Blofeld love

The Lounge Other Gear
#312

About the newest version 1.24

Last night i was on the Waldorf page and realised that i didn’t had the newest version on my Blofeld.
I downloaded v. 1.24 and installed it. Since I did that i experienced bugs on my beloved Blofeld for the first time! Some values didn’t change, skipped and other strange behaviour!
Before this version, I had V 1.22, and it worked perfect.
I read on the page that a downgrade of the version can have bad side effects. I don’t know if I should try to do a factory reset. Anyone here who already did a factory reset and can tell if it is secure and easy to do?

If you Blofeld is on v.1.22 and works without any problems, don’t do a update! I only did it because some of my custom wavetables couldn’t be imported, but I found out later that i made a mistake with the sysex software settings. I couldn’t find out what exactly changed with the newest version but it’s very likely that it was just a bug fix…

What’s the easiest and most safe method to do a complete factory reset?

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#313

I like the digitone for travelling also, so maybe I’ll stick with that. Of course a used blofeld wouldn’t break the bank…

#314

one of my favs!

#315

1.24 is just an update for the latest hardware revision of the Blofeld (latest units built after august 2017). It’s pointless for other units.

#316

Yeah, despite its bugs and quirks, I wouldn’t get rid of it. Nothing else really competes with it in its price range. I hope Waldorf gets it right!

#317

I just downgraded to 1.22 (from 1.24) yesterday and haven’t noticed any problems.

1.24 was supposed to only include support for the new IC chips, and no new bug fixes or features, but there are quite a few posts on the Waldorf forum, about new bugs with 1.24.

I experienced glitchy values and unresponsive knobs too, downgrading resolved it but I understand you don’t want to take the risk. If you have a very new unit with the latest IC chip then you must stay on 1.24 but for older machines, Waldorf state that 1.22 is the same as 1.24 so I took the risk.

2 Likes
#318

so weird. i keep wanting to rebuy one since there is NO competition in the price range for what it does, let alone what it sounds like. but i hated my experience with waldorf, i had a faulty encoder (skipping around, etc) and after researching tons was never able to fully determine if it is a software issue, or hardware…i wrote the company numerous times to try to get a part number or something,…you know…make sure i got the right one… and never heard back…radio silence. but still, gassing for it again, but then i keep reading about bugs gone wrong…still

#319

Tagging a post here that was from Waldorf a few years back concerning various aspects of program/multi/bank selection and so on

Another nugget i found suggests that if you want to hack a sysex you can forego a proper checksum calc by entering a bogus answer of 127 - obviously you should provide a valid checksum if dabbling in this stuff to prevent transmission errors

I also found a comment from the developers being candid about the sluggishness of the device wrt lots of incoming MIDI so i am a bit relieved to learn my own device hasn’t developed an issue - it really is necessary to throttle the data going to the Blofeld if a parameter is changing quickly (whether by DIN or USB)

3 Likes
#320

Oh that’s good to hear that it works without problems. Did you just download the Version 1.22 and transferred it like a normal update?

My unit is a little older so that i don’t need version 1.24.

EDIT: I just did the downgrade from 1.24 to 1.22. Worked perfectly. Now the encoders are precise again. If anyone is in the same situation, just perform the downgrade in the exact way like doing a update. I used „spectre“ from the official Waldorf page for this.
I‘m glad and relieved that everything is back to normal/bug-free. Can’t wait to get my SL update!

#321

As far I know, the faulty encoders was only with older units. I generally didn’t had any issues (until yesterday when i updated my unit to V.1.24. Actually, the encoders are on my Blofeld are as precise as the OT Mk2. Maybe order a unit in a shop that doesn’t have a Blofeld on storage, so that the shop needs to order a new one from Waldorf. But don’t buy a old second hand, since there is a chance that you will get a old unit.

It’s insane that nobody came up with something similar. Even the Virus which costs multiple times more can’t import custom wavetables or has so many FM possibilities as the Blofeld. Should mine stop working, i will buy a new one instantly. I really don’t understand why there aren’t any hardware synths with similar spec and possibilities. I would have paid even more if it was necessary!
Hopefully there will come a new digital renaissance, and the amount of digital hardware synths increases. Blofeld is already 10 years old, I wonder what would be possible with the current technology and I don’t talk just about more voices. I want a free routable Blofeld/Nord modular G2, with much more space for samples and wavetables, a few knobs more, granular synthesis and more FM options. I would pay a lot for something like that, but unfortunately the new Quantum has only 8 voices. If they would use digital instead of analog Filters, there would be much more possibilities for a more realistic price…

1 Like
#322

I think the analogue hype isn’t over yet. See what Behringer announces (okay let’s wait, what will be realized, but Model-D and Neutrino are real, after all). So will we see “new” digital concepts in the near future? Don’t know.

I think, the most innovative place for electronic music devices are the Eurorack modular world and crowd-funding projects … plug-ins, or apps for iPad.

Maybe we will have a similar story for synths as we had for computers … starting with huge expensive main-frames, changing to workstations, followed by personal computers, ending with small units like phones, tablets etc.

The analogy could be, starting with huge modular all-inclusive synth behemoths, ending with small affordable boxes, which are specialised for this and that task.

Maybe it’s more efficient to buy a Blofeld (wavetables), a GR-1 (granular), a NF-1 (formant), or some modal-filter bank and to forgo the all in one uber-synth?

#323

I’ve updated to 1.24 on my “black” unit. No problems so far. Guess the colour makes it relatively new…?

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#324

Got a “black” unit the other week, brand new, it had those issues out of the box.

You are a lucky person :+1: . Not all units seem to be infected.

#325

You probably right. It is already the case that a lot of producers use only plugins. I sometimes struggle with the fact that i can have almost anything on a laptop. A few days ago i started to make a Track, in FL studio. There are so many things that can be done easily and much faster on the pc. But i always have the problem to get something done, because of the insane amount of possibilities. I really hope that Hardware synths never die out completely. But who knows, maybe the future brings something between like a Controller keyboard with big screen that can load plugins or even a full DAW. I know that’s already possible by connecting a midi controller to a pc… the Modor NF-1 and the GR-1 are very tempting… I probably have to build my own Eurorack/semi modular combination. Until then i will use Reaktor :wink:

#326

What is needed is a controller with lots of knobs and nice OLED screens above the knobs, like in the big new Akai Mpc X, so that it can display the synth/plugin parameters. Not some plastic crap made by Novation!

#327

Ahh… did you not see what I posted that day???

Installing the latest, newest OS update on any machine is never a good idea unless it has something you really need and you know from people testing it that it works OK…

#328

I read it basically a hour after I updated! XD if I had read it before i would not have done it. But a believe the bugs occur only on the older modules which didn’t need this update!

1 Like
#329

I hope you can fix it… So Waldorf are saying that downgrading back to 1.22 is bad?

#330

I recently hooked up a Machinedrum to the Blofeld… and realised that the MD can p-lock ANY MIDI CC on each step…not just 6 fixed CCs but many more can be p-locked …as well as program changes on each step… mind=blown!

I did get the Blofeld stuck (not responding to note off) by sending lots of CCs at the same time… but with careful usage the possibilities are ridiculous!
Before I knew it it was 3 am…

3 Likes
#331

I did this but with mnm. Mnm and blofeld together is a great digital sound combo. I assume digitone and blofeld will also work well together.