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 are 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.

fvsr

December 27, 2011 @ 12:17 pm

People have been using mainly the Access Virus synths to make trance music, but I've seen the Nord Leads and the Roland V-Synth doing a good job too, but I don't know about the Waldorfs in pro trance music scene.
I have both boxes.
IMO, the Micro Q is has more precise contour of the sound, filters cut beautifully, upper harmonics sounds very good.
Blofeld's isn't so precise, it has kinda a "foggy" sound, the filters don't cut as good as the Micro Q, the upper harmonics are someway "closed", but despite all I've said it sounds very good and it has been used in ambient tracks (Youtube).

Giacomo

November 18, 2011 @ 11:02 am

What do you think: it's better this or the blofeld for making trance? :)

hawkeye

May 11, 2011 @ 5:51 am

Update to the last post - the Waldorf Micro Q really sounds great and has a unique "tone", unlike other VAs - a little aggressive, metallic, and great in the mix. I haz made a little demo featuring it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH56FQ1gX8Y

Enjoy & Best regards,
Hawkeye

Hawkeye

May 3, 2011 @ 5:23 am

Received an omega (75 voice) micro Q rack last week, and am totally blown away by the sonic possibilities - can´t believe it sells for around 300 EUR - highly recommended.
Use the freeware java editor for creating/editing patches, which is very useful to design sounds.
Regarding the minimal control surface of the rack: the four encoders are ok for live playing (modify filter cutoffs, adsr changes) after the patch has been created in the editor.
Layering patches is a dream - really no sonic limits here, if one patch is not expressive enough, create and layer a slightly different patch.

Rob Ocelot

March 26, 2011 @ 11:27 am

Something to watch out for is the Micro-Q Lite which is a stripped down version with more limited polyphony (max 12), less effects, and some other differences. This was software upgradeable to a full Micro-Q much like how the current Blofeld has a sample memory option (ie the full hardware is there, you are limited by firmware).

I've noticed Micro-Q keyboard prices have weirdly soared recently. The keyboard was made for a short time (less than a year) but it never really was a high demand item. I wonder if Blofeld owners are driving up the price trying to get a Blokeys on the cheap?

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