Waldorf Quantum

This year’s Frankfurt Musikmesse was fairly thin on the ground when it came to exciting gear announcements, but one pleasant surprise did come in the form of Quantum, a mammoth new hybrid synth from German outfit Waldorf.

Quantum is an eight-voice hybrid digital/analogue polysynth with three oscillators per voice. Each oscillator can use one of four sound engines, which offer wavetable and granular sound – both of which can sample from a built-in audio input – along with resonant filter and classic analogue sources. Beyond this there are dual-analogue filters per voice, along with a Digital Former section offering multiple digital filters and effects. A Complex Modulation section, meanwhile, provides a variety of routable envelopes and LFOs.

There’s also a global effects section with three effects slots that can be filled with an ever-expanding range of processor types. Quantum is dual-timbral, and can function in split or layered modes, with each sound routed through separate effects. Around the back it features stereo analogue inputs and outputs, a CV-capable control input, MIDI I/O, a USB port and more.

Quantum is still in development, but Waldorf expect it to drop in Q4 of 2017. There’s no official projected price yet, but its creators say not to expect a price point below the 3000 Euro mark.