One useful trick: if your Blofield starts to make cracking sounds, go to the global settings menu (Shift + Global) and turn off the external Midi clock (Clock = Internal)
You can control it with any DAW but the clock (tempo) sync crackles for a few beats. It doesn'tlike tempo changes while running. It is an amazing and super powerful synth at a great price.
You're "an antique" because you remember when the Blofeld came out. Oh... kay.... So I guess I'm a fossil 'cause I remember when the Juno6 was the new kid on the block? :D :D :D
Your voice is fantastic. Love this synth. It's simultaneously one of the smallest synths I've come across and yet packs one of the biggest punches out there. Such an incredible bang for the buck too.
I share your admiration for the sonic breadth and pleasing character of this little machine (in the right hands). Re: the pain of using a multitimbral synth like this for MPE, you will love this little 2-step setup process that makes it pretty effortless thereafter. 1. In non-multi mode, reserve one specific preset number as a special MPE patch "slot" that will hold whatever preset you presently want to play in MPE. 2. In multi-mode, reserve one specific multi as your special MPE playback multi. Set all 16 midi channels of this multi to play your reserved special preset number from step 1. Setup complete. USAGE: When you want to play any preset as MPE, *copy* it to your special MPE preset slot (in non-multi mode) and then open your special MPE multi to play it. Quick and easy!
Only 5 minutes in and this thing is already giving me chills. I dig those sounds already. Wow! I got the Streichfett a while back, but I'm thinking I might have to look into the Blofeld as well.
Great sounds, great playing! And thanks for a few nice reminders! I haven't done any new sounds on my Bio in years, but now started to dive in again and created some beautiful stuff - more to come. Indeed the options feel endless.
I got my Blofeld this past summer and I think it has the best value for jumping into the hardware pool. I also bought Largo on sale. The preset management could use some work (largo), but overall these synthesizers have character. I'm satisfied with my purchases.
you can buy bournes encoder/pot replacements that will last forever, and also an inverted screen is available! both of which i have done and i love my blofeld now!
I'm glad I found your video on the Blofeld. Been looking for a small form factor synth that excels at pad sounds, and looked like the Blofeld fit the bill. Picked it up, and it is amazing!
I love your channel man. You are literally my go to youtube tutor, among a couple of others. I seriously would buy an in depth course from you. Keep being amazing!
The Raising Sun preset gave me a huge Mirror's Edge (so basically Solar Fields) vibe. Since it has been my favourite game for 10+ years, this hit close to home. Highly recommend Solar Fields' work. I basically consider him the modern Vangelis. The 2000s digital sounds Vangelis
@@Whirlybird88 I have all Solar Fields albums in my RU-vid's playlist, that's really amazing music. Fortunately, there are many artists making quite similar music. I love Aes Dana, Ascendant, Astropilot, Carbon Based Lifeforms, Koan.... and there are many more!
@@matt_one Oh I've heard of Aes Dana, CBL, and Koan, I don't think they're quite like Solar Fields though lol. I'll have to look into those others you mentioned.
That final patch made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end - which is good going since i don't have any - so that's how powerful the effect is ! Came across this by chance recently and think it's a must have - sounds great - in the right hands.
A superb demo of this unit. I have the pulse 2 and uQ, waldorf make great synths that reward experimentation and exploration. I only skipped the blofeld due to the encoder problems you mentioned. I know many hate it, but I really like the matrix editing system, and ability to route modulators wherever you want, combine them and do logic functions.
Just got a second hand unit (desktop) after years pondering... Yep, I was "scared" if it's depth and matrix but in the end was proven wrong. LUSH and FLEXIBLE are the words that come to my mind :)
I just discovered the Blofeld's many wonders a couple of months ago, and it has quickly become one of my go-to pieces of gear. Initially I got a 2008 original with some iffy encoder repairs, decided I wanted a Blofeld for the longhaul, so found a second one - a 2014 - on eBay with Bourns encoders and upgraded power supply. Sold the 2008 for a profit even! I'm super happy. Want to put in a quick good word for Edisyn, an awesome and free open-source synth editor which supports both single and multi modes on the Blofeld (and a raft of other synths), for those who dislike knob twiddling. Personally, I consider the Blofeld incredibly easy for being a menu-heavy device, unlike, say, a Mininova - hahaha.
I’ve always wanted one of these. What prevented me from getting one was that people said it was difficult to program. This video is making me rethink this if I could get one for a good price.
It is a great tool! Im not surprised of the new price, couple of years back these were out of the store around 300€ here.. I picked mine up for 170€ as a bargain deal not knowing too much about it and neither did the owner haha, a housewife who wanted to ''play some keyboard like she used to do'' hahah.. goes for 500€ now!
With some external effects (currently swapping between a Mooer Ocean Machine and a Neunaber Immerse V2 - A Blofeld with a good shimmer reverb is something special.) it's is still one of the first things I go to for inspiration. Ignoring the known hardware issues some units have, the only downside for me is that an editor is pretty much essential to get the best out of it. A KeyStep Pro is a perfect companion for exploring the multi-timbral possibilities.
Amazing piece of kit for the sound designer. It's probably one of my fav ever. Enormous sound palette and super creative synth! Love its multi part too ;)
The Blofeld is going to be my first serious hardware synth (I've bought the Behringer TD-3 to mess around). I've been putting my eye on the Blofeld for a long time, multi-timbralness is a major feature for me and for that price it's unbeatable.
Yea love the sounds that come out of this device. Truly give me shivers of music creativity again. Reminds me a lot of old but strong music creation back in the days. And still an amazing form factor be great to have one myself indeed.
If you want a good starting place for archetypal glassy, icy wavetable sounds, Conforce's Frozen North soundset is well worth looking into. Some secret sauce there for sure!
For a few years I gathered so SO many old hardware synths I craved. Setting them up was a pain I needed a sound card with many inputs, audio and midi cable management was a nightmare etc.. But with the new generation of VSTs and 16-32 core CPUs, there is absolutely no need for any hardware. I am so shocked that people still buy hardware, especially analog synths that cost $1000s when you can just buy Komplete, Icarus (better than Serum et al and all of Tone2 Synths have a very unique, satisfying sound), Sylenth (if you must, this is getting really old and the developer is super lazy and haven't really updated it for 10 years at least), Arturia V Collection for really good analog and other emulations and maybe U-He Diva / Zebra etc. And that's before talkign about Omnisphere, AVP Vengence, Falcon etc. For those who say 'Analog sounds better' - bullshit. It used to be true in the 90s, and even then some hardware digital synths sounded just as good when emulating analog (if not better). At the end of the day you can have all the synths you can buy but it's the SONG you make that will be awesome, regardless of how you made it.
I like the sound of analog synths. I also like the sound of analog synths going into outboard reverb, going into 4 track cassette. Aint no plugins that compare.
To all those who say 'analog sounds better'. I don't think I have worse hearing than you guys - I had a few analog synths and they sound the same as a GOOD, modern analog mimicing VST. And they can only do very limited pallette of sounds that are so just boring by now. You might have a certain analog synth that has a special 'sound' (maybe the filter or the oscillators have an interesting movement). Well that can be captured in a wavetable synth quite easily.
21:35 HAHA I'm sitting here watching this, wanting the Blofeld so bad based on just now discovering it, and loving all the softness and subtlety I've heard, and thinking "finally I found a cheap-ish hardware synth that sounds cloudy enough for my quiet music project, so I can stop using only Kontakt + Sensel Morph to make all my music" but then wondering "maybe I should spend extra for the keyboard version because who knows if this 2007 desktop will take kindly to an MPE controller" and then BAM!!!
It’s a great synth and can do so many different sounds. Great pads, hard digital sounds, weird modulations and fantastic multi modes. It seems to be able to do stuff that no other synth can. A nice external reverb and delay it can be magic.
It's really a fun thing to play with considering its price. I got mine in 2016, and my only regret is that I never managed to make the stereo output work, which is pretty much a shame for the long lush multi patches. So I mainly use it to get experimental mono one shots.
Oh that's lame haha. Did yours arrive with the stereo out not working or did it just stop over time? Either way though, still a worthwhile sound design box!
Just got mine in last week, and even with the limited time I had, I am sure I would love this to bits! Need a decent sequencer for some multi patches, that’s a sure thing!
Tbh when you said most synths can’t do a 16 part multi, I thought to myself “even the blofeld” because it will freeze/lag/crash if you try to have it do too much. Other than that it’s an amazing machine. I’ve been considering getting another one recently since I used to have one and sold it.
Still have my Blofeld. Love the sound of it. Now I’m sampling every bit of it because I already had the internal power unit replaced. Also had to replace the output jacks too. Build quality stinks though.
Yep..awful build quality despite feeling like a tank. Bad encoders, poor sync with midi. I was very disappointed with my two Units which were both totally impossible to use
The Blofeld is a mod monster and can do a few things that even a VirusTi2 can't, like: 3 Osc FM, OSC FM+SYNC at the same time, Filter FM at audio rate, comb filter, more envelope options, Wavetable/sample import...just to name a few f the top of my head. The intern FX are not the best IMO. Would be nice when waldorf creates a successor for those who can't afford a Iridium. It fits perfectly besides a Atruria Keystep and is therefore perfect for a holliday setup... it can do really complex pad sounds and (unexpected for me) very hard Kicks. But for cutting Leads and Basslines add a Pulse II.
19:21 What you did there to turn down the volume won't really help. All you are doing is lowering a distorted sound to your input on your mixer/interface. Rather for gain structure, I keep my system volume fixed at 90, and adjust the oscillator levels, and filter drive to get the correct volume and timbral integrity. The INIT patch by Blofeld is a shame, as I have found that a good starting point is around 90 for saw and square, 64-72 for sine, varies by wavetable but no more than 90 on one oscillator and if mixing oscillators even less. I generally run filter drive at 16 Tube, and my unisono at 3. The Blofeld can sound wonderful with correct gain structure, but running everything at 127 will not usually yield these results
Honestly lots of people seem to think digital bad at the moment. But you look at much things like the wave station where all over tv shoundtracks. This looks super useful as a fm and pad synth.
I have paired with Keystep Pro and Streichfett on my dawless rig. I’ve loaded in a sampled drum machine library for my This and use it as a controller for editing softsynths.
I had one ..has great sounds. But sold it because I got fes up with the nobs not working right. You turn a nd turn and the parameters would not change. I had about 10 synths and finally decided to use a midi controler tu use my 88 vsts and am perfectly happy with this configuration.
@1:23 "...because I'm basically an antique at this point." What...??! You're kidding. If you're an antique, I'm positively antediluvian.. I grew up listening to vinyl on Dad's huge HiFi - the really old style with the upholstery cloth front over a massive 15" speaker and glowing tube amp. I learned to play keyboard on an ancient "upright grand" piano in the dining room that Mum used to teach piano lessons. Enjoy your youth! You've still got LOTS of tread on the tyres... Nice review, BTW... I love Waldorf
Great vid, very underrated (or forgotten) synth. I like using my Blofeld for atonal ambient/glitchy weirdness, but like you mentioned it can do so much more. Waldorf makes great stuff, my first hardware synth was a Waldorf Pulse 2, same form-factor and just like the Blofeld it's built like a tank!
This is one of those synth which would benefit from a crib sheet. A couple of laminated A4 crib sheets with all its options on one side, and its built in patches on the other side , plus another with its cc shortcuts to program an external controller. There's also an ipad app out there which allows you access to alot of its functions in real time. You'll find it under Patch Base for a small fee.
Blofeld is legit, 16-part multi-timbrality is serious business. Also, if you want a hardware MPE synth, get a Hydrasynth! What more could you ask for? 16-part multi-timbrality? Ok, yea that would be sweet.
Probably one of the best ways to sum it up right there haha. Some people really hate it for that same reason, but personally I think that's really what the magic of it is all about.
Uve just helped me decide how Im going to spend my next paycheck 😂😂 Jk, I was waiting for such a video to help me decide wether I should get it or not ! The answer is abvious I think ;)
I just picked up the Hydrasynth Desktop which seems pretty similar to this in many ways. I believe it supports MPE too :-) Thanks for this overview and review, I knew almost nothing about this synth and am now interested in learning more.
I remember buying this back in 2007 or 08. Love thr Waldorf sounds but could never afford the big blue one. I played a lot of shows with this patched into a korg triton pro x along with laying down pads in the band at a church band
I got a Blofeld a while back, and it's a really handy little thing to have around. I use it in almost every song. I can definitely recommend it for anyone who wants a bottomless supply of extra synth voices in hardware form, without sacrificing a lot of money or space. I got mine brand new for about $400 including international shipping from Juno UK. It's almost like a budget Access Virus. However, it has some down sides. Due to its polite, digital nature, I mostly use it for supporting tracks... not usually for leads, and almost never for bass sounds. And due to its buggy firmware and minimalist UI, I find I'm very reluctant to create new patches on it. Almost every time I do, I run into issues with encoders not responding, or with the sound engine not updating when the parameters are changed... especially in multi mode. I end up having to leave multi mode to edit a patch, then save it and go back to multi for playback. And it's a bit tedious constantly diving several pages deep to reach a parameter, mostly just using the left three knobs to select a page and tweak a value. The other main things I run into are largely relating to drive, clipping, and effects. The effects (especially reverb) are a bit weak, and the drive models are almost nothing like an analog device. It has a bunch of drive models in the filters, but I find that the best one is only on the low side of mediocre, and I haven't found any use at all for the rest. They tend to just sound like harsh digital clipping. So I'd recommend pairing it with a nice analog bass synth for dirty sounds, or running it through an external distortion effect and making use of as much randomness and mod/aftertouch expression as possible, if you need organic dirty sounds. Anyway, it's a good instrument, punching well above its weight... but it's not a complete studio by itself. Add an analog monosynth and a drum machine though, and be patient with its UI, and there isn't much it can't do.
However, that said, I'd rather have a Hydrasynth than a Blofeld. The concept is similar but the UI is dramatically improved... and it has more/better of almost everything. The down side is that it costs almost twice as much, is bigger, and has no multi mode. Blofeld is definitely one of the best values in the synth industry, and has been for a long time. It may not be the best synth ever, but it's almost never a bad purchase.
Sounds nice - but it's a buggy mess. Three of my encoders were crapping out after 2 months use. Took it back, saved some more money and got a Virus ti Snow.
I see this in a lot of producers' studios. I like what I've heard from it so far. I do a lot of Retrowave, so I think this will be part of my DAWless setup
I owned this twice, I did love the sound, but I did not like the feel of the encoders and they do wear out. I found it frustrating because it is 90% there, but they failed on the encoders which is a very important part
Do check the encoders if you intend to buy one, it's quite a common problem. I recently had mine fixed (for €100). The Blofeld is a tour through most of the best sounds and features of the PPG and Waldorf synths and it sounds fantastic. A modern classic.
@@SectorSevenSlumz TBH I haven't touched it since checking if the fixed knobs worked (they did), working in-the-box is just so much easier. The useful part is that it's now caked in dust - again. I'll dust it off and play it soon(-ish) and will share.
It is a lovely synth but a pain to programme sometimes? Maybe I've just not spent enough time properly mastering it though (think probably the latter). Great to watch this video though, there's so little in the way of blofeld vids on here
I bought a blowfield because I couldn’t afford an acsess virus whilst it’s not not quite as good I don’t think it matters too ,much with all the great cheap synths out there
I’ve really been digging your vids - you have a gift for pedagogy and an ear for cool musical sounds - but I wish I could see what you’re doing on the menu screen. You’re such a good explainer, it’s a pity to leave this dimension out. Is there anyway you can invest in a setup like some other synth/sound design youtubers like LoopOp? I don’t know whether it requires multiple cameras or there’s a workaround to that. Don’t mean to sound ungrateful - I appreciate that you’re doing this as a labor of love. I’d put my money where my mouth is with a donation/Patreon gift.
Glad to hear it! And yeah unfortunately due to working out of a pretty small room there isn't really a great way for me to do any different setup. But, hopefully, once we get moved I'll have some more space. A second camera would be great, but unfortunately RU-vid doesn't really pay that kind of cash haha.
Mine just came in the mail two days ago and let me tell you they sure know how to make a synthesizer I swear it weighs like 10 lb it just screams high quality
Don't go anywhere without my Blofeld. Another point worth mentioning is that the keyboard edition is equipped with the best synth keyboard of any synth regardless of the price point.
