Wavetable Surfing | Waldorf PPG Wave 3.v | In the Box | | Thomann

[@l0riz624]

I don't know why, but there's something so special about this synth. The sounds this board produces, are so unique and beautiful. Thanks for the history and the demo!

[@crominion6045]

Exit, White Eagle, Poland, etc...Great albums and great memories.

[@umbertoyltp]

Thank you for putting the PPG at center stage. My first encounter was after the words: "Dominion Londen, thank you for being patient. Please welcome ... Tangerine Dream!" I fell in love with the metal brightness, eerie choirs, warbled tapestries from another world. For me it was the second synthesizer revolution, after the modular Moog took the world.

[@ThomannSynthesizers]

Really glad to hear you liked tjat.. so many new wavetable synths, I thought it important to celebrate the original! Thanks for sharing your thoughts 🙏🏼//Jason

[@carriersignal]

Logos was an album I listen to regularly over the years if not so much recently. For many many years it was in constant rotation. Glad to see someone else who appreciates it. Perhaps I need to break it out again.

[@ImplosiveCatt]

Can't miss the glassy metallic sound of wavetables.

[@mattdelany6799]

I have a 2.3. It really is a 4 trick pony. It cuts through a mix, and it just sounds expensive. It can also sound super brash.

[@carriersignal]

When I think of The PPG Wave I immediately think of Rupert Greenall from The Fixx. He made use of this synths capabilities about as good as anyone in mainstream music with his evolving and blooming sounds. I remember in the early 80's, that sound seemed so otherworldly and new. It was truly a great era for synths.

[@ThomannSynthesizers]

Wow- The Fixx, there's a blast from the past! Super 80s vibes! //Jason

[@aliensporebomb]

Greenalll is a GENIUS PPG programmer. Seriously.

[@reSEQUENCer1]

A nice presentation of a great emulation. It was good that you mentioned Wolfgang, the father of wavetable, who is an absolute genius. I worked for the Australian distributor in the early 80s when 2, 2.2 and 2.3 were released. Such a unique machine. 3.V is a great plugin, especially the sounds & samples contributed by Wolfgang, himself. Thanks again.

[@reSEQUENCer1]

@@ThomannSynthesizers yes, I use his iOS apps on my iPad, as well.

[@allehooop]

@@reSEQUENCer1 Sadly there are not on the App Store anymore. Impossible to buy it

[@spotlight-kyd]

Some other artists or acts that absolutely should be mentioned in connection with the PPG Wave are Propaganda, Chris de Burgh and Saga

[@getjervis]

Wonderful! Thank you for sharing.. it's such a legend and there are bound to be so many cool artists who I didn't mention.. Keep them coming! //Jason

[@mudi2000a]

It was also often used in Italo Disco tracks

[@knrtn439]

finaly! somebody mentions Saga for once🤩😍

[@bourianboubbov9937]

Wow! Chris de B.??! Back in the day as youngster at the beginning of my obsession I didn't know why but I loved his stuff From 85/86 thereabouts... now I know! Saga too? Yeah!

[@MPHORROCKS]

Nice to see an update. Hopefully Waldorf will realise they have a very marketable relevant product on their hands and not some second-rate nostalgia-trip vst. Re-sizeable GUI please!!!

[@xp50player]

I hope the patch browsing and gui scaling gets improved one day.

[@andrewgarley1400]

I nearly bought one for £400 but the guy said it was very unreliable. Never actually used one but it's been an Iconic Synth for me. The VST price is excellent. I saw Gary Numan in Milton Keynes was a low turn so I could stand next to the stage and admire his PPG

[@ThomannSynthesizers]

Wow! There's a story.. At least you now own the software and have access to the existing library! I think you probably dodged a bullet too - the plugin always works! //Jason

[@benjaminm.81]

Wonderful presentation. I picked this one up because of you ;)

[@RustyTonesJr]

Waldorf M!!!! Only place to buy Waldorf is Thomann!!!

[@rsover]

The synth sound is nice, could be interesting, but the UI is so awful that is a blocker in using the product, especially on a big high res monitor. Even navigating presets is a challenge. 😔

[@mark35mi]

This was brilliant. WOW... what a synth. Excellent presentation of this instrument. Thank you.

[@ThomannSynthesizers]

One of my all-time favorite synths - glad you enjoyed it! //Jason

[@arkasonus7678]

I would love to see a hardware desktop version of a PPG wave... I know Behringer is working on a keyboard but they might consider a desktop too 🙏🏻...

[@jansonrawlings8169]

Isn’t that what your computer is when this is loaded up? 😉

[@arkasonus7678]

@@jansonrawlings8169 no. Hardware synth is a different thing. It's not only a VST in a box. And the original PPG has analogue filter which is a big difference.

[@na2718]

Such a great reviewer. Thanks!

[@ThomannSynthesizers]

Thanks very much! So glad you enjoyed the feature! Love the PPG too 😍//Jason

[@stratofargus]

Gary Numan (on my photo) released The Fury album in 1985 with loads of awesome PPG sounds all over it..one of my fave albums,i love this vst,its superb..great vid

[@jeffc1753]

The breakdown in Kiew Mission (Tangerine Dream) has to be a PPG…probably my favorite track with it!

[@ThomannSynthesizers]

Very possible as Exit is very likely one of the first albums to feature the Wave 2.. //Jason

[@jeffc1753]

@@ThomannSynthesizers Didn’t know that, thanks for the info!

[@wd25a]

It's all over Exit, especially this sound in Kiew mission. Now unfortunately a Kiew mission really means something, and that nuclear threat is upper most in people's minds again too.

[@jeshkam]

​@@wd25aSadly yes.

[@sambritt2672]

This thing is unreal love some dark 80s synthesis

[@ThomannSynthesizers]

Yes it is! Brutally so.. //Jason

[@eagletown8977]

A Broken Frame album whilst somewhat underproduced owes its character to Martin’s PPG in a big way. PS. Great review 👍

[@ThomannSynthesizers]

Yes - Sparse and so digital! My Secret Garden Intro.. just saying.. Glad you enjoyed the presentation //Jason

[@MJ-tg6wb]

Saga ( another Canadian group ) used one as well for their Worlds Apart album. Rush was a big influence too.

[@ThomannSynthesizers]

Ooh good spot.. a great prog group - Love how Rush use synths too! //Jason

[@ryandschingis3804]

I played the first generations of waldorf plug-ins. I don´t like the sound. Because I once had a chance to play with the real one. A friend of mine could borrow one from his work-place. We both just started out on synth and had a hard time to get sounds out of it but I really fall in love with the digtal charakter. And while the first versions sounded awfull to me this one seems pretty good. And you presented it with so much love that I´m willing to try it out one more time. I really love the waldorf sound but their products are often too buggy for me - so help me god - let this vst hold through the test. Thanks for your vid.

[@ThomannSynthesizers]

Thanks, I'm glad you thought so.I have my fingers crossed that you'll find it more rewarding. I have yet to have my hands in an original, but it's definitely one of my favourite synths of all time! All the best //Jason

[@zxbryc]

I mean the 2.V and 2.2V aren't that bad to my ears. I've heard they are less accurate though compared to the later 3.V, so if authenticity is important, 3.V is the way to go. There's also a free plugin that is supposed to be accurate, but not as user-friendly.

[@Rose_Arcana]

Really a GREAT episode! I totally get lost in the PPG history and love wavetable synths in general. You could do episode after episode of Wolfgang Palm and PPG. I AM so into all these old synths coming out as vst's, way less money to buy not to mention the maintenance costs and problem of finding someone who can work on them. I think I picked up the PPG Wave 3.v for $20 or 30usd on sale. Absolutely awesome to own.

[@ThomannSynthesizers]

Thanks! Happy to hear you enjoyed this one.. I’m a big fan, think that probably showed! And synth history is so interesting too.. enjoy!! //Jason

[@watchaddicts1213]

I’m very late to the party, but…a question: My version 3 plugin by Waldorf sounds nice. Poor LARGO 2-they made a soul-less larger. I can UPGRADE my soul-less tiny, numbers and letters unreadable, for $35. TINY is where I’m heading. In an age where I often can fill my 27” iMac screen, POG 3 looks like a postage stamp. I have a pair of eyeglasses designed for the builder of miniature models (little flashlights outside each lens, flip up per lens. Even wearing those, at which point I look like an insect, I cannot easily read the info in THE GUI. So, tell me, where do you click to scale the GUI to, 200% ?? This would be my Christmas Gift!! Thanks and great show!

[@timschulz9563]

Was this plug-in used on Tour de France Soundtracks?

[@ThomannSynthesizers]

The 2003 Kraftwerk Tour de France soundtrack was made using soft synths.. so it's very likely //Jason

[@guillaume5469]

2:32 Trisomie 21 (La Fête Triste)

[@adam872]

Rush - Grace Under Pressure was both my intro to the synth and the band. So many great PPG moments on that album, right from the wavetable intro in Distant Early Warning. I also recall Saga were into that synth as well and it features on their track Intermission and albums like World's Apart.

[@carriersignal]

Yes, IIRC I believe Geddy said that the PPG was very inspirational for him during that time. The intro to Distant Early Warning has always been one of the baffling mysteries of 80's synth sounds. Even though a PPG was used on that album, how certain are you that it was produced using a PPG? One of the most curious sounds ever.

[@adam872]

@@carriersignal I'm as certain as I can be on that without obviously asking the man himself. That sound (at the time) could really have only been produced by a wavetable synth. The PPG was all over that record and you see Ged playing it live too.

[@carriersignal]

@@adam872 Thank you for commenting back. I have no reason to doubt that it could have been the PPG. You are right that there was little at the time that could have produced a sound like that. I have always thought that whatever the sound was created from, it was some form of heavy modulation and then treated with lots of reverb. You can hear it in various forms throughout the song. Interesting to discuss things like this. I would like to contact Geddy through their website, but I doubt he would answer or even see the email. I will probably buy the PPGv software. It is pretty inexpensive.

[@matthewjessup8584]

I love the opening PPG stabs on Gary Numan "your Fascination" Is that the clipper wavetable ??

[@Chasing_Thoughts]

Maybe they were hinting at the Kong modwave?🧐

[@turnerthemanc]

Enjoyed this, thanks every time you played something, you were basically playing White Eagle by Tangerine dream. Perhaps the death knell was.....nobody ever said "I dont want to use a piano, theres a piano in 'Bohemian Rhapsody', or I dont want to use a guitar, theres a guitar in 'Brown Sugar' No one ever used the Synclavier patch from the start of 'Beat it' ever again (unless they were playing 'Beat it')

[@ThomannSynthesizers]

I love Tangerine Dream, although mostly the 70s era.. I will be now listening to White Eagle. Interesting observation - the PPG may have had its day, but the ripples it caused are perhaps more relevant today... //Jason

[@turnerthemanc]

@@ThomannSynthesizers tell me what you think of white eagle. Its my favorite. Johanns Schmoelling had joined by then. He was classically trained. I think he brought some composition to the band

[@ThomannSynthesizers]

@@turnerthemanc I've been listening to it ever since - I wasn't sure to begin with - but it grew on me lots! Title track is especially good - thanks for sharing! //Jason

[@entropybentwhistle]

Does this software pack also have PPG360 presets?

[@ThomannSynthesizers]

I don't think so. But if there is, they're not labelled. //Jason

[@michal.ochedowski]

Can anyone write what's the release date of the latest PPG Wave 3.V installer? Have there been any updates after 2011? Perhaps someone can share actual user experience in Windows?

[@TheMelon9106]

Waldorf would be one of the best synth makers on the market if they instruments wouldnt be buggy and faulty as fuck! See the Blofelds encoder issues which is technically unsolved for 10 years (!) and the Iridium has a dozen of software issues also.

[@dxmat]

I agree.

[@HammyHavoc]

Yes, was very interested in the Iridium on paper, but the reality turned me off.

[@bourianboubbov9937]

Haha! Sadly therez lots of truth to this statement. My Waldorf collection Attack, The Filter... sth-D always crashed my old G4, then G5 and somon... even now... unstable at best. Largo, same thing. Nave bit of a PCU hog... BUT... Pulse (1, cosi don't iwn the new one)!! I have three Pulses and they ALWAYS make me smile. Oh yeah and shout f..k F/ck all the time!! It's literally sweet spot after sweet spot!!!! But yeah. Tried to connect my Blofeld ONCE to a modern Mac the latency was like half a bar!!!!!

[@amonster8mymother]

I ha e this one.

[@smallek2626]

May Eq The Sounds Propperly and Overdrive The converters and Recapture.it Could.be a Good Experiment. to bring it to The Theretory of the Orginal Pahsedestortion behavure of.The original.

[@harmoszka500]

I have it. Sounds nice. But the menu is, in my opinion, completely unreadable.

[@missshaification]

Brumle

[@nichttuntun3364]

The wavetables and the details are great. But overall it sounds like a plugin, lacks dimension, punch and clearness. It's a pale shadow of the original. Plugin developers are not capable yet of emulating powerful hardware circuits, that makes synths alive and kicking. It's sad.

[@ricokrs6329]

Try out Hermann Seib's Version. Waveterm C/Wavesim. It's a bit clunky but sound-vise it's the real deal.