Largo is beautiful

[aMUSEd]

I held off from getting it for ages as I already have several wavetable synths (Massive and Surge to name but two) but it came up in the Marketplace so I nabbed it. Largo is quite unique - in principle it isn't a million miles away from Massive perhaps, but I'm finding it seems far better at producing huge glorious evanescent floaty clouds of moving, shimmering, sound - Massive is dirtier and much more raw by comparison.

Also greatly enjoying SoundsDivine's "Ambient Chill" bank for Largo - some lovely sounds

[PietW.]

I held off from getting it for ages as I already have several wavetable synths (Massive and Surge to name but two) but it came up in the Marketplace so I nabbed it. Largo is quite unique - in principle it isn't a million miles away from Massive perhaps, but I'm finding it seems far better at producing huge glorious evanescent floaty clouds of moving, shimmering, sound - Massive is dirtier and much more raw by comparison.

Also greatly enjoying SoundsDivine's "Ambient Chill" bank for Largo - some lovely sounds

Largo would be much more wonderful with a wavetable editor.

[V'ger]

A synth that really grew to being one of my favs now. Very big range even though it might not seem so at first glance. Great filters.

Also think the GUI is one of the best even if I normally prefer more plain 2D like Zebra etc. And not many synths that's 4-part multitimbral with 8 audio outputs to match.

About soundsets, Rob Lee's really shows Largo off well, some of his best work imo.

[Sequent]

Largo would be much more wonderful with a wavetable editor.

Perhaps so, but I'm with aMUSEd... a beautiful oft overlooked synth. Got mine basically the same way: it came up in the marketplace one day and since I had the funds at the time, I jumped on it. I love all the Waldorf stuff and I love wavetable synths. Never got a Blofeld though and I still haven't upgraded to PPG 3v.

The great thing about Largo is also... once upon a time it seemed like kind of a cpu hog, but on today's computers you hardly even notice it's there. I bet Surge is that way too? There's something to be said for "vintage" soft synths that can still sound quite as fresh and interesting as the latest and greatest.

BTW.. there are a bunch of Largo sounds for download right here on KVR. Quite a number of them are by Ingo.

[aMUSEd]

Some of Ingo's PPG patches are heavenly - how much overlap is there between this and the PPG? (historically wasn't the PPG the first wavetable synth? - so Largo perhaps incorporates the same tech but also builds on later models is that right?)

[Sequent]

Well, even though I love this stuff, I'm not an expert on the tech behind it, so please take this with the appropriate grain of salt. I've always equated Largo with the uQ and like the uQ I think that the wavetable portion of the oscillators was more or less a 'bonus' *If you want to further explore wavetable synthesis (Waldorf style) then you should definitely check out the PPG v., specifically the PPG v3 is supposed to be really great.

Being like the uQ, which in turn is based on the Q, and having regular waveforms available in the oscillators (beside just the two tables) the uQ/Q/Largo sounds different from just a PPG. The PPG is all wavetables and there are many more than what Largo has. I mentioned version 3 because apparently there is a lot more you can do on the editing side?

But yeah, the pedigree began with the original PPG and later with the Waldorf Wave.

My first exposure to these wonderful synths was hearing them on TD's Exit album back in the early 80's and it was instant love!


* If I remember correctly, the uQ manual even says as much and they recommend getting a uWave to explore wavetable synthesis further.

[Ingonator]

Some of Ingo's PPG patches are heavenly - how much overlap is there between this and the PPG? (historically wasn't the PPG the first wavetable synth? - so Largo perhaps incorporates the same tech but also builds on later models is that right?)

Hi,

many thanks for your kind words.

I had used PPg Wave 2.V LE (included in the Largo CD) for programming those as it was before the new PPG Wave 3.V was out. My commercial bank for Blofeld (see y signature) got some of those PPG replications too.
They are not sounding 100% close to the PPG but as close as i was possible to do.
I had also used modulation of the envelope parameters to get the envelope slope closer to the real thing.
While the Blofeld is almost identical to Largo it got a PPG filter emulation (like the Q) which makes the sound a bit more authentic in the Blofeld.
About wavetables: Basically Largo includes the wavetables of the Q and the PPG plus those of the Microwave and some new ones.
The PPG Wave 3.V includes all original wavetables + many new wavetables, all by Wolfgang Palm himself. Allover there are around 100+ wavetables in the PPG 3.V. Besides that it includes the sample library of the Waveterm B and it could import custom samples.

BTW those free Largo presets were the starting point for my ongoing cooperation with Waldorf (more to expect in the future hopefully). This includes betatests (e.g. PPG wave 3.V, Lector, Waldorf Edition etc.), factory sounds (e.g. PPG Wave 3.V) and commercial soundsets (e.g. Blofeld).
Also my participation in the betatest + factory sounds for Hamburg-Audio Nuklear was based on this as Thomas Rehaag (the developer) was also one of the developers of the Waldorf Lector vocoder.
Based on that story the people here will hopefully forgive that i sound like a "Waldorf fanboy" sometimes...


PS:
Nice to see that Wolfgang Palm (KVR name "origwt") is sometimes around here at KVR now and also that he published Plex 2 for free.


Ingo

[ShamanicRitual]

I was inspired with discovery about memory bug-free largo v 1.1. I was thinking: "Yeah. Some functions missed on OSC, but at least now I can use it like normal production workhorse".
In very good mood I started to make new track. 7 Largos, everything is smooth. Even percussion and kick from Largo. Sound so cool. This synth definitely have his own character, what I can't say about many other softies.

And... In moment, when I closed Largo window, my logic project crashed.
For now it's my worst purchase ever. So much money for never-ending bugfest.
It sad, but I can't recommend Largo to anyone. I don't have PC, but there was rumors on internets, that new Largo 1.5.1 still have memory issues. So there is no hope for better.

For now, will try to use v1.1 carefully with freeze and saves on every move. But it's not a proper workflow to make good music.

I'll try also to emulate Largo character on Zebra. PietW., is it possible? Just found your Largo wavesets for Zebra.

And what synth have closer sound to Largo - Blofeld or Q?
I really want to produce ITB, but maybe I should grab on ebay some used hardware for this sound.

[Ingonator]

I was inspired with discovery about memory bug-free largo v 1.1. I was thinking: "Yeah. Some functions missed on OSC, but at least now I can use it like normal production workhorse".
In very good mood I started to make new track. 7 Largos, everything is smooth. Even percussion and kick from Largo. Sound so cool. This synth definitely have his own character, what I can't say about many other softies.

And... In moment, when I closed Largo window, my logic project crashed.
For now it's my worst purchase ever. So much money for never-ending bugfest.
It sad, but I can't recommend Largo to anyone. I don't have PC, but there was rumors on internets, that new Largo 1.5.1 still have memory issues. So there is no hope for better.

For now, will try to use v1.1 carefully with freeze and saves on every move. But it's not a proper workflow to make good music.

I'll try also to emulate Largo character on Zebra. PietW., is it possible? Just found your Largo wavesets for Zebra.

And what synth have closer sound to Largo - Blofeld or Q?
I really want to produce ITB, but maybe I should grab on ebay some used hardware for this sound.

Latest version of Largo is v1.5.0 fo Mac and 1.5.1 for Windows:
http://www.waldorfmusic.de/en/downloads ... 9-mac.html
http://www.waldorfmusic.de/en/downloads ... ndows.html

overview of the update:
http://www.waldorfmusic.de/en/new-in-version-15.html


BTW the Blofeld is the most close hardware synth while the Blofeld got the additional PPG filter model (like in the Q) and the option for 60MB sample memory ("SL upgrade" already included in keyboard version). Opposing to the Q which got only 2 wavetables the Blofeld got all wavetables from the Q, the PPG and the Microwaves (+ some more maybe). It's also possible to create your own wavetables with a free editor:
http://lady.rdsor.ro/~kotro/index.php?m=soft

Some additional wavetables (only work with latest OS) and other stuff are available here:
http://synth.stromeko.net/Downloads.html


Ingo

[ShamanicRitual]

Ignorator, thanks again.
Have listened some sounds of Blofeld. You are right, same flavor, little darker and muddier, but very similar to Largo. Will look for opportunity to put my hands on that beast and give it good test.

[Ingonator]

Ignorator, thanks again.
Have listened some sounds of Blofeld. You are right, same flavor, little darker and muddier, but very similar to Largo. Will look for opportunity to put my hands on that beast and give it good test.

Hi,

if you have not already done you could check my own Blofeld bank at the link in my signature. There are 8 demo MP3s with 16 audio demos in each so there is a short demo for all 128 sounds.

More are available here:
http://www.waldorfmusic-shop.de/epages/ ... D=16653292

This bank is new:
http://www.waldorfmusic-shop.de/epages/ ... D=26759360

Rob Lee's bank is also available here:
http://www.frantic-records.com/soundsets.htm


BTW if you get the Desktop version you'll have to unlock the sample memory (if needed) which physically is already built in with a "SL License":
http://www.waldorfmusic-shop.de/epages/ ... ucts/wbu60
I had paid 399 Euros for the Dekstop and 99 Euros for the SL upgrade (both incl. VAT). Maybe you get both cheaper somewhere.

With the keyboard version this is already inside.


Ingo

[ShamanicRitual]

if you have not already done you could check my own Blofeld bank at the link in my signature. There are 8 demo MP3s with 16 audio demos in each so there is a short demo for all 128 sounds.

Have listened "Analog vs Digital" for Waldorf Blofeld demos. I must say you did good job for expand sound possibilities for this synth. But IMHO it's cold, digital character is much more suitable for buzzy, disturbing, overloaded sounds, with crazy modulations and tweaking. Like in DocT examples.
http://www.trippler.net/files/blo/
But what can I know, I haven't work with Blofeld. Just thoughts. That's what I like in Largo.
After this demos I decided to buy it.
http://www.trippler.net/files/largo/

[deastman]

I don't have Largo, but I have a Blofeld and a full Q keyboard. I stayed away from Largo only because it lacks the PPG filter, which I consider a huge part of the Waldorf sound.

ShamanicRitual: While the Blofeld can be used for harsh, overloaded sounds, I find that, like aMUSEd, I tend to make beautiful, floating, shimmery sounds with a lot of spectral motion. What I like about the Blofeld is that it actually covers a fairly wide sonic palette, although I prefer the immediacy of the Q's interface (and sequencer). I still have yet to purchase the user sample upgrade, but I'm sure I will eventually, as that adds an entirely new dimension to the capabilities of this box.

I also love NI Massive, and while the basic architecture is based on the usual Waldorf signal flow, it has a substantially different sound. I have the PPG plugin, but never really warmed up to it, probably due to the user interface.

[Ingonator]

I stayed away from Largo only because it lacks the PPG filter, which I consider a huge part of the Waldorf sound.

I have used the PPG filter model in most of my own presets. This in combination with the filter drive (e.g. tube drive model) leads to quite convincing analog like sounds.

I agree that the synth engine of the Blofeld is extremely versatile, even more when you try to include samples or custom wavetables. 3 OP FM synthesis is possible too. Some of my Bell, Mallet and Vox sounds make use of this.

Here is a list of the features:
http://www.waldorfmusic.de/en/blofeld-s ... ation.html
http://www.waldorfmusic.de/en/blofeld-u ... rface.html
http://www.waldorfmusic.de/en/blofeld-spectre.html
http://www.waldorfmusic.de/en/blofeld-s ... tions.html

Largo for comparison:
http://www.waldorfmusic.de/en/specifications-largo.html


Ingo

[V'ger]

7 Largos

... In moment, when I closed Largo window, my logic project crashed.

It might not be related to your problem and you might know already, but just for general info one can use 1 instance of Largo for 4 midi tracks (midi ch 1-4), then a separate audio output for each. This is unless you have patches that uses multiple parts. Keeping the number of instances down should anyway help resources and keep the risk of issues down.

By the way, some cool Largo tracks you have there, Largo9b.mp3 is a good example of what stonking bass Largo can do..