Waldorf Blofeld Desktop
Written in 2014, latest update 2015.
Waldorf Blofeld is currently one of my primary synthesizers in my home studio. I've the SL sample option installed. I've been using the synth over a year now and here are my findings so far.
Pros
- Blofeld is an affordable quality synthesizer.
- Blofeld has very capable sound synthesis design. You can get practically any sound you like out of it if you know how.
- Wavetables widen the sonic possibilities even more.
- Blofeld has a pleasantly bright and a little bit metallic digital sound. It can produce some nice analogish sounds but it is not a virtual analog synthesizer.
- Blofeld's user interface (the matrix system) is quite good. To have a dedicated knob for every parameter would be better but in this synth it would mean A LOT of knobs and A LOT of space!
- Sturdy metal case
Cons
- Blofeld is for high-quality synth sounds. For pianos, organs, string instruments and other acoustic instrument imitations sample-based synths like Yamaha MO6 are far better.
- Blofeld is not the best choice for users that like to stick to the default patches. The real power of this synth comes out when you edit the sounds or get extra soundsets.
- Blofeld crashed sometimes and needed a reboot. Firmware updates have helped.
- Sometimes some parameter value changes cause clicks and other small interferences to the sound. So not a best synth for live parameter tweaking.
- Very capable sound synthesis design means that there are a ton of parameters and it is a long way to try to master this synth.
- With complex layered sounds Blofeld sometimes runs out of polyphony.