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What killed Waldorf?

louvega

By louvega
in Keys, Synths & Samplers

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pix Newbie

pix

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Originally posted by droolmaster0



The notion that any of the Waldorf synths are too buggy to use is pretty ridiculous, I think. I think that there are a few bugs that were never fixed, especially on the XT, but if you look at the Pulse, Microwave, Microwave II, XT and Q, that's a pretty impressive lineup. And while people criticised them for not finishing the Wave, people still pay several thousand dollars for them. Wouldn't mind having one myself.

 

 

Yes that's right. I only have experience with the Q and it's a pretty stable unit . I think the XT has some unfinished features but nothing too serious I believe.

 

I'm not aware of why Waldorf went down but at the time their instruments (the big keyboards) seemed really expensive. I think the Q kbd was one of the most expensive keyboards at that time.

 

Also when the filterbank came out VST wasn't that widespread yet and the rack seemed really expensive by then. 1600 euros was a lot more by then.

 

If it was now it'd have great acceptation I believe...

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realtrance Newbie

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They tried to do very high-quality work, using cutting edge hardware and software design, top-quality components, with a very craftsman-like approach to their work. They were overshadowed by companies that can pump out mediocre crap, and market the hell out of it. That, combined with an inordinate number of wankers and whiners attracted to a few mis-steps in their early releases, did them in. :)

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droolmaster0 Newbie

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Originally posted by pix



Yes that's right. I only have experience with the Q and it's a pretty stable unit . I think the XT has some unfinished features but nothing too serious I believe.


I'm not aware of why Waldorf went down but at the time their instruments (the big keyboards) seemed really expensive. I think the Q kbd was one of the most expensive keyboards at that time.


Also when the filterbank came out VST wasn't that widespread yet and the rack seemed really expensive by then. 1600 euros was a lot more by then.


If it was now it'd have great acceptation I believe...

 

 

It is true that when the Q came out, many features were not implemented yet. This caused some bad press and disgruntled users. I think that to some degree it was a communication issue - Waldorf made it very clear on their forum that the Q was missing many of the forthcoming features - but they knew that fans of their synths would want one anyway. Obviously though this wasn't communicated to dealers and/or other buyers, and early reviewers weren't too sympathetic as I recall. If I had had the money at that particular time I would have bought one. But the synth was eventually made quite stable (or at least it seems to me), though there still are some missing mod routings...I forget exactly which they are - I think they are documented in the manual, but don't actually exist in the synth).

 

But I think that almost everyone can agree that the filterbank thing was a big mistake. What I remember about its release was that Waldorf was promising an exciting product release, and then they announced this, and even Waldorf fanatics were quite underwhelmed.

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aeon Newbie

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Originally posted by droolmaster0

Attitude towards customers? I always found their attitude to be great, and they were one of the most communicative of companies.

 

 

Never addressing long-standing issues and always saying "S. O. O. N." as to when they would be addressed is poor attitude IMHO, especially in context of the near-flawless manner in which competitors handled things at that time.

 

That said, when I contacted Waldorf directly to get a knob-top replacement, it was mailed speedily and at no charge, FWIW.

 

 

cheers,

Ian

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aeon Newbie

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Originally posted by Umbra

I still think that waldorf gear in general other than the wave/microwave/xt are over-rated.

 

Interesting, as I see the Q and even Pulse as underrated.

 

Originally posted by Umbra

I don't see the Q as standing out over the virus, nord, or supernova's.

 

I do.

 

Better oscs, more filter types, a much deeper and more extensive mod matrix, faster internal recalc for waveform-level modulation and CV-level modulation, a better arp, and the list goes on.

 

That said, there are things to love in the others too.

 

Originally posted by Umbra

I'm not saying it's bad, just saying it's not really anything special that there are not plenty of alternative for.

 

If you mean "VAs" in general, I have to agree with you. I mean, in a time of difficulty I sold my Q Rack, but I sure as hell kept my Nord Modular. ;)

 

 

cheers,

Ian

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MuzikB Newbie

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Originally posted by droolmaster0



The notion that any of the Waldorf synths are too buggy to use is pretty ridiculous, I think. I think that there are a few bugs that were never fixed, especially on the XT, but if you look at the Pulse, Microwave, Microwave II, XT and Q, that's a pretty impressive lineup. And while people criticised them for not finishing the Wave, people still pay several thousand dollars for them. Wouldn't mind having one myself.

 

Notice I said,"Personally." I have never owned a Waldorf synth and doubt I ever will. Given what's available at this time, I don't think that they're worth it. I appreciate the XT samples though, :) that I mess around with in Kontakt just as much as the OB-8 samples I have but the synth is something I can do without. The WAVE looks cool but I don't want that either. Aside from the XT, Waldorf stuff never moved me. :confused::rolleyes:

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