Waldorf Q

Dont remember - I sold it
Editing is very difficult- many hidden modes,even with all of those knobs and buttons. Many features not working. Manual better than most.
External processing sucks!

24 voice
Effects are limited but are useful enough.
Voice expansion possible and linkage to the rack makes it formidable.

On its own the Q sounds great, but easily gets lost in the track. It has terrible presence in sustaining sounds but it really shines on weird short quirky percussive sounds. The unsion modes are fantastic!

This is not realy a live synth.And it seems a bit fragile

This is strictly a professional synth. Its expensive and is very useful in a very limted way. If you can afford a "specialty" synth like this- you will be happy you made the purchase.

16 voice metallic blue version, OS 3.00. Much sleeker and prettier in person than the boxy-looking thing you see in internet photos. Presets are mind-blowing. A little too dance oriented for me personally, but it's programmable. Editing patches is very easy if you know subtractive synthesis. This is a complex synth, with lots of editing options, so programming could end up being time-consuming. If you find that it is, that's a very good sign! It means you're getting a lot more out of this synth than those who just play the presets. The manual is good, haven't used a patch editor (totally unnecessary on a synth like this). I'd give it a 10 if it had a couple of sliders instead of just knobs.

Polyphony is fine. Could always use more, but you know what? Most instruments are monophonic! At some point I remind myself to stop wishing for things and start adapting to a fantastic instrument. (That ultimate synth with all the dream features will never materialize anyway.) Effects are great, sound quality is great, MIDI is great, keys feel very nice for unweighted keys. (Not like the insulting, cheap keys on a Korg, for instance.) I prefer weighted keys and I still like these, so I guess that says something. No multitrack sequencer, but there is a very useful step sequencer. The arpeggiators rock. I hear that there are expansion cards for these, but they've got to be rare and expensive. I get along fine without one. The non-standard power cord is not ideal if you like to keep spares around, but THANK GOD THERE'S NO WALL WART! The big feature I wish it had was user wavetables. I would have paid double price for that feature. I have a Microwave XT that accepts user wavetables, but it would be nice not to have to lug it around. This one, however, has fantastic filters that can be run in series, parallel, or anywhere in between! And you can modulate the change in real time! Speaking of modulation, there's a real live modulation matrix here. Plus 3 oscillators, 3 LFOs, ring mod, FM, comb filters, overdrive, patch morphing (not simply cross-fading), etc., etc. Very likely the most comprehensive synth engines out there (short of the arcane and complicated VAST stuff, or perhaps the physical modelling that never went anywhere). The endless encoders make this synth a true musical instrument. It should be illegal to make knobs or sliders that cause an unmusical jump in sound when you turn them. Waldorf obeys the law.

The best synth I've every heard, and I've heard a lot. You don't have time to read all I have to say about it. Like everyone else says, realistic instrument emulations are scarce. If that's what you want, you'd better be an EXPERT programmer, or you should be reading about romplers instead. Some patches sound totally analog, some sound totally digital, some (my favorites) sound somewhere in between. If you had this synth next to a Jupiter 8 in a silent studio with excellent monitors and did a thorough analysis, I SUPPOSE you could tell this was not genuine analog. Probably. If you've had A LOT of experience with synths. But who cares? Play this for an audience or record it with other instruments, and even die-hard experts wouldn't be able to tell. And besides, the "it's gotta be analog" fashion will fade someday and, gasp! digital will even come back into vogue. The Q will serve you well no matter what happens.

Ya gotta love the Germans. This thing is a battering ram. Grond. The software got off to a bumpy start when the Q was first released, but it all seems pretty reliable now. I've noticed a couple of tiny quirks in the way the software behaves, but I have yet to figure out if it's OS weirdness or just me. If it's that subtle, I'm not complaining.

Waldorf use to rock, but they just went under. They were friendly, prompt, and actually helpful. Roland customers won't know what that's like, but it's great when you actually experience it. The people at Waldorf seemed to actually take pride in their instruments, and seemed to actually care that you were satisfied with your purchase. E-mu used to be that way, before the Creative Megacorporation bought them and drove them into the ground. I hope this doesn't happen to Waldorf. There are a lot of web resources for Waldorf synths, mostly because Waldorf customers are so passionate about them. That may make up for the uncertain future of Waldorf.

I compared this with a Novation Supernova II. I would have compared with a Virus too, but I couldn't find a store in my area that sells the Virus. I liked the Supernova a lot (and it looks even better than the Q and has sliders for its envelopes). The Q is more sonically versatile, though. Wavetable scanning, especially combined with ring mod, FM, etc., is really powerful. Plus, you don't have to scan the wavetables--you can simply use any of the 250 or so waveforms in the wavetables as static waveforms. Much more powerful than no digital waveforms on the Supernova, or the smaller number of them on the KS5 or the Virus. I've owned a ton of synths. I currently use a Kurzweil PC2x controller (evil wall wart), a Waldorf Microwave XT, and a Proteus 2500 with cool Z-plane filters. In the past, I've owned Roland synths (Jupiter 6, JX10, D50, JP8000), Ensoniq synths (ESQ1, TS12), a Kurzweil K2000R, and a few others. I used to love the ESQ1, but the Q easily outshines it. I sometimes miss the JX10, for its 76 keys as much as for its warm sound. But the Q is warmer than my fuzziest slippers.

What's happening to the keyboard industry? Novation is abandoning harware synths, Creative killed Ensoniq for us and is just about done destroying E-mu, Waldorf just went under... I know software synths are getting more powerfull, but they're still not as reliable or straightforward as hardware synths. Can the market for real synths be that dried up? I hope we continue to see real synths from Waldorf, but it looks like we may not. I fear the day when the only real keyboards one can buy are flimsy MIDI controllers or Big Name Romplers with sounds designed for commerce instead of art.

Do yourself a favor and get one of these while you still can. They'll be collectors' items one day, and they're going to get harder and harder to find. I love almost everything about this synth. Short of keyboardists who ONLY need acoustic emulations or samples, I can't imagine any synthesist not being ecstatically happy with a Q.

Version 3.02, Der L?test. Manual is decent, and even contains elements of humour (or the German equivalent thereof). Presets are nice, but who cares about presets.

Love the keyboard action & smooth aftertouch. A Q card is available, but expensive & rare. Polyphony is sufficient for what I need it for. Magnificent arpeggiator & step sequencer.

Some call the Q a virtual analog...no way. It excels at flagrant strangeness with its massive 3 LFO's. Effects are very well implemented & not anemic as on its orange little sister, the XTK. Best for techno, trance & experimental music. Not recommended for bluegrass.

It's German.

N/A

Worth its weight in marzipan. Essential gear. Mixers well with my other synths: Korg MS2000, Alesis ION, Korg Triton, Roland V-Synth & Doepfer A-100 Modular.

If you know synthesizers, it's all there. If you don't, the manual is very helpful.

MIDI is great, there is a sequencer but I hardly use it... it is easy enough though. Alot of effects, including a great vocoder.

GREAT sounds. I love the sounds this keyboard produces.

I have had this product for three years. It has survived a fire. This unit is rock solid. It is very dependable.

I've had an uprade mailed to me on request. I have exchanged emails with the waldorf people. From what I know... 10.

Ver 3.02 software. The upgrade was different, but easy enough. I think these new presets are excellent. Spent a few hours on one or two of them! Editing is easy, the lcd changes as you turn the knobs.
I did not get a manual, but the online one is great.

I have the 32-voice, yellow Q. The keyboard is a bit heavier than my Korg Karma, feels solid. FX are great, especially the new reverb.
The sequencer sounds good, but I haven't used it much yet.

There are some realistic instrument sounds, but this is not a sample-playback machine at all. It reacts to key-pressure very well. Definitely NOT a static synth! I've heard of people letting it play for days on its own, to hear how a sound changes. Overall sound quality is EXCELLENT.

No trouble yet, had it only a week. This is a solid metal box. I would use it with no hesitation live. Heard of a lot of lockups and crashes with these, but mine has behaved so far.

No experience with this yet

Yes, I would buy it again for sure (especially at the price I got it for!). I bought this as a partner for my Karma, they work great together. Also wanted an analog-sounding machine, and this is IT!!
I can't tell any difference between this and all the synths I've owned(micromoog, Jupiter 8, polysix), as far as analog sound goes, except that the Q sounds better, with a lot more features. The variety of paramaters is amazing.
I tried a Supernova, Nord lead 2, Roland JP-8080; this beats 'em all, IMHO. Plug and play!!!!

Software update from 1st qtr 2002 (3.02?). The Q has more knobs than most, and as such it is a very intuitive, easy to use instrument. Before I bought mine, I spent about an hour with one in a music store and was off and running around on the front panel, shift (2d functions for the knobs), and making a variety of sounds. It's not quite as easy as a nord lead 2, but for something this powerful and versatile, it's remarkably straightforward.

Mine is a 32-voice synth from the factory. The keyboard action is solid; a little heavier than the nord lead 2 (my other keyboard synth) but overall very fast. The wheels are nice, too; fat and rubbery, they feel good under the fingers. The effects in the new software are outrageously good-sounding. The reverb is first-rate and the programmability of the tempo delay is really great. Other effects are equally satisfying. The only drawback is that one can only use effects in 4 of the sounds in a multi. This is the most modifiable synthesizer in its class; more so even than a virus "c", and it allows for near-limitless programmability. I call this thing the "Matrix 12" of virtual analogs. The feature-rich environment is commensurate with the Q's price tag. This is a Cadillac, not a Chevy.

The sounds on the Q have been widely praised, so I'll just say I echo the others' praise. An interesting characteristic of this instrument is that, like a classic synth, everything is accessible via knobs, but like a digital FM synth, the sound shaping capabilities rival the "synthesis" (as opposed to sample-based sounds) of very realistic timbres. It's pretty incredible when you synthesize 'real acoustic' instruments, and can then morph them around with the knobs in real time!

The Q is a very well-built instrument. The only qualm I have is with the shipping materials. The guy I bought it from shipped it to me in its original container with all the original packing materials, and 2 knobs got broken in the shipping. This is because the box is barely larger than the Q, and the knobs are hanging out in space unprotected. Inexcusable for a synth that costs $4000 fully loaded, as mine was. I give it a 9 because I have crashed the system while programming it a few times.

No experience with them, although the previous owner ordered yellow sides and a spare set of wood sides (this is a strange Q: it's yellow but has the new black knobs and wood sides (like the XTk) - I installed the yellow sides, though) and the folks at Waldorf were very accommodating. And the authorized service had the knobs I needed in stock for cheap, so I was able to fix my Q quickly after receipt.

When I started building a rig in '99, I held out buying a keyboard until the Q came out, b/c it's such a great looker so I thought the sound would probably be awesome as well. The early versions of the OS were so piss-poor and frustrating that I bought a nord lead 2 instead. Now that the new OS has made all the features functional and they've added functionality and features beyond the original spec (ie. the PPG filter emulator option in the 'vcf' section), I was very excited to get my hands on it. This thing soooo smokes the virus and nord offerings that it's difficult to even compare them. As another gentleman said, this is not emulative, it is "proposing". With the Q, Waldorf's marketing hype rings true: "analog was yesterday" and the company slogan/motto, "Waldorf - enthusiasts synthesizing machines". Definitely an instrument for the true synthesizer enthusiast.

Waldorf Q, keyboard model with OS 3.00. If this would be your first (virtual) analog synth then it will take a while to learn (it was for me). The presets sounds are ok, but honestly I don't buy a synth this expensive just for the presets, this beauty makes you want to program hundreds of sounds of your own.

The manual is different from e.g. roland manuals, very good and somethimes humoristic.

Editing patches is a breeze, editor would slow you down! :)

16 voices in my, expandable to 32. The keyboard action is soooo sweet, those keys feels expensive. Aftertouch, velocity, rel velocity modwheel and pitchwheel. WARNING: The pitch bend wheel is really good, but you simply can't make any vibrato or wathever with it because it "get stuck" at the centre somehow (dunno how to explain). Anyway, that's what modulation matrixes is for right? :)

Soundshaping heaven, everything is just a knob away! Step seq and arpeggio is great. Currently there are no ablility to chain patterns :(

sounds great, one of the best synthesizers out there.

Rock solid, I've already used a Q-rack without backup and I will do the same with this rock solid beast.

The best!

Maby this one and a soft sequencer is all you need to create electronic music?

I think this beast to be one of the most intuitive synth on the market.If you know something concerning analogue subtractive synthesis,it is a pleasure to program it.Despite its ease of use, the "Mod. Matrix" can generate very complex and oringinal sounds.Only the step sequencer seems to be a little hard to use.But this is a personal opinion.

Mine is a 32 note polyphony keyboard.It is very well built.Its action is excellent either in velocity response or in aftertouch,which is one of the most precise in modulation.The built in effects processor is very powerful and now you can count on brand-new effects (like the reverb that is simply great).

It is a superb sounding machine.With 3 Osc ,3 Lfo and a lot of powerful filters,there is no sound you cannot create.The only limit could be your creativity.As I have already said,the filters are awesome and the routing possibilities are various.As a consequence of this ,the frequencies ballet is assured.There are screaming leads,great basses,fat pads and the emulation of some electric pianos is excellent.But I think it sounds less analog than other synths (i.e. Roland JP 8000/8080 ,Acces Virus ,Supernova ,Nord Lead).

Almost perfect

Excellent.

I think this is powerful synth.It may seems a little bit expensive,but it has power to spare.I love its sounds and I think it should be seen not as an emulative gear but as a proposing one.

I started out with V2.16 and have now moved onto V3.0, Personally I think the Q's sounds are unique and are so good that Ive recently sold my Proteus 2000 because all the pads , strings , bass , synth were no match for the Q. The KB version has all of the knobs and if like me you are new to CV Analouge synths it takes a while to learn how it all works.

16 note ( can be upgraded to 32) I will be upgrading to 32 Note, the FX are cool and the new Reverb is fantastic ( again putting my other modules to shame )

And because of the 56 knobs you can change any sound in any way buy playing with those knobs

And the Mental vocorder !!!!

As mentioned I find the Q is Ausome for its sounds , even the Elec Pianos , choirs ect are amaizing as their are no samples, Bass , Lead , Pads ( ausome ) , Strings, bizzare sounds that you just cannot get from a sound module

No problmes

Ive Emailed Waldorf many times , they allways come back with an answer.They also have a Email user group run by the Engineers so that you can talk to other Q users ....Very nice :o)

The Q is ausome and I would replace it tomorrow if it were stolen.

Rack version, OS 2.16. Editing on the Q is fairly intuitive. I had something of a steep learning curve, but only because I'm new to analog synthesis and the Q has a lot of different sound modulation possibilities. Having things like panning stored as part of a patch and not a multi setup are somewhat odd, IMO, but not that big of a deal. There are plenty of knobs and buttons which make navigating the interface nice and easy. Manual is decent. I had to email Waldorf tech support though for a couple things, but they were very helpful.

Built in effects, though they seem pretty skimpy even though they are of high quality. The phaser is really cool. I wish you could have effects going on all 16 parts in a multi setup (like the Virus) instead of only 4. I also wish there was a ping-pong setting for the delay. The appregiator on this thing is really nice, and there's a step sequencer as well. Q cards have just been released that you can use to store extra patches and multi setups. The best part of the Q though is all the modulation possibilities. More than any of the other virtual analogs, I think.

The sounds are incredible on this thing. It's the best-sounding synth I've ever heard, hands down. When I was shopping for a synth, I listened to the OB-12, Virus, Nord Lead 2, JP8000, AN1x, and the Nova. The Waldorf was definitely the most analog-sounding of the bunch. I just threw in the new 2000 factory soundset, too, and all I can saw is "wow!". The pads are really lush and dreamy, it does great thick basses, fx, you name it. The drums are a joke, except for some of the bassdrums, but I didn't buy this thing for drums. A very inspiring synth.

People have mentioned bugs, but I haven't run into any. My Q has never crashed. I wouldn't worry about using it in a gig at all. Construction is top-notch. Very solid, great feel on the knobs. The best-built synth I've seen next to the Nord Lead.

Amazing, best customer support I've ever dealt with. Waldorf is a small company, so you actually get to talk to people who know something about the synth. When I emailed them with a problem, they were always quick to respond.

If it were lost or stolen, I would probably buy it again. The only reason I say probably is because at $1450 I think it's still a little pricey, when you consider that the Virus and Nova have more effects processing power and cost $250 less. If the Q Rack cost $1200, there wouldn't be a question as to whether or not I would buy it again. I also played around with a Korg MS2000 after I bought the Q, and was very impressed by that synth as well, however 4 voice polyphony stinks. So really it all comes down to personal preference. All these virtual analogs have their own "personality". The Q is very lush, smooth, and rich, which is great for the style of trance I make, so I've been very happy with it.