Overview
The Blofeld is Waldorf’s small-format synth, sold as a desktop module and as a keyboard. It has three oscillators that can play the usual analog shapes, but oscillators 1 and 2 can also play wavetables taken from earlier Waldorf instruments. The manual counts 68 of them, and the Blofeld page on Waldorf’s site says the set includes all of the Microwave II/XT/XTk wavetables.
Waldorf’s manual describes a Blofeld wavetable as a list of 64 waves you can move through at will. The Pulsewidth knob picks the starting wave and PWM modulation moves through the table, so an envelope or LFO on that amount gives you the classic Waldorf sweep. A Brilliance control adds harmonics at low pitches, which the manual compares to the sound of the PPG Wave and the Waldorf Wave.
The keyboard, and desktop units with Waldorf’s License SL, can also play samples. Those reach the synth through Waldorf’s Spectre app, which handles sample sets rather than wavetables.
Wavetables on the Waldorf Blofeld
Custom wavetables on the Blofeld hardware arrive over MIDI. Waldorf’s FAQ on user wavetables refers to prepared Blofeld user wavetables in SysEx and MIDI file form, and gives the classic layout as 64 waves of 128 samples each. Once a table has been turned into those SysEx messages, you send it to the synth from any app that can transmit SysEx or play a MIDI file. The message format itself isn’t in the Blofeld manual; the people who build Blofeld wavetable tools work from a format posted on Waldorf’s user forum, according to Johan Norling’s write-up.
WaveStack exports WAV and Surge .wt files and doesn’t write SysEx, so there’s no way to send a WaveStack table to the hardware directly. The frame size is a second problem. Blofeld waves are 128 samples, and the shortest frame WaveStack’s Other tools export writes is 256, so even a third-party converter would be resampling the table down.
Waldorf’s Blofeld plugin is a different case. The same FAQ says the plugin imports audio-file wavetables as well as SysEx: you set the samples per wave from a menu running from 32 to 4096, files can be 16 to 32 bit, and a table with more than 64 waves (256, for example) can be read with the Full Wavetable Range option, which takes every fourth wave. A WAV from WaveStack’s Other tools export at 256 samples per frame fits those settings. That gets your table into the plugin, not the hardware.
If the hardware is what you want to play, the practical route is a Blofeld wavetable utility that converts audio to SysEx, fed with a WaveStack WAV, then sent to the synth over MIDI. WaveStack can’t vouch for how those tools resample. For why frame size matters in that kind of conversion, see frame size.
Specifications
| Waves per wavetable | 64 |
|---|---|
| Samples per wave (user wavetables) | 128 |
| Factory wavetables | 68 |
| Wavetable oscillators | Oscillators 1 and 2 |
| User wavetable transfer | SysEx or MIDI file |
Things to know
- The Blofeld plugin’s audio import is documented by Waldorf; whether the plugin can send a table on to the hardware isn’t, so don’t count on it.
Frequently asked questions
Can I load custom wavetables into the Blofeld?
Yes, but only as SysEx. Waldorf’s FAQ describes Blofeld user wavetables as SysEx or MIDI files holding 64 waves of 128 samples, which you send to the synth over MIDI from any app that can transmit SysEx. There’s no card slot or USB drive import for wavetables on the hardware. To start from an audio file, you need a separate Blofeld wavetable utility that converts audio into that SysEx format before the transfer.
Does WaveStack export Blofeld wavetables?
No. WaveStack writes WAV and Surge .wt files, and the Blofeld hardware only takes user wavetables as SysEx. WaveStack also can’t write the 128-sample waves the Blofeld uses, since its shortest export frame is 256 samples. You can still export a WAV and hand it to a third-party converter that produces Blofeld SysEx, but the conversion and the transfer happen outside WaveStack, and the result depends on that tool’s resampling.
Can the Blofeld plugin read a WaveStack WAV?
According to Waldorf’s FAQ, yes. The Blofeld plugin imports audio-file wavetables as well as SysEx. You set the samples per wave from a menu running from 32 to 4096, and the file can be 16 to 32 bit. Export from WaveStack with Other tools at 256 samples per frame and choose 256 in the plugin. Tables longer than 64 waves can be read with Full Wavetable Range, which takes every fourth wave.
Why is the Blofeld’s wave size so small?
The Blofeld keeps the layout of earlier Waldorf instruments: 64 waves per table, and 128 samples per wave for user tables, according to Waldorf’s FAQ. Short waves hold fewer harmonics than the 2048-sample frames most software synths use, so a table made at 2048 loses top end when it’s squeezed into 128. That’s part of the Blofeld’s character. See frame size for how the numbers relate.
Can Spectre send wavetables to the Blofeld?
No. Spectre is Waldorf’s app for sending samples to a Blofeld Keyboard or a desktop Blofeld with License SL, and its manual covers sample sets in XML, Korg KMP, and Waldorf WPC formats. Samples and wavetables are separate on the Blofeld. You could load a WaveStack WAV as a sample this way, but it would play back as a sample, not as a scannable wavetable.