Waldorf Intros Black Blofeld, Blofeld Keyboard

Waldorf Blofeld Black

At the 2011 Winter NAMM Show, Waldorf introduced versions of the Blofeld and Blofeld keyboard in black.

Why?

Because, according to the company, “black sounds better”. Or maybe they got our note about colors for electronic music gear.

Here’s what Waldorf has to say about the new Black Blofeld:

Deep in the subterranean Waldorf Laboratories, our scientists have finally discovered the finish that delivers the best sound. We almost had forgot about them when the resurfaced and proudly presented the result of their almost endless struggle to find the ideal material: Neither Mauve nor Lavender nor Ochre result in optimal sound, but a special electron absorbing coating in deep black.

The explanation is simple: as more absorbed electrons reach the inner digital and analog workings of Blofeld and casue each bit to be stronger pronounced, resulting in a very defined and detailled sound. This makes our new Black Blofeld sound even better than before.

The new black Blofeld is produced 100% in German Schwarzarbeit and is available only on the black market.

If you’ve had a chance to try out the new Black Blofeld, let us know if you think the special deep black electron-absorbing coating delivers optimal sonic results.

37 thoughts on “Waldorf Intros Black Blofeld, Blofeld Keyboard

  1. At least this makes more sense than a $4K electric piano. But:

    * It's still not 61-key
    * It's not a new product
    * It'll probably still sell around $1200, while most VAs are launching around $600 now, although the blofeld is a bit more capable it's twice the price.

  2. not entirely true. If it does have major analog circuitry than temperature does play a significant role. Black absorbs light better than lighter, more reflective colors…..like white….temp goes up, sound of the machine changes….that is if it has enough analog circuitry….if not, it is all bollocks…

  3. The keyboard version is a bit expensive, but the desktop is dirt cheap considering the power packed in this thing! Not only it can do VA sounds, but it also has all the Wavetables from the Microwave series and the PPG Wave!! The filters are amazing and when it comes to modulation matrix, no one does it like Waldorf. You can create super complex sounds that you can never get from another VA! It's worth every dollar.

  4. Obviously this is a joke, the colour doesn't affect the sound quality of a synth!
    "casue each bit to be stronger pronounced"
    This really makes me laugh! 😀

  5. At least some folks around here have their humor comprehension modules patched properly. I've always dug the Blofeld sound, and now that black finish is teh hotness. Plus you can load your own samples.

  6. How does Largo compare to Blofeld?
    I mean, is Blofeld a "Largo code" burnt in custom hardware, or is it a different architecture with different features/sound?

  7. No, but it does affect the sound of the spaces between the notes. And they don't make clear whether it's matt black or gloss black – very different acoustically.

  8. HI Tony,

    I heard it was buggy when first released. I've been on 1.5 for months and have had almost no problems with it either while doing sound design or playing it live. I've found one bug in Multi-Mode if you hold a note and change the note range for the layer it then release the key the note off gets stuck. That's about it though.

  9. The on-board display for editing and tweaking patches on the fly and the ability to load samples as oscillator sources and 16-multis with fx are pretty big differentiators against the 600 synths.

    Venom is getting close but is still missing support for sample data and the display.

    I will say that the Waldorf filters for me are also a huge deal. I also can't tell you how much I end up using the feedback from the display while playing – it's pretty great – especially with things like comb filters.

    So, your right, not a new product and this is all about marketing. I'm glad to see them do this if it sells some more boards. They are a small shop and I'd like to see more from them so I have no problem with this notion.

  10. I am glad most people here read posts carefully. I never wrote that the color perse has an influence on the sound of the machine. Loosely, I wrote that the dominant color of the machine will directly influence the way the machine handles lightrays and thus its operational temperature, and consequently the overall sound of an analog machine;
    dark surfaces absorb light better (or reflect the lightrays less) and thus the temperature of the machine will increase substantially (if left in direct light).Try painting your radiator black and see what it does to your energy bill. What color do people generally wear in the dessert? White….
    For all you loveable noobs out there, even a VA synth needs a D/A converter somewhere, and the final analog stage unfortunately opens up a window to external influences(like a heat source) to play a part in how it sounds. Maybe that influence is minute, but it is real. More precisely, temperature plays a role in the way analog circuitry deal with electric currents, the warmer the components the more resistant they become (read up on Ohm's Law and the temperature coefficient of resistivity of the material used in the components). When it comes to digital machinery I will say this, the moment the circuitry of a discrete state machine (a digital computer) warms up, due to use or external factors the chances of leakage/a malfunction rises and, consequently, glitches in the sounds and or operational capabilities of the discrete machine will occur.
    I never claimed what the Blofeld was, VA or Analog or whatever in between… In the future take enough time to actually think about where the joke comes from and to what extent it holds true…If you don't understand the joke entirely, just laugh and let the thinking be done by others.

  11. I thought the joke was pretty obvious… but apparently it was too suble for some people… marketing is a difficult things.
    Anyway, I have a Blofeld Keyboard, and I think, despite being 100% DSP based (as in completely digital) it’s an amazing little synth. The filters sound great, it handles a lot of synthesis methods with ease and can sound from clean and digital, to warm, dirty and analogue.

    The only problems I’ve had so far are that it does not sync to the MIDI clock properly, the sample editor does not work and that the display flickers a bit sometimes… It cost me 500€, and despite the few issues I feel like I’ve spend them well.

    I think the white version looks quite slick, though, if I had the choice, I would go for the black version!

  12. Just ordered a black one which looks superb,my other synths include, Polyevolver, Nord Lead 3, Access Virus TI and Voyager Electric Blue, all much more expensive but I see this fitting in very well, looking forward to receiving it, good little synth.

  13. Hello! I purchase my Blofeld Black from Thomann and together with my Mopho desk and my big toy Ultranova make all my sound better, fat, warm and powerful! I trash all my VSTi! I never back again to play any virtual instrument on my Mac! I'm very happy with my Blofeld, this little machine can emulate without difficult any patches from first Depeche Mode sound, Yazoo, Karftwerk and Erasure synths like Prophet VS, PPG and so on. And the color is very important to creativity and inspiration…

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