Waldorf Reveal M, The Reincarnation of the Legendary Microwave Synthesizers

More Superbooth 21 goodness: this time, Waldorf is introducing M, a new hardware wavetable synthesizer that recreates the synthesis and sounds of the legendary Microwave synthesizers.

The original microwave rack synthesizer is still extremely popular today and is in high demand on the used market. Many musicians wished for the reintroduction of these synthesizers and their wish has now come to fruition.

The Waldorf M is not a direct clone of the popular Microwave wavetable synthesizers, but rather the next generation. As a contemporary hybrid wavetable Synthesizer, that reintroduces traditional Microwave and “modern” Microwave II tone generation. The core is based on an 8-voice polyphonic that is upgradable to 16 voices with a 4-part multi-timbral wavetable engine.

There are two wavetable oscillators, Classic Microwave 1 and Modern Microwave II/XT, each with its own wavetable generator. In this case, the wavetable oscillators act differently in both modes. As a result, the Classic Microwave I mode does not support hard Sync or ring modulation. With a 240 kHz non-anti-aliased sample rate, you obtain 16-bit wavetables bit-reduced to 8-bit. The current Microwave II/XT mode has a sampling rate of 40 kHz and band-limited wavetables, but both oscillators — OSC 1 and OSC 2 — offer the same panel parameters.

A periodic waveform with a changeable frequency is generated by two LFOs. Rate and Shape, which can be utilized for modulation. However, unlike other Waldorf synthesizers, M does not include a modulation matrix. To pay homage to the 1989-vintage Microwave, a purposeful design decision was made to place M’s modulation facilities.

At a Glance

• 8-voice polyphonic that is upgradable to 16 voices with a 4-part multi-timbral wavetable engine
• Two wavetable oscillators, Classic Microwave 1 and Modern Microwave II/XT
• Two LFOs. Rate and Shape
• Six (rear panel-positioned) stereo analogue outputs  (MAIN OUT (L/Mono and R) and AUX OUT (A, B, C, and D)
• 5-pin MIDI IN, OUT, and THRU DIN connectors and a USB 2.0 MIDI port
• SD Card slot for updating M’s firmware and importing/saving sound patches
• 96 factory wavetables
• Comes with 2048 sound programs divided into 16 banks with each 128 sounds

More information here. Waldorf