Why is the Waldorf Blofeld still the 2007 model?

[This Wreckage]

I'm considering buying a Waldorf Blofeld desktop module synth which looks very nice for its age. I'm curious to learn why it hasn't been updated since its release in 2007. Surely, the processors that were available back then have long since been drastically improved, so that the Blofeld's performance (polyphony etc.) should be much better in 2023. How can a company still source the same sound generation ICs now, so that the Blofeld is no better? I am confused.

[rockydennis]

Presumably, the reason is the same as the speculated reason why there hasn't been an Access Virus 3. Like the Virus, the Blofeld uses a DSP chip from the Motorola (Freescale) 56k line. The development for the 56k had pretty much stopped years ago and production of it is coming to an end. The code written for it can't simply run on a different DSP chip as is - it has to be ported. It then becomes a matter of if it makes sense financially for Access or Waldorf to do so, especially since that time and effort could be used towards new products while the older product carries on.

This gives a run-down of the situation with the Virus:
https://synthmorph.com/blogs/news/acces ... -virus-ti3

[resistorman]

Presumably, the reason is the same as the speculated reason why there hasn't been an Access Virus 3. Like the Virus, the Blofeld uses a DSP chip from the Motorola (Freescale) 56k line. The development for the 56k had pretty much stopped years ago and production of it is coming to an end. The code written for it can't simply run on a different DSP chip as is - it has to be ported. It then becomes a matter of if it makes sense financially for Access or Waldorf to do so, especially since that time and effort could be used towards new products while the older product carries on.

This gives a run-down of the situation with the Virus:
https://synthmorph.com/blogs/news/acces ... -virus-ti3

Fascinating article! Thanks

[This Wreckage]

It then becomes a matter of if it makes sense financially for Access or Waldorf to do so, especially since that time and effort could be used towards new products while the older product carries on.

This gives a run-down of the situation with the Virus:
https://synthmorph.com/blogs/news/acces ... -virus-ti3

Thanks for that article. I knew nothing of this, and it appears the Blofeld and any other synth etc. using that line of processors will just stop being made, probably in a few months from now.

[rockydennis]

This has been discussed on this forum, but I can't find a link to it. There's a group who've created a 56k emulator that can run plugins created from ROM's of actual synths. Is it legal? As they point out in the FAQ, having the emulator itself is legal. The other stuff? That's on you.

https://dsp56300.wordpress.com/
https://www.musicradar.com/news/synth-emulator-plugin

[t-sun]

This has been discussed on this forum, but I can't find a link to it. There's a group who've created a 56k emulator that can run plugins created from ROM's of actual synths. Is it legal? As they point out in the FAQ, having the emulator itself is legal. The other stuff? That's on you.

https://dsp56300.wordpress.com/
https://www.musicradar.com/news/synth-emulator-plugin

This sort of thing does open up the potential for continuing the production of synths that use the 56k architecture, probably fairly cheaply since it will run on aarch64 machines such as the raspberry pi. The decision really then boils down to whether it's even worth continuing them. It's a dead platform, and unless they want to extend it themselves it probably makes more sense to develop something new (and maybe sell their copyrighted ROMs for use with the existing emulator with virtually no overhead).