Waldorf M Wavetable Synthesizer

[ghettosynth]

Here is an hour+ someone posted exploring the sound of the M (no talking). No FX except a couple short moments I heard some reverb.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJQmvbxdtbk

God that sounds great. I'd be that much poorer though and never get any work done.

[pdxindy]

Massive X, Hydrasynth, Peak/Summit, etc., etc...none of those others has that kind of sound.

I especially like that various audio demos of the M have lots of tweaking sounds and seeing what happens and it just sounds great! It's effortless to have that character and no need to work hard to coax it out.

[Bulbizarre]

Here is an hour+ someone posted exploring the sound of the M (no talking). No FX except a couple short moments I heard some reverb.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJQmvbxdtbk

God that sounds great. I'd be that much poorer though and never get any work done.

In the video description : "Audio is the main outputs captured by a Burl B2 Bomber"
These DAC are very high end and color the sound with transformers, it affects the demo sound (sounds warmer).
The synth still sounds great though, it reminds me of the modular gear for some reason. I would have bought it if was a reasonable price.

[Vortifex]

Edited

[chk071]

In comparing the M to pretty much ANY other synth currently in production, the big difference is that no other current wavetable scanning synth sounds like a hybrid from the '80s (apart from one or two semi-obscure Eurorack oscillator modules and Waldorf's PPG 3.V software). It's all about those anything-but-pristine sounding oscillators with very obvious transposition artifacts run through analog filters. Massive X, Hydrasynth, Peak/Summit, etc., etc...none of those others has that kind of sound. If you want it in a new/current synth, this is the only game in town until the Behringer Wave arrives (and who knows when that will be).

You know, don't want to play the Debbie Downer or something, but, although I like what I hear in the sound demos, it sounds a LOT cleaner than the original Microwave. Which is not surprising to me, considering that their former synths also sound very clean.

I'd rather call it a "inspired by" synth, than that it really has the dirt of the original, or some other older synths from Waldorf.

[EvilDragon]

Nope it doesn't sound a lot cleaner... Has exactly the same artifacts as MWI has when pitching up, actually. Was easy to compare my MWI to Anthony Rother's no talking video where he goes through a bunch of octaves and so on.

[chk071]

Does the M have the same filter chip as the Microwave? If it doesn't, then that will already make a big difference.

Frankly, I don't hear much dirt and grit in the sound examples I've heard so far. The Microwave sounds like a dirty slut in almost every sound example I hear.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDyuqBStHDY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVE5q9QFXhc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY_a_EQYICE

I also sounds much more lo-fi (i.e. as if someone applied a high cut), apart from the dirt. Which doesn't surprise me either, considering the DSP and DAC constraints back then.

[EvilDragon]

A 10 years old YT video which has super low bitrate MP3 that was then again transcoded to Opus... Not really a valid comparison with never videos.

But sure, the filter is different - it's closer to the filter used in actual PPG Wave 2.3 (which used SSM 2040). But this doesn't really change the amount of dirt created by the oscillators as much as you think.

I also sounds much more lo-fi (i.e. as if someone applied a high cut)

That's the old 96kbps MP3 encoding! Gets a steep rolloff at 16 kHz that's NOT there on the synth.

There's plenty of top end on a MWI, enough to be icepicky if you open the filter all the way up.

[pdxindy]

Nope it doesn't sound a lot cleaner... Has exactly the same artifacts as MWI has when pitching up, actually. Was easy to compare my MWI to Anthony Rother's no talking video where he goes through a bunch of octaves and so on.

That is my impression as well.

[Vectorman]

For me, with the early hybrids I owned in the past like the Microwave 1 and Prophet VS, there was a lot of magic in pitching down, too...those upper harmonic images you get hovering over the low notes.

[EvilDragon]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEA6iOWOaC4

7:54 onward - very clearly dirty-as-a-slut 8-bit wavetables in Classic mode. Nailed the MWI for sure.

[zerocrossing]

Listened to the demos but didn't really hear anything that screams "this cost nearly two grand". Maybe I'm spoiled by plugins.

What plugin sounds like this synth? (Except for ROMplers like UVI Waverunner and Syntronik.)

[zerocrossing]

Here is an hour+ someone posted exploring the sound of the M (no talking). No FX except a couple short moments I heard some reverb.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJQmvbxdtbk

God that sounds great. I'd be that much poorer though and never get any work done.

I’m definitely going to try and get one this Christmas. If not then, next spring.

[pdxindy]

Here is an hour+ someone posted exploring the sound of the M (no talking). No FX except a couple short moments I heard some reverb.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJQmvbxdtbk

God that sounds great. I'd be that much poorer though and never get any work done.

I’m definitely going to try and get one this Christmas. If not then, next spring.

Had mine now for a couple hours... so far, the M meets my high expectations after listening to the sound demos except the sound is more dynamic and alive in person than came across in the demos. In moments it's startling and puts a smile on the face.

[Vortifex]

Edited