Classy and Nasty!! Featuring the next generation of Waldorf's legendary analog modeling technology. A clearly arrayed control matrix affords you instant access to all key parameters. The jumbo paperwhite display lets you easily navigate through sounds and less frequently used settings.
A high quality desktop enclosure loaded with 1000 fully editable sounds. Blofeld connects to your computer for sound editing and management. Shiped with Waldorf Edition Softsynth Pack featuring Attack, D-Pole and PPG Wave 2.V.
I use a lot of different synth in my career, i have to admit i was quite suspicious on this because with a price like that i wasnt waiting nothing special, but when i unpacked it and i try it...i remain speechless!
It sound fat and warm as an analog synth but at the same time it have all the routing possibilities and the features of a digital synth! It is not really designed for a live application because is menus are quite complicated so is better for a studio use, but if you found the right sound at home, it will have no problem on the stage with you!
Its made in germany so you wont found another MadeInChina instruments, its solid, all the chassis is made from aluminum (even the knob).
Well Done Waldorf! BRAVO!
As a new blofeld user I have mixed feelings about it. Overall its great but if youre going to buy it you should be ready to know some limitaions of this little synth.
As a virtual analog synth blofeld is definitely superb. Wide range of oscillator (two of them can be wavetables from classic Waldorf synths) and filter types (especially modelled after the PPGs low-pass filter), powerful modulation matrix. The presets sound unfortunately cant show the whole power of this little synth, but some of them are still quite good. The sounds you can get from this synth is described by some as true "waldorfian", but still you can get some classic sounds from it.
The design and build quality are top class, but for me knobs are quite stiff.
Unfortunately even with such great synthesizing capabilities there is still room for some flaws.
The OS problems are one of the most mentioned weak sides of blofeld, even versions 1,15 and 1.16 beta are still suffers from sudden freezings. These freezings are not so common, usually you suddenbly cannot change presets, but the synth is still playing ok. Its said that currnet situation is much much better than it was in the time of the first release of blofeld. But still its not military stable, that could be a problem for live performances.
Although multitimbrality is supported you still have only two outs.
For me the most dissapointing fact was the lack of audio in and the possibility to process external sounds. With such great filters its a shame. Also theres no MIDI out (and of course MIDI thru)
Effects, especially delay, are quite buggy on current OS.
As I mentioned before the present are not so great and inspiring. they just dont show the full potential of the synthsizer, although therere plenty of them and some of them are still good.
Anyway blofeld is still great sounding synth, its easy to program (for a not-so-knobby desktop module) and is sold at decent price. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in buying virtual analog synth. For less than 500 Euro it can be still compared with top-class synthesizers and sounds on the same level as them.
It's my first Waldorf product and I am quiet impressed ! sound engine is rich and impressive. build quality is great ! If you are into wavetable it is a must have!
I hatte eine Retoure unit bestellt, welche zum Glück schon mit SL License kam. (Wusste ich vorher nicht.)
Pro:
Die vielen Waveforms/Wavetables
Easy zu Bedienen
Wenn man ein großes Masterkeyboard hat, braucht man nur die Rack version und kann Geld sparen
Wenn man SL License hat, dann die zusätzlichen Waveformplätze, die dann auch als LFO, Oszillatorwaveform, etc verfügbar sind. (kostet wie gesagt 103€ bei Waldorf)
Größe
Contra:
braucht im DAW Einsatz einen Plugin Editor, leider einiges an Geld kostet, da die freeware Editor, nicht als VST angeboten werden (Man braucht nicht weit zu Suchen um einen sehr guten zu finden, der immer noch gut gepflegt wird.)
Wenig Soundsets, das kann aber auch als pro gewertet werden, wenn man Lust und Gefühl zum Sound Designing hat
Hinweise:
Manual beschreibt manchmal wichtige Navigationskombinationen nicht und wenn man noch ein Waldorf Synth hatte, muss man sich das ersuchen im Internet. Aber hat man das einfach herausgefunden fällt die Bedienung sehr leicht.
War ein sehr guter Lohnender Kauf (auch weil schon SL Licensed war)
Danke an die schneller Lieferung Musicstore!
Many of the bugs mentioned in other reviews are resolved. My unit shipped with the 1.24 firmware, no freezing so far and the encoders operate without glitches. Massive range of options from bread and butter synth tones to out there sound design. The interface isn't as cryptic as you might expect, intuitive in use, basic sounds are dialled in easily and can be tweaked into cinematic soundscapes using the huge range of options once you get used to its workflow. The randomise function is particularly fun.
The only issues I have encountered is an inability to use the tempo synced effects with external midi clock sources, I have tried using other hardware sources and my DAW to provide midi clock but this has produced unacceptable audio artifacts. Works fine on the internal clock. Not really an issue for me, I'm happy to use plug-ins or external hardware for that type of sound. If it wasn't for this small issue, I would have rated 5 stars across the board. A great sounding, well built synth.