Waldorf Largo + Blofeld: free + commercial patches

[pdxindy]

The Basis parameter on the PPG is awesome. Very, very few synths can recreate it easily I'm afraid. Each voice is panned to a different side alternately.

If you don't have either an 'alternate' source or a 'polyphony' source in the mod-matrix it will be likely impossible to set this up in Largo. You also need 'pan' to be a voice-level destination, not global.

One of the few synths I know that can do this is Cronox3... Omnisphere can too.

Zebra also has this feature. Once it was added I couldn't imagine being without it. It seems simple to do so I wonder why more synths don't implement it.

Since I don't have Largo, I'd love to hear some mp3's of the presets being posted!

[qwave]

Another tip to recreate PPG sounds:
There is no mixer section on the PPG waves. So many people think, that their oscillators are mixed 50/50. But this is not true. The PPG got a mixer ratio of something like 70/30. There was no zero volume beating on slightly detunes oscillators using the very same waveshape. So it was obvious, that they are not running with the very same amplitude. I think I once measured it using a selfmade wavetable of my waveterm with a partly silent wavetable region.

Here is a picture of my single room flat I lived in 21 years ago:



Keyboard support from top to bottom:
Minimoog + mixer
PPG wave 2.3 V6
PPG wave 2.2 V4.5 (no midi) -> no owned by some real coincidences by Hermann Seib

The PPG waveterm B with 8" disks (actually a version A with the hardware upgrade board) at the right. Serial number 27

The Moog Prodigy is in the middle atop a Roland TR606 and an EEH DS500 monophonic hybrid sequencer.

[Ingonator]

Another tip to recreate PPG sounds:
There is no mixer section on the PPG waves. So many people think, that their oscillators are mixed 50/50. But this is not true. The PPG got a mixer ratio of something like 70/30. There was no zero volume beating on slightly detunes oscillators using the very same waveshape. So it was obvious, that they are not running with the very same amplitude. I think I once measured it using a selfmade wavetable of my waveterm with a partly silent wavetable region.

Here is a picture of my single room flat I lived in 21 years ago:



Keyboard support from top to bottom:
Minimoog + mixer
PPG wave 2.3 V6
PPG wave 2.2 V4.5 (no midi) -> no owned by some real coincidences by Hermann Seib

The PPG waveterm B with 8" disks (actually a version A with the hardware upgrade board) at the right. Serial number 27

The Moog Prodigy is in the middle atop a Roland TR606 and an EEH DS500 monophonic hybrid sequencer.

Thanks for the tip. I am almost finished correcting my older PPG patches which i published on KVR. Those corrections are based on other tips and things i found myself. In some cases i have to admit that the sounds will never sound like the original patch of the PPG Wave 2.V plugin.

This means my idea of only using Largo instead of the PPG Wave plugin doesn't work so far. Maybe with future improvements or some good ideas i will be able to get all sounds sound more authentic.

On the other hand i worked so much with the PPG Wave plugin now that i really love that too. I guess i know almost all features of it inside out now. I had to check the whole manual to transfer the settings to Largo correctly. For knowing more about the wavetables of Largo i also checked PPG pages and Microwave and i have a complete list of the wavetables including pictures of all waves from Hermann Seibs page: http://www.hermannseib.com/english/synths/ppg/docs.htm

[Ingonator]

I published my updated Largo bank: http://www.kvraudio.com/banks.php?s=lis ... order=date

description:

"This bank contains 68 recreations of PPG Wave 2.V patches + 11 analog Largo patches + init bank + init file. fxp and fxb files included. All old patches of the bank are updated/refined. Largo v1.1.0 is recommended for using the layered patches."

The analog patches contain mostly sounds using unison and/or layers for testing those features of Largo.

More patches will follow but i have no time schedule for that.

[Ingonator]

Hello,

i changed this thread to a more general topic like "Waldorf Largo patches". This should be for discussion and links of Largo patches. I did this because of many post in other threads such information gets lost IMO.

I start with some important link/informations :

1.) Largo patches on KVR: http://www.kvraudio.com/banks.php?s=list&what=3620

2.) Largo downloads at Waldorf: http://www.waldorfmusic.de/en/archive?relPath=largo

3.) Waldorf forum archives: http://www.waldorf-forum.com/pipermail/user-forum/

4.) Largo contains 246 factory patches, not only 128. The patches could be found in several folders in your installation directory. In my case in /vstplugins/Waldorf/ Largo sounds. The folders are named after the sound designers like e.g. DocT. Those patches contain the category in the files name.

I have 2 bank files containing those 246 patches sorted by category. If KVR and/or Waldorf allow i will publish the banks in the KVR database. I just sent an email to Wolfram Franke from Waldorf about that. Asked him if it's possible to put the files on the Waldorf page.

5.) If you use Cubase, VST3 files of all patches are here: http://www.waldorfmusic.de/en/archive?r ... rgo/sounds

[Ingonator]

Here's a statement from Wolfram Franke (Waldorf) in the Waldorf User forum, also based on an email from me:

"> Hello,
>
> now that the Largo demo is out i experienced a lot of confusion
> about the factory patches in the KVR forum. Everyone thinks there
> are only 128 patches but i know that's wrong. There are about 238
> patches as single preset files (fxp). It would be recommended to add
> bank files (fxb) with all patches to the next version of Largo or as
> an extra download. If it would be allowed i can publish 2 bank files
> with all 238 patches at KVR.
>
> Ingo


Hi all,

I'm just reading the KVR forum and found a couple of valid statements
but also some that I found a bit confusing. Especially those that are
based on listening to it or tweaking it for only a couple of minutes
or so.

Regarding the sounds in single program files rather than whole banks:
Largo comes as a VST 2.4 plug-in and therefore supports banks.
However, the bank terminology has been completely dropped in VST 3 and
has never been part of Apple's Audio Unit spec. Therefore I decided to
only include single programs into the sound library. But nothing
prevents you from assembling them into a whole bank. If you do so and
send them to me, I will upload them to our archive.

There's one life-saving feature which is not mentioned in the manual:
just grab a couple of sounds in the Explorer / Finder and drag them to
the Largo UI to load them all at once starting at the currently
selected program. Unfortunately, they are not loaded in any
determinable order but with the Sort functions in the Edit menu you
can rearrange them to your likeness afterwards. Then you can save them
as whole banks and, if you like, send them to me.

This automatically leads to the missing sound browser: yes, I know
that it's desperately wanted. However, designing and programming a
good browser is a task that requires a couple of weeks if not months.
And if you look closely, that's what the developers of state-of-the-
art VST/Audio Unit hosts did: all current hosts come with integrated
browsers, some of them are good, others are at least fair.
Unfortunately, on Windows, the Largo sounds might not show up in these
browsers automatically, you probably have to move them to dedicated
directories or create links or whatever. Mac users shouldn't have this
problem since Apple defined default folders for plug-in presets (/
Library/Audio/Presets/Waldorf/Largo/ or similar for the user's home
folder).

This does not mean that there will never be an integrated browser in
Largo. Actually, one of my tasks in the next months is to develop such
a beast and eventually this will show up in Largo. It was just a
decision by us to release a synthesizer with a great sound (in our
humble opinion) and a user interface that invites you to tweak your
own sounds rather than waiting with it till we have a browser.


Wolfram"

I will send my bank files to Wolfram and he will publish them on the Waldorf homepage. They contain all 246 patches.

[Ingonator]

All banks are published at the Waldorf homepage now:
http://www.waldorfmusic.de/en/archive?r ... rgo/sounds

- largo_all_factories_1_v1_1_0_fxb.zip + largo_all_factories_2_v1_1_0_fxb.zip : all 246 factory patches in 2 banks
- ppg_patches_ingo_weidner.zip : my PPG patches bank
- largo_init_bank.zip : a init bank with 128 empty patches

[Ingonator]

Please put links to new Largo patches or discussions about patches to this thread. Other way those informations could get lost in the other Largo threads. I colected some known links and informations in the last 3 posts above.

[filterfilter]

Here's a statement from Wolfram Franke (Waldorf) in the Waldorf User forum, also based on an email from me:

"> ... It was just a
decision by us to release a synthesizer with a great sound (in our
humble opinion) and a user interface that invites you to tweak your
own sounds rather than waiting with it till we have a browser.


Wolfram"

Good decision! There are already enough super-low-cpu, top-browser, AVERAGE SOUNDING synth-plugins!

[Shy]

A little question I'll post here because some of y'all must know: does Largo sound completely different than a Q (or microQ or Blofeld for that matter) or is it just me? I've used a Q a while ago and all I've heard from Largo sounds very different. Not that it's bad, it just seems like there's no close relation sound engine-wise, only feature-wise. So, just wondering what your thoughts are if you have it and use/d both.

[Ingonator]

A little question I'll post here because some of y'all must know: does Largo sound completely different than a Q (or microQ or Blofeld for that matter) or is it just me? I've used a Q a while ago and all I've heard from Largo sounds very different. Not that it's bad, it just seems like there's no close relation sound engine-wise, only feature-wise. So, just wondering what your thoughts are if you have it and use/d both.

I have the same problem. I owned the Q some years ago and since it's some time ago i can not 100% confirm or compare if the sound is identical. I can only say Largo has that typical Waldorf sound and except the PPG filter should have all features of the Q and some more. It's like mixing a Q, a Microwave and a Blofeld. A bit from all of those.

[Igro]

Huge thank you for work, Ingonator.

[qwave]

I am owning most Waldorf gear. I think the Q+ and the AFB are the only things missing here.
The oscillators sound more analog on the Blofeld and the Largo then on the Q or microQ.

And the new filter distortion of the Blofeld and the Largo is way better then the old one of the Q and microQ.

But even the sound of the Blofeld and the Largo differs somehow. This is maybe due to the fact that a hardware DSP instrument still uses a slightly different code then the not optimised for audio CPUs of a PC/Mac.

And the delay and the new improved reverb of the Largo is the best we had ever from Waldorf.

[Ingonator]

I just found a failure in the two factory banks which i made from the single patches. That banks were published at Waldorf yesterday.

I made the banks with MiniHost using the"import filenames" function. In contrary to the "normal" Largo patches the categories were contained in the soundname. This way on some patches some strange symbols could be seen at the end.
I fixed this today and sent the files to Wolfram Franke again. In that version the categories are no longer contained in the soundname but you see it in the cstegory field of the Largo browser. The patches are still sorted by categories.

[drmesmer]

I would like largo could import Q, uQ and Blofeld patches!!!!

When this will be possible??!?!?!