waldorf largo : test it !

[brianbacio]

http://www.waldorfmusic.de/en/home
just tried waldorf's largo to see how it compares to the blofeld, and i really think it's two different beasts all together.
the battle of software versus hardware is one thing. But here it seems that the tweaking just gets tedious and the sound is for some reason not the same.
Any one else have any feelings about this ?

[glitchrock-buddha]

Everyone at KVR is raving about the sound, but complaining about high cpu usage.

I think the sound is boring as hell but I find it very light on cpu.

[thelike5]

I honestly haven't had a second to try the demo but all I have heard is that it is buggy as hell and the demos don't sound all that great, either. I also heard it's extremely frusterating to use and invloves quite a bit of menu diving (which on a soft synth can be an even more frustrating experience than on actual hardware.)

I dunno. A used Blofeld would set you back $400 (sometimes even cheaper.) Largo costs $250. I can think of a lot worse ways to spend that extra $150. Blofeld is a great little synth and wins hands-down.

The last thing any of us need is another $200 - $300 soft synth that doesn't do anything new.

I'd rather buy an Arturia product for $99 or better yet, fire up the Legacy Collection Analog and blend a modeled polysix with a MS-20 inside of Legacy Cell.

[brianbacio]

thelike5 : thanks for the advice,
I thought i could travel this summer without the hardware, but largo will just not do.
Using Blofeld and Operator will get synth things done.

[Tarekith]

Pretty interesting synth, been messing with the demo this morning. Sounds really nice, covers a lot of territory without being TOO much of a CPU hog. The GUI is only so so for me, kinda of reminds me of Logic's synth, small text and kind of busy in a futuristic way. Kept running into a weird bug where the preset selector left and right buttons would randomly get stuck down until I closed the reopened the plug in, but otherwise no issues. Is there a randomize function anywhere, didn't find it. Also found the preset layout only so so, and the menu sorting options were.... unique to put it nicely.

Not sure if I'd choose this over say Massive, since they are both covering roughly the same sonic territory with the wavetable angle. I find the GUI and modulation set up on Massive to be better, so that's likely the route I'd choose.

[glitchrock-buddha]

Pretty interesting synth, been messing with the demo this morning. Sounds really nice, covers a lot of territory without being TOO much of a CPU hog. The GUI is only so so for me, kinda of reminds me of Logic's synth, small text and kind of busy in a futuristic way. Kept running into a weird bug where the preset selector left and right buttons would randomly get stuck down until I closed the reopened the plug in, but otherwise no issues. Is there a randomize function anywhere, didn't find it. Also found the preset layout only so so, and the menu sorting options were.... unique to put it nicely.

Not sure if I'd choose this over say Massive, since they are both covering roughly the same sonic territory with the wavetable angle. I find the GUI and modulation set up on Massive to be better, so that's likely the route I'd choose.

Copied and pasted right from your KVR post! OOOhh, you are soo busted!

I dunno man, I don't find this synth to have much character.

[thelike5]

thelike5 : thanks for the advice,
I thought i could travel this summer without the hardware, but largo will just not do.
Using Blofeld and Operator will get synth things done.

Yes. Both of those tools will get the job done nicely!

Have you played around with the Synplant VSTi released last year? I'm still in love with it! That is what I'm talking about when I say a unique approach. I wish more software developers would release more unique VSTi's like this.

Hardware, while amazing, simply costs too much. Woudl love to see niche vstis modeled after a Tenori-On, perhaps by Yamaha. Speaking of which, whatever happened to Yamaha? That company has become ultra-transparent. Outside of getting behind the Tenori-on (kudus to them) they have been stuck promoting a dozen different variations of the Motif. Would like to see another version of the FM DX-200 or even an updated RS-7000. I also loved the SU-700 sampler years back.

More please!!

[musicmachine]

Pretty interesting synth, been messing with the demo this morning. Sounds really nice, covers a lot of territory without being TOO much of a CPU hog. The GUI is only so so for me, kinda of reminds me of Logic's synth, small text and kind of busy in a futuristic way. Kept running into a weird bug where the preset selector left and right buttons would randomly get stuck down until I closed the reopened the plug in, but otherwise no issues. Is there a randomize function anywhere, didn't find it. Also found the preset layout only so so, and the menu sorting options were.... unique to put it nicely.

Not sure if I'd choose this over say Massive, since they are both covering roughly the same sonic territory with the wavetable angle. I find the GUI and modulation set up on Massive to be better, so that's likely the route I'd choose.

Copied and pasted right from your KVR post! OOOhh, you are soo busted!

I dunno man, I don't find this synth to have much character.

Thought i recognised that post from somewhere.

Same here, i have massive and a blofeld. One thing the blofeld has is character, the filters are amazing and the drive curves... i think it's about the most analog sounding digital synth i've heard. From the demos i've listened to and the brief time i've spent playing it i'd say Largo sounds a lot cleaner than the blofeld; not as ballsy or brash maybe but i've heard some good stuff made with it nonetheless. I'll have to spend more time with Largo.

[Tarekith]

You guys didn't expect me to actually put effort into this, did you?

Largo is ok, not sure it's really all that interesting to me. Like Neb pointed out in another thread, it's really just another 3 OSC softsynth, and the only thing really unique about it is the way it does wavetables. Sure there's other tiny difference, but really nothing huge. Compared to Massive which regularly goes on sale as low as $99, I just don't see the attraction.

I think the one thing that bugged me the most was the GUI, it's just too cluttered and has tiny text, I hate that. Really, really reminds me of my biggest issues with Logic synths, great sound, but incredibly goofy interfaces for the sake of some futuristic look. The browser was my other sore point, it's just not 1999 anymore, we don't need super long drop down menus for our presets. Make them easier to find and organize, take advantage of the fact we have these nice big, hi-res monitors now.

CPU useage for me was pretty low, only a couple patches hit above 20% on my 2.16 MBP, most were well below that. Kind of surprising for how good it sounds really. It's not a bad synth by any means, but there's just not enough unique about it to really make me want it over other offerings that cover the same sonic ground. People seem to be pretty split on how much it even has that "waldorf sound", which is probably the biggest attraction of the synth in the first place. Personally, I think I'd be inclined to just save some more and get the Blofeld, which is something I will likely be doing in the future anyway.

That better?

[brianbacio]

so Massive is the deal :
have never seen it at 99 € over here in europe.
My greatest thrill is fooling around with the Max 5 X.FM synth, very smart set up !

[chis]

Largo requires a computer, and has activation or dongle protection.

Another $150 and you have Blofeld, which is a real piece of hardware that's yours to do with as you please, when you please, and you can just hook up to a midi keyboard and jam with. No waiting for an OS to boot.

If I didn't already have a Microwave XT (that I'm about ready to marry I love the thing so much , programming it is tremendous fun), I certainly wouldn't bother with Largo, and I'd head straight for a Blofeld.

[Johnisfaster]

Largo requires a computer, and has activation or dongle protection.

Another $150 and you have Blofeld, which is a real piece of hardware that's yours to do with as you please, when you please, and you can just hook up to a midi keyboard and jam with. No waiting for an OS to boot.

If I didn't already have a Microwave XT (that I'm about ready to marry I love the thing so much , programming it is tremendous fun), I certainly wouldn't bother with Largo, and I'd head straight for a Blofeld.

some people don't care for hardware though.

I do, but I'm just sayin

[ze2be]

Massive or Surge

[musicmachine]

You guys didn't expect me to actually put effort into this, did you?

Largo is ok, not sure it's really all that interesting to me. Like Neb pointed out in another thread, it's really just another 3 OSC softsynth, and the only thing really unique about it is the way it does wavetables. Sure there's other tiny difference, but really nothing huge. Compared to Massive which regularly goes on sale as low as $99, I just don't see the attraction.

I think the one thing that bugged me the most was the GUI, it's just too cluttered and has tiny text, I hate that. Really, really reminds me of my biggest issues with Logic synths, great sound, but incredibly goofy interfaces for the sake of some futuristic look. The browser was my other sore point, it's just not 1999 anymore, we don't need super long drop down menus for our presets. Make them easier to find and organize, take advantage of the fact we have these nice big, hi-res monitors now.

CPU useage for me was pretty low, only a couple patches hit above 20% on my 2.16 MBP, most were well below that. Kind of surprising for how good it sounds really. It's not a bad synth by any means, but there's just not enough unique about it to really make me want it over other offerings that cover the same sonic ground. People seem to be pretty split on how much it even has that "waldorf sound", which is probably the biggest attraction of the synth in the first place. Personally, I think I'd be inclined to just save some more and get the Blofeld, which is something I will likely be doing in the future anyway.

That better?

Nah, i preferred your first post.

[polyslax]

Different strokes... I think Largo sounds fantastic. Loads of presence and a good aggressive sound. Well spec'd mod, ultra low cpu on the Mac Pro. The fx are nothing to write home about, but I rarely use built in fx anyhow. Easy to program, tho I agree the UI is pretty busy and could use more contrast for my eyes.

I also agree that it's close enough in price to Blofeld to make the decision kinda tricky. Tough choice, but Largo is definitely one of the best sounding soft synths I've heard.