Nord Lead 2X or Waldorf Blofeld Keyboard ??

[Alf7787]

Hey guys im wanting to add a now keyboard to my studio and want to know your thoughts on these? (Nord Lead 2X or Waldorf Blofeld Keyboard ??)

I will also be using it as a midi controller and only have $$$ for 1 of these.

It will be joining my virus TI and sherman filter bank. I make all kinds of music from big dirty breaks with in-your-face bass to soft ambient and movie score type stuff.

I would like it to be able to do solid bass, leads as well as pads and play nice with my virus ti 'as well as offer something different'.

I would like it to fit in well in most mixes.

Thanks in advance!

anyone who has used both would be awesome!!

[vixapphire]

if using as a midi controller too, get the nord; the pitch/mod interface is the rosetta stone like leap in ergonomics of our time. you can always add the blofeld sound later if you need it, but by the style you're seeking sound for, the nord will balance your other generators nicely.

and the pitch stick and mod stonewheel are hands down winners over all other left-hand interfaces.

[relis]

NL2X + Virus TI would ba a great combination. Despite the all differences between TI and Bloefeld, the is certain overlaping too. NL2X, on the other hand, would be great for classic sounds you mentioned, to complement Virus. You can run it thru Virus for some great effects.

Go for a Nord!

[mike912]

don't waste your money on the nord, just get this,

discoDSP - Professional Audio Plugins

I got this about a month ago as an early christmas gift to myself, have a nord rack on my laptop right?

so anyway, I dump all my sounds into this thing by sysex data and start doing a comparison between the synth and the software. some sounds changed because the disco dsp plug has a lot of mod-able parameters that the nord does not, these ended up sometimes having massive modulation amounts where the original sound had none, otherwise its perfect. they are exactly identical soundwise, quality, texture, smoothness all that.

the disco plug has the ability to modulate every parameter on it in a way that the nord rack cant.

I sold my nord rack 2X yesterday, and have no regrets. I got $600 for the used rack unit and basically made back $500 over the $100 tag for the softsynth, which replicates the sound style and quality perfectly.

I wouldn'trecomend buying thediscovery pro, as its $200 instead of $100, and all you get is a few more filter types and another set of oscilator layers.

oh yeah, its also 4 parts per instance, as in a, b, c and d parts are all played from the same midi note, like having all for nord tracks on multi mode if you want, but then you can just add another instance and you never run out.

with the money you save buy a remote sl for your control needs, with the disco dsp plug and my remote 25 sl I felt I had my nord need covered well enough to sell the hardware unit.

just my experience having had both save the money and just get the sounds and a real all purpose controller. you will get so much more value for your money that way, so much more use.

[vixapphire]

hey Mike,
thanks for the tip; that thing sounds nice; i wish there wasn't so much reverb/delay on all the demos, though.

[wax808]

My Blofeld is in brand new condition. I've had serious thoughts about selling it for the keyboard version. Right now though it is paired with an Axiom-61. I have it set up where I don't really even touch the blofeld, all my filter/lfo settings and program changes are done on the Axiom. It is actually a bit better than the Keyboard Blofeld interface. (Though not as nice as far as fit and finish go)


Waldorf just announced that the Blofeld Keyboard and Desktop units are both going to share the same OS. To me this indicates that you will most likely be able to take advantage of importing samples into the Desktop version also. Waldorf has not denied this, in fact they said that they will have to wait on any announcements until after NAMM.


I love my Blofeld. I can pack it around with my MPC/1000 in a laptop bag. That is a pretty powerful combo and doesn't even need a mixer.


I'm not sure if that helps you or not. That is my experience.

[NEXUS-6]

Waldorf Microwave XTK.
IMO beats both hands down...

Thank me later

[cosmos]

theres no one better then the other. they are all different.

the Nord have its own uniqe sound and in my opinion it is limited for what it can do, it was designed to be a "Lead" synth which it does very well. you could get very strong leads out of it, very nice bass (compared to other VA's) and LFO type of fx. for that use it is very good.
this is why im keeping my Nord 1.

The Blofeld will be far more versible, you could get almost any kind of sound out it, whenever it is Pads or Leads, Bass, FX .. it does very well. it has far more modulation/filters options then the Nord.

The Virus TI could do anything the Blofeld could with a change of sound (Waldorf vs Access). me personaly, i realy love the sound of Waldorf synths, this is why i keep using them & collecting them.. (sold my KC)

bottom line is, it realy depends on your needs and the sound that you like the most. if i would choose btw the Blofeld and Nord as my only synth i would defitely go with the Blofeld. you already got the TI with the (amazing) sherman, the TI cover alot of spots... i say go for the Nord, but FIRST look for YouTube videos of the synths youre after, see what "catches" your ear...

good luck thumbsup

ps- forget about the DiscoDSP..

[mike912]

I'll make a little sample pack of disco dsp sound with no reverb to give you a comparison, probably later tonight or tomorrow.

[rids]

The Blofeld's ability to import samples takes into the expensive Nord Wave territory. I would go with the Blofeld, being able to import samples and synthesis them.

[pyvnd]

Originally Posted by rids

The Blofeld's ability to import samples takes into the expensive Nord Wave territory. I would go with the Blofeld, being able to import samples and synthesis them.

No doubt. Between those two I'd go with the Blofeld keyboard. You get more sounds because of all the digital wavetables and you can use your own samples too.