KVR Audio

egbert101 · Post by **egbert101** » Fri Sep 17, 2021 11:01 pm

The price is a little lower than the Iridium here in the UK, but even so, it's too high for me. The designer of the M seems to be answering questions on another website, which is rather nice touch of Waldorf. Wish many other synth designers would do that.

Vectorman · Post by **Vectorman** » Fri Sep 17, 2021 11:35 pm

I'm probably going to wait for the Behringer Wave myself, but I'm glad to see they did this. It's going to make a lot of people very happy. And might even put a bit of a damper on the prices people are now asking for Microwave 1's (like 5x what I paid for one in 2009, good Lord). If this conjures as much of that '80s-esque digital grunge into analog filters magic as the MW1, why opt for a 30-year-old rack mount with an uninspiring interface that could die at any time when you can get a brand new one with a knobby interface and better screen for the same money or less?

Azhanti · Post by **Azhanti** » Sun Sep 19, 2021 4:07 am

Blofeld owner here.Would there be a lot of overlap between the M and the Blofeld if I got the M?

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Sun Sep 19, 2021 4:30 am

Azhanti wrote: ↑Sun Sep 19, 2021 4:07 am Blofeld owner here.Would there be a lot of overlap between the M and the Blofeld if I got the M?

There are a number of M demos on youtube now... plus you can also listen to Microwave 1 videos.

_leras · Post by **_leras** » Sun Sep 19, 2021 7:25 am

pdxindy wrote: ↑Sun Sep 19, 2021 4:30 am
Azhanti wrote: ↑Sun Sep 19, 2021 4:07 am Blofeld owner here.Would there be a lot of overlap between the M and the Blofeld if I got the M?
There are a number of M demos on youtube now... plus you can also listen to Microwave 1 videos.

I really liked the Waldorf demos. The other ones I've heard, mainly presets being played at superbooth have not been so impressive to me.

Some.of the waveforms are perhaps a bit nasally/glaasy to me. Some nice sounds, but would like to hear more of the filters.

What do people think this has over massive X?

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Sun Sep 19, 2021 1:34 pm

_leras wrote: ↑Sun Sep 19, 2021 7:25 am I really liked the Waldorf demos. The other ones I've heard, mainly presets being played at superbooth have not been so impressive to me.

Some.of the waveforms are perhaps a bit nasally/glaasy to me. Some nice sounds, but would like to hear more of the filters.

What do people think this has over massive X?

I liked the Superbooth videos too. Especially when people were tweaking sounds and lots of interesting tones came out. I kept thinking, stop there and explore that a bit!

It has a different sound from MX.

kritikon · Post by **kritikon** » Mon Sep 20, 2021 12:49 am

I suspect Waldorf is a taste one has to acquire - unfortunately I never did. None of the demos I've heard make it sound particularly unique or characterful. I love my analogue h/w but with this thing I just don't really see much difference between it and so many of the VSTi out there. I wouldn't spend that kind of money on a hw synth without it having some specific character I can't get elsewhere. No FX? Really, at that price? It's digital based (obviously it has the analogue VCAs and filters) so I see no excuse for having no FX - they can throw in something surely, even if it's only some delays.

This one I throw in with the Behringer Deepmind kind of synths - initial wow factor, does quite a lot of stuff, but kinda vanilla. Maybe it's just the demos are a bit staid, and it can do whizzbang genius sounds (I def haven't heard any though)

masterhiggins · Post by **masterhiggins** » Mon Sep 20, 2021 1:11 am

kritikon wrote: ↑Mon Sep 20, 2021 12:49 am I suspect Waldorf is a taste one has to acquire - unfortunately I never did. None of the demos I've heard make it sound particularly unique or characterful. I love my analogue h/w but with this thing I just don't really see much difference between it and so many of the VSTi out there. I wouldn't spend that kind of money on a hw synth without it having some specific character I can't get elsewhere. No FX? Really, at that price? It's digital based (obviously it has the analogue VCAs and filters) so I see no excuse for having no FX - they can throw in something surely, even if it's only some delays.

This one I throw in with the Behringer Deepmind kind of synths - initial wow factor, does quite a lot of stuff, but kinda vanilla. Maybe it's just the demos are a bit staid, and it can do whizzbang genius sounds (I def haven't heard any though)

Strangely I feel the same way about Clavia. Every single demo I've heard of their VA synths makes me cringe. Something about the sound is just shrill and nasty.

kritikon · Post by **kritikon** » Mon Sep 20, 2021 1:56 am

Yeah, I get that too. I don't see why anyone would spend so much on a Clavia - they're pretty pricey, and you can get pretty decent real analogue poly for that - Prophet or somesuch. Obviously that VA type of sound attracts some people - just not the likes of us. I definitely understand things like Viruses - they have an obvious character, even though I would never want one.

trusampler · Post by **trusampler** » Mon Sep 20, 2021 2:01 am

Can't wait for this.

Azhanti · Post by **Azhanti** » Mon Sep 20, 2021 9:14 pm

I checked the videos online. I think there would be some overlap but the M doesn't do a lot of what the Blofeld is capable of doing in the VA dept and mod matrix and it seems the M's hybrid engine and features takes wavetable stuff to another level especially with more knobs per function. A lot closer to PPG and MW1 territory. Might be worth having both?

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Mon Sep 20, 2021 9:28 pm

kritikon wrote: ↑Mon Sep 20, 2021 12:49 am I suspect Waldorf is a taste one has to acquire - unfortunately I never did. None of the demos I've heard make it sound particularly unique or characterful. I love my analogue h/w but with this thing I just don't really see much difference between it and so many of the VSTi out there.

IMO, Waldorf does the best digital synths. There's something about that sound, even with their very old VA hardware synths, that has a very organic, creamy, airy, and juicy vibe. Can't describe it any better.

As I posted a M demo by Anthony Rother earlier: I read an interview with him in a very old issue of German Keys magazine, an avid analog synthesizer user back then, and, he said in the interview that he tried a lot of digital synthesizers, also software, but that none of them really convinced him. Except for the Waldorf Q. I don't want to emphasize his opinion as something too important, but, I think that says a lot about Waldorf's synthesizers.

I think they did that digital thing very well, very early. As far as I always read, their very early synths already had some very fast envelopes as well, which is kind of special as well, AFAIC.

hoxclab · Post by **hoxclab** » Mon Sep 20, 2021 10:20 pm

trusampler wrote: ↑Mon Sep 20, 2021 2:01 am Can't wait for this.

I can.

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Thu Sep 23, 2021 3:42 pm

egbert101 wrote: ↑Fri Sep 17, 2021 11:01 pm The price is a little lower than the Iridium here in the UK, but even so, it's too high for me. The designer of the M seems to be answering questions on another website, which is rather nice touch of Waldorf. Wish many other synth designers would do that.

It is also great to see how excited the developer is when addressing peoples questions and requests. Then he discusses how such a feature might be implemented... It is one of the better forum threads I've seen.

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Thu Sep 23, 2021 3:46 pm

Azhanti wrote: ↑Mon Sep 20, 2021 9:14 pm I checked the videos online. I think there would be some overlap but the M doesn't do a lot of what the Blofeld is capable of doing in the VA dept and mod matrix and it seems the M's hybrid engine and features takes wavetable stuff to another level especially with more knobs per function. A lot closer to PPG and MW1 territory. Might be worth having both?

The M interface looks excellent. And yes, it is a modern Microwave 1. You can import the MW1 sysex files.

Waldorf M Wavetable Synthesizer