KVR Audio

cryophonik · Post by **cryophonik** » Thu Jan 27, 2022 5:59 pm

Hardware (incl. modular) only, please...

I picked up a Waldorf Pulse 2 a few weeks ago. I've been watching for a good deal on one for forever, then found a mint one going for a few hundred lower than the typical price, so I snagged it. Honestly, I sorta thought it might make me sell my Minitaur, but this thing has really blown me away and is actually a very nice complement to the Minitaur (and my Sub37 and Slim Phatty). It goes into some really wild places and sometimes I could swear I'm playing a digital synth - it definitely has that trademark Waldorf sound. I'm generally not a fan of step sequencers, so I really haven't used it, but I love arps and the Pulse 2 has one of the best arps I've ever seen on a hardware synth. Anyway, I think my other synths are getting lonely and probably a little irritated with the Pulse 2 getting all the love lately. Oh well...

vurt · Post by **vurt** » Thu Jan 27, 2022 6:49 pm

strega.
saw the premier at release, fell in love!
became unobtanium for a bit.
watched lots of videos, so thought once i did get one, while i still liked it, i thought i knew it.
boy was i shocked!

yes, it's bloody great at what i was expecting, sweet lovely noise machine

but it is so much more, even without attaching the full modular, just a sequencer or keyboard, and it becomes a lovely synth voice too, again with a wide range. very playable.

it's a nasty (see awesome) delay too.
so adds another layer of use.

and the touch plates make it so much fun to interact with

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Thu Jan 27, 2022 6:51 pm

Waldorf M

bmanic · Post by **bmanic** » Thu Jan 27, 2022 7:08 pm

Purchase wise it's been the Behringer DeepMind 12 which I didn't expect much from but couldn't help pick it up when a mint condition one came up for sale for a very decent price. It's capable of much more range than I initially thought based on demos I heard on youtube mainly. I also heard about a bunch of issues related to noise, harshness and such but none of those are true for the unit I have here. Lucky I guess.

A synth that absolutely blew me away by it's basic sonic fingerprint when checking it out in a local store a few weeks ago: Waldorf M. I have absolutely no idea what it is about it's sound but it just works for me. It's super pleasant sounding, no matter how you tweak it. If Arturia Pigments or any of my other software sounded like this, from the get go, with very basic open filter and basic wavetables, I'd be in heaven!!

Pretty sure I'll have to purchase one at some point. It's awesome!

cryophonik · Post by **cryophonik** » Thu Jan 27, 2022 9:14 pm

Waldorf 3, Strega 1

:p

vurt · Post by **vurt** » Thu Jan 27, 2022 9:15 pm

cryophonik wrote: ↑Thu Jan 27, 2022 9:14 pm Waldorf 3, Strega 1

:p

sheep 3 alchemists 1

cryophonik · Post by **cryophonik** » Thu Jan 27, 2022 9:20 pm

Oh, no you didunt

but, ok, that Strega looks pretty amazing

kritikon · Post by **kritikon** » Thu Jan 27, 2022 9:24 pm

OSCar. Going back a few years obviously, and TBH I knew it was going to be pretty damned good, but when I actually got one it still blew me away how much more than pretty damned good it was. At that time I think I must have already had a 303, AlphaJuno2, Juno106, MC202, MS10, MS20, Yamaha DX and a Wavestation + M1 (and access to a JP6 + 909) yet it still impressed the bejaysus out of me. Nothing in more recent years has done that - many are good, but not particularly better than I already knew they would be. I really like impOSCar, but still, a real one is light years better...

AnX · Post by **AnX** » Thu Jan 27, 2022 9:30 pm

M Audio Venom

jojoB3 · Post by **jojoB3** » Fri Jan 28, 2022 8:38 pm

ARP 2700 (soloist) https://youtu.be/JG0nxyndzuQ

jojoB3 · Post by **jojoB3** » Fri Jan 28, 2022 8:39 pm

also the Ensoniq ESQ1 and SQ80.

I also was expecting the Behringer Model D and Poly-D, and their Deepmind12 to be ho-hum but...nope. Love em.

Tj Shredder · Post by **Tj Shredder** » Fri Jan 28, 2022 9:33 pm

Last millennium an Arp 2600, recently a demo of UDO 6 at Schneiders Laden…

vurt · Post by **vurt** » Fri Jan 28, 2022 10:24 pm

cryophonik wrote: ↑Thu Jan 27, 2022 9:20 pm Oh, no you didunt

but, ok, that Strega looks pretty amazing

dayum right i did!

and it is!
maybe not as broad a range as the m, but for such a tiny package (

) it's got a lot going on.
it's definitely not your regular synth, but if you want something a little different, then strega would be a good choice.
even without anything more than a cv kb. or for a drone machine, totally alone!
adding it on to the full modular or even just other semi modular stuff of course opens up the possibilities!

the m is of course a beauty too, but i don't own one.

trusampler · Post by **trusampler** » Fri Jan 28, 2022 10:36 pm

My Sequential Prophet 10 even without Fx has been a very humbling experience on what I thought I understood about synths and sound quality.

justin3am · Post by **justin3am** » Sun Jan 30, 2022 9:58 am

I'm the type who can find something to like in just about anything. However, by the time I choose to try a synth, I generally have a pretty good idea what to expect. It's not often that I'm surprised.
To join the Waldorf love, I would certainly mention the Quantum. It's very inspiring to work with and I might even say that it exceeded my expectations.
Working with a Serge modular has completely changed the way I approach modular synths. I'd definitely put that in the mind blowing category.
I was very pleasantly surprised by the Hydrasynth.

Hardware synths that blew away your expectations