Ableton Forum

I know there's a ton of information online about the Novation Ultranova vs the Waldorf Blofeld keyboard, but I haven't found a lot to do with Ableton adaptability (especially for the Blofeld). If you have experience with them, would you recommend one over the other and why? Why did you get yours?

- I'm looking for a good synth with focus on sound that is able to be used as a midi controller as well.
- I like the Ultranova because of its versatility
- I like the Blofeld because I want more keys to play with (49 vs 37 on the Ultranova; never owned less than 49 before and I feel like that would be too cramped. Thoughts?), and also because of the build quality mentioned in reviews
- Does either of them transmit/record MIDI for arpeggios?
- Which incorporates into Ableton better? Issues? Bugs? (Ableton specific)

Thank you!

aj1 wrote:I know there's a ton of information online about the Novation Ultranova vs the Waldorf Blofeld keyboard, but I haven't found a lot to do with Ableton adaptability (especially for the Blofeld). If you have experience with them, would you recommend one over the other and why? Why did you get yours?

- I'm looking for a good synth with focus on sound that is able to be used as a midi controller as well.
- I like the Ultranova because of its versatility
- I like the Blofeld because I want more keys to play with (49 vs 37 on the Ultranova; never owned less than 49 before and I feel like that would be too cramped. Thoughts?), and also because of the build quality mentioned in reviews
- Does either of them transmit/record MIDI for arpeggios?
- Which incorporates into Ableton better? Issues? Bugs? (Ableton specific)

Thank you!

I have an ultranova. It integrates with Live acceptably. No arpeggio midi, AFAIK. It is capable of great sounds, and is easy to program. Less expensive than the blofeld.

However: Tweaking certain params on certain patches can crash it. Automap causes Live 9 to fail to start. Not muti timbral. Some people have reported issues with the touch controls. The editor VST is good, but switching patches causes the audio stream to cut out.

i would say blofeld.. i have the blo desktop build quality is first rate (steel not plastic) all controls transmit midi, integrates with live fine via external instrument .. blo does not send midi from arp .. i hate to say it but blofeld blows ultranova out of the water in versatility .. the only things that it has over the blo is bus power, 3 extra fx slots and a vst editor.. in blo you get nearly double the voices multi tibrality more filter models with awesome drive curves ...128 wave tables + user made wavetables .. you get 60 meg of sample ram so you can use any sample as an oscillator .. and extra lfo and an extra loopable 5 stage envelope

novation mininova here. similar to ultranova. no midi arpeggios either. vst editor is ace, seems to be better than whats available for blofeld. if integration was my main concern, i'd get the novation. sound and buildwise blofeld. just my 2 cents.

I owned a Ultranova, and actually just sold it about a week ago.

It works fine as a midi controller if you can live with the Automap software (I had no problems making it work with Live 9). But I would say go with Blofeld. You will love having 49 keys instead of 37. Also, the Ultranova can't really make any sounds that you can't get out of Analog or Operator in Live, whereas the Blofeld has a different sound, so you will get something else. And the build quality is better on the Blofeld. Just my two cents…

- Alex

I sold (reluctantly to fund Push) my desktop Blofeld a couple of weeks ago. I still have an older Nova II keyboard. Had the Nova been the module and the Blofeld the keyboard, I would have sold the Nova because I wanted to keep a keyboard.

Another option could be a desktop Blofeld and a separate midi controller. Cheaper than a keyboard Blofeld. You could also consider a Nova module with them too.

alexdecker wrote:Also, the Ultranova can't really make any sounds that you can't get out of Analog or Operator in Live, whereas the Blofeld has a different sound, so you will get something else.

For the VA sounds, this is definitely true. The filter in the UltraNova sounds different to me. The wavetable and ringmod sounds are more difficult, but maybe possible with Operator. Of course, the Blofeld should be *very* good at wavetable sounds. I've been contemplating selling the UN and getting the Blofeld. I don't use the vocoder at all and the 'touch mod' things are fun at first, but I don't find them all that useful.

pgmjsd wrote:

alexdecker wrote:Also, the Ultranova can't really make any sounds that you can't get out of Analog or Operator in Live, whereas the Blofeld has a different sound, so you will get something else.

For the VA sounds, this is definitely true. The filter in the UltraNova sounds different to me. The wavetable and ringmod sounds are more difficult, but maybe possible with Operator. Of course, the Blofeld should be *very* good at wavetable sounds. I've been contemplating selling the UN and getting the Blofeld. I don't use the vocoder at all and the 'touch mod' things are fun at first, but I don't find them all that useful.

Right there with you, in fact, my Ultranova is in a box waiting to go back to Guitar Center tomorrow. USB audio from the Ultranova was a better concept than a reality for me. I've been working with the Waldorf Largo VST and if they put as much effort in to the filters in the Blofeld as they did the Largo, it's a huge win. It's either that or a Virus, just like everyone else...

Thanks for all the feedback, everyone! I really appreciate it
The Blofeld seems to be a winning combo.

The lack of many knobs is kind of a drawback but I'm going to be working with it in the "studio" 99% of the time, so I think I will be fine not being able to mess with all the settings in real-time, yes? I'm not sure about the Blofeld's capabilities, but I'm sure it has a wide range of settings to play with too

I was looking at midi controllers since some of you mentioned getting the Blofeld desktop. I'm still a beginner so beginner's question: What would the lack of the MIDI Out (on the desktop version; present on keyboard version) limit me from doing? as far as recording with Ableton Live 9 goes?

Blofeld desktop has midi out via USB if that is any help.

That is interesting because my Supernova2 does transmit the arp MIDI.