Waldorf NW1 Reference Manual
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Waldorf NW1 Reference Manual

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W
NW1 R
M
ALDORF
EFERENCE
ANUAL
Waldorf Music GmbH, rev1.0
September 23, 2015
1

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Summary of Contents for Waldorf NW1

  • Page 1 NW1 R ALDORF EFERENCE ANUAL Waldorf Music GmbH, rev1.0 September 23, 2015...
  • Page 2 • Product development team Thank you for purchasing the NW1 wavetable module. NW1 team : Like any Waldorf product, this NW1 has been developed and produced with • Development: Oliver Rockstedt, Fr ´ ed ´ eric Meslin, Isabelle Kernhof love in Germany, for the most demanding musicians. We sincerly hope it Stefan Stenzel, Frank Schneider will bring you fun and musical inspiration.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS Contents 10 Updating firmware 10.1 With the wavetable Editor ....40 10.2 With a System Exclusive File player ....40 1 General safety guidelines 11 Technical specifications 2 Device maintenance...

  • Page 4: General Safety Guidelines

    This device is designed exclusively to generate low frequency audio signals for sound generation. Any other use is prohibited and voids the warranty extended by Waldorf Music GmbH. Damages due to incorrect use are not the responsability of Waldorf Music GmbH.

  • Page 5: Package Contents

    3 PACKAGE CONTENTS 4 DEVICE OVERVIEW 3 Package contents 4 Device overview NW1 package comes complete with the following material: 4.1 Front panel • NW1 wavetable module • 1 x 16-way 20cm ribbon cable • 4 x M2.5 x 6 screws •...
  • Page 6 4.1 Front panel 4 DEVICE OVERVIEW 4.1 Front panel 4 DEVICE OVERVIEW Description Id Description 3, 4, 5 Modulation CV inputs 19 Travel mode Modulate selected destination. Controls the wavetable scanning: The modulated destination is chosen using the Destination Gated: switches (11, 12, 13).

  • Page 7: Back Panel

    4.1 Front panel 4 DEVICE OVERVIEW 4.2 Back panel 4 DEVICE OVERVIEW 4.2 Back panel Id Description 25 Display In playback mode: Shows the wavetable in use. In recording mode: Show the input signal level and the recording state. 26 Operating mode Select the operating mode: Record: Record user wavetable using Modulation CV input 1 (3) as audio...

  • Page 8: Device Connection

    Figure 3: Eurorack bus connector Eurorack connectors are usually orientated so the Gate signal is on top and the -12v supply at the bottom. Refer to Figure 3. The NW1 module follows the same convention. Please make sure the ribbon cable does not swap the lines.

  • Page 9: Playing Back Wavetables

    In modular systems, it is common practice to attach an oscillator Audio out- put (6) to a VCA module, a mixer module or a filter module. The NW1 has a broad spectrum range and can generate low frequencies as low as 16Hz.

  • Page 10: Choosing A Wavetable

    Number of samples per single wave: The longer a single cycle wave is, the more harmonics can be repre- sented. In NW1, wave lengths of 32, 64, 128, 256, 512 or 1024 samples are possible. Samples bit resolution: Waves resolution defines the accuracy of the ratios between tone har- Figure 6: Wavetable dial and display monics.

  • Page 11: Scanning Wavetables

    Several scanning modes are offered, they can be selected using the Travel mode (19): The NW1 plays wavetables continuously in a loop. Whenever the wave cur- sor reaches one of the wavetable boundaries (top or bottom), it continues Gated mode: When Gate signal is asserted (high level), the wave cursor from the opposite one.

  • Page 12: Tuning The Oscillator

    Figure 12: Oscillator tuning When controlling pitch using CV input (2) or Eurorack bus CV input (28), the input scale must be manually adjusted. The NW1 expects a unipolar Pitch Figure 11: Travel - Free mode CV in 1V / octave format, ranging from 0V to 5V, offering a 5 octaves play range.

  • Page 13: Transforming The Sound

    6 PLAYING BACK WAVETABLES 6.5 Transforming the sound The NW1 sound engine is a direct descendant of the acclaimed Nave en- gine. It combines advanced resampling techniques and wavetable synthe- sis for extended control of tone generation and high quality audio.
  • Page 14 Keytrack Keytrack (17) defines how the spectral content is transposed ac- cording to the pitch. A setting of 100% for classic wavetable synthesis like in Waldorf Microwave. When set off, the result resembles a filterbank defin- ing the spectral contour, very useful for speech wavetables where formant frequencies must not be affected by pitch.

  • Page 15: Modulating The Sound

    Oscillator FM modulation (in a reasonable frequency range) is therefore possible. In order to avoid DC offsets on modulations, each NW1 oscillator comes factory calibrated. However, due to temperature changes and shipping, minor offsets may be noticeable. To reduce them, the computer Editor can recalibrate the modulation inputs.

  • Page 16: Recording Wavetables

    7.3 Recording a wavetable 7 RECORDING WAVETABLES 7 Recording wavetables Almost any source can be recorded using the NW1, as long as signal level is loud enough. The factory classic wavetables have been designed to cover a wide range of tones. To complement these, the NW1 is designed for users to actively Pay close attention to high impedance or weak signal sources such as mi- create their own wavetables using the included original wavetable recorder.

  • Page 17: Audio Source And Gain

    7.3.2 Audio source and gain Attach the audio source to Modulation Input (3) and adjust the Modulation gain 1 (8). The NW1 Display (25) shows a simple level meter. The left char- Figure 19: Recording in Gate mode acter is an L followed by a glyph representing the current signal level.

  • Page 18: Advanced Options

    Crude resampling with a lot of aliasing. Higher ratios can bring background noise when source signal is low. It is recommended to do several recording tries. 7.4.2 Playback quality NW1 sound engine includes three algorithms offering different playback quality and sound character.

  • Page 19: Transferring Wavetables

    8 TRANSFERRING WAVETABLES 9 SPEECH WAVETABLES 8 Transferring wavetables 9 Speech wavetables Coming soon. Coming soon.

  • Page 20: Updating Firmware

    firmware. Example list of capable applications includes: Download the latest version of the NW1 wavetable Editor and launch it. Connect the NW1 to the computer with USB and check its connection state. • MIDI OX When correctly recognized by the Editor, the module content is displayed in For Windows platforms: http://www.midiox.com...

  • Page 21: Technical Specifications

    11 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS 11 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS 11 Technical specifications The NW1 oscillator technical characteristics are: Engine Nave-based wavetable engine Integrated speech synthesizer Built-in wavetable recorder USB for custom / text wavetables transfer and firmware update Connectivity Gate triggering wavetable travel and recording Pitch CV 1V / Octave CV, 0V to 5V pitch input, 100kΩ...

  • Page 22: A Wavetable List

    A WAVETABLE LIST A WAVETABLE LIST A Wavetable list Index Name Sections Index Name Sections 1-2-3-4-5 Alt 1 Index Name Sections Index Name Sections 19/twenty Alt 2 Resonant Echoes Wavetrip1 Spectrum 1 Resonant2 Formant 2 Wavetrip2 Spectrum 2 MalletSyn FmntVocal Wavetrip3 Spectrum 3 Sqr-Sweep...

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