bad, i need average sounds a lot too, and she can conjure up an incredibly broad range of digital subtractive synth-sounds, with enough power and body to hold it's own, but she just doesn't have character like truly great gear has it... my EA-1 is not as broad as this but it kicks ass on stage and as an acid-synth, it has a LOT of character too, and my juno-60, well... i don't need to add anything to that name :) but that really doesn't mean this is a bad synth, it's very very usefull...

Rotary knobs would have been easier... Now this is not a perfomance synth. The editing is easy, but slow, whitch make it less intresting and sounds do not tend to be as good as with older analogue synths with 1 knob per 1 option.

Monophonic which is just enough for manu purposes... What do you expect... It han analogue filter.. And it's cheap. Modulation matric in really cool, when creating pads and otser wobbling effects.

Goof for monophonic.

This sounds good if you compare it to digital synth, but you analogue lovers DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH! Oscillators are digitally controlled, which makes sound guite boring... Filter saturates nicely, but digitally conrolled oscillators make me really sad whit this baby... Because modulation mtrix really rocks!

No problems....

No problems...

- Monster when comapred to digital synths... But quite poor when compared to real VCO analogue sounds...

- Slow interface

+ Modulation matrix

Very easy to use!
The manual is very good. There are a few features you probably wouldn't figure out without manual - but those features aren't really necessary at all.

monophone.
no effects.
no sequencer.
the only noteworthy feature is the arpeggiator, which is nice but not outstanding. I don't use it at all..
It's a pure analoge synthesizer - so the lack of features doesn't really matter.
The possibilities for sound modifications are pretty good!

The sound is absolutly amazing!
3 Oscillators! 2 LFOs! 2 ADSR! A lot of modification possibilities!
Deep basses and squeaking noises.
You can make a scraping acid-line as well as mind blowing psychedelic sounds! I love it!

no problems.

never needed customer support

I can't live without my Pulse anymore. :-)
200 Euros definitly were a snip.

This is the first Analog synth I have ever worked with. I owned an Ensoniq TS-10+ previously, and thesedays i use a Fatar controller and the Emagic ES1, ES2 & EXS24 synth (& Sampler). I thought it would take me a few weeks to learn how to program my own sounds, but the Pulse surprised me by it's very easy interface and synthising Matrix. In minutes from the second it arrived in my hands, i had already saved a few presets that i made myself and BLEW MY MIN AWAY!

It's an Analog Monopoly synth. True Analog circuits. 3 osciollators, analog filter, 2 LFO's, Arpeggioter and much more...
If the 3 osc. are mixed in high volume, they have an Analog Overdrive which Saturate the sound and creat beautiful harmonies....GREAT!
Has midi capabilities (send, recive, sync, SYSex, dump and more...)

Real Analog sound. Tarrific! Great! Mind Blowing!!!
I use it for Rock music. I'm a song writer/producer and my music is a bit influanced by: "Radiohead" "Porcupine tree" "Muze" and meny more...
There is no onboard effects, which works great for me...I have a guitar pedal board (all analog) and i'll connect the Pulse to the pedal chain to use some of the effects i have (distortion, Delay, wha etc...)
It reacts to touch and aftertouch (which is nice for an analog synth.) and allows to trigger events with all of the synth controlls (for example: "cutoff triggerd by LFO 1"...)

By Unit has a connection probleme which i intend to fix myself...(only a loose cable...).
concidering the fact that it's 7 years old, i'm not complaining..

I saw waldorf's website, and they allow download for anything realated to the unit (documents, schematics, sound patches, OS and more...) which makes them very helpful for me...

A Great Analog synth for Bass and Leads!
i was planning to buy a MicroMoog, but that's over now!
the only downside is that i'm so inlove with it now, and i will be bummed by the fact that my analog Pads will remain VA...(until i'll get another money craze and buy me an Alesis Andromeda!!!)

Bought mine on first release so has original software, not xperienced too many probs with it. Presets are good starting blocks for showcasing some of this machines wonderful capabilities. Editing is a breeze, although the matrix option can be a little tedious at times, see kenton or similar for help. The manual is well written gernglisch, a damn sight better than most I've encountered.

Not much too say different here.
More modulation than you can shake a stick at and
midi cc's for everything and it transmits arpeggiator. Cool!

fat, warm, seering and down right fuct up

Gigged often, no probs, although my red knob looks like its had some hard twiddling I can tell you!!!!

Not needed in five or six years, so dont know.

Would replace in a flash if stolen/lost/fuct. This and my TB are the choices for kikassbass. But the versitilty of the pulse for leads, fx and pretty much anything else mean its always there after the kik in priority.
An 8 year vet for making music own 808,909,303,106,syntechnoteebee(303m with much cvgate),ex800,dx100,e6400ultra.
If you have #150-200 to spend, buy this and you won't ever look back or regret it.(see many single unit monosynths in a 303 vein)

Version 2.01, you can link up to 4 Pulses to get it polyphonic. Easy to use since you get familiar with the interface. I have only one but thought to get second one. Presets are good examples for your own sounds but I have used couple of the presets sounds too in my songs. Editing is ok but again there is great and free editor for PC. I still edit Pulse straight from the box. I bought mine(30 min used) in 1997-1998. Manuals are german but you can find english version(.PDF format) from the net. I had to check LFO sync and filter tune from the manual, everything else has been very clear to me. For this price, I give 8.

Features are right for the price. 12dB LP would be awesome. As I said earlier you can link up to four Pulses with version 2. Very good modulation routins.

Sounds so sweet. At first I thought that I'm not going to use it for bass but now I have used it for it more and more. I like the lead sounds it can produce as the effects and low synthlines. I make electro-ambient and it's perfect for that. Some nasty stuff with distortion too but not acid-squelchy-staff with 24db filter.

Very reliable and well built.

German support is the best I have tried. Waldorf, Behringer and Jomox have the best customer support ever. You can get answer in 30mins!

Not the best synth for the techno makers since it has 24db filter. Can make booming bass if needed though. I would buy another if lost. It has been reliable partner for many years and for me it's irreplaceable. My other synths are: Roland Juno 106, Roland Jupiter 6, Roland XV-3080, Yamaha AN1x, Yamaha FS1r, Kawai K5000R, Novation Nova, Elektron Sidstation, Elektron Machinedrum, Waldorf Microwave XT, Waldorf Pulse

The Pulse is not too difficult too use and program, but then again it isn't the most ergonomic setup either. I don't really like the matrix editing setup, I find it hard to use quickly. Obviously, it is much easier than using buttons like on an FM synth, but it is much lessfuun to edit and patch than a synth with 1 knob/slider per function.

No poly here, this is a monosynth. 3 Oscillators, which I understand are hybrids of dco's and vco's, whatever that means. No effects, but a nice mod matrix allows for complex sounds. It can be expanded by buying multiple Pulses and linking them to form a Poly-Pulse. It has an arpegiator that I don't use.

No realism here, this is an analog mono. It doesn't sound like any accoustic instruments, although I guess someone could program synth version of real sounds if they wanted. Monosynths have only a few basic jobs: Bass, Leads, Blips, and FX. The Pulse is a bass monster! It can generate huge amounts of bass with its giant sounding osc's. I don't really like the way it sounds for higher pitched sounds, such as Leads and Blips, though. FX sound great. I think the real strength of the Pulse is its bass sound, so I use it exclusively as a bass synth. I'm not sure about the filter, however. The resonance drains low end, like on a Moog. I don't like the sound of this filter that much. I'm not really sure how to explain it, but I just find the resonance to be piercing and irritating. The filter is not the star of the show on this synth.

Sounds for Bass: 10
Sounds for other: 6

Feels solid enough, I would use it if I gigged, but I'd have a backup.

N/A

If this synth went away, I think I would buy another. I like having a dedicated bass synth, and I don't know of any other analog monosynths that can pump out bass like the Pulse for under $500. Maybe a Pro-One, but then you have to buy a midi kit that bumps up the price. Bass Stations are close, but lacking a little. I am a lil dissapointed in the higher pitched sounds that the Pulse makes. Maybe its because of the dco/vco osc's, but they lack the warm phasey-ness that I like in a lead synth. Just my personal taste, though. As a bass synth, the Pulse is a force. For leads, its not my favorite.

I'm using the latest OS. Editing sounds is easy by the modulation matrix. The only thing that bothers me is that the values jump suddenly from the original right to where the knob is moved, because the knobs are just basic pots, so there's only 270 degrees rotation. MicroQ for example doesn't suffer from this, because it has optically read knobs which rotate endlessly. Manual was only in germany so it has no help. Well, I never needed the manual, because the machine is so easy to edit and use.

Everybody knows this allready. This is an analogue 3 osc monosynth and does bass and leads very well.

And to Alex Mirones and others, who claim that this synth is digital:
Pulse's oscillators are analog and so is the filter! The oscillators are partly controlled by digital circuitry, but there is no way any d/a-conversion in the signal path by Waldorf, so who can say this thing is digital? Come on! Listen to the sound! No VA-machine can do this weird sound! There really are analog oscs and filter inside Pulse!

By analog oscillators and analog filter, this machine really makes some unbelievable sounds, which VA-machines just dream about making.
Only a monosynth, but can make some extremely weird sounds and powerfull basses and leads that I'll never sell mine.

Listen to the demo's:

http://koti.mbnet.fi/djtuppu/mp3/pulse_real_analogue_power.mp3
http://koti.mbnet.fi/djtuppu/mp3/pulsebassarp.mp3
http://koti.mbnet.fi/djtuppu/mp3/pulsebassarp2.mp3

Never let's me down.

Never needed.

Very easy though i prefer using soundiver...very good this way.

I guess youknow them all.....

Blows the fish right out of the water.Wow......i owned many analogues years ago , sold up and the a few years later bought some virtual synths...like jp8000 which were cool.I bought this as i found it really!cheap and needed some bass in my setup....i was very quickly reminded of the difference between analogue and digital ......amazing
if you do dance or need lead sounds or rich thick and lush monophonic
sounds etc then buy this asap....puts all my others synths to shame in some respects.

seemscool......

waldorf i have had problemswith regrads an xt and parts taking
3months to arrive in the uk aswell as 4 attempts before i got an e-mail reply .....and this happened 4 times on different occasions.....
but they try.....

For 100# what can you say...incredible sounds....and i have owned.....

ms20
sh101
tb303
sequential pro1
dx7
fsir
Z1
Jp8000
K5000R
Nord2
Wavetstaion ad
Osc oscar
Waldorf xt (nowhere near as nice)

so i have had plenty to compare the pulse to...soundwise.....buy one ......

very easy, the manual is necessary to get all the features out of it, but still easier than you can reasonably hope for in a high quality synth.

it is a analog monosynth, no polyphony, and no effects. It is a rack module so no keys, you hold down multiple keys on your midi controller and it will only play the last one, monosynth that it is. Waldorf has upgraded the OS a few times, but the last upgrade was final. No expansion. No sequencer, you can't really program the arpeggiator either, is pretty basic. You can control EVERYTHING over midi, waldorf kicks ass at this. Basically this is meant to do one thing: raw and beautiful analog bass and lead sounds, no more, no less.

the sonuds are beautiful, even a bunch of the presets are awesome. The sounds are why you buy this beast, if any synth sounds like it has balls this would be it. raw beautiful analog. I play industrial and it fits that perfectly. This is NOT a machine for realistic sounds, analog doom all the way.You could use this well for dance and techno, and maybe for a few other things, bass and leads all the way. No unwanted noise.

all metal and waldorf, hell yeah I can depend on it and I do gig without a backup.

I have never needed them, but a friends has and I have talked to Waldorf a bit, great people.

awesome raw synth, I have had it for a bit over 4 months and it has been surprising me with its expressiveness continually. not a meat and potatoes synth, but extremely forceful, I use it as my flaming beast, I love it. I intend to buy another eventually and if someone stole it there would be pain, oh so much pain.

My Pulse has software version 2.01. The synth is easy to use once you become very familiar with the mod matrix. At first it is a bit frustrating but after awhile becomes really quick. The presets for the most part are terrible. There are a couple of useful sounds but it is a real shame that more than half the memory is taken up with unuseable sounds. The manual is excellent and thorough. Legending is pretty small so using the mod matrix is a bit painful until you memorize modulation source/destinations. My primary complaint in "ease of use" is that some functions require combination button presses, and the matrix scroll button only scrolls from top to bottom.

The features are well known and stated in other reviews. I will just say that the modulation capabilities are quite good for a synth of this price range. All of the controls seem to have a very wide range allowing for very sensitive tweaking to very powerful modulations. Sends and receives midi on all knobs.

This synth is a bit of a one trick pony, but it does it's trick extremely well. It is superb for bass of all kinds and very good (in a limited way) for lead. I would describe the sound as warm, liquid, rich, buttery, punchy, and strong. The synth frustrated me for quite sometime until I realized to accept it's limitations and try to bring out the best in what it does. After that I fell in love with this synth.

It has been foolproof and I can't imagine it having a problem unless utterly abused.

Haven't had to deal with them.

I've been playing music of all kinds since the early 70's. I own a Nord Modular, Sherman Filterbank2, etc. etc. I would definitely buy this synth again and would recommend it as a top choice for a bassline synth. Through the Sherman Filterbank and it's one of the most powerful sounding combinations I've heard.

Monophonic. Stereo. No Effects. Great Arppeggiator.

This module is FAT. 3 obese digital oscillators, with a very creamy VCF. But, i must say, that the presets were a bit too hard, industrial, atonal type analog sounds. Do yourself a favor and get the Rob Papen sounds for it (www.robpapen.com). It's like lacing it with Nitroglycerin. BAM!!! All the Minimoog, MS-20, DX7, Obereheim sounds you never knew were possible with this offensively inexpensive unit.

the bomb

I am using version 1.42. The presets suck, and there are only 40 user slots for patches, but I'll live. This synth is super-easy to use, it uses a matrix, but if you think about it, it would have about 70 knobs if there was a knob for every function. So for the price, I can't complain about a matrix editing system. All of the patch editors for it are buggy and they suck, but they aren't nessecary either. The manual is top-notch. It tells you straight up what everything does, and not over-technical.

It's monophonic. But even the name implies that it's to be used for basses, so one is enough. It's not a workstation, and it's not supposed to be. Ok, it doesn't sound like a moog any way you slice it. The filter isn't quite as warm/creamy (but isn't lacking in that department either. The moog's filter didn't step. The pulse uses DCO's which doesn't take away from the beefyness, but makes it a little gritty. But when my fingers go on the black n' whites to pump out a bassline, I forget about all of that and just drown in big, beautiful, mod. matrix injected bass. Straight up, no effects, no expansions, and to be honest, I prefer it that way. If you need to drench your basslines in tons of effects, you aren't doing something right. the midi on this thing is tight, reliable, and everything can be controlled via sysex and cc's. No sequencer, but a decent arpeggiator is on board.

Realistic? No way in hell. Bad? You mean bad meaning bad or bad meaning good? ;) Yeah, the pulse is way bad. Easy to use? Seriously, if you can't figure this thing out, you need to go back to your casios and let real musicians take care of making real music. This synth is suited towards anything that ever needed a good bassline. I suppose it does good leads, I don't know, I don't use it for that. It reacts to velocity and aftertouch just fine, in fact, they are parts of the mod. matrix, so you can control all kinds of crazy stuff with them.

Yeah, this thing is reliable, has never crashed (I'm trying to think how it could), sometimes if you are using an arpeggio and you hit a new note, the arpeggio stops, I think this has been fixed in new versions, but it doesn't happen often enough to worry about. I could definitely gig it without a backup and trust it.

I have emailed waldorf before, they answered me quickly and were kind and curteous. I was inquiring about an OS upgrade, they said it would cost me and this is understandable since it takes eprom upgrades and it isn't under warranty, but most importantly they were kind and helpful as can be.

If it were lost or stolen, I would definitely buy another one. I take that back, I would buy a pulse+ since I love the filter so much! I have been playing for about a year. I don't have a lot of other gear. I love almost everything about it. I wish it were a bit smoother sounding, but I AM nitpicking here, it's pretty smooth, esp. for the price, and if you don't want pure, polished smooth right out of the box, than this synth won't disappoint. It can be a bit sterile sometimes, which sometimes is bad, but sometimes it's good because it's neutral. Everything sounds just as one would expect, no more, no less. That's german precision for you.

Powerfull, but sometime turning the knobs the mixer clip,
I need a compressor/limiter

Monophonic analog synth. 3 osc's (1 tri,saw,pulse;1 tri,saw,pulse,crossmod whith 3;1 tri,saw)+ noise 2 envelopes 2 lfo's up to audio range (1 sin,tri,saw,square,s-h;1 sin whith delay..in later revisions of the firmware these can be sync'd to midiclocks) 24db/oct filter,self oscillating quite powerful arpeggiator (sync'able to midiclock) extensive modulation matrix (nearly anything controls anything) Complete midi control (every parameter has it's midi CC assigned to it)

Very fat analog sound. Great bass and arp. The 24dB VCF is cool.
No DSP, but with an external 300ms delay it's a killer.

Made in Deutschland

It's a kaleidoscope

OS 1.42
The prests sound cool and inspiring.Editing patches is a breeze though only 6 knobs available. A patch editor could be used but I don't think it's a must. The manual is short but effective.

Monophonic synth. Only a low-pass filter(though the better one around since the minimoog in my humble opinion. Few user memory. Cool and efficient MIDI implementation with everything clok-syncable , nice arpeggiator. Few features but I love it cause in this way it lets you focus exaclty on what you're doing with everything in touch for the result you're aiming at.

Simply the best sounding syntetic basses I've ever heard. It does a splenid job also on leads and FX. A polyphonic synth sounding like this one would be one of the best sounding machines ever built. Its sound is pure deep warmth.

Nice Waldorf customer care.

I'm deeply in love with this machines. Only one sound per time, but what a wonderful one ! If you're looking for the definite bass machine, then absolutely go for it. I own a Q and a Juno-106 plus other synths and bixes, but none of them is capable of doing that thick sound of the Pulse.

Using 2.01 (latest) little hard to use from it but with an editor it's very easy from the computer, editing patches is funny and simple, manual very clear.

It's monophonic but it's better one nice note than 8 or 18 that suck, no effects in it but I have it in a digitech stuido quad and rocks!

The best bass machine, better than the virus (I own one too), and it's a Waldorf it says everything in sounds

I just bought it, and 2 weeks later I noticed that it has been discontinued, so lucky the people who own this superb synth.

The best, Mr. Joerg Huettner is a synth genius, and very nice person

If it were stolen I don't know what I'd do but I'd be very sad, I love the superb analgue sounds, much of them with an amazing texture, there are some people out there who own 5 of them 'cos is monophonic, and also the basses in the speakers kick asses!!

The matrix is a little clumsey, I wish there was an otional PG300 style hardware editor, but there is a couple of software versions floating around, and as well, you can get a PEAVY PC1600 and program SYX data to manipulate almost all the aprameters of the pulse in realtime.

Does what its supposed to . . . VERY VERY well!!

Better than a MINIMOOG in my book (Ive owned a couple over the years) though not quite as smooth it has a *very* similar sound, and if you keep the OSC levels < 30 you could hardly tell the difference. As well it has 2 LFOs and modulation routings that the MINIMOOG desperatly lacks. It is also capable of very wild and aggressive sounds that are distinctive of the PULSE, at times you can get FM sounding patches as well as not-very-convincing-but-cool 303 patches. I plan on getting a bunch of these to build my very own MEMORYMOOG :-)

No problems as of yet.

Waldorf technicians and support are very active on the Waldorf mailing list and you can expect an answer (to even the most banal question) within days

I love it. Forget 30 year old unreliable MOOGS, forget over priced Studio Electronics gear, dont even look at VA, this IS the MINI of the 21st . . .

Very easy to use. Set up patches using matrix. If you use Cakewalk 6.0 there is a Studioware panel available on Cakewalk's site that makes things a lot easier. Ideally, I would like a knob for every parameter, so I'll not give it a 10.

Real analog 3 osc, monosynth with 2 LFO's with plenty of waveforms. No internal effects. Onboard arpeg with some good patterns. Very fat. Minimoogs are nice, but why pay over $1,000 when you can get a Pulse for less than half that new? This synth is fat, fat, or - if you like - phat. Rock solid, digitally controlled analog with excellent, fast filter. I'll give it a 10 for what this is. It's not an "everything" module, but it is an "everything" analog monosynth for the money. Midi data is sent for every controller - one of the coolest features of this unit.

If you've played with an analog synth before, nothing need be said here. Tweak to your heart's content. 10+

Well built. No problems whatsoever.

Never had to use it.

I would buy this machine again in a heartbeat. I am thinking of buying another...maybe the Pulse + with the CV stuff. If you are thinking about a Minimoog or some other analog synth, consider this. No it does not have wood panels, but it is excellent. Sure it would be great if it were polyphonic, but who really cares when you can generate sounds like this.

Because the pulse uses matrix programming it's not as hands-on as many other synths. Still programming the pulse is quit simple once you get used to it.
Matrix programming basically means that you have to look up the function in the matrix which is a 6x6 table printed on the pulse and select the row which contains the function. you can than than change the parameter with the knob in the corresponding column below. The only disadvantage is that the pulse doesn't display the parameter before you change it. So there is no way of telling what the parameter was before changing it. Ofcourse you could always use one of the editors for the pulse to program sounds.

although monophonic this is one of the most powerful synths I have seen. It has 3 oscillators, a noise generator, 2 lfo's 2 envelopes and a great sounding (24db) filter which input can be overdriven The oscillators feature pulse (osc1 and 2:PWM), saw and triangle. Oscillator 1 & 2 can be synced and oscillator 2 & 3 can be cross modulated. Lfo 1 features sine, triangle, saw, Sample & Hold and pulse and can be synced with midi. Lfo 2 only features a triangle wave. The modulation possibilities are almost endless. 16 source (exp. velocity, lfo) can be used to control one of the 16 destinations (exp. pw, cutt-off and resonance) And last but not least the pulse has a great arpeggiator. It can be synced and it is abel to send midi data via midi out

The pulse sounds very fat and analog. It can sound very weird/grungy but also clean and moogish. It is very well suited for basses, leads and fx sounds. The modulation possibilities make this a very expressive instrument. If you like fat sounds and weird sounds you should definitely have a pulse in your collection.

Pretty reliable peace of gear. Had some error messages when sending patches to it, but this may be my fault.

Customers support is ok. Waldorf updates the rom program once in a while(adding new features and bugs fix) The only problem is that you'll have to put the program on an eprom yourself. And not everybody owns a eprom programmer. I sure don't own one.. Maybe you can buy the actual rom from them I wouldn't know..

This is one great synth ! It's great value for money and you'll get a synth that sounds better than most current synthesizers !