Since 1989, the German company Waldorf has been on the market with synthesizers, which are typically characterized by wavetable synthesis. Usually, these are larger desktop devices, often costing in the four-figure range. Now, Waldorf is apparently orienting itself towards competitors like Korg, which offer affordable and small devices with their Volcas, or Roland, which serves this segment with the Aria series. Rumors suggest that the device class is intended to compete with Behringer clones in their price range. However, Waldorf is not reaching the pocket money dimension in terms of price.
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New device class
The Waldorf Protein is an eight-voice polyphonic, digital wavetable synthesizer. It emulates the ASIC circuitry of the 1989 synthesizer classic, the Microwave I, which is sonically characterized by its 8-bit wavetable oscillators with distinctive aliasing and quantization. The two oscillators per voice run at the 250 kHz of the original ASIC circuitry.
In addition, the engineers complement it with effects, an arpeggiator, a sequencer with 32 steps, and the chord mode of the modern (and significantly more expensive) Waldorf Iridium. The effects are therefore very high-quality. These include chorus, delay, drive, EQ, flanger, phaser, and reverb, of which two can be used simultaneously.
Decent features
The four-way multitimbral mode is unseen in this price range so far. The eight voices can be played in four layers – either on four individual MIDI channels, in round-robin mode, randomly, or naturally simultaneously. Each layer can have its own MIDI channel and use its own preset, so that in a DAW, for example, a complete piece with plucks, pads, and bass can be played at once.
In addition to the usual options, the filters also offer Dirt. This "dirt" roughens the sounds a bit and makes the texture more interesting. "Dirt" currently offers the options Geiger counter, noise, crackle, click, and bursts.
The modulation matrix with eight slots allows programmatic control of various parameters using LFOs. A rotary knob named "Flavor" provides fine detuning of oscillators and filters, thus creating a more organic sound. The Protein supports velocity sensitivity, aftertouch, and MPE.
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Available connections
The connections include USB-C for power supply and computer connection (USB MIDI). To avoid unwanted noise, the manufacturer includes a USB filter for galvanic isolation in the box. In addition, two 3.5mm jack sockets for MIDI In and Out with TRS-A assignment are on board, for which Waldorf provides matching jack-to-5-pin DIN MIDI adapter plugs. Two 6.3mm jack sockets are provided for the stereo output signal, one of which (left) can also transmit the stereo signal alone via a TRS plug; the right output socket must then remain unoccupied. A headphone jack for 3.5mm jack is also available. There is also an on/off switch.
The wavetables are equipped with the original data of the Microwave I – custom ones cannot be loaded. From this, device developers, artists, and musicians have created 224 presets that can be used ex-factory. For example, Blush Response, who also plays in the band Frontline Assembly, contributed around 40 presets. The first firmware update to version 1.0.1 has already expanded the original 250 preset slots to 360.
Under the hood
Inside the Waldorf Protein, beneath the display, is an Espressif ESP32-S3 R8 with 8 MByte PSRAM, flanked by 8 MByte of flash memory. The Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) PCM5102 from Texas Instruments can convert stereo PCM data streams up to 32 bits at 384 kHz into an analog signal. This is somewhat oversized, as the oscillators oscillate at 250 kHz, but the Protein internally calculates at 44.1 kHz, as Waldorf CEO Rolf Wöhrmann revealed in an interview. There is no additional processor on board. The ESP32-S3 has two Xtensa 32-bit processor cores with up to 240 MHz clock speed and a single-precision FPU, as well as other peripherals for controlling the DAC, outputs, and evaluating the knobs. The hardware is therefore rather small in dimension.
However, Waldorf has managed to accommodate the oscillator emulation, filters, envelopes, mod matrix, filters, and so on. For those who usually work with ESP32 microprocessors using the Arduino IDE, this is likely an eye-opener. Waldorf relies on Espressif's SDK and RTOS. For comparison: Waldorf's Quantum and Iridium use quad-core processors with ARM Cortex-A9. There, the company works directly on the hardware and even programs it bare metal, without a pre-built operating system.
The Protein's resources are clearly limited, so while Waldorf is toying with adding frequently requested features, the hardware limitations impose boundaries.
Technically, the hardware is somewhat comparable to ESI's XSynth: it also uses a small ASIC in the form of a custom DSP called RWA828. This can play many samples in parallel and uses them as oscillators, thus implementing a rudimentary variant of wavetable synthesis. In this machine, the hardware is already at its limit for sound and filter calculations.
Tested in practice
The first batches sold out immediately, which is why we had to wait longer for our unit. After unpacking, updating the firmware, and the first tests, it quickly became apparent that Waldorf had built a really solid synthesizer here. The knobs control the most frequently used parameters by default and usually have a double assignment accessible with the Shift key. Tapping it briefly keeps Shift permanently activated, which is useful when playing a keyboard simultaneously.
The filters are digital, but still sound good. In the example piece, the resonance together with cutoff changes create a kind of bird concert on the actual sound. Beginners can already get very far with the presets and familiarize themselves with the operation. Despite the 21 rotary encoders, it quickly becomes more complex when you have to go into the menu to change further values. However, it doesn't get too out of hand, so you quickly get used to it after a short learning period. The included quick start manual explains the most important things very briefly.
Of course, more ambitious synthesizer fans will also enjoy countless possibilities for manipulating the sounds. The Protein will not bore them quickly either.
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The sound is beyond reproach, despite its explicitly lo-fi orientation. Dominant, penetrating, and distinctive sounds are commonplace on the Protein. It sizzles beautifully metallic through aliasing and quantization artifacts. It also plays with slight dissonances, especially with the Flavor knob, but these create a lively and interesting sound and actually remind one of analog sound synthesis again. The sound can ultimately only be described as fat, rich. The Protein loves "dirty" sounds. The entry into Waldorf synthesizers from German engineering is definitely smooth with this, affordable, and really fun.
The Waldorf Protein is intended to kick off a series of devices in the lower price range at Waldorf. However, the Waldorf CEO has already revealed that another device is nearing completion and that a drum computer is on the nice-to-have list. The devices will then differ in housing color but otherwise come in the same form factor. The Protein has a distinctive blue color.
The Protein is currently available for 329 Euros at the usual mail-order retailers and in the Waldorf shop. After an introductory phase, it is expected to cost a regular 379 Euros. The first batches sold out very quickly. Interested parties currently have to expect a waiting time of up to two months.
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