Thanks for the responses so far.
Strange thing about the bugs.
If I would like to control 8 custom patches with the midi from my octatrack, would that be possible?
Or would I encounter a lot of frustrating stuff/bugs trying to do that?
It doesn’t always sync to midi clock properly without small glitches, the arp also doesn’t sync properly, and there are sometimes small glitches if the Octatrack sends program change messages. Also, I never use it myself but I have heard of issues changing multis live.
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Yes.
No.
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You should be fine depending on the voice count of the Blofeld. I had success with a project with 7 Blofeld channels all receiving midi notes & cc.
edit: ah PeterHanes beat me to it 
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Hmm, interesting. Conflicting signals. Seems like some of you are really “bugged out” by its bugginess, while others seem to think it’s fine.
Could it differ from synth to synth?
My idea is to make a liveset fully reliant on the octatrack + blofeld.
So I’d have to load different patches and sets with all kinds of control changes.
Maybe any suggestions for alternatives in the blofeld pricerange?
Synths that work well with the octa, also with multiple patches at the same time?
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No conflicting signals. The Blofeld is basically fine but has some bugs in certain functions that cause some users some irritation.
That’s different topic:
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Top! Thanks. gonna go for it
Really appreciate the swift response and help from all you guys.
Go for blofeld, you will be amazed on how enourmus its sound palette is and how easy is to program sounds from scratch. Enjoy the trip
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Thank you Inakito. I found a second hand one from an old college classmate.
I have never noticed any bugs with my blofeld. Only problem could be voice count. Depending on how you program your sounds they can minimize quickly.
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Amazing synth, amazing possibilities. After many, many hours of use I’ve never had a bug that stopped me from doing what I want. I did encounter the mono to poly bug once. But this is only if you are editing a voice in multi mode I think and switch from mono to poly. I can live with that. Lot’s of “bugs” regarding arp and delay sync and such but many seem to be it not working the way people wished it did. Maybe true bugs - never bothered me and my use at least.
The Blofeld can sound really nice, but don’t expect heaps of polyphony. I found it pretty easy to make patches that turned it into a 4-voice synth. The amazing modulation possibilities are kind of the point of Blofeld, but they also chew through the voice count very quickly.
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Polyphony depending on settings, comb filters reduce it too. I didn’t noticed modulation was reducing it. Sold for a Micromonsta.
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That is a handy chart! Yeah I loved the comb filter but it was definitely eating voices.
I have a blofeld, but I cannot for the love of God read that table… the right part is clear. But the left part I have no clue what most of it means
Left part explains each combination of the 3 Blo’s oscillators:
- 0 = classic wave form (square,saw,…)
- X = oscillator off
- WT = wave table
- SMP = sample
Example, on line 5, the oscillator 1 is a wavetable, the 2nd oscillator is a classic waveform (let say sine), and oscillator 3 is turned off. In this case, if the unisono parameter is set on 3, the max polyphony will be 7 (Less if you use a comb filter, but the filter type parameter is not used in this chart).
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Yes there is a bug when syncing externally where the arp has a slight delay between the very 1st beat and the second one, thus whacking everything out of sync. I had some email exchanges with Waldorf support some time agi where they acknowledged the issue, saying they were working on it but we never heard back. But when used with a Octatrack, you can use the OT’s midi arp which I think is superior to the Blofelds’ one anyway. A bit annoying sometimes but you get over it easily. The Blofeld is a very good synth for the price.
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Yep, that’s it. I didn’t know about comb filter reducing voices too before I did it.
Feel free to add lines with comb filters!
Ah I see. So using, for instance, a multiple voice wavetable eats up voices really quick.
Means I would have to manage voices and maximize utility if I want to make a full fledged live set with just the octa and the blofeld. But that’s really fine. The guy can send it over this friday. so excited!!
I would like to, but I don’t know how exactly parameters can affect polyphony. Only know a few theory, without precise datas, like filter type, fx, or unison can affect poly. Your chart is the best resource I know about oscillators/unison impact on poly. Thank you for sharing this
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