Looks very promising. The amount of sound shaping and modulation possibilities is insane! Unfortunately no FM.
But definitely the most advanced hardware synth on the market.
Still try to decide between buying the quantum or starting a eurorack.
Yeah still canāt believe no FM? Bizarre
Maybe will come in an update, but have a feeling if it was going to be there it would be already. Waldorf synths have all had FM from the beginning
nice read, thnx
Quantumās Komplex Manipulator
On the Quantum there are six LFOs. LFO one to three is connected to the front panel controls, four to six are accessible through the large main interface. All six are also controllable through the Modulation Matrix.
But add to this a thing called the Komplex Manipulator, with six control knobs on the front panel. Itās basically a complex LFO on steroids. The six controls are Speed (frequency), Blend (of two selectable curves), Warp (wave folding for the waveform), Amount (volume), Envelope (you can picture what this does), and Entropy (which is randomness over time). Speed, Blend, Entropy, Warp and Gain are all controllable via the Modulation Matrix. Speed and Gain of all six LFOās is controllable. And the outputs from all seven are sources to the Modulation Matrix.
The Quantum Name?
Perhaps this is the inspiration for the name, with all the quantum flavor charateristics ā like charm, strangeness, color, etc.
AND ā all the LFOs and the Komplex Manipulator goes into the audible range! (How far into audible is not specified.) OK ā so those who seek the Holy Grail of FM see where iām headed with this.
The Komplex Manipulator is rich enough to be an interesting oscillator voice by itself. Combine this with one LFO, as either Carrier or Modulator, and youāll have a unique FM synth arrangement. Or put three LFOās together. Or three LFOs and the Komplex Manipulator. You can see there is many many multiples of combinations and arrangements that could be constructed ā each with separate characteristics and sound.
OR ā combine any of this with any of the four main oscilators ā three of which are out of the ordinary ā for a never before considered FM synth.
This is one of those synths where youāll start pulling a thread here and all of a sudden youāll be transported to some other sonic universe.
from the sound of it, this synth eats your FM for breakfast. Itās like complaining that it does not have the tuning pegs. Few steps behind on the evolution of instruments.
Nobody complained. I read the manual and just stated the fact that there are no FM options, because i knew some people would like to know if it can do simple FM, like most Waldorf synths from the past. But what i read in the manual, it looks like this synth is extremly capable of shaping sounds and it is possible that you can get FM like sounds just by using the waveshaping functions and the ringmod. If i wanted a FM synth i would buy a Yamaha Montage.
Nice, I didnāt realised that. Good to know. Iām really excited about this synth. The resonator alone is a huge feature. I think granular is perfect for layering with wavetables. First I thought it is too expensive, but after reading the manual it looks like itās worth every cent! If i would try to build something like this with eurorack modules, it would cost me soooo much more, especially if I want to get 8 voices!
Canāt wait to try it out!
At this price it should have FM and crack me a beer while Iām at it 
Here is a little preview from a German website:
I already have full blown GAS! Would be interesting to know how much it would cost to create a desktop version without analog filter. Iām really excited to hear one in person.
Playing the samples in a ānormalā non-granular way, would allow LA synthesis! But i donāt think it will replace the classic romplers and sample player. Itās probably not like the clavia Nord stage where you have different samples for the same key.
I hope the Quantum raise the bar for other upcoming Synthesizers.
The Dual Analog Filter is an interesting feature.
The downsides to me are:
- The filters are low pass only.
- Theyāre mono - the only mono part of the whole synth.
- They clearly add to the expense of this synth.
Weigh this against the upside:
- The filters sound awesome.
- You can move them around, and put them in series or parallel with the digital filter and skip them entirely.
- The dual (two) filters together are out of the ordinary, and you immediately hear the two separate resonant peaks.
Plus there are all the various ways you can modulate the two separate filters, so that they play against each other. I know i will be using them and distinguishing the various modes they operate under for musical purpose.
I got thinking about what it would take to do this in a modular (Eurorack) system, Youād need two filters and a mixer, all under CV control. But then youād need multiples of these ā again under separate control. Itās an awful lot of patching on a modular to match with all the options on the mod matrix ā and with the Quantum itās as quick as a push on the touch screen on the Perform page. The mod matrix is pretty easy to use too.
Iāve been trying to figure out exactly how many Dual Analog Filters are actually in the Quantum. Still canāt quite figure it out. I wish there was a functional schematic for the Quantum in the manual.
But Kari ā a reduced system at a lower price is a good thought. Without the Dual Analog Filters this is then a purely digital system. The circuitry for the dual filters no doubt add a considerable expense. Perhaps Waldorf will do a desktop version. Could they ā without the analog parts ā do like Axel Hartmann did with the Neuron, turn this into a computer based software only system?
The physical part of this synth is so special though, well thought out and realtively easy to use for a synth with this amount of diverse voicing.
BTW
Please correct me with any factual errors, iām still learning about this unique synth.
Oh what lowpass only? Every synth needs a highpass.
No FM and no highpass
I will pass
Given that Axel Hartmann is the ādesignerā for the Quantum, i have been wondering how much of the Resonator synth part on the Quantum came from the Resynators on the Neuron. There is some resemblence, but iām thinking the Resonators are quite different.
I want to hear the use of a sample instead of the impulse signal on the Resonator. I donāt think itās been demonstrated in a video yet. That is more for a wind or bowed sort of sound. I also havenāt heard an example with multiple impulses ā you can program it to have up to 16 impulses.
Iām wondering what this all sounds like? Rolf said that using a sample with the Resonator sounds āfunnyā. Not sure that is a precise translation to English on his part.
This will certainly be a low volume specialty sort of instrument especially at that price.
The digital filters are plenty robust and have all sorts of options. And itās up to interpretation about this synth not having functional FM synthesis as i indicated earlier. There is no button saying FM thatās for sure, itās just the four other modes ā three mixed together simultaneously for each of the eight voices.
If I understood correctly then, there are 16 analog lowpass filter in the Quantum. 8 are 12db/O and 8 24dB/O. I love this configuration on the A4. But iām not sure if it wouldnāt be better if waldorf used 8 multimode filter. Because if you need a band or a high pass filter, you have to use the digital former. Which means that you canāt use the comb filter, drive, Bit-crusher etc.
Here a short list of the digital filter types for those who didnāt read the manual:
- Nave LP 12/LP24
- Nave HP 12/HP24
- Nave BP 12/BP24
- Nave Notch 12/24
- PPG LP12/LP24
- Largo LP12/24
- Largo 12HP/24HP
- Largo 12BP/24BP
- Largo Notch 12/24 (s it possible that Largo uses the same filter model as the Blofeld? )
- Comb + / Comb -
But the good thing is that the Quantum has a EQ on board (every Synth should have one!). With the EQ i could lower the volumen in some cases to save up the digital former for some comb filter fun!
I imagine it would be interesting, if you could send the grain samples from granular into the resonator, but I donāt think this will possible. Thatās where the Eurorack would be better, you could just patch from granular into a resonator.
Building a Quantum like setup on a modular would be so awesome! Itās basically where i am right now. I try to decide if i go modular or buy the quantum. But on a modular i would need to buy 8 Moduls for every āengineā. 8x Wavetables, 8x Granular, 8x Resonators, 32x filterā¦Of course if I would go modular I would choose a system with only one voice but 2-3 Oscillators.
Or whatās more likely. A combination of hardware synths that i own with a modular case:
I thought of my Virus ti2 Desktop for the Wavetable stuff, my A4 for some nice analog oscillators, OT for samples and for granular, i would buy the GR-1 from tasty chips. I would use a midi splitter so i could play them all together with one midi controller. The signals go into the Eurorack mixer module. Then from there, some signals can be routed into a resonator like āRingsā or āElementā (from mutable Instruments). Other modules i thought i would need to buy would be, waveshaper, wavefolder, EQ, a subdivider, Ring mod modul, and of course the usual EG, LFOs, Midi and clock, and other small utilities. Of course some nice filters and Rossum Electro Music Morpheus Z-plane filter.
But I have no idea if this would even work. I would use the hardware synths only for the raw sound, the envelopes would be part of the Eurorack. Maybe the Octatrack as midi sequencer.
The Eurorack/hardware hybrid solution would maybe cost a little bit more as the quantum, but it would be much more flexible. FM would be possible. And I could upgrade the whole thing in feature!
If Waldorf would make a slimed down Version with only digital filters then the would also save the money for the converters. Right now the signal starts digital goes through a D/A converter for the analog filters, then it goes back into digital (A/D) and if I understood correctly the signal is send through another D/A converter. Quantum minus 16 analog filter, minus 2x Converter, minus Fatar Keys = affordable desktop 
Excellent post Kari ā Iāve been thinking similarly as well.
My motivation on this thought is to evaluate the economic value of the Quantum.
WARNING: This is a long and boring post ā so please just skip it. Itās pretty stupid too.
The first thing i did was to put together a list of all the other top end synths available new today ā it was like 25 synths. OK itās apples and oranges ā how do you compare the Quantum to the Yamaha Genos, or the Korg Kronos ā but the Quantum stands out to me. The closest i came was the Modal 002, and itās $4500. (Nice synth btw.)
After that i actually thought of creating a thread with the purpose of taking a specific hardware synth and creating a software synth that would have very similar performance and character. This is a crazy idea, so letās consider it here.
So one approach would be to build a virtual modular like with VCV Rack or Softube. Iāve concluded youād need a really fast parallel PC for this ā like a workstation with the Xeon 10 core processors or suchlike. They can easily be the price of the Quantum by themselves. And you know what; i donāt think i could make anything that approaches the capability of the Quantum. And i doubt something like Softube is even up to the task ā though it would be pretty awesome on its own.
Another approach would be to put together a whole lot of VSTs, around some DAW. Waldorf fortunately makes the NAVE VST, but thatās a single voice and we need up to 24 of them. So this is impossible.
Iām not sure quite how Waldorf has done what they have done. The Quantum has got to be a multiprocessing machine. I have enough computer architecture design experience to understand somewhat of how this would be possible ā and you donāt need to use extreme performance processors to accomplish this ā just a flexible parallel architecture with good data-flow.
So anyway iāve concluded that if you seek what Waldorf has created ā a state of the art high performance synth with diverse and definable sound qualities, then they have constructed a very reasonable priced offering in the Quantum.
Very interesting! I had similar thoughts of creating something like a virtual Quantum, with software.
I love VCV rack, but for such a task, i would tend to use Reaktor 6. Just because it allows the creation of a custom GUI. But you are absolutely correct, the computing power would be immense. Even if it was possible to create all the engines, the latency would probably way to height! Itās very possible that the quantum uses multiple cores. I have a few years of experience in programming. My theory is that Waldorfs programmer wrote all the important functions for the sound engines and manipulations in assembler language. The rest is probably a very optimised form of multi threading between the cores, like you already mentioned. (Virus Synthesizer, for example, are coded complete in assembly, for the same reason).
The GUI part is probably C/C++ code.
I even did some research into the VSTi documentation from Steinberg, but unfortunately i have zero experience in sound programming(I always used libraries for sound, in my own programs). But there are even applications that are basically VSTi Editors. I need to to more research, to decide if it would be possible, to do this with a editor. The reason why VSTi and not Reaktor would be the compatibility with DAWs and the fact that the complete GUI could be created from scratch, with multiple windows, and context related sub menus. With VCV and Softtube modular, you would need to re-patch everything if you wanted to use a different engine.
I tried to build a resonator with āaudulusā (I highly recommend this software, you may like it too). The resonator consists (in my case) of 16 bandpass filter, and multiple super short delays. You can send a simple click from a noise Source, or even envelopes, into the resonator and it results in a bell like sound, depending on the resonance and delay times etc. A little bit like a comb filter. But 16 filters are not enough four a good resonator. My resonator alone eats almost all the computer power!
But definitely a nice experiment.
I have NAVE on the iPad, would be interesting to connect the output to the input from VCV rack, and from there into a DAW. The cool thing on VCV are the (free) Mutable instrument modules. (I think the are called āaudible instrumentsā). The module āModal Synthesizerā and āResonatorā is basically what i kind of expected from the resonator of the Quantum. Iām sure you already used those. Ironically since i use VCV, i want to start a eurorack even more, mainly with the āMutable Instrumentā Modules XD
VCV has even a granular sampler modul, but i need to do some research, it kind of doesnāt what i want. Basically we have all the building blocks, but in different applications. If you want Quantum like sounds you could create a part in VCV, save the results and import them into a DAW sample player. From there the sounds could be played and processed further. Of course this makes only sens for some experiments. Then there is the thing with the standard Oscillators. The Quantum allows super-saw like wavetypes. Not only for the saw, but for all the other standard waveforms. Like super-sine, super-squares ect. I have no idea how I could achieve this without programming my own VSTi.
The complex Modulator would be easy, (āmassivā has a similar function for every LFO), EQ, Compression and the fx engines could be done by using the DAW plugins. Granular would be relatively easy to program, wavetables too. But thatās only in theory. If i would try to recreate Quantum in a VST plugin, i would probably need a few years and the endproduct would probably suck, uses all the cpu resources and the sound would not even be nearly as good as the Quantum. But it would be super cool to have a plugin that can be as flexible as the Quantum, and unlike the hardware, it could be upgraded with new features, filter models, multistage envelopes and other cool things. Plus, i would love to create my own GUI! It may sound strange but I have no idea how waldorf could build this thing for such a ālowā price. Of course itās expensive but if you analyse the hardware, itās kind of a awesome deal. A Eurorack case with those features would be gigantic in size and price!
Sorry for the long post!
Fun fact: The Q has 79 dials on the control panel.