Kronos, Waldorf Blofeld, Omnisphere.

[Diego5150]

Lester,
As stated previously Omnisphere is a deep and amazing soft synth, that coupled with the Kronos as a controller would be great and being that I have heard a lot of the awesome music you have composed would be a nice fit. I say take the leap and enjoy it.

[runningman67]

Thanks Diego and everybody.

[seapea]

Omnisphere is superb. But it does not operate as Standalone. Need to run it in a DAW. I use it in Ableton to compliment my Kronos sounds. So another thought is if the $499 for Omnisphere is an issue, and you have a Mac, then go for Daw MainStage, for $30. It has synths built in, and now has Alchemy included. And at a later date, you can buy Omnishere and use it in Mainstage, as a AudioUnts plugin. You would by then be familiar with Mainstage. There are also many third party patches for the Mainstage instruments.

[geoelectro]

Omnisphere is superb. But it does not operate as Standalone. Need to run it in a DAW.

Although it doesn't run standalone, there are many free VST hosts. A full DAW it not necessary.

http://bedroomproducersblog.com/2011/05 ... lications/

Geo

[Diego5150]

Omnisphere is superb. But it does not operate as Standalone. Need to run it in a DAW.

Although it doesn't run standalone, there are many free VST hosts. A full DAW it not necessary.

http://bedroomproducersblog.com/2011/05 ... lications/

Geo

That is 100% correct Geo. I use it in Mainstage 3 as a live rig and as well as Daws Logic X and Studio One 3

[QuiRobinez]

I am not very technical, I play at home, I am scared of software synths and I am not wealthy and approaching 50.

What about this line up.

Kronos 73 (best synth ever)

Waldorf Blofeld. Brilliant keyboard, action , perfect learning tool for 50 year olds who don't sound design (yet), fun, affordable. Perfect MIDI controller too?

Omnisphere. Monster for me but the final chapter?

Sounds like a great setup, i don't think you need the blofeld once you have omnisphere, but the blofeld is a great synth.

Omnisphere is a soft synth, personally i think it's the best synth available in the world. I think it's way better than any hardware synth available at the moment (including the kronos). But be prepared, it's also a really complicated synth. Most people i know are using omnisphere as a preset player where they select a preset and play it.

But once you dive into the programming possibilities you will discover that it goes really deep. You can:
- program your own envelopes
- create morphing filters between types (programmed through envelopes or assigned to controllers)
- can use ''vector' type of modulation,
- it has a fantastic Virtual Analog synth including models of most of the famous analog hardware synths.
- It has a supurb Granular Synth engine that can do lot's of exiting stuff.
- You can assign any knob to any controller or envelope (like the Kronos AMS features).
- The arpeggiator is programmable
- Gate features are programmable
- There are gigabytes of samples which you can completely transform into other type of sounds with the internal engines.
- the Sample and Virtual Analog features are extensive including harmonics, unison, FM synthesis, etc...
- The effect section is large and really good
- there are ton of Filter models ranging from standard filters to emulations of for instance moog filters
- flawless integration with an iPad APP
- Live performance mode with 8 selectable sounds that you can assign yourself.
- you can use your own samples (drag and drop) in most of the omnisphere engine
- And the list goes on and on........

I can say only one thing, Omnisphere is incredible!


Now the downside of Omnisphere:
- you need an extremely fast computer to run this, especially when you use things like the Granular engine and the FM features it is quite CPU hungry
- You need a VST host to run it
- the learning curve is huge (probably longer than the kronos learning curve, if you want to get everything out of omnisphere)
- you need a lot of diskspace to run it
- it's a little bit technical to use in combination with the kronos (i've added a demo below how i do it in cubase)

But if you have a computer to do this, then i would really suggest to add omnisphere for your kind of music to the kronos. Don't be intimidated by the complex learning curve, you can start really easy to use it as a preset player (most people do that) and then when you need more features, just watch one of the tutorials on YouTube for that section.

Here's a demo where i play a small part live with omnisphere and the kronos
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Kd23OjFZjz8" frameborder="0"></iframe>

[Poseidon]

I have just grabbed new white Waldorf Blofeld Keyboard Synthesizer.
I could not resist Boxing Day specials.
Hopefully my Blofeld will enrich kronos Combis and preserve some polyphony.
I was glad that accompanied Spectre software despite been old is 64-bit ready!

When it arrives I am planning to get three Sound sets instantly:

1. Pure Mood by von Dr.-Ing. Christian Gritzner

2.Analog Voltage by Don Solaris ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfosO1Y ... e=emb_logo )

3. Electric Body Machinery by Ari Ahrendt

... perfect learning tool for 50 year olds who don't sound design (yet) ....

I am curious, are you serious here.

[Liviou2004]

I love my Kronos and it has taken me on a journey, promised me everything and delivered. With thanks to QuiRobinez and this superb forum.


I am not very technical, I play at home, I am scared of software synths and I am not wealthy and approaching 50.

What about this line up.

Kronos 73 (best synth ever)

Waldorf Blofeld. Brilliant keyboard, action , perfect learning tool for 50 year olds who don't sound design (yet), fun, affordable. Perfect MIDI controller too?

Omnisphere. Monster for me but the final chapter?

I would humbly appreciate your thoughts.

This is a so vast question !
IF, as you say, you are scared with software synth, you shouldn't choose Omnisphere. As Qui said, this software is more complicated than Kronos !!!

Each Kronos' owner gets his own experience. The question is : what should you get to add something different ?
On my side, I've bought a Moog Grandmother because it is very simple to use (it is a semi-modular), it gets a punchy, rich and beautilful analog sound, it is not very expensive, and you can plug it into Kronos analog entries toward effects.
The Behringer Deepmind is a interesting option too, not very expensive. A polyphonic analog sound with a very rich effects section. You could go and see Mike Conway youtube chanel (alias Scoopicman) for example or some others (with Deepmind 6 too).
Many Kronos' users add a Deepmind (6 or 12) to their Kronos.

[Lightbringer]

I have just grabbed new white Waldorf Blofeld Keyboard Synthesizer.
I could not resist Boxing Day specials.
Hopefully my Blofeld will enrich kronos Combis and preserve some polyphony.
I was glad that accompanied Spectre software despite been old is 64-bit ready!

When it arrives I am planning to get three Sound sets instantly:

1. Pure Mood by von Dr.-Ing. Christian Gritzner

2.Analog Voltage by Don Solaris ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfosO1Y ... e=emb_logo )

3. Electric Body Machinery by Ari Ahrendt

Congrats! Will be interested to hear your impressions about it.

[yeskeys]

Omnisphere does indeed have a standalone if you want to use it that way.

The only downside to running as a standalone is that is will not listen to midi clock. You have to manually set the tempo.

[Poseidon]

Congrats! Will be interested to hear your impressions about it.

Thank you !!!
You're not gonna believe it.
This afternoon I was coming back home, and Blofeld was waiting for me at the door, the parcel supposed to arrive on 2 January. Well …. Happy New Year to myself … ( To you too, and to all Korg Forum Members ! )

I have no time to do anything ( The Party is 5 hours away )
I only plugged in, and made a general check, so far, no defects found.
The look is 10/10, build quality - it looks solid, but only time will tell . I like the heavy gear, not a plastic one.

The Mod and Pitch wheel is fantastic !!!!!! Much much better than Arturia's KeyLab ( but, this is only my opinion )
For me , A pleasure to work with it.



The Keybed is really very nice. I've actually noticed that my other controller Arturia KeyLab MkII have a feeling of cheaper Blofeld, not far behind. Arturia have definitly tried to copy Fatar.

After new Yr I’ll be back here with more details and my workflow with Kronos.

Once more HAPPY NEW YEAR!

[Lightbringer]

Nice! Not sure how much time you’ve spent with it yet, but wondering if it’s a good complement to the Kronos sounds? I would think so if it’s based on a wave table synth since the K doesn’t really have that.

[Poseidon]

Nice! Not sure how much time you’ve spent with it yet, but wondering if it’s a good complement to the Kronos sounds? I would think so if it’s based on a wave table synth since the K doesn’t really have that.

It’s definitely a good complement to the Kronos.
it’s sounds totally different.
Someone has described nicely - “It a huge chunky robot, that can cry”

Regarding the sounds.

In my opinion 1/3 of factory patches are CRAP, some are just amazing. The good news is that there is a HUGE community distributing free/paid patches.
One of them is Fabio Barbon for example ( https://blofilled.neuma.studio/ )
I have already installed Analog Voltage ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfosO1Y0nds ) sound set. TOP CLASS !!!
My next buy will be Pure Mood ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVZB4nQO82E ), but first I have to sort out the factory patches. The management of patches is very easy, and flexible. I use snooze SysEx librarian ( macOS ). No problems at all. There are other tools ( incl. Editors ) that I am planning to investigate in time.

Bugs, common internet complains etc …

So far I can tell you that the Encoders work perfectly, and Patch Dumps work very well too. My unit was manufactured in 2018 yr ( Made in EU ), shipped firmware was 1.24, and I have already updated to 1.25 ver.
Blofeld outputs are unbalanced !
To match Korg kronos output volume, a mixer trim ( I did +14dB ) is required.

The GUI and Controls are simplistic but they just work. It could not be done any better - Genius Design !

Reviews by SOS magazine:

Waldorf Blofeld (Desktop) -> https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/waldorf-blofeld
Waldorf Blofeld keyboard -> https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/wa ... d-keyboard

Currently I am in the middle of making a COMBI for Kronos/Blofeld.
Once is done I get back, and share my experience.

[Liviou2004]

Happy to see you enjoy your new kb, Poseidon.

As there are very few encoders on the Blofeld, you could plan to use all the Kronos encoders in external Midi CC mode in order to drive Blofeld parameters.

[Poseidon]

Happy to see you enjoy your new kb, Poseidon.

As there are very few encoders on the Blofeld, you could plan to use all the Kronos encoders in external Midi CC mode in order to drive Blofeld parameters.

Yes I could, but there is a better option, I have Arturia keyLab MKII ( https://postimg.cc/8fmt22ss ).
But I am faced with a dilemma. KeyLab is plugged to Kronos via USB and serves as:

- pads
- extra faders and knobs
- above all, I’ve discovered a feature or bug ( not sure ), which serves me well. If I assign the keyLab to any timbre that on Kronos is connected to KARMA module, Arturia somehow bypasses it. So I have two sets of keybeds that plays the same timbre, but one with KARMA, the other without.

My Arturia KeyLab is to be a permanent extension to kronos.
I can always reconnect cables for a day or two if I work with Blofeld.