ToneTweak has introduced a browser-based patch editor for the Waldorf Blofeld.
The editor lets you make live tweaks to existing patches, create new patches from scratch, or use the random patch generator to discover new approaches for crafting sounds.
The editor supports these features:
- Single program patches.
- Multi patches.
- Effects.
- Arpeggiator.
- Global parameters.
- Wavetables.
See the ToneTweak site for details.
Is the Blofeld worth buying? What do you think of it?
Can you mentioned any good synths in 2020, which is still being sold with 16 multitimbral?
Love the Blofeld. Admittedly the interface is one knob per function, but the way Waldorf implemented the matrix editor makes it an easy yet deep synth. I find it easier and much more fun to programme than the simpler Access Virus. the display is very helpful, for instance graphically displaying routing and envelope shapes. I also have the Modal Craft synth 2 on which their new Argon 8 is based. I’d describe Modal’s implementation as like a Blofeld with further wave shaping strapped on top. In my opinion the Modal version makes for a great mono synth, yet is so in your face that it is less suited to polyphonic duties than the Blofeld. The Blofeld is very versatile, it’s easy to rustle up basses, pads, leads and chromatic sounds. You get two digital multimode filters per patch, capable of self oscillation. You can also load in your own wavetables and there are free programs available to help. The weak points are the effects that sadly aren’t rich in sweet spots – you get chorus, delay and reverb, and there aren’t multi outputs.
The Blofeld has immense capabilities (especially for modulation), and if you can find one used at a decent price, it’s worth it. Especially if you don’t have room in a studio. Given today’s trend of wavetable synths, it fits right in. It sounds lovely, and it is proudly digital, but you can coax pretty much anything out of it. It’s internal effects are not terrific, but that’s easy enough to handle in a DAW.
I bought a Blofeld a while back and while I wasn’t as impressed with it as I was with the Virus TI, it is still a very good synth. Not to mention it’s half the price. One of the things I initially didn’t like about the Blofeld is that it sounded very thin and cold when first constructing patches. However once you really get into the patch and process it with modulation and effects, you can make some really beautiful patches. It’s unison doesn’t sound nearly as good as some other synths and some of its effects are hit or miss. But for the price, it’s really not bad.
Would have been a great synth if it was easy to access it’s parameters. The two editors I tried to use didn’t really make it easier. The dual filters per part are sweet. The synth itself was solid, minus the limitation of only having a delay and reverb routing…I can’t remember if those effects were unique to each multitimbral part of if they were global. It was a powerful synth trapped in a limited access solid metal box at an amazing price.
Just been connecting again with my Blofeld recently, what a funny coincidence. Had forgotten how incredibly good-sounding it can be when taking time to program it and making use of its most obscure functions like its Modifiers. If you can go past a couple annoying bugs and shortcomings it’s a sound designer’s dream. And FM’ing Wavetables…? Techno powerhouse inside!
I’ve been on the fence about picking up a Blofeld (desktop) for the past year or more. I’ve been checking to see if the price would go down or someone would have a sale on them.
Not only has there never been a sale (on sweetwater or perfectcircuit, etc, except for demo units), the price just went up to $519 from $499!
I’m still on the fence, but I wonder how it compares to more recently released wavetable synths.
Anyone have any thoughts on how Blofeld compares to, say, Argon8 or other new WT synths?
I bought one off eBay several years ago, and sold it soon after. It was impressive for it’s size, cost and interface. I bought it because of my experience with the Micro-Q and MicrowaveXT, both of which I still have. It was a wonderful machine. Unfortunately, I got the desktop instead of the keys version. Desktops and I just don’t seem to get along. Not one has last more than a couple of months. 19″ Rackmount is forever. Keyboards are divine.
With many small knobs-rich synths released recently, Waldorf should really come up with a Blofeld with more knobs.
We need a knob laden Blofeld 2. Keyboard version and module. I know about the Sledge…but it is a watered down version. Also, the Blofeld 2 needs to allow for sampling that can be turned into a wavetable.
Hurray Web MIDI! So so so many great synth editors broken by OS updates.
Thanks for the comment, Will. We are betting on WebMIDI for exactly that reason – so many great tools (SoundDiver anyone?) now lost to time. Thanks to the web, we can now offer a consistent experience for users of different OSes, while being able to easily keep our editors in good working order. Too many existing editors are incomplete, or leave their users hanging for years waiting for bug fixes. We want to offer complete tools that are easy to use and WORK.
There is a knob laden Blofeld already. It’s called a Sledge. It’s great.
Another thing to remember about the Blofeld/Sledge, it’s not strictly a wavetable synth. It is a very capable VA synth. You can import a certain number of your own sounds as well.
Note: the Blofeld desktop version requires the SL update (100 €) before you can use own samples, which was not fair of Waldorf in my opinion.
As I stated….the Sledge is extremely watered down compared to the Blofeld……
such an underrated synth… after so many years still giving expensive synths a run for their money…. im glad i got one in killa state and at a killa price… i always wanted one
The Blofeld is probably my favorite modern synth. Owned both versions (desktop and keyboard) for a long time now. Very powerful and damn easy to edit for not having a ton of knobs thanks to a well designed UI. I love loading custom wavetables plus I have my Mellotron samples in there too. Solid all rounder!!