Ableton Forum

After some good advice from fellow board members it seems hardware might be the spice my sound needs right now. However I am torn between two options, the blofeld and the mopho. I have suite and maschine and massive already.
My worries are thus. If I get blofeld, I'm not really getting anything more interesting than I could already achieve with the vets I have. That said, since buying maschine, I have loved the hands on feel of not having to scroll through patches on my computer and being able to keep my head down. Its a small thing but a good thing.

Next comes the Mopho. Although analogue is the thing missing from my sound, I am worried that the mopho is a little aggressive for the kind of music I make. I don't need stinking phat bass lines or face melting leads. I like my sounds to stay pretty subtle.

Is there an in-between tarts not gonna take me into another level of spending ?
The venom looked interesting....

I am sure you can get subtle sounds out of a Mopho. I use to own a Tetra which has the same voice architecture and found it very versitile.

I only sold it because I felt I wasn't using it often enough to justify it's cost but I am thinking about getting another one.

+1 for the Mopho. Pretty wide palette of sounds. Although I've not got a Blofeld, reckon there's something to be had from getting a analog synth....

The main problem, however, is the encoders are indented and it's not exactly intuitive to program without a computer....

Yeah, I've heard word about a computer based editor but I haven't seen a USB on the back of the desktop module. I've also seen lemur templates.

Did you know that Waldorf is releasing the Pulse 2 analog monosynth this summer? That will compete more directly with the Mopho than the Blofeld.

Really? Any idea on a price range ?

Sorry, just googled. People are suggesting 549 euros which for e means 60,000 yen. Bit pricey but looks lush. 3 oscillators is sounding awesome. But the mopho is cheeeeeeep. There's no shops round here so I can't even go and play with one.

taffmonster wrote:After some good advice from fellow board members it seems hardware might be the spice my sound needs right now. However I am torn between two options, the blofeld and the mopho. I have suite and maschine and massive already.
My worries are thus. If I get blofeld, I'm not really getting anything more interesting than I could already achieve with the vets I have. That said, since buying maschine, I have loved the hands on feel of not having to scroll through patches on my computer and being able to keep my head down. Its a small thing but a good thing.

Next comes the Mopho. Although analogue is the thing missing from my sound, I am worried that the mopho is a little aggressive for the kind of music I make. I don't need stinking phat bass lines or face melting leads. I like my sounds to stay pretty subtle.

Is there an in-between tarts not gonna take me into another level of spending ?
The venom looked interesting....

i have both.. they are 2 completely different kettle of fish .. the blofeld is infinitely more flexible and has a much larger sound palette.
more filter choices, an extra oscillator, wave tables + samples. but it is digital and like a lot of waldorf synths it is quite clinical .
having said that it is the easiest matrix style synth to program edit the ui is really good for having just 6 knobs..
blofeld is multi timbral with a stack of voices.. mopho is mono.
i would say the blofeld is the more aggressive of the 2 when pushed. however you can get some awesome evolving textural soundscapes that the mopho could only dream of producing.

To use the editor with the Mopho desktop (keyboard version has USB) just use MIDI cables to your MIDI interface.

Thanks a lot guys. A lot to think about though it seems. And now to make matters worse I just discovered I can't use paypal on most japanese sites meaning even if I wanted to buy both I have to find a new way to pay. It also means I have 20,000 yen in my paypal account that I can't use. Might just blow the paypal money on some NI stuff, maybe buy the razor......

hps909 wrote:

taffmonster wrote:After some good advice from fellow board members it seems hardware might be the spice my sound needs right now. However I am torn between two options, the blofeld and the mopho. I have suite and maschine and massive already.
My worries are thus. If I get blofeld, I'm not really getting anything more interesting than I could already achieve with the vets I have. That said, since buying maschine, I have loved the hands on feel of not having to scroll through patches on my computer and being able to keep my head down. Its a small thing but a good thing.

Next comes the Mopho. Although analogue is the thing missing from my sound, I am worried that the mopho is a little aggressive for the kind of music I make. I don't need stinking phat bass lines or face melting leads. I like my sounds to stay pretty subtle.

Is there an in-between tarts not gonna take me into another level of spending ?
The venom looked interesting....

i have both.. they are 2 completely different kettle of fish .. the blofeld is infinitely more flexible and has a much larger sound palette.
more filter choices, an extra oscillator, wave tables + samples. but it is digital and like a lot of waldorf synths it is quite clinical .
having said that it is the easiest matrix style synth to program edit the ui is really good for having just 6 knobs..
blofeld is multi timbral with a stack of voices.. mopho is mono.
i would say the blofeld is the more aggressive of the 2 when pushed. however you can get some awesome evolving textural soundscapes that the mopho could only dream of producing.

I'll second that. The Mopho is the cheapest thing next to a prophet. Which is a fat lovely piece of analog goodness.
The Blofeld is a kickass digital synth. It doesn't even bother to be "virtual analog". Its just a beast of a digital synth with a minimal design. Its a Waldorf digital synth.
You can't compare the two. Later this year there will be a plethora of monophonic analog synths. And the way Korg is going at it with their mono toys, we'll soon have analog synth building for dummies.

Digital synths don't have to try to recreate quirks of a technology they aren't. But some do kick ass at it. Take a Nord with its Organ emulations for example.

Get the Mopho. Save up for the Blofeld Module and keep an eye out for sales or backstock. Blofelds are built like tanks. And thats probably an understatement, since I'm sure I could dent a tank with a Blofeld. Start saving for the torrent of mono synths coming our way this summer. Plenty to pick from.

Yeah I think I have decided. As I have 20,000 yen stuck in pay pal, this month I am going to blow that on The Razor, The Mouth and The Vintage Heat pack for maschine. Then next month when pay day comes around. I am going to sneak in to tokyo and find me a blofeld to sneak home in my bag. Its only 9,000 yen more than the mopho so I figure the pricey one first. Hopefully the wife won't notice.

I'm selling my Mopho desktop for $200, BTW. I bought it used for $250. I ended up getting a Virus TI so I no longer need the Mopho. For analog, I have a Slim Phatty.

If only you lived in Japan. I'd take that off your hands.

I bought a DSI desktop Evolver about 6 months ago now... It's got great sounding OSC's (2 Analog 2 Digital), and real analog filters.
It's mono but it can do a LOT of variety of sounds.. from basses to perc, and glithches to mad evolving sequences.. I use it in EVERY track

Hd