Nord User Forum

lennaerttol wrote:Maybe al little bit OT, but how is the Waldorf Blofeld at producing these sounds compared to the Rack 2x? That thing looks great too and is costs a little bit more than 50% of the Nord. I don't care about the 'knob per function' on the Nord, because it doesn't look too hard to make sounds on the Blofeld.

You can create crazy modulations on the Blofeld and create really weird and wonderful sounds on it.

Next to the Blofeld hardware synth, Waldorf also has the Largo software synthesizer (VST plugin), which is pretty much a software version of Blofeld. This is interesting, because you can download a 30 day trial version from the Waldorf site and give it a try. While the user interface is quite different from that on the Blofeld, the sound and the functionality is rather similar (Blofeld can do a few things Largo can't). You might want to give it a try.

http://www.waldorfmusic.de/en/largo.html

If you don't already have a VST host (Cubase, Live, etc.) you could either download a trial version of Ableton Live, or get a free version of Live Lite if you have/create a soundcloud account (see http://blog.soundcloud.com/2012/04/02/s ... d-ableton/).

Thanks! I'm also going to download the demo of DiscoDSP, which is often said to be a plugin that's almost exactly like the Nord Lead, so I can see if the Nord Lead is worth the extra money for me.

lennaerttol wrote:Thanks! I'm also going to download the demo of DiscoDSP, which is often said to be a plugin that's almost exactly like the Nord Lead, so I can see if the Nord Lead is worth the extra money for me.

An instrument is a whole and I consider the three following factors equally: sound, interface, possibilities. To me, the Nord Lead interface is a success and is really part of the whole. That may justify the extra money; you should try the real thing rather than DiscoDSP.

My two cents

The interface isn't very important to me, because I'm not going to tweak the sounds while I'm playing. What's important to me, besides the sound and versatility, is the size. The size of the Blofeld is better for me, because I can place it on top of my keyboard and easily turn the knobs instead of hanging it above the keyboard, which I've got to do with the Nord Rack. If the sound isn't a lot worse, or even better for my needs, I'll probably go for the Blofeld.

Moreover, I think I'll have to buy a new keyboard soon, because some of the keys on my old Yamaha keyboard occasionally don't work anymore ( ) and it's always nice to have some more money to spend on a new board.

Your needs, your budget, your choice
Tell us you post-buy impressions!

I'll do that when I've made the hard decisions.