Ableton Forum

Hi guys

Just got a Waldorf Q Rack.

Very nice piece of kit, i got the Micro-Q a while ago and never got into it because of the lack of knobs and control of it, the Q Rack is very nice hands on control and sounds great.

The sequencer is also very useful and its got a nice appregiator and it was only a couple of hundred pounds!!

Anyone else got one of these ?

xpl2003 wrote:Hi guys

Just got a Waldorf Q Rack.

Very nice piece of kit, i got the Micro-Q a while ago and never got into it because of the lack of knobs and control of it, the Q Rack is very nice hands on control and sounds great.

The sequencer is also very useful and its got a nice appregiator and it was only a couple of hundred pounds!!

Anyone else got one of these ?

I sold every one of my synths except one.

I sold an Acces Virus C, Novation Nova, Korg MS2000R, Roland JX-305, and an Alesis Andromeda A6.

I kept a Waldorf Micro Q - that's it. It is really fine sounding, and I found it easy to program... But then I use it with a ReMote 25 controller, so I have a few dozen knobs n' buttons n' sliders etc. Agreed, it's a bitch to edit by itself, but with a controller it's a breeze.

I would like a full size Q rack, but not one of those hideous yellow ones - I'm diggin on the deep dark blue.

If the arpegiators are the same, I am very satisfied with the arp in the Q series. Incredible control over accent, timing, and everything. Very impressive.

how come you sold the Alesis Andromeda A6??

ct43 wrote:how come you sold the Alesis Andromeda A6??

I was gigging a lot at the time. I would program a wikkid sound, and then to go to a gig I would have to pack it in a flight case which weighed in total 74 pounds. I would have to pay oversize baggage penalties on airlines, due to the dimensions and weight.

So, I started leaving it at the studio (it was literally too heavy to move around all the time)... But then I would not be able to use the sounds I created. I didn't like recording audio phrases and resequencing, I played the keyboard live instead.

So, since I couldn't play those wikkid sounds live without the Andromeda, I didn't program it much anymore - what was the point in making a good sound when I wouldn't bring it to a gig to play? So, I decided to go portable.

I sold 27 rack spaces of gear on ebay, including the synths I mentioned in my earlier post.

The Andromeda was excellent, I was very happy with it for programming my own sounds. For editing the presets, it was a nightmare - there was no one place for modulation... To get back on topic, In the Waldorf Q all your mods are in one place, I think they call it the mods page or the mod matrix. It's similar to the Virus or the MS2000. Anyways, on the Andromeda, each mod was associated with the applicable knobs. The mods for the filters were buttons located by the filters for instance.

What that means is that if you're editing a preset sound and there's a warble or "thingy" in it that you don't like, there isn't one convenient menu to go to to find what's modulating what. It's a million trial and error tweaks, and it sucks. That's why it's better for programming, cause you know what all your mods are.

I much prefer the mod system on the Micro Q.

And honestly, the sound of the Andromeda was excellent. The Q and Virus were different - the Andromeda was "chunky" and made good freakyness. The Virus was all about aggression, and the Q is all about smoothness and liquid. You could do a 303 style growler on the Q, but it won't "growl" like the real thing or the virus. Likewise, the Andromeda could do some really slimy slick pads, but when you A/B it against the Q, it's onboard effects didn't cut the mustard... The Q is just Liquidy. No other word describes it better for me.

I found myself using the Andromeda for mono-synth baslines 90% of the time. So, I really didn't need a 16 voice multitimbral synth for that, and I decided that if I ever want another analog synth, I would get a Waldorf Pulse... 2 Rack spaces is much more portable than a 74 pound flight case.

Long answer to a short question... sorry!

thanks man, Ill consider the editing nightmare when getting one.. they do sound wicked though.

I recommend the Waldorf Pulse BTW, really easy to program, sounds wicked + like you say its only small so... + you can get them really cheap for some reason.

I´ve a blue Q Keyboard (1st series with wooden ends) and I love this machine.
It´s more than a regular VA, because you have FM and Wavetables.
The sound very powerfull and flexible, but with a special character which can sometimes be annoying.

You can get very cool sequencer lines when you trigger the arp with the step sequencer. If you use the sequencer line in verse I then try to add an arp to the sequencer line in verse II and you have an instand variation

Another very cool thing about the step sequencer:
If you use "S.CV1 run" to modulate something you can use the step sequencer without having to enter notes. It works just as some kind of 32 Step Modulator / LFO.
I´m currently working on programming an 8 band filterbank for my Q. It´s nearly finish, I just need some time to tweak the frequencies.

I own this machine for 3 years now and I´m still discovering cool new features.

BTW. Have you tried http://electro-music.com/waldorf.php It´s the old Waldorf homepage and there is even a waldorf user forum list where you find the absolute experts (and even some of the old waldorf employees and beta testers)

i have a waldorf microwave xt, great sounding synth also. The filters just sound so smooth. Also it Has an amazing pan delay that i throw everything through. One piece of kit i dont want to part with

mik

waldorf stuff is great, expecially the filters.
I have a microQ keyboard and I couldn't be more happy.
wish I could find a pulse too....


all the best and stay groovy

One thing many either love or hate about the Waldorf synths is the rotary pots.

I personally find them necessary on the micro-Q, but usually I prefer standard knobs with positive stops on the extreme ranges. That way, I can grab n' tweak with FAST movements and put 'em exactly where they started. Very difficult to do with rotary pots, particularly on the Q series where they have this wacky "turn speed sensitivity" thingy - you turn 'em slow and it takes like 10 rotations to go from 0-127, but if you whip 'em around fast they jump from 0 - 127 in one rotation... Not cool for live tweaks, not very reproducable.

HOWEVER;

On the Micro-Q, where you have 4 pots that control dozens and dozens of parameters, the rotary pots are a necessary evil...

What do you guys think of those rotary pots on the Waldorf stuff? Yay or Nay?

In generall the rotarys are fine, but the quality seems to be a problem sometimes.
I´ve severall wiered acting rotarys and a nearly broken shift button on my Q. Luckily I´ve found an echange how-to on the net.

montrealbreaks wrote:
HOWEVER;

On the Micro-Q, where you have 4 pots that control dozens and dozens of parameters, the rotary pots are a necessary evil...

What do you guys think of those rotary pots on the Waldorf stuff? Yay or Nay?

after some practice (a lot of) I managed to get the right feeling with them.
so yay, but only after some practice...

minimal wrote:

montrealbreaks wrote:
HOWEVER;

On the Micro-Q, where you have 4 pots that control dozens and dozens of parameters, the rotary pots are a necessary evil...

What do you guys think of those rotary pots on the Waldorf stuff? Yay or Nay?

after some practice (a lot of) I managed to get the right feeling with them.
so yay, but only after some practice...

Cool, maybe I'll have to look into that then...

montrealbreaks wrote:

minimal wrote:

montrealbreaks wrote:
HOWEVER;

On the Micro-Q, where you have 4 pots that control dozens and dozens of parameters, the rotary pots are a necessary evil...

What do you guys think of those rotary pots on the Waldorf stuff? Yay or Nay?

after some practice (a lot of) I managed to get the right feeling with them.
so yay, but only after some practice...

Cool, maybe I'll have to look into that then...

yeah, but don't expect to always have perfect results.... some "mistakes" are always waiting for you on stage with waldorf pots but hey, the sound of the waldorf stuff is so...err...waldorf that a couple of mistakes are a good deal imho.