Waldorf Blofeld Black B-Stock

This was my first outboard synth buy. And I am very happy with it.

The build quality is excellent and the design is cool looking. For midi sending you can connect it to your computer workstation via USB or MIDI IN. It does not have a MIDI OUT (it will not send any MIDI messages). Using USB it tends to add noise, however (MIDI is recommended). Additionally it has a phone jack. The knobs feel good, the LCD screen is big enough to understand the tweaking being done. There are possibilities to load other presets from Waldorf home page once you got enough of the factory presets.

The included factory sound presets are nice. You will not have to deal with the harshness the software synth sounds have. The organs (included in KEYS) sound very natural. However, bass sounds are too clean.

However, from time to time it will crash/freeze. For home/studio projects that is not a problem, but it can be a game changer for live purposes. Also the button placement will limit some possibilities as you will not be able simultaneously change filter and envelope settings.

In the end I certainly can recommend this synth taking into consideration it's price. It is a great all around synth.