The Rest: Waldorf Pulse

Waldorf Pulse

The Doepfer A-100 is not the only analog synthesier in my studio.
Although i am not a collector, I do have some other quite interesting analog machines which I will review in a new section called 'The Rest'

Th first synth that I will discuss today is my Waldorf Pulse... just the plain edition, not the fancy 'plus'-version that was released one year later with CV-Gate outputs and an audio input...
The original Pulse does have the full MIDI in/out/thru sockets and a stereo audio-output.

Waldorf is the German company that emerged from the former digital synthesizer company  PPG,

The Pulse (Years of production: 1996-2002) is a monophonic synthesizer with three digitally controlled analog oscillators and an excellent arpeggiator. 

Waldorf Pulse modulation sources and  destinations

This 3-unit high synthesizer module has 100 patch programs which are divided into 59 presets, 40 user sounds and one random sound.
It has only 4 buttons and 6 knobs on the front panel and a very powerful programming/ modulation matrix.
Besides the more standard modulations, four assignable modulation routes with selectable source, amount and destination allow unlimited possibilities for creating fat analog bass and lead synth sounds.

Waldorf Pulse programming matrix

I have used this synth quite a lot, but it is not in my live-set at the moment. Maybe i should try to integrate it in my current setup... I want to change my studio just a little bit anyway (again)
The Pulse is a very powerful machine, but sadly it is monophonic.
The arpeggiator sounds great and is sync-able via MIDI, making it great for arpeggiated basslines and trancey bleeps.
The 24dB Low-Pass filter is nice but steep, and as you all might know by now, I do prefer 12dB filters...

Waldorf showed the follow-up, the Pulse 2 at the MusikMesse this year.
This is a much compacter desktop- module but it has the same type of programming matrix and many knobs on the front and is backwards compatible with the original Pulse.
It looks and sounds great and it has 500 memories, a large LCD display and up to 8-voice polyphony.
I think i'll stick to the original...

Video: Waldorf Pulse

Video uploaded by mummstylesound