Waldorf Blofeld - Anyone own one?

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zerocrossing wrote:
Fair enough. Then I'd suggest totally forgetting the Blofeld (though from what I gather it's matrix style of UI isn't all that bad) and look into one of it's knobby ancestors or a Prophet 12. What about the Nord Wave? Every demo I ever heard of that synth sounded great to me. The Blofeld, good as it it, was trying to come down in a certain price point and that means corners were cut. Of course no instrument is "no compromise" but the Blofeld seemed to have a fair amount of compromise built into it's design. That's why I like Largo, but I'm also the guy who rarely touches his Prophet 08 because I have the software editor. To me, the Prophet... and actually all my hardware synths, could be black boxes with power and USB in and out and if they had a decent software editor I'd be fine. To me I buy hardware because it has a unique or high quality sound that software doesn't quite reach, though that's getting hard to find in digital synth world.

You hit it on the head as to why I like the Blofeld. Being that it has a nice big screen, even though it has 6 knobs for tweaking parameters, makes it very nice to visualize what's going on, instead of a small typical LCD screen. The fact that you can control the Blofeld via USB is a big plus. You have the option of programming with the hardware interface or with a software editor. MonstrumMedia is coming out with a Blofeld editor this month: http://www.monstrummedia.com

I actually prefer editing hardware synth with software editors, because it's usually easier on the arms and hands. Heck I have a Poly Evolver Keyboard that I like using SoundTower's editor with it to edit things, even though I consider the PEK's hardware interface to be one of the best out there. It's less effort that twisting a bunch of knobs. I prefer using a trackpad and keeping my hand in one place to edit everything. Even still, I'm excited to try out Waldorf's hardware interface they have in the Blofeld as it looks quite intuitive.

Though I don't see Waldorf making many compromises in the Blofeld with it's synthesis engine. The only thing I can think of is maybe the FX section, though I like having the bit reducer and it's just a bonus to be able to apply internal fx, which seem to be the same/similar to the Q fx. So I'm not sure what corners were cut in the Blofeld. The Blofeld combines all the Osc from the Q with all the wavetables from the XT with the synthesis section of the Q.

I tried the Largo demo and while I liked it, I still felt like it had a 'software' sound to it and I didn't like the interface so much. From what I've heard, I've liked stuff from the Blofeld more than Largo. Though I will say that I haven't listened to a bunch of Largo demos. But it will be nice to have DACs be able to add something extra to the sound with the Blofeld.

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stikygum wrote:
I tried the Largo demo and while I liked it, I still felt like it had a 'software' sound to it and I didn't like the interface so much. From what I've heard, I've liked stuff from the Blofeld more than Largo. Though I will say that I haven't listened to a bunch of Largo demos. But it will be nice to have DACs be able to add something extra to the sound with the Blofeld.
Try this. Go to Dr. T's site (google it) and download a handful of his Largo examples and Blofeld examples. Put them in a playlist and play them at random. Guess which is which. I couldn't.
Zerocrossing Media

4th Law of Robotics: When turning evil, display a red indicator light. ~[ ●_● ]~

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pssst... I'm selling my Blofeld desktop with the SL Sample License installed.
see this other string here.

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=5600128

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Hi guys
Talking about Blofelds samples and the original ways how to use them, you may look into our new Attack sound set at Waldorf website.

It transforms Blofeld into a 16-part drum module and samples play important part in drum synthesis, besides VA engine for analogue drums and FM and Wavetables for crazy FX.

Also it utilises the fact that Blofeld is 16-part multi-timbral, what is (surprisingly for 2014) not very common thing for a synth.

And it is class compliant MIDI device so it can be sequenced from the iPad via USB without any MIDI interface. Truly a swiss-knife of a synth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIHtNFuYP2c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15W8HtUMKe8

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Not to derail the thread, but I heard from Holger @ Waldorf support last year that they do have plans to update the Waldorf Attack. I wonder if this is what he was referring to. I'm a huge fan of the software version so I kind of hope that they're going to keep on developing it.

-Sam

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FYI- I fixed my original Low/No Sound output issue. If you go to the Facebook Waldorf user group, there is much discussion on the topic with instructions on how to do it. It worked great and my Blo DT is now at full volume.
Jason Schoepfer
Rocky Mountain Sounds
http://www.rockymountainsounds.com

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JavaJ wrote:FYI- I fixed my original Low/No Sound output issue. If you go to the Facebook Waldorf user group, there is much discussion on the topic with instructions on how to do it. It worked great and my Blo DT is now at full volume.
Would you have a link ?
Can we read the thread without a FB account ?

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Heads-up on this free editor (PC) because I haven't seen it discussed:

Softknobs have made a new standalone editor and the beta is here...

I've been using it all week with no problems (well, one related to Aftertouch, however..)

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sinkmusic wrote:
JavaJ wrote:FYI- I fixed my original Low/No Sound output issue. If you go to the Facebook Waldorf user group, there is much discussion on the topic with instructions on how to do it. It worked great and my Blo DT is now at full volume.
Would you have a link ?
Can we read the thread without a FB account ?
I scrolled through pages and pages on FB and couldn't find anything about this. Please give us some details!

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+1

What I mainly saw is folks trying to sell their music projects as well as people showing off their Waldorf synths, nothing on this particular issue that I was able to find.
Available on iTunes, Amazon, etc.

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Well, about Blofeld and low output.
I happened actually to me.
Everything is about a resistor that has been burned.

You can read more about this here:
http://www.synthtalk.com/waldorf-blofel ... nd-repair/

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I love the Blofeld to death, but its knobs suck. After a while they become inconsistent. I already had to send it for repair once because cleaning didn't help. They replaced 2 knobs. Now it started bothering me again so I took matters into my own hands. I created a Midi Designer controller layout for the Blofeld. If anyone is interested, and has an Ipad, you can download the layout here.

http://mididesigner.com/qa/2385/new-wal ... ayout-2014

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Hi,
I was planning to buy this synth, but I am not sure what I want to do is possible: I have a USB MIDI keyboard that I bought recently, the Nektar Impact LX49 (very cheap one but it is quite good http://www.nektartech.com/Impact-LX49 (http://www.nektartech.com/Impact-LX49) )
It's a USB MIDI keyboard (not MIDI) so I have to connect it to the computer to play and it is also powered by USB.
You can guess my question, can I connect it to the Waldorf Blofeld USB input to play?
Does it make any sense?

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stimresp wrote:Heads-up on this free editor (PC) because I haven't seen it discussed:

Softknobs have made a new standalone editor and the beta is here...

I've been using it all week with no problems (well, one related to Aftertouch, however..)
Thanks for this! :tu:
"The pendulum of the mind alternates between sense and nonsense, not between right and wrong." - Carl Jung

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yotawaves wrote:Hi,
I was planning to buy this synth, but I am not sure what I want to do is possible: I have a USB MIDI keyboard that I bought recently, the Nektar Impact LX49 (very cheap one but it is quite good http://www.nektartech.com/Impact-LX49 )
It's a USB MIDI keyboard (not MIDI) so I have to connect it to the computer to play and it is also powered by USB.
You can guess my question, can I connect it to the Waldorf Blofeld USB input to play?
Does it make any sense?
I think the only way you'll be able to use that keyboard to control the Blofeld (or any other piece of hardware) is by plugging both it and the Blofeld into a computer, and then using a host or MIDI thru type app to route MIDI back through USB to the Blofeld.

Don't get me started on my opinion of MIDI controllers that lack 5 pin MIDI jacks....

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