Behringer Wave

The Behringer Wave at a glance

The Behringer Wave is a clone of the PPG Wave 2.2, THE wavetable synthesizer of the first hour. The Wave series was manufactured in the 1980s by the German company PPG, under the leadership of Wolfgang Palm. At the time, industry giants such as Moog, Oberheim and Sequential Circuits dominated the polyphonic synthesizer market, so it was quite a novelty to develop a synthesizer that generated its oscillator waveforms digitally. From 1981 to 1982, the first Wave 2 with CEM3320 filters was built, which was replaced in 1982 by the Wave 2.2 with SSM2044 filters and was in production until 1984. From 1984 to 1987, the Wave 2.3 was offered, which, in contrast to the 2.2, could process higher resolution 12-bit samples and could be combined with the Wavetherm B. This Wave from Behringer is largely based on the Wave 2.2, which is primarily due to the filter topology used.

The blueprint of all wavetable synths

The signal path of the 8-voice polyphonic hybrid synthesizer consists of a digital wavetable oscillator with sub-oscillator as well as an analog filter and VCA for each voice. First of all, there is the main oscillator, for which one of the included Wavetables is selected. The same basically applies to the sub-oscillator, but this is able to take on one of seven functions including Off, HardSync, Ring Modulation and Noise Generator. This is followed by the analog, resonant 24 dB Lowpass filter, which is a V2044A chip and therefore a good-sounding SSM clone. The last element in the signal path is the analog VCA.

For modulation, there are two ADSR envelopes, which are primarily assigned to the filter and VCA, an attack/decay envelope and an LFO with four waveforms. The straightforward modulation matrix ultimately brings the sounds to life and also knows how to animate the Wavetables; a total of 10 sources can be linked to 6 destinations. The 49-key keyboard not only offers velocity but also aftertouch, both controllers are also assigned to a destination via the modulation matrix.

The BASIS controller distributes the voices in the panorama; if you play eight notes at the same time, you hear four voices on the right and four voices on the left. If you play to the left, all voices are centered in the panorama. As each of the 200 presets in Wave consists of two GROUPS, far more complex sounds are possible. This aspect becomes all the more important when you consider that there are ten modes in which the eight voices can be used in different ways, including split, layer and unison variants. In the menu you can also choose whether you want to use the original firmware or the enhanced mode with less aliasing and less Wave sweep. Thanks to the extensive MIDI implementation, the Wave can be fully controlled via MIDI or USB using a DAW or master sequencer.

Of course, the two playing aids are not missing in the reissue: the arpeggiator offers the usual repertoire of playback directions, the polyphonic step sequencer supports sequences with a length of up to 64 steps.

Connections

The connections of the Wave are somewhat simpler than those of the historical original. This is partly due to the fact that some interfaces are no longer used today. The Wave communicates with MIDI in both directions via USB, and the SYNTHTRIBE-App can be used to update the instrument and load other Wavetables. The classic MIDI trio performs its tasks as well as ever. The audio outputs offer not only stereo Out and headphones but also individual outputs for each voice. This is perfect for those who want to add a different effect or EQ setting to each individual voice. analogue sync inputs and outputs extend the synchronization options. CV and Gate inputs allow you to play one or more voices, depending on the configuration. Pedal inputs for Sustain and expression complement the controller entries in the modulation matrix.