WALDORF NW1 R EFERENCE M ANUAL Waldorf Music GmbH, rev1.
• Introduction • 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 love in Germany, for the most demanding musicians. We sincerly hope it will bring you fun and musical inspiration.
CONTENTS CONTENTS Contents CONTENTS CONTENTS 1 General safety guidelines 8 10 Updating firmware 10.1 With the wavetable Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.2 With a System Exclusive File player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Device maintenance 8 11 Technical specifications 42 A Wavetable list 44 3 Package contents 10 4 Device overview 4.1 Front panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2 Back panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1 GENERAL SAFETY GUIDELINES 1 General safety guidelines Please read the following safety guidelines carefully! They include precautions you should always observe when dealing with electronic equipment. • Use the device indoors only, in a dry atmosphere. • Never use the device under too damp conditions such as in bathrooms or near swimming pools. • Do not use the device in extremely dusty or dirty environments in order to preserve the device’s surface finish.
3 PACKAGE CONTENTS 4 3 Package contents 4 NW1 package comes complete with the following material: 4.1 Front panel DEVICE OVERVIEW Device overview • NW1 wavetable module • 1 x 16-way 20cm ribbon cable • 4 x M2.5 x 6 screws • 4 x M3 washers • 2 x jumpers (already attached on board) • A quick start poster • German protective atmosphere Only a Phillips head screwdriver #0 is needed to mount the module into the rack frame. No additional tools are needed.
4.1 Front panel 4 DEVICE OVERVIEW 4.1 Front panel 4 DEVICE OVERVIEW Id Description Id Description 3, 4, 5 Modulation CV inputs Modulate selected destination. The modulated destination is chosen using the Destination switches (11, 12, 13). The amplitude of modulation is set using the Gain potentiometers (8, 9, 10). 6 Oscillator output Audio output. Signal can be up to 16V peak-to-peak.
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 source. User: Play wavetables recorded or transferred using the Editor (U0 to U9).
5 DEVICE CONNECTION 5 Device connection You now own a fantastic wavetable / speech oscillator. It is time to integrate it in your modular system. 5.1 Power connection The first step is to provide your module with power. The module only requires stabilized +12v & -12v voltages. These voltage should already be provided by your modular system power supply. Before connecting any module to the Eurorack bus, it is mandatory to switch the modular system power off.
5.2 Audio connection 5 DEVICE CONNECTION In modular systems, it is common practice to attach an oscillator Audio output (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. Therefore its output can be used as a modulation source for another module. Do not be afraid to experiment crazy patch configurations using other modules with NW1. The inputs and output are buffered, nothing serious can happen.
6.1 Wavetables basics 6 PLAYING BACK WAVETABLES Wavetables have the following properties: Number of waves: The more waves a wavetable consists of, the more complex and interesting can the sound tonal evolution be. In NW1, a wavetable can have from from 8 to 4096 waves. 6.2 Choosing a wavetable 6 PLAYING BACK WAVETABLES 6.2 Choosing a wavetable To play a wavetable, select one of the three available banks using the Mode (26) switch.
6.3 6.3 Scanning wavetables 6 PLAYING BACK WAVETABLES Scanning wavetables The NW1 plays wavetables continuously in a loop. Whenever the wave cursor reaches one of the wavetable boundaries (top or bottom), it continues from the opposite one. The cursor can travel in either directions. 6.
6.3 Scanning wavetables 6 PLAYING BACK WAVETABLES 6.4 Tuning the oscillator 6 PLAYING BACK WAVETABLES 6.4 Tuning the oscillator An oscillator often needs to be tuned when playing along with other sound sources. The NW1 offers three controls to adjust the basic pitch. It is recommended to disable any modulation, stop wavetable traveling and select a basic waveform before calibrating pitch.
6.4 Tuning the oscillator 6 PLAYING BACK WAVETABLES 6.5 Transforming the sound 6 PLAYING BACK WAVETABLES 6.5 Transforming the sound The NW1 sound engine is a direct descendant of the acclaimed Nave engine. It combines advanced resampling techniques and wavetable synthesis for extended control of tone generation and high quality audio.
6.5 Transforming the sound 6 PLAYING BACK WAVETABLES 6.5 Transforming the sound 6 PLAYING BACK WAVETABLES In Figure 16, from front to back, the Brilliance is increased, harmonic peaks are refined and the contribution of weaker harmonics is improved. Positive values of Brilliance (16) only affect the tone when the Spectrum control (15) is not set to 0. Keytrack Keytrack (17) defines how the spectral content is transposed according to the pitch.
6.6 6.6 Modulating the sound 6 PLAYING BACK WAVETABLES Modulating the sound 6.6 Modulating the sound 6 PLAYING BACK WAVETABLES NW1 sound engine has been optimized to quickly track sound parameters evolution. 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.
7 RECORDING WAVETABLES 7 Recording wavetables 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 create their own wavetables using the included original wavetable recorder. 7.1 Recording basics Recorded wavetables exhibit the following characteristics: • Number of waves: Recorded wavetables can contain up to 256 waves. This corresponds to recording times of roughly 7s.
7.3 Recording a wavetable 7 RECORDING WAVETABLES 7.3 Recording a wavetable 7 RECORDING WAVETABLES 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 character is an L followed by a glyph representing the current signal level. Figure 19: Recording in Gate mode When not armed, the Record / Gate LED (27) shows what would be the record state given the current audio input.
7.4 Advanced options 7 RECORDING WAVETABLES 7.4 Advanced options 7 RECORDING WAVETABLES Recording / Gate LED (27) blinks. Figure 23: Playback quality: High, Low, Aliased Figure 21: Recording animation The playback algorithm associated with the next recorded wavetable is specified using the Travel speed (20) potentiometer. Recording can be interrupted at any time, either by not satisfying trigger conditions or by manually disarming it using the Modulation destination 1 (11) switch. 7.
8 TRANSFERRING WAVETABLES 9 SPEECH WAVETABLES 8 Transferring wavetables 9 Coming soon. Coming soon.
10 10 UPDATING FIRMWARE 10.2 With a System Exclusive File player 10 UPDATING FIRMWARE Updating firmware The NW1 connects to computers through its USB interface. Attach the module to a computer to update the firmware. Waldorf Music regularly offers free updates for all its current products. Please visit our web site regularly: http://www.waldorfmusic.de/nw1-overview.html Keeping your firmware up-to-date gives you access to the latest functionalities, sound engine improvements and bug fixes.
11 11 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS 11 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS 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 impedance Mod.
A A WAVETABLE LIST Wavetable list Index Name Sections Index Name Sections 0 Resonant 8 25 Echoes 8 1 Resonant2 8 26 Formant 2 4 2 MalletSyn 8 27 FmntVocal 8 3 Sqr-Sweep 4 28 MicroSync 8 4 Bellish 4 29 Micro PWM 8 5 Pul-Sweep 8 30 Glassy 4 6 Saw-Sweep 8 31 Square HP 4 7 MellowSaw 4 32 SawSync 1 8 8 Feedback 4 33 SawSync 2 8 9 Add Harm 8 34 SawSync 3 8 10 Reso 3 HP 8 35 PulSync 1 8 11 Wind Syn 8 36 PulSync 2 8 12 High Harm 8
