Trend price : 600€
The Waldorf Microwave Mk1 is the first version of a series of expanders born after the defunct PPG project: digital waves with special motions and analog filters.
Overview
2 units. Main panel features a 16 x 2 lines display, 6 buttons and a red encoder.
Back panel terminal connectors:
-
2 main out
- 4 AUX out
-
MIDI interface
Voice
8 voices. A patch multisound is made by 2 digital oscillators each drive a short wave based on DSWS Dynamic Spectral Wavetable Synthesiwith variable harmonic contents. OSC1 and OSC2 have these individual settings: volume, octave, detune, semitones, bendrange, glide amount and wavestart.
Wavetable
DSWS features 32 wavetables each contains 64 waves, most of them are taken from original PPG 2.2 / 2.3 synthesizer but organized in different
order and adding some extra wavetables at position R31-R32.
Wavetable ROM also features 3 basic waveforms: saw, triangle and square. It is possible to import and design 12 user-waves that can be accessed only by external software on computer (not by access programmer anyway)
Wavescan
a wavetable offers 64 different positions-addresses, the scan reads the wave according to a start position in a cycled or randomized motion that can be defined using an 8-stages specific EG with loop point or by 24 modulation sources (LFO, EG, CC#, velocity, aftertouch). Note that the 3 basic waveforms mentioned above cannot be scanned.
Filter
VCF with a superb lowpass 24 octave/slope resonant filter based on Curtis CEM.
LFO
2 modulators basically interchangeable in a matrix modulation system.
Envelope
- EG1 amplitude: 4 segments
- EG2 filter : 4 segments
- EG3 wave: 8 stages multi-split segment and loopable parts.
- EG LFO1: 2 segments
Performance
the system handles 7 parts with individual settings: Midi channel, transpose, detune, analog out, pan, volume, keyboard zone and velocity limit
Memory
-
64 RAM multisound
-
64 RAM multibank
- 12 waves
Audio demo:
Video Clip:
Review
OK: sound / filter
NOT : interface / memory
"The sound is stunning raw and delicate: the analog filters boost and warm the sound better than any PPG successor of the wavetable series or tablet emulator APP hype stuff"
Text , review, special demos copyright polynominal.com / Eric Pochesci