Opinions re. Sound of Waldorf Largo

[Gadget Fiend]

I have a fair number of hardware synths (both analog, hybrid, and digital). So that definitely informs my opinion about Largo/Blofeld.

If you say so.

What's that supposed to mean? Are you trying to tell me that plugin instruments are always equal to or better than hardware synths? And so my mentioning the richness and warmth of the MKS-80 is meaningless? If so, jump on one of the 20 or more threads discussing this ridiculous software vs. hardware topic.

[chk071]

My issue was rather with the "informs my opinion" thing.

Well, of course you are supposed to have an opinion. It's just that your "fair number of hardware synths" doesn't necessarily add to it. Especially considering how popular Waldorf's synths are, and also the Blofeld is.

[zoidkirb]

I have a Blofeld desktop. Bought it when i didn't know any better.
But, it can be really fun. I enjoy pushing it towards really harsh and strange sounds. FM from oscillator to oscillator, to filter is useful for that. And the comb filters can get pretty crazy.

I say 'can' be fun, because mines an older unit with glitchy and unresponsive encoders. With a synth that's big on menu diving the encoder issue is a bit like the nail in the coffin.

So occasionally I'll dust it off and have a play using a software editor but that's a bit cumbersome and almost defeats half the fun of having hardware in the first place.

I remember having watched a video on how to fix that on Youtube. There seem to be different stances though. Some seem to think that the issues are due to too much grease in the encoders, and some seem to be sure that the issue was due to faulty encoders, or a firmware issue.

As I mentioned, for me, the "better Blofeld" is Largo, considering I had my issues with programming the Blofeld from the hardware interface as well. They sounded so similar to me that I decided to send the Blofeld back.

AFAIK older Blofelds had cheap encoders and with later versions Waldorf realised this and shipped better quality ones.

The firmware issue also created encoder issues across all versions but later firmware revisions fixed that.

The grease issue seems more controversial. The seemingly most knowledgeable YouTuber on the subject strongly suggests against removing any grease. He then goes on to order new encoders and buttons direct from Waldorf and soldering them himself, with prefect results.
I can't solder at a high level, so I'm weighing up the worth of buying the encoders/buttons and paying a local electronics repairer to do the job.

[imrae]

I cleaned out my encoders and added fresh silicone grease. It seemed to make a big improvement, but might not work for everyone. I already did the debouncing capacitors mod, which made little difference.

[Aiynzahev]

While we're here talking about Largo, does anyone else have this problem:

I can save a preset and a bank, but I cannot load it. When I go to load it, the same preset or bank is not selectable in pop up browser/finder. I am on Mac. This is the second Mac computer that I've installed it on, same problem.

i think it might be an old bug returned from the dead.

are the greyed-out presets saved as fxp format? those don't load from the file dialogue (but they're available from the user-library preset list on the left). on a hunch I tried saving a bunch as aupresets - they show normally in the file dialogue and can be loaded. but that doesn't work for banks as they use the fxb format - I can only pick them from the user library's scan folders.

Thank you. I thought you solved my problem but then I realized it will not let me add any scan folders anyway. Oh well. What a shame.

[Aiynzahev]

I'm a sucker for asking, but does Nave actually work properly on Mac?

[Vortifex]

Edited

[Gadget Fiend]

I'm a sucker for asking, but does Nave actually work properly on Mac?

Nave works on my late 2015 MacBook Pro (2.9 GHz Intel i7 quad core) running macOS Catalina. I use Cubase 11 and Nave seems to work fine.

[Gadget Fiend]

If you can point me to a demo for Largo/Blofeld that actually sounds good, I can be swayed.

IMO, this is a pretty good showcase of what they're capable of:



Anyway, hard to argue about taste. It's just that I think those "thin", "ugly", "awful" tags are just not justified. IMO, those synths can sound absolutely beautiful. They're also far from cold IMO. Can sound cold (like wavetable stuff often does), but, they can sound very warm as well.

Don Solaris is an outstanding programmer who can make almost any synthesizer sound good. Case in point, his "Analog Voltage" soundset really shows off what the Blofeld can do. But I think I read a comment of his on Gearspace stating that he used only the "analog" (pulse, saw. sine, triangle) wavetables and VA oscillator to create his Blofeld soundsets. However, I could be mistaken about this.

Regardless, his Analog Voltage soundset is BY FAR the best Blofeld patch set in the Waldorf shop. The Large soundsets are even worse than the remaining Blofeld banks.

Anyway, Don's soundset has made me change my opinion about the Blofeld. It can sound quite good in the right hands. Unfortunately, very few of us possess Don's programming skills. I suppose I just don't want to have to work that hard to coax good sounds out of my synths. That's why I own the hardware synths that I do. They are all easy to create great sounds on (with the right programmers for my rack units).

[gaggle of hermits]

Thank you. I thought you solved my problem but then I realized it will not let me add any scan folders anyway. Oh well. What a shame.

I've been keeping mine in the default user presets folders and just making subfolders there in largo, so I hadn't noticed this issue. I thought symbolic links might be a workaround but it doesn't recognise them - I even tried to fool it into following the link by creating a folder in largo and then changing to a folder on a symbolic link in the filesystem. but it just forgot about the folder when it loaded up, so no go there either.

looks like bug-report time.

[Aiynzahev]

Thank you. I thought you solved my problem but then I realized it will not let me add any scan folders anyway. Oh well. What a shame.

I've been keeping mine in the default user presets folders and just making subfolders there in largo, so I hadn't noticed this issue. I thought symbolic links might be a workaround but it doesn't recognise them - I even tried to fool it into following the link by creating a folder in largo and then changing to a folder on a symbolic link in the filesystem. but it just forgot about the folder when it loaded up, so no go there either.

looks like bug-report time.

Oh that works! Thanks

[gaggle of hermits]

did you get a symlink to work? it failed for me, but maybe i just didn't say the right magic word when creating the symbolic link.

[Aiynzahev]

did you get a symlink to work? it failed for me, but maybe i just didn't say the right magic word when creating the symbolic link.

No all I did was put the presets in the default factory folder so at least I can save and load stuff

[zerocrossing]

I went into my favorite burger place and tried out the fried chicken sandwich and it was terrible! It totally lacked the delicious, beefy taste and it was fried instead of grilled! NOT RECOMMENDED.

[Gadget Fiend]

I went into my favorite burger place and tried out the fried chicken sandwich and it was terrible! It totally lacked the delicious, beefy taste and it was fried instead of grilled! NOT RECOMMENDED.

Hmm, you'd think the fried sandwich would taste better. As a chef friend of mine used to say "fat is taste." Blofeld/Largo are lacking the fat.