[lesha]

evo sta sve moze "mali sinti"...

As has been noted here before, I have a love affair with the Bloefld, so you
will have to take this for what it is worth...

I own a MicroQ and an XT as well as the VSTi's from Waldorf. The Blofeld is
sort of special in my opinion. It has most of the wavetables and advanced
filter/modifier features of the other two with a few distinct additions.
Here is a short list;

1. The additional wavetables from the PPG Upper Wave Table and the PPG
filter
2. The drive parameters
3. The fade and delay on the LFO's (fade in as well as fade out!)
4. The brilliance function
5. The coloration on the noise
6. The duel, quad and multi voice Unisono like the PPG Wave2.v. (I use this
for uber-fat lead sounds or monster pads)

These additions make the versatility huge. The XT sounds more raw and is
hard to smooth out, the MicroQ is very smooth and hard to get gritty (for
me) but the Blofeld is able to do both pretty well. I think the drive
parameter makes the Blofeld the most brash and trashy-sounding of all the
Waldorf's. The Blofeld is not quite as bright and piercing as the XT but it
can be driven to imitate it pretty closely. When I use my controller to send
pressure and modifier data to the Blofeld, it responds extremely smooth and
fast. There is no audible stepping in the parameters and the range of each
modifier is enormous.

The editing is very similar to the MicroQ or MicroWaves but the graphic view
makes for an ease of use that is very nice. Here are a few graphic interface
features;

1. The matrix (never get lost again!)
2. Envelopes (very helpful on the ADSD2S2R envelopes)
3. LFO's (you can see the fades, delays and waveshapes)
4. Oscilltor's standard shapes
5. Arpeggiator steps (similar to the XT graphic)
6. Filter cutoff/resonance and shapes (e.g. you can see where the cutoff is
on the frequency scale as well as the peak in resonance)

Everything is easy to get to using the main knob or a combination of the
buttons and knobs. The addition of a main volume pot is helpful and like the
XT is dedicated. It is as if all the good things of each were combined into
a low budget version of all of the past synths. Don't let the low price fool
you, this synth is very powerful and for only a hundred bucks more than the
MicroQ new. The value is great but the sound is even better. I think it is
by far the most versatile synth Waldorf has ever come up with to date.

I would buy the Blofeld over the MicroQ any day. The reason I still have my
MicroQ is because of collector reasons and because I can double it with the
Blofeld for additional voices. I find it hard for me not to start with the
Blofeld when I am writing. The little white beauty beckons to me when I walk
into the studio. It is a charm!

-David Ryle