street priceWave is probably the most refined creation of Waldorf in the history of this German company, which appeared in 1993, in the era of the vector synthesis and workstations. It’s a hybrid synthesizer which has a digital waveform generator based on wavetables, but features analog filters. Wave has 16 to 48 voices (polyphony is expanded by additional cards), an analog bipolar high-pass filter (12dB) and a four-pole low-pass filter (24dB).
The memory of the presets offers 256 multi-timbral programs and 256 single-patches. Wave is equipped with 3 pairs of outputs (main pair and two additional ones), inputs and inputs for third-party audio processing, an input for a sustain pedal and 2 inputs for assignable pedals. The synthesizer has full General MIDI support, in/thru and 2 MIDI outputs.
The 5-octave keyboard is velocity sensitive with aftertouch. Front panel - lifting, with a mass of individual controllers for all provided functions and a large monochrome LCD.
Waldorf Wave operated side by side with PPG Wave 2.2/2.3 and competed with the digital synthesizers Prophet VS, Korg Wavestation, Roland JD-800. Nevertheless, time has put everything in its place and collectors hunt only for this unit and PPG Wave, leaving the Japanese (and even American) mainstream to the amateurs.
The instrument didn’t have a direct successor, except for Microwave XTk. In general, Microwave series had similar, but more humble functionality for a more affordable price (less polyphony, fewer presets, not such a detailed interface, more limited connectivity).
Country of origin / production: Germany
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| Usage area | |
|---|---|
| Synthesizer | |
| Performance Synthesizer | |
| Usage Design/ Form Factor | |
| With Keys | |
| Archetype | |
| Digital (D) | |
| Polyphony | |
| Voices | 48 |
| Tone Generator / Sound Synthesis | |
| Synthesis Method | Wavetable |
| Waveform/ Spectral form (main generator) | White Noise |
| Programs/ Voices/ Timbres | |
| Single Voice Preset | 256 |
| Multitimbral Preset | 256 |
| Filter | |
| Voltage Controlled Filter (VCF) | |
| High-pass Filter (HPF) | |
| Low-pass Filter (LPF) | |
| 2-pole | |
| 4-pole | |
| 12dB | |
| 24dB | |
| Resonance | |
| Filter auto-oscillation | |
| MIDI | |
| General MIDI (GM) | |
| MIDI in/ out | |
| IN | |
| OUT | |
| THRU | |
| Keys | |
| Type | Synth Action |
| Velocity Sensitivity | |
| Aftertouch | |
| Size | 5 |
| Number of Keys | 61 |
| Display | |
| Display type | TFT |
| External controllers | |
| Sustain foot pedal | |
| Foot Controller | 2 |
| Audio out | |
| Stereo | |
| Analogue: 1/4" (6.35mm) | 6 |
| Audio in | |
| Analog 1/4" | 4 |
| Case/ body | |
| Metal&wood | |
| Color | |
| Black | |
| Blue | |
| Production start | 1993 |
| Production ended | |
On the eighth of June came out a teaser of the Waldorf Kyra synth - the result of cooperation between a cult German company and an independent talented developer Manuel Caballero. They promised to show the working instrument and the NAMM exhibition next year.
Axel Hartmann announced the date when his long-awaited virtual analog synth Hartmann 20 comes into production. The release of this mega synthesizer was planned to hit June 2016 but was postponed due to some bug “hunt”. Eventually the creators let us know that the development process is going to the finish line and that now it sounds the way a €20 000 instrument should (taxes not included ;). All who want (or all who can) may pre-order it right now.
