One of the coolest tricks this synth pulls off is packing the wavetable legacy of Waldorf's legendary Microwave and PPG waves into a sleek, affordable keyboard—those edgy, bell-like tones from '80s hits are right at your fingertips, now supercharged with sample playback.
At its heart, three oscillators per voice blend virtual analog waveforms, 68 classic wavetables (including Microwave II/XT and Q models), and your own 60MB of imported samples, with FM between oscs, syncing, ring mod, and noise for endless sound design. Dual multimode filters (low/band/high-pass, 12/24dB/octave, even PPG-style) come with filter FM and two drive stages featuring curves like tube saturation or Q drive, plus three LFOs (syncable to MIDI clock, audio-rate fast) and four loopable envelopes feeding a deep 16-slot mod matrix. It's 25-voice polyphonic and 16-part multitimbral, with a programmable 16-step arpeggiator, two effects slots (chorus, delay, reverb, etc.), and over 1000 factory sounds. The 49-key semi-weighted action feels great with velocity and aftertouch, paired with pitch/mod wheels, octave buttons, seven endless stainless steel knobs, and a crisp 128x64 graphic display—all in a sturdy white metal chassis (740x275x100mm, 8kg) with internal power, stereo outs, and headphone jack.
Players love its versatile, aggressive sound palette that nails everything from fat basses to evolving pads, though some note the fixed knob layout means menu-diving for deeper edits. It's a desktop powerhouse promoted to stage-ready keys, delivering Waldorf magic without breaking the bank.