Waldorf Microwave "Wavetable Synthesizer"

[Vincefromsin]

@1'06": Perfect PPG formant voice sound!

Love this machine

[AlienatedStud]

It's the best synth ever. I'm convinced. This is just the tip of the iceberg of what can be done with this thing. It's a great demonstration of showing a small piece of this vast world living inside this small box. You can create frequency geometry with this thing.

[rodolphesimon]

9:44 sounded cool, like a little sine sequence.

[monomachine]

great demo. needs to be noted theses machines did not have arp. function

[4everColReb]

One of my favorite synths! Being a "working musician" and getting fed-up with $600 repair bills on my 2.2, I got one of these. What a gem!!! Has never given me a minutes worth of trouble. Always spot on! And, the sound?! Cuts through in a mix just like the 2.2. I want another (maybe two.)

[Riskteven]

@brooksmosher Yes, but some ROMpler synths of the 80s and 90s had a certain ROM wave that sounded like a Hammond B3 when with the Drawbars set like they would for some spiritual or gospel music. Did the microwave also have that sound?

[Riskteven]

Does it have any Hammond B3 type waves? Most synths from the 90s had.

That would be great in combination with it's "fast envelopes"

[WintherStormer]

Thanks a lot for this demo.

[Desmaad]

What are those creepy-looking gold canisters inside that thing?

[DaiReborn]

@Desmaad pretty sure you're talking about capacitors.

[Riskteven]

@Desmaad I believe this is for the "analog filter"

[RFrayo]

@Riskteven Actually those are the caps for the power supply. The filter is contained within the chips on the righthand board. It's analog components contained within an IC package...in particular the one that says "CEM 3389" on it. Judging from the component layout and board color...I think it's Rev A. Rev B has CEM 3387s.

[Riskteven]

@RFrayo Are those ICs hard to get if spare parts are needed?

[RottenqueerzombieKID]

it sounds a bit like a Elka EM 44 , nice and breathy , like human body , I love this Breathy sound, its alive !

[Riskteven]

@RottenqueerzombieKID Nice to see there are more of you here who like the sounds of Elka!

[Satak8]

Hey some really surpricin cool sounds.

[mascatdellobregat]

5:27 reminds me to cj bolland's Ravesignal III ...

[KillKyleWeiss]

I will have curtis filter's babies.

[kekenalii]

man, theres one at my local music store for $200, but its got a pretty good scratch on the screen, but after seeing this vid, i think i better just get it.

[fleskebille]

Some of the character in this reminded me of my Kawai K3. The Wave has much better oscillators though, no match, but the filter in the K3 is great (SSM2044).

[fleskebille]

And i just discovered that SSM2044 is used in MonoPoly and Polysix too. Nice :)

[0e0]

@fleskebille you can replace the oscillators in the k3

[fleskebille]

@0e0 Have anymore info?

[0e0]

@fleskebille well a lot of the waveform data is usually stored as raw-pcm data on an eprom..so if you were to read that data and get it on the computer and open it as raw data in a wave editor..replacing the waves of the "samples" at the exact points with whatever waves you want..and then burning that on an eprom..voila...custom waveforms for your 80's kit.

[fleskebille]

@0e0 OK, thanks :) The main complaint i have with the oscillators is what sounds like a cutoff (LP) kicking in below a certain frequency (i'd much rather just have the raw low res / unfiltered sound going into the 2044). So i'm not thinking about the actual waveforms, although replacing those could be interesting (you can edit one, but it's a fourier series with only 32 frequencies).

[0e0]

@fleskebille well a lot of the waveform data is usually stored as raw-pcm data on an eprom..so if you were to read that data and get it on the computer and open it as raw data in a wave editor..replacing the waves of the "samples" at the exact points with whatever waves you want..and then burning that on an eprom..voila...custom waveforms for your 80's kit.

[bishop1e4]

I've got it, is my is my main instrument!!

[stalag3333]

in someways i think this is the most powerful synth that i own. i even have the waveslave to go along with it which i may rob for extra parts in t he future if need be. yeah that interface could have been much better with this. however for what it is it is amazingly wonderful sounding. i like to pair this synth with a spring reverb and analog delay most of time. for me it is the most magical synth that i have. this is a extremely powerful machine and can still be had cheapish.

[SWAN909808]

I had one of these when I started out but found the interface too complex to program. However 2 years later Im reconsidering grabbing one again - or a Prophet VS. These presets sound decent-is there anywhere online to find other presets?

[davidvector]

I haven't had much luck finding other presets online, apart from those hosted on Waldorf's site in the "Archive" section. You can of course reference parameter settings in PPG 2.V patches for recreating some sounds from its banks. For programming, I'm using the Soundtower editor - it's not the most elegant interface (the multiple window thing is not very streamlined), but it does make it easier to get an overview of a sound vs. menu diving.

[davidvector]

I recently picked one of these up. While Waldorf's more recent offerings such as Blofeld & Largo have more elaborate architectures, they sound more surgically precise (and IMO, a tad "clinical") with their digital filters and higher resolution wavetables. The MWI sound is more to my taste on the whole - just the right combination of grit and fuzzy warmth. Like the PPG Wave, it's a classic. :-)

[retrosound72]

yes

the mw sound is more raw and the real analogue filter is great. I no like the clean va sound of the newer waldorf synths.

[Riskteven]

@retrosound72 @retrosound72 Is the giant capacitors in the top right at 03:44 for the filter?

[yasushi73]

wonderful

[RetroSoundsDA]

i like it, especially the wavetable sweeps and all of the other wavetable sounds.

[soundmanhaven1]

Hi this one piece of cool vintage kit i like it

[Kurukusu]

I soo want one..actually i soo want as PPG 2.3..but yeah right thats gonna ever happen!

[TheFesta01]

mate........this is phatt!!

[diabloskater101]

I love the sound of this!

The first minute reminds me of 1984 by Van Halen.

Synths from the 80s almost always have great sound!

[fleskebille]

Yes, but what you hear on 1984 is the sound of OB-X, which was made in 79 :) He used OB-Xa on stage though.

[0MarciaAlexandria0]

Hella eighties! I love it

[0MarciaAlexandria0]

So Cool!

Its like This aniboom animation I saw, with the peas that get stabbed to death!

[retrosound72]

thx a lot

[klausito1970]

I had one, sold it because of the poor interface. The sound is great however.

[303shaunl]

Pfff, lovin it mate, quality demo.

[retrosound72]

thx :)

[DarkAndMartyr]

Lovin it at 4:57 , thats dirty!!! haha

[retrosound72]

greetings from Keith Emerson ;)

[DarkAndMartyr]

wow thanks for the tip on Mr Keith he's awesome!!!! never heard of him b4, 'noob' right haha

[retrosound72]

Emerson, Lake and Palmer - Lucky Man :)

[STINKOPOOP]

i subscribe to your post cuz u do such a great job showing the capablilties of all these great synthesizers of yesteryear. i always give u 5 stars before i even watch cuz i know they will be good. im just curious though, do u release tracks? i would love to hear them, if u do...

[retrosound72]

thank you

I released two cd`s with the best demo tracks

check my page

[STINKOPOOP]

cool. me and a couple buddies are big fans. im checkin ur stuff out now. keep it up man. ur awesome! :D

[STINKOPOOP]

geat retro trax. i love how unapologetically synthy they are. anyway, just lettin u know u got fans out there who love ur stuff. im all digital these days, alot of it has to do with convenience and cash, but i do alot of stuff with a buddy who has all analogs. we love tangerine dream, kraftwerk, john carpenter, jarre and all those pioneers too. and the new stuff too, but just lettin u know, all ur retro sound stuff is appreciated. thanks for all ur hard work.

[retrosound72]

thank u man

[THESonicMMM]

What a great synth! I have the virtual version... the same waves... the EXACT same sounds. Minus the hardware, of course, which kind of blows the whole retro thing.... but... what the hell... it's 2009. Anybody looking for these sounds... you're in luck... they are all digital! Email me if you want the dll...

[FredF78]

So they managed to emulated the built-in analog Curtis-filter? Then I must definately try that plug. Anyway, hybride synths are cool. Static, cold oscillators plus a warm filter. Unique!

[tepposal]

How could the s/w version have exactly the same sound as this baby has ANALOG filters?

Answer: they're different.

[THESonicMMM]

You're right... "EXACT" was the wrong word. I should have said that many of the waveforms used in both machines were exactly the same. How the final output sounded isn't the same.

[soogoonu]

amazing device

[SpringDivers]

Very, Very nice. Thanks for the addition.

[retrosound72]

thanks for watching and your comment :)

[Lachlant1984]

These sounds are quite relaxing, they sound like they could be used in a space travel movie.

[retrosound72]

thanks :)

[NikolayKopernik]

Что сказать!? Прекрасно!!!

[retrosound72]

thanks :)

[darthjack2000]

6:12 Min.

fat analog Sound - geil ;-)

bei 8:53 musste ich sofort an Captain Future denken, der Sound kommt ziemlich nah dran.

[retrosound72]

danke :)

[ijho987]

nice sound on 8:23

[djessay101]

super Sounds:-) + sehr flexibler Synth.gefällt mir

[retrosound72]

mal was anderes, abseits von analog warm und fett :)

[Olorintube]

Great, do you use any effects on the sounds? Reverb?

[retrosound72]

a little bit reverb and delay

[Olorintube]

Thought so ;) Do you have any idea what sounds Die Krupps use in the Oddesey of the mind album? I have read there is a microwave on that album.

[retrosound72]

I don`t know.

[downfader2]

The mk1 always reminded me of the Pulse in some respects, but polyphonic.

[TR0jAX]

wie gefällt dir der neue MW1 ? War ´ne lange Zeit auch auf der Suche nach einem. Klingt etwas kalt oder ?

[retrosound72]

Nun der klingt doch ganz anders als der MW2. Der Zweier kann breitere Pads, das steht fest. Aber der Einser hat einen sehr schönen Filterklang, der sich vorallem in den Bässen bemerkbar macht. Er klingt außerdem rauher und direkter , macht auf jeden Fall mehr Dampf.

Der Klang ist praktisch das Gegenteil vom Roland Juno Analog Sound. Ich liebe aber diese Hybrid Sounds ala Prophet VS oder DW8000.

[recordmasta001]

do you use a midi controller for this

?

[retrosound72]

I play the MW with my DX7 II and the bass sounds are sequenced by the MFB Step64.