Waldorf Quantum Synth 2.0 Update Overview & Demo

At the 2019 NAMM Show: Waldorf Music introduced a major firmware update to their Quantum Synthesizer.

The latest (version 2.0) free firmware for the flagship Quantum Synthesizer incorporates new venture Vision 4 Instruments’ Kernel synthesis engine. Extending capabilities above and beyond the four synthesis engines already available on the Quantum — Wavetable, Waveform, Resonator, and Particle (classic and granular sampling) — Kernel provides a fifth option for each of the three oscillators in its oscillator section.

Here’s a quick overview and demo.

15 thoughts on “Waldorf Quantum Synth 2.0 Update Overview & Demo

  1. you get three modx´s for the price of one quantum, and the modx sounds at least as good as the quantum. $4,299 for the quantum is nuts imho.

      1. The MODX is limited to AWM (Yamaha’s canned sample playback) and FM synthesis. The Quantum has wavetable, traditional, granular sampler, resonator and with the 2.0 upgrade the new kernel synthesis. The wavetable is capable of speech synthesis and wavetable generation from user audio. The Quantum also uses analog filters.

    1. It’s a bit steep alright but it’s certainly more interesting than the MODX. The MODX looked like a complete pain in the arse to program. And it looks like a piece of shit with a cheap tablet stuck on. That stupid Big Knob or whatever its called. Rubbish. It does have a broad palette of sound alright, the FM and FX in particular are very good. But the sample based stuff sounds crap.

      Quantum is expensive but its definitely in a completely different league to the MODX.
      Waldorf should make a cheaper rack version

      And comparing hardware to software is a boring and old cliché at this stage. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages and quite obviously they attract different customer demographics for different reasons so your argument there is basically nonsensical

  2. What can this do that the Waldorf Blofeld and new Waldorf Kyra can’t?

    Or maybe another way to ask that question is, are the Blofeld and/or Kyra enough? Yeah, I know; the word enough makes any answer subjective.

    1. The Blofeld is great, but tech has changed a lot in 10 years. The effects on the Blofeld are pretty weak, by today’s standards. And the Quantum can do so much more. Plus the analog filters just sound good.

      But even if the Quantum was just Blofeld repackaged, that would still be interesting. I’ve always thought the Blofeld was a good synth, stuck with a crappy interface. The Quantim actually looks fun to use.

  3. Main difference between quantum and blofeld/kyra: analog filters. I’m mostly questioning why the Kyra is necessary, when you can get a blofleld.

    1. And it’s got a few synthesis methods not in the Blofeld or Kyra
      Granular, Physical Modelling and whatever is in this new update
      Some kind of FM Kernel synthesis?
      It can sample itself internally or you can load your own samples
      The granular engine with those dual analogue filters is not anything you can really buy anywhere at the moment. Except maybe in Eurorack or plugins

  4. There is loads that the Quantum can do that blofeld/kyra can’t (beyond analog filters). Granular and resonator synthesis for starters. On-board sampling and wavetable creation and of course the upcoming 2.0 mentioned above which sounds like a great advancement. Is it worth £3.5k? Well that depends entirely on personal circumstances. Does it sound better than a MODX? Again, entirely subjective. The synthesis palette offered by the Quantum is clearly far broader than the MODX. Indeed, beyond Kyma (which I own) I can’t think of a piece of hardware/software that offers what Quantum does in terms of synthesis. It’s a great looking piece of kit with a fantastic interface. My concern on spending £3.5k for this would be that it’s ultimately a computer in a box and therefore is only really as good as the operating system…Waldorf aren’t exactly known for their ability to squash all bugs successfully.

  5. This is a really powerful synth, but they need to get some serious sound designers working on patches, because what I’ve heard so far hasn’t wowed me yet. I want to hear sounds that I couldn’t make on a K2500 or a Virus.

    1. Gjenk, I own a quantum and I can tell you some of the stock patches are out of this world good. I never heard a demo on youtube or anywhere else that can really do it justice.

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