Waldorf Microwave 1 2.0.0
Waldorf Microwave 1 is a virtual synthesizer plugin from Waldorf Music, a faithful recreation of the legendary first-generation Microwave hardware built around the custom Waldorf ASIC chip and Curtis analog filters. Version 2.0.0 expands polyphony from 8 to 32 voices, adds Round Robin/Random Robin modes, Polyphonic and Global Arpeggiators, a new delay effect, and a redesigned preset browser, running as a VST2, VST3, AU, and AAX plugin on macOS 10.14+ and Windows.
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About Waldorf Microwave 1 2.0.0 for Mac
Waldorf Microwave 1 is a virtual analog/wavetable synthesizer plugin developed by Waldorf Music, a painstaking recreation of the original first-generation Microwave hardware synthesizer released 35 years ago. Available as a VST2, VST3, AU, and AAX plugin, Microwave 1 requires macOS 10.14 or later on Intel or Apple Silicon Macs, and Windows 7 or later on PC, running only within 64-bit host applications. Version 2.0.0 is the major "Version 2" upgrade, expanding original polyphony from 8 to 32 voices via additional voice cards, adding Round Robin and Random Robin playback modes, a Polyphonic Arpeggiator per instrument part, a Global Arpeggiator, a creative new delay effect, a redesigned preset browser, multi-level undo/redo, simultaneous multi-part editing, and new presets from mixer, engineer, and producer Chuck Zwicky; existing owners of the original plugin can upgrade, and V1 also received a free 1.3.0 update alongside the V2 launch. What makes Microwave 1 genuinely significant among software synth recreations is the depth of its technical fidelity: only the first-generation Microwave and the Waldorf Wave were built around a custom-developed integrated circuit called the Waldorf ASIC, co-designed with input from Wolfgang Palm, the inventor of wavetable synthesis itself. Waldorf modeled this ASIC down to its finest sonic details, including the original's ultra-high internal sampling rate of 250 kHz (regardless of a DAW's own sample rate), individual digital-to-analog converter modeling for each voice, faithful non-interpolated pitch generation, and the character of the legendary Curtis analog filter chips paired with the original's unique 68k CPU-based controller software. MusicRadar's review called it "a painstaking facsimile of the original in software form," specifically praising its beautifully modeled oscillators and filters, immediate access to the original wavetables via classic red-pot-style controls, and a surprisingly capable six-option glide section including a semitone-stepped Glissando mode.