Waldorf

Reviews | Waldorf Blofeld
80
W
aldorf have been
involved in making
exciting and unique
synthesizers for almost
20 years. But back in 2004, the
original Waldorf Synthesizer Company
had to declare themselves insolvent
and ceased to exist. Thankfully
though, with renewed investment,
some personnel from the original
Waldorf company and a whole new
line of products, Waldorf have been
resurrected from the synthesizer scrap
yard and have come back fi ghting fi t
with their fi rst new synth for some
time: Blofeld.
Waldorf clearly have a sense of
humour, naming the Blofeld (and also
their upcoming Stromberg) after
James Bond villains, but make no
mistake this is a very serious
instrument that belies its compact
footprint. It’s surprising just how small
the Blofeld is, yet it’s quite heavy with
an almost industrial feel to it – it
could certainly take some serious
gigging abuse for sure. Unfortunately,
it doesn’t look rack-mountable at this
time, due to its strange shape and
size, and the fact that the outs are
top-mounted.
Simple style
The metal front panel is the epitome
of simplicity, with seven silver-metal/
aluminium rotary dials, a very nice
moving white, back-lit monochrome
graphic display and a parameter
matrix that’s very easy to follow for
selecting the various modes and
settings quickly.
Select the function you want with
the buttons on the left of the matrix
and turn the corresponding dial to
affect the function in the
corresponding vertical column. Easy!
This makes it very fast for instant
tweaking and in a very short period of
time it will all become second nature
to you when you’re using it; really this
is a dream to use especially
considering how well the display
keeps you informed of each and every
editing move you make – both
numerically and graphically speaking.
Connection-wise, the Blofeld is
limited and this is perhaps in order to
achieve that fantastic price. Firstly
there’s no MIDI out, except for via
USB (the USB can act as a MIDI In
and Out with a laptop for example),
only one stereo output and no audio
input. Interestingly the vocoder that’s
meant to be included in the original
spec (and that’s listed on the box)
doesn’t seem to have made it to our
fi nal version but with such a major
part of the action being via a
computer it’s a possible update later.
WHAT IS IT?
The fi rst in a new line of
synths from the
resurrected Waldorf Music
Company. Incorporating
Virtual Analogue and
Wavetable synthesis plus a
dizzying selection of
sound-shaping options in a
compact desktop module
CONTACT
Who: Handinhand
Distribution Ltd
Tel: [phone]
Web: handinhand.uk.net
HIGHLIGHTS
1 Very compact with solid
build and intuitive interface
2 Larger-than-life sound
3 A staggering array of
sound shaping/making
options
Waldorf Blofeld
| £299
Packed with juicy features and with loads of new additions thrown in at a
ridiculously cheap price, does the Blofeld live up to the high expectation?
Dan ‘JD73’ Goldman grabs his white fl uffy moggie and gets testing
ON THE DVD
Display
Very informative
back-lit display with
graphics that move
as you change
parameters
Selection dial
Access all the main
menus from this dial
and hit the Play
button to get back to
the main sound
page/or Multi mode
Display parameters
Change all the key
parameter values
using these two
aluminium beauties
FMU197.rev_waldorf 80 20/12/07 17:15:14