Waldorf Largo is a soft synth that is similar to the Blofeld, but Waldorf insists it is not a soft synth version of the Blofeld. They are very similar, the only differences are that the 3 Largo oscillators each have a sub-osc, the Blofeld oscillators have a Brilliance parameter, and the Blofeld has a PPG Low Pass filter setting. Pretty much everything else, in my experience, is the same.
I am of the mind that you would either have one or the other, there is no reason to have both. Some would disagree - I think those people have too much money.
I've been thinking about selling my Blofeld and picking up Largo instead. I like the Blofeld, it definitely has its place in the mix, it's by far my brightest synth and I wouldn't want to do without it completely. However, it is a pain in the ass to program. I do not like the layout, and one of my four programming knobs is buggy - if you twist it, say, clockwise, it goes up by about 10, then down by about five, then up another 10, then down another five. It's very annoying. Even without the buggy knob, it takes forever for me to program and tweak a patch, whereas with the Largo demo, I'm throwing shit together in five minutes.
Waldorf has a very generous demo thingy for the Largo where you get to try out the full version for 30 days. You can even bounce it and record it - so say I'm working on a song, I can throw in some Largo stuff, bounce it, and I'll still have it in the mix as an audio file when the 30 days expires. I think that alone would make someone more inclined to buy it.
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Today I put together some Blofeld vs. Largo comparisons. The idea is to throw something together in Largo, then recreate it exactly in the Blofeld. At first I thought it'd be hard, but it was actually really easy. It's almost like the Largo would be a great sketch pad or visual reference for programming the Blofeld.
The first track is a pad with lots of delay.
Blofeld vs Largo 1 by mikeoday
The Blofeld is first, then Largo right after 2:03. The biggest difference is the delay, the Blofeld delay turns to flat mush, but the Largo delay maintains separation, giving it an animated, rhythmic quality. Largo definitely wins this one, I kind of hate the Blofeld half of this, but I think the Largo half is very nice. There's no compression on either recording.
The second track is an old school EBM percussive bass sound.
Largo vs Blofeld 2 by mikeoday
First half is Largo, second half is Blofeld. For this patch, Blofeld has a bit darker, thicker sound, whereas Largo is brighter and less chunky. This one is a toss up as to which is better, I'd be inclined to go with the Blofeld one, but I have a feeling I'd be rolling off those lows when it came time to mix this down in a track with a kick drum and stuff.
I'm still a bit up in the air at this point. If I did not own a Blofeld, I'd definitely go with the Largo. But if I'm going to go with Largo, I'd definitely want to sell the Blofeld, which would be a huge pain in the ass without the buggy knob, let alone with it.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
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5 comments:
nice side by side test. I prefer the Blofeld sound, but i generally like dark chunky synth sounds. Wondering which way you went in the end, considering how old the post is.
And wondering if you tried to fix the Blofeld? i can think of a couple different quick fix things to try, though my component level skill is iffy.
I haven't traded in my Blofeld and I haven't bought Largo.
As for the knob, I've found if I push down on it, it works okay. I built a PAIA 9700s, but even after all that I don't feel too inclined to crack open the Blofeld and start poking around in it.
I'm comparing the two, with a preference for the software VST Largo. Since I'm a huge Ableton dork. However the Blofeld apparently has 1000 patches according to one review. And I can only find 127 sounds using the demo version of Largo. I can't find any patch names that match across Blofeld and Largo. I realize there's all this power in their sound generation capabilities, but one of the reasons I want to buy it is I really like the pre-designed patches of the Blofeld.
Can someone please tell me if I buy Largo, will it include all the patches available if I had the Blofeld?
Thanks!
I think Waldorf intentionally made an effort to try and say Largo is not a software version of Blofeld, so the patches themselves do not cross, but I'm sure you could find similar patch types across the two. I actually sold my Blofeld a few months back, and I barely use Largo.
If you're looking for a digital synth, I highly recommend Camel Audio's Alchemy. It's the same price as Largo, and a lot more flexible. You can demo it, plus Camel Audio has a bunch of great tutorial vids on Youtube to get the most out of it.
I may be late to the game, but here's my opinion/comparison as I've owned a Blofeld a couple of years ago, sold it, and then bought Largo.
Blofeld:
CONS: 1) Terribly minimal interface makes it pretty damn slow to produce a quality patch quickly. I'm with you on that note. No sub-oscillators; This is huge. 2) Quiet as f*ck outputs, but this is a typical Waldorf thing. 3) weak, limited polyphony; This is also huge. 4) buzzy USB port/ground loop issue. 5) software editors are few-and-far between, created by fly-by-night organization/individuals, with some of them defunct or will go defunct eventually. 6) FX1 vs. FX2 sections are very limited and don't sound good at all.
PROS:
1) PPG low-pass filter. 2) hardware DAC output may be "warmer" than Largo. Big deal. Use an EQ to warm it up. 3) small form factor; sits nicely on top of MIDI controller 4) It's Waldorf hardware; Waldorf rocks!
Largo:
CONS:
1) No PPG low-pass filter. 2) Patch saving/management is a bit confusing. 3) Multi-timbral mode is weird to implement, but it works! (no need to though; just open a new instance of Largo for the next patch).
PROS:
1) Up to 256 notes of polyphony per instance--'nuff said! 2) 98% the Blofeld sound that can be recalled instantly per project and then bounced-down as fast as your PC will allow. 3) Excellent GUI makes programming patches easy. 4) FX (reverb and delays in particular) sound quite good. 5) sub-oscillators! 6) Mod Matrix can be programmed very quickly compared to Blofeld, or even the Q with more knobs. 7) loud (enough) output. 8) No hiss/buzz/ground-loop issues. 9) Weird Trick: The Q's knob interface can actually control most of the controls in Largo!
So even though Largo may not be a 100% replacement for the SOUND of the Blofeld, it's much better if almost every other way. Yeah, it sucks to NOT have the PPG low-pass filter in Largo, and in my opinion, that is the biggest bummer. But pound-for-pound Largo is my pick between the two; it's almost a no-brainer!
That being said, I have owned Largo for the last 5 years, but rarely use it. I could probably produce an entire song with it, but I don't. I prefer using other external gear to make music, mainly because I'm a glutten for punishment and/or a masochist! There's just no other explanation!
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