3rd Wave

[LoboLives]

Funny enough I was watching an Edgar Froese video last night with him playing in his backyard. A PPG Wave 2 and Oberheim OBX on top of it.

The idea of a
Groove Synthesis 3rd Wave (I still hate the name)
and an Oberheim OBX8 is mouthwatering.

[LoboLives]

Someone did bring up a good point tho

"Waldorf Blofeld: 3-osc wavetable/VA/rompler synth with 25-voice polyphony, 16-part multitimbrality, user's custom wavetables and wavesamples (60MB sample memory), 4-octave Fatar keybed with aftertouch, metal case, arpeggiator, 16 slots mod matrix, effects etc, and all these at $1,250 in Sweetwater. In Europe you can buy it at €800/$860 from Thomann.
Tell me a really serious reason Why this new wavetable synth costs $2,545 more (or $2,935 in Europe). Tell me also Why this $3795 / 3-osc. digital synth has a 24-voice polyphony (and not at least 128) and 4-part multitimbrality (instead of 16).
Don't tell me the stupid "coz it has analog filters" or the more stupid "it has 70+ pots" or "it has 1 extra octave"."

[LoboLives]

Looks and sounds incredible

"You can record audio in and it will convert it to a wavetable in real time."----

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Beea7XxyfEo

[chysn]

Don't tell me the stupid "coz it has analog filters" or the more stupid "it has 70+ pots" or "it has 1 extra octave"."

The price difference is largely due to 3rd Wave having analog filters and 70+ pots, in addition to having an extra octave.

Also, I don't think I've ever heard anyone describe the Blofeld's sound as "incredible."

[LPF83]

From Bob's Linkedin page:

"DSP design work for the Prophet 12, Pro 2, Prophet 6, OB 6, Feedback Module, Prophet Rev 2, Prophet X, Pro 3, and Prophet 5. Designed and implemented all anti-aliased subtractive, additive, and noise based waveforms for the P12, Pro2, Prophet X, and Pro 3. Designed all effects in the Prophet 6 and forward."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEi3zVtHZUk

[chysn]

From Bob's Linkedin page... etc.

That's a really impressive CV!

The Pro 3 got me interested in wavetable synthesis. These days I realize that the Pro 3's wavetable is sort of a simplified system, with one oscillator, few reference waveforms, no control over interpolation, relatively low sample rate, a small wavetable memory, etc. It's fantastic in the context of being part of a larger analog synth, and teasing the true power of wavetables, but...

...but damn, 3rd Wave is awesome. I think the price is pretty much right where it should be. Maybe after all the kids are out of college! Meanwhile, I'll make due with Pro 3 and Serum, which isn't anything I should complain about.

[LoboLives]

From Bob's Linkedin page... etc.

That's a really impressive CV!

The Pro 3 got me interested in wavetable synthesis. These days I realize that the Pro 3's wavetable is sort of a simplified system, with one oscillator, few reference waveforms, no control over interpolation, relatively low sample rate, a small wavetable memory, etc. It's fantastic in the context of being part of a larger analog synth, and teasing the true power of wavetables, but...

...but damn, 3rd Wave is awesome. I think the price is pretty much right where it should be. Maybe after all the kids are out of college! Meanwhile, I'll make due with Pro 3 and Serum, which isn't anything I should complain about.

I'm still super hopeful that the rumored Sequential synth that was scheduled for later this year (and likely Dave's last synth) is a VCO/Wavetable hybrid. It seems like a no brainer and honestly, as incredible as the 3rd Wave looks and sounds, I'd still go for a polyphonic VCO/wavetable synth from Sequential (with 2 wavetable oscillators, control over interpolation etc. ) Perhaps with two engines like in the PX (One VCO and one Wavetable) where you can choose if you can enable and disable each engine and mix and match.

[LPF83]

Matt is an absolutely incredible musician and I always love to see a new video from him.
But what in the hell is going on here from about 24-45 seconds in... lol.  Or is it just me?

https://youtu.be/duPz7SYj38E

[Soundquest]

Ha, that is a weird little moment  .        Neat looking instrument, but I'm maxed out unless a PEK REV2 comes my way.

[LPF83]

So, it looks like the $3,800 price tag was just a marketing gimmick, they now want $5k.

On principle, that just rubs me the wrong way.  I suppose I will need to mark this one off my wish list.

[Quatschmacher]

So, it looks like the $3,800 price tag was just a marketing gimmick, they now want $5k.

On principle, that just rubs me the wrong way.  I suppose I will need to mark this one off my wish list.

That was when they were available directly from the manufacturer. The markup is at least partly due to the dealers’ cut.

[LPF83]

That was when they were available directly from the manufacturer. The markup is at least partly due to the dealers’ cut.

Perhaps you're right.... I've personally never seen the cost of direct vs retail differ by such a large percentage, but if that is in fact the case then I shall be voting....with my wallet....against the notion of inordinately high dealer markup.

[Soundquest]

yeah, my "gas" was getting riled up for a bit watch' the videos, then seeing this price quelled that quick enough.   Not ever owning the original PPG myself, and considering much of the third wave's intent to copy that sound....  I wonder if as an alternative I could copy those waveforms into the Summit for example, and get some of the same vibe.  Wish the Hydrasynth could take new waveforms, might be an easier interface for that.

[LPF83]

yeah, my "gas" was getting riled up for a bit watch' the videos, then seeing this price quelled that quick enough.   Not ever owning the original PPG myself, and considering much of the third wave's intent to copy that sound....  I wonder if as an alternative I could copy those waveforms into the Summit for example, and get some of the same vibe.  Wish the Hydrasynth could take new waveforms, might be an easier interface for that.

As much as I would like to own a 3rd Wave, the bottom line for me is that digital sounds are well represented enough among the other synths I have (like P12, Hydrasynth, Virus, SH-4d etc) so that the price point would have to be really compelling for me to bite (notwithstanding other issues like physical space).  I have the Waldorf PPG Wave plug-in, and to my ears it does sound legimitately like a PPG Wave, contains the original wavetables, and at least in a mix wouldn't be distinguishable.  Then there are plugins like Serum that are mind bogglingly flexible.

I would most certainly love to own a real PPG Wave, but even then the reality is it would be mostly for nostalgia, which with a look-alike synth I'm only getting a facsimile of that nostalgic experience.

But everyone has different needs, so maybe it's not overpriced in everyone's mind.

[LPF83]

https://www.gearnews.com/groove-synthesis-introduces-3rd-wave-desktop-wavetable-synth-module/

A desktop version is becoming available.  I would have preferred to see a lower voice count / lower priced model, but maybe some will be interested.