Vintage Synth Explorer

Waldorf • Micro Q

The power of the Q synthesizer is now available in an affordable 2-unit rack module. Sound quality is not compromised, it sounds just as great as the more expensive Q! The main limitation is that there is less polyphony and only 6 knobs; however these knobs provide access to dozens of parameters at the push of a button. The Q's powerful arpeggiator is also on-board. There is no sequencer, but a rack module is usually destined for use with an external sequencer or controller anyway. There are two independent filters with low-pass, band-pass, high-pass, notch and comb filters. The filters are resonant and can self-oscillate too! There's also a Modulation Matrix where you can route your signal through flexible and complex processes to really shape your sounds. There's also a stereo vocoder and ring modulator on-board. A Voice Expansion board can boost polyphony in the Micro Q up to 75 voices!

The Micro Q is not an analog synth, but it can emulate them very well. It is great for punchy analog bass, 303 lines, synth leads, trance pads, swirling effects, analog drums, percussion, beats, and lots more! It's worth a listen! Wonderful preset sounds, a challenge to program...bottom line is affordable, incredible sounds! It has been used by Somatic Responses, RadioBomb, and Hardmakz.

The Micro Q Keyboard is identical to the Micro Q, but packaged in a handy and portable 37 note keyboard. It also adds pedal inputs, pitch/mod wheels, and some front panel numeric buttons.

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Posting Rules: Please keep your comments relevant! Do not post requests for help, do not use for sales, do not post unless you have something interesting to say about this instrument, or we may delete your post.

 

mike

Posted 141 days ago

i just bought myself a yellow rack mount version on the bay of e (LOL) for US $350. i was trying to get my hands on the Microwave XT but got outbid in the last 3 seconds go figure.

i am equally as excited to get this sweet sounding machine tho. looking forward to getting it. It will have a nice home next to my Moog LP2 and my DSI Prophet '08.

Roby31

Posted 168 days ago

I bought my yellow rack one last week, payed 270 euro. Very easy to program although it has only 4 knobs in the parameter matrix; built like a tank; nice sounding preset sounds and a large amount of other presets downloadable from waldorf's website. It is capable of very rich and complex sounds, while it stil has its own personality. It is definitely worth its cost, especially if you are looking for a nice first synthesizer which isn't limited when you musically grow up; 16 part multitimbrality is a very nice plus while in studio, although you probably won't get 16 sounds at once because of 25 note polyphony which decreases using complex sounds. The Omega has 75 voices and wouldn't probably suffer from the polyphony reduction.
I would definitely buy it again.

Tinnitus

Posted 172 days ago

I got the keyboard version mint in the original box three days ago. I was a bit sceptic of the programming, and since I don't like to mess with presets (especially when they are too techno or whatever) I initialized all sounds and got down with building my own. This way I had to learn it the hard way. And I got it down super fast, I think it's simple to use. Have only owned one synth before (the mikro-KORG, a disappointment I passed on). The sound is awesome, I originally wanted an analog synth, but came over this deal and I'm very satisfied with it! Deep powerful sine-bass with a little lo-passed sawtooth on top, yummy!

Con Baltas

Posted 190 days ago

Waldorf are a German company and make very good synths. I have the yellow Micro Q rack version, here in my studio and I must say its a really rich and complex sounding synth. Unlike many of the older synths, the bundled presets that come with the Micro Q are not only excellent, but very useful for most forms of dance / pop music. It has a bright yet warm sound, due in part to its snappy filters. Digital or analog?, there both right here.

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