Hello
Yes, the two boxes are very different, the Blofeld is a couple of hundred dollars more expensive, yet my decision process have taken me to choosing between the two... So the question to the forum, is not really a question, more like a call for advise/opinion... kind of using the world as a sounding board... What would you do?
Maybe the Blofeld is too new... The Blofeld demos sound gorgeous... but so do the Evolver's... plus is a real analog... or almost, but close enough...
What do you guys prefer?
Thnx in advance for your help...
Waldorf Blofeld or Dave's Smith Mono Evolver desktop
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- KVRian
- 933 posts since 14 Jun, 2004 from Guanajuato, Mexico
What other gear do you have? If I already had a bread&butter VA, I'd get the Evolver, otherwise the Blofeld.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 45 posts since 7 Jun, 2005
Thnx!fac wrote:What other gear do you have? If I already had a bread&butter VA, I'd get the Evolver, otherwise the Blofeld.
Hardware
RedSound Elevata, which I am thinking of selling to finance the new buy above... I love the machine itself - it's built out of metal and it feels like a tank, it has plenty of knobs, very solid... but I never liked the sound... I have the VSTs Predator and Massive and any of them sound way better...
VSTis
Predator
Massive
Battery 3
Arturia Collection
So as you can see, what I'm looking for is one hardware synth that will complement what I have... I zeroed in on
a) Blofeld
The demos sound great
It's a VA and a Wavetable
Plenty of multi-timbrality
Good features, including effects and arpegiator
So it's the perfect synth for when you don't feel like dealing with VSTis... you could do a whole record on it...
b) Mono Evolver Desktop
If you think about it has many of the features of the Blofeld, although a bit reduced because, well, it's almost all analog.. . it has sequencer/arpeg, FX and Wavetables, but the big draw is that is practically an analog and I have always wanted that one..
Plus one last consideration: I wanted a desktop unit, so things like the cheaper analogs like MFB, Spectral Audio are out of the question...
You know? I thought listing the features of each was gonna help - it did not - it just made me realized that the synths are more alike that I originally thought... damn... decision is even harder...
V
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- KVRAF
- 7540 posts since 7 Aug, 2003 from San Francisco Bay Area
I have a Waldorf Q and a Poly Evolver Keyboard, so I think I can comment with some level of authority on the Evolver vs. Blofeld. The PEK is a cool synth, and it has a very distinctive sound. It tends to distort and clip easily if you don't watch your signal levels. In general, it tends to sound somewhat harsh and thin, although I've made some huge bass sounds as well. These are just generalizations. The Q, on the other hand, (and therefore the Blofeld) is a much more versatile synth in terms of overall spectral palette. It can do a wider variety of sounds, and has a more flexible architecture. I guess I would characterize its sound as lush and smooth, although of course it can do harsh sounds too.
Also, I wouldn't worry about letting the VA vs. Real Analog issue influence you too much- the Q has a great sound, unmatched by comparable VSTis. Specifically, I'm thinking of Native Instruments Massive, which I picked up last year. I noticed that Massive's architecture seemed directly inspired by the Q, so I tried to set up a fair comparison between the two: a single sawtooth oscillator and a 4-pole lowpass filter. They had a similar sound, but I was shocked at how much smoother the filter in the Q was! The difference was quite dramatic.
As a footnote, I'd like to add that neither the desktop Evolver nor the Blofeld have a great user interface. If I had to choose one, I'd go for the Blofeld, but I'd really much rather see a full keyboard version with a Q-style interface.
Also, I wouldn't worry about letting the VA vs. Real Analog issue influence you too much- the Q has a great sound, unmatched by comparable VSTis. Specifically, I'm thinking of Native Instruments Massive, which I picked up last year. I noticed that Massive's architecture seemed directly inspired by the Q, so I tried to set up a fair comparison between the two: a single sawtooth oscillator and a 4-pole lowpass filter. They had a similar sound, but I was shocked at how much smoother the filter in the Q was! The difference was quite dramatic.
As a footnote, I'd like to add that neither the desktop Evolver nor the Blofeld have a great user interface. If I had to choose one, I'd go for the Blofeld, but I'd really much rather see a full keyboard version with a Q-style interface.
Incomplete list of my gear: 1/8" audio input jack.
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- KVRian
- 933 posts since 14 Jun, 2004 from Guanajuato, Mexico
Err, I think the MFB synths *are* desktop units, but anyway...vmartell wrote: Plus one last consideration: I wanted a desktop unit, so things like the cheaper analogs like MFB, Spectral Audio are out of the question...
If you need versatility, multitimbrality, and polyphony, get the Blofeld, particularly if you sell your Elevata. You will be able to make full songs, or a good percentage of a song with it.
If you want a synth you can have lots of fun with, in the sense that it can do crazy stuff and complement what you already have, get the Evolver.
I'm basing my opinion on sound and synth architecture only. I haven't used the Evolver, so I don't know what it's like to program it, but I believe there's a software editor, right? I do own a Waldorf XT and I know it would be a pain to program using only 4 knobs and the parameter matrix (I've tried it).
btw.- there's a guy in youtube who only uses desktop units for his songs, I think his name is denktribe. Check it out, it's pretty cool. He uses an Evolver, Korg ER-1, MFB Synth, Nord Micromodular, and other stuff, but only uses 2 or 3 synths for each song.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 45 posts since 7 Jun, 2005
Err... sorry, brain fart about the MFB... I was thinking of the AS RedSquare... You are right... the MFB is a desktop unit... what put me off about it was that they seem a little bit cheaply made ( I had a chance to check it out at Analog Haven)...fac wrote:
Err, I think the MFB synths *are* desktop units, but anyway...
...snip...
btw.- there's a guy in youtube who only uses desktop units for his songs, I think his name is denktribe. Check it out, it's pretty cool. He uses an Evolver, Korg ER-1, MFB Synth, Nord Micromodular, and other stuff, but only uses 2 or 3 synths for each song.
I will check the YouTube stuff. Thnx!
V
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 45 posts since 7 Jun, 2005
Then the Q's (and hopefully the Blofeld) should have one of the best filter around, as I found the one in Massive very impressive, specially at the "Ultra" setting...deastman wrote:
Also, I wouldn't worry about letting the VA vs. Real Analog issue influence you too much- the Q has a great sound, unmatched by comparable VSTis. Specifically, I'm thinking of Native Instruments Massive, which I picked up last year. I noticed that Massive's architecture seemed directly inspired by the Q, so I tried to set up a fair comparison between the two: a single sawtooth oscillator and a 4-pole lowpass filter. They had a similar sound, but I was shocked at how much smoother the filter in the Q was! The difference was quite dramatic.
Interface wise, yes, the Blofeld looks a little better with the biggish screen... I think Waldorf has promised a VST editor, but I am not sure...deastman wrote: As a footnote, I'd like to add that neither the desktop Evolver nor the Blofeld have a great user interface. If I had to choose one, I'd go for the Blofeld, but I'd really much rather see a full keyboard version with a Q-style interface.
Thanks for your help. A very informative post!
V
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- KVRian
- 527 posts since 22 Jun, 2004
I have then evolver and I love it. It is easy enough to programm via the matrix interface and it does a lot of really unique sounds. +The best basses and synth leads in my setup. what it doesn't do is the more soft and mellow tones.
On the other hand I demoed the Blofeld at my local music store two days ago since I was thinking of getting one. I must say I not very impressed by the overall sound of this unit. It just didn't do it for me. I think that it doesn't do anything that the top of the crop softsynths ( Uhe / RPFX Synths / Fabfilter ) can't do better. If I needed a versatile small snth for live use I would get the Blofeld, but for a studio/home production I think there are better alternatives in software.
On the other hand I demoed the Blofeld at my local music store two days ago since I was thinking of getting one. I must say I not very impressed by the overall sound of this unit. It just didn't do it for me. I think that it doesn't do anything that the top of the crop softsynths ( Uhe / RPFX Synths / Fabfilter ) can't do better. If I needed a versatile small snth for live use I would get the Blofeld, but for a studio/home production I think there are better alternatives in software.
Qw, music from twelve weeks in quarantine is now streaming on spotify and bandcamp. This is a collaboration with the the smallest of worlds VR art project, that documents our living spaces in times of isolation. You can join their project here.
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- KVRAF
- 7540 posts since 7 Aug, 2003 from San Francisco Bay Area
The architecture of Massive appears directly "inspired" by the Q: three wavetable oscillators into two filters freely mixable between serial and parallel, two insert effects, step sequencer, and so on...vmartell wrote:Then the Q's (and hopefully the Blofeld) should have one of the best filter around, as I found the one in Massive very impressive, specially at the "Ultra" setting...
That being said, they are not even close to being the same instrument. They have totally different wavetables. They have a lot of different filter types. I don't think Massive's "Ultra" filter mode has an equivalent in the Q. My test case for comparing the two was a single sawtooth oscillator into a single 4 pole lowpass filter- this was the lowest common denominator for a fair comparison, and a good way to judge the basic quality of the DSP in the two synths. As I said, the Q sounded much better.
I love both Massive and the Q, and am glad to have both options at my disposal. The main point to take away from my little experiment is that Waldorf REALLY knows their stuff when it comes to DSP. You can be confident that you are buying a great-sounding synth.
Incomplete list of my gear: 1/8" audio input jack.