Waldorf Micro Q Repair and Teardown
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- čas přidán 7. 05. 2019
- Simple encoder replacement on the Waldorf Micro Q. While it is open I take a look at the hardware inside to see what is running this classic 2000s analog modeling synth.
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Thanks a lot for including the part #'s of the encoders.
Thank you! My micro Q needs this same repair. Highest regards!!
I love this video, watched it a few times. One day I want to get into soldering and fixing up my synths. I open them up and have a look in there but too scared to do anything like this haha. I have a MicroXT, it’s absolutely incredible 😊
Great Video :D Thank the maker someone else called an encoder a Potentiometer this week ! I've been so disappointed with myself LOL
this is great
Um, while this does have wavetable possibilities, it was not marketed as a wavetable. The XT (and others in the Wave series) are wavetable synths that have the bonus of having the addition of the basic waveforms found in common subtractive synths. The Qs are great standard subtractive, but completely not in the same league as a real wavetable synth.
The differences between the Q and the micro Q are simple - the Q has a filter balance where you can rout the sound from the mixer dynamically between the two filters, and it is modulatable. The micro has discrete filters where you can select routing, but you cannot adjust the signal dynamically. The other difference is in DSP. The Q series uses three DSPs and they packed the code into a single DSP for the micro.
Sorry but the Q has 3 OSC of wich 2 are wavetable OSC's and thus real wavetable synths.
@@sK3LeTvM1 The uQ has three oscillators, two of which contain wavetables that can be modulated. When using the wavetables in the uQ, it also enables a sub osc that isn’t available when using the standard wave forms.
Waldorf maintained that the sounds between the Q and uQ were “98%” compatible, as the filter modulation available in the Q is not available in the uQ - as stated in an earlier post.
Waldorf originally marketed these as a virtual analog synth that had a bonus of wavetable availability. I have both a uQ and a UWave XT. They are completely different animals.
Further, the uQ has a dynamic voice allocation system that reduces the number of available voices from a maximum of 25 - downward depending on the complexity of the patches. If you have the Omega expansion, it is a dynamic 75. The Q series has a static 16 voices, I believe, expandable to 32. I think the phoenix edition may have more voices, but I stopped paying attention to Waldorf after waiting for 2 plus years for an o/s that delivered features promised on the release of the synth.
This guy is Boss😉
The 4 buttons in the middle that get stuck is usually from the front plate getting knocked and just needs the be re adjusted… they are also slightly dodgy buttons though with the way it’s designed but it’s no big problem
You can open those encoders and clean them without changing them. There’s a video on here. Did mine with no issues.
could you share the video name please?
does that apply to the Waldorf Q as well? I have some broken encoders as well!
What's the unit above the D-110?
I got a yellow Micro Q off Reverb a few weeks ago, and while it works fine, this video will come in handy should I ever have to replace the encoders. Lovely little bit of kit. Now I just need the Microwave II to keep it company.
Likely a Roland SuperJV-1080
I have the digital emulation is great, for fx is great too thx
Do you service these units?
Hi Brad, I recently purchased a used Waldorf MicroQ (Blue version) and noticed a slight hum on my phones output. btw did no check the normal outputs yet. As I was googling I saw this video. Is yours humming also and if so, is this a common issue? If not, do you have any suggestions where to look for to tackle this?
Stephen Anthony thanks for your enlightening reaction.
Did you ever fix this? I've got the same issue.
I have a first issue uQ. It has a slight hum out of the headphone output. I talked with Waldorf via phone in 2003-ish about it. I was told that because of hardware design, the headphone output has a hum that was never resolved during design. Waldorf said that to fix it would require re-engineering and much work, and if I wanted a clean output, use the rear outputs for recording and the headphone outputs for monitoring.
@@revel8or Thanks!
Hi. I also repairing now Micro Q. But I have a problem with a ROM. I need a ROM dump. Do you have a this one?
i just got the micro Q yellow super mint condition but noticed a few diffrences.mine has a solid red dial not transparent.also waldorf name is on back plate not on the top as yours.so very curious as to the reason.iv heard that there is a us version and i heard it had an issue with the paint they used.paid $400 seeing it was in mint condition.seems ok price as i went on ebay and noticed the prices are going up on this amazing synth.any info much appreciated.
Not genuine stuff then.
The original run of the uQ has a solid color red main encoder. They changed it to a translucent red with later runs. I own a uQ that was preordered 3 months before release from Sweetwater. It came with a factory solid red knob.
28:11 did you just play Above & Beyond - Anjunabeach pad? That was nice!
Yes :) Impressed you picked that up!
I have one of those and tried to program an editor but didn't work out. Does anyone have any ideas what I can use to program that little yellow beast?
BTW: love the randomize function on that synth.
@ff_____ Thanks! I was looking into it few years ago. I will give it another try.
I've purchased for my Q kb the Mystery Islands editor. They have one for µQ as well : www.mysteryislands-music.com/product/waldorf-microqxr-audiounit-vst-librarian-editor-plug-in/
There’s Soundquest, but it’s pricey. It also covers many, many synths - so if you have many, it’s probably covered by the program.
Hello,
I'm looking for a replacement for the fuse of this equipment.Do you know that?
Thank you
It'll have the value stamped on the fuse itself. I'd expect no more than 1Amp, possibly less.
If in doubt, start with a very small value value fuse and work your way up, but i should be on the rim of the fuse, the body, or stamped on the PCB. If not - Google is your friend.
I've cleaned my encoders on this synth because a few of them acted jumpy.
It’s the don’t release the electric piano synthesizer!
You can over clock these to get more voices by going in service mode, from memory hold down Inst.1+Global = Factory Test when powering up.
One of the biggest differences to the Q is it uses a more powerful DSP to the Q but the Q has has dedicated DSP's for voice and FX etc instead of everything being shared and has a fixed voice structure in terms of poly. Also the code is different for the filters (Q has a more realistic filter model that properly self oscillates) I know it has two wavetables but it's not really a wavetable synth, they designed it to be a totally different type of synth.
I had no idea that overclocking these for more voices was possible, I will definitely check that out.
@@bradthx A list of the boot up modes can be found here; faq.waldorfian.info/faq-browse.php?product=mq
I never tried going too high as it can cause audio glitches and at a guess freezing of the unit or damage to the DSP, there is a real time CPU load meter there also which is quite cool. From memory I'm running mine at 135 MHz with no issues
Be VERY wary of overclocking. Power usage goes up with the frequency, as does thermal power dissipation requirements.
Given the minimal heatsinking, the proximity of voltage regulators to capacitors, and the non-existent ventilation on the MicroQ, you could easily fry the voltage reg, caps or even the DSP if you bumped up the clock speed, and shorten is life considerably. Personally, I'd not recommend it.
Dude , the micro q is NOT a wavetable synth , it is a va synth with some wavetables thrown in ( just like it's bigger brother the Q )
MAybe you're mistaken with the xt , whcih is a pure wavetable synth