nord wave first impressions..

lobit · Joined: Feb 05, 2008 Posts: 5 Location: vancouver

having recently received a nord wave, I thought I would post a brief first impression.
firstly i would say there are very few similarites with the nord lead. The overall sound is very different. I suppose it would be possible to get nord lead type sounds out of it but there is something about the basic tone of the keyboard that differenciates it.
the wave's filter firstly makes a big difference in the sound, the lpf in particular, i would call it moogier? it reminds me alot of the novations synths like the ks4. the nord lead filter is alot whispier and is perhaps better for classic pads and strings. too bad they didn't put both algorithims in there.
the wave does great lead sounds very easily, add some tape-delay and a bit of reverb and the lead sounds really shine.
the wave does way more obviously, they included a fantastic analog like dual chorus, which on many patches if you switch it off you might be dissapointed.
the built in samples are quite boring, your typical rompler stuff, the real interesting sounds will come when people load their own in suppose.
I have do say i haven't been about to get many useful sounds out of the cross modulation of samples yet, maybe i need to experiment more. also, i cant see any actual wavetable functionality, modulating a samples position via a modulator does not seem possible. there is the option of turning off the attack part of the sound however.
The metallic edge of the nord lead2 is gone, wether you like this or not is up to you. the wave sounds less real-analog to me because of this but that is just my personal opinion.
anyway, its a great synth, not a replacement for a nord lead or nord modular, but its different enough to be its own thing.
Ironically some of my favorite sounds didn't use the sample function at all.

Blue Hell · Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 1:02 pm Post subject:

Thanks lobit!

also look at : http://electro-music.com/forum/post-170296.html for another review.

plasmid · Joined: Feb 13, 2008 Posts: 16 Location: ro

in my opinion - exc. sound quality.

not as delicate as the nl's.
slightly dark. thick sound.

the slot arrangement, ie. not independent and only 2,
the lack of real time sample start, end, loop, etc. indiv/independent treatment of the samples kills it.

2 outputs should be at least 4 + 2 ins.

i realize part of the cost is due to the exchange rate but
i don't think it's worth the money at this time.

hopefully clavia releases a modular wave, that treats samples properly,
ie. each sample in an instrument (eg. drum mapping) should have its own settings + fx,
real time modulation of sample start, end, loop s/e, duration, direction, etc.

that ud be worth 2700$.

until then - big beautiful sound.