Waldorf Kyra SE Virtual Analog Synthesizer (Sea Blue)

Waldorf Kyra Overview

The Waldorf Kyra SE (Sea Blue) is a powerful FPGA-based synthesizer capable of producing a wide range of complex virtual-analog sounds simultaneously, making it well suited for the professional and semi-professional user in both live and studio environments.

At the heart of Kyra beats a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), a high-tech processing chip that harnesses the raw power of a high-end desktop computer, allowing it to produce a true wall of sound with a massive sound pallet of oscillators, filters, FX, and more. The 128-voice instrument features eight independent parts with up to 32 notes per part. Additionally, each part has its own independent effects chain with 9 FX including a 3-band shelving EQ with sweepable mid, formant filter, distortion unit, input limiter, 6-stage phaser, digital delay line, chorus/flanger/comb unit, reverb, and a final output limiter. All effects are available for all parts at the same time, and they re all oversampled and full stereo.

The oscillator section features per voice: two pulse, two saw, two noise, and two waves with your choice of any of 4069 wavetables, plus a sub oscillator with several waveforms, hard sync, hypersaw mode, FM, ring mod, and a Dual Mode, which layers two of the same sounds for detuning and provides a true stereo signal path with dual filters and stereo LFO s. The dual multimode filter offers 12/24 dB per octave selections of high-pass, low-pass, and band-pass. For modulation, the Kyra includes 3 envelope generators, 3 LFOs (with 128 shapes), and a 6-slot Mod Matrix with multiple destinations per slot. Each part also includes its own arpeggiator with 128 preset patterns that are saved to each patch basis.

Despite all this power, the Kyra is simple to program with most functions being 1-to-1 on the front panel with very little menu diving. The vast patch memory provides over 3000 slots to save your creations and recall them quickly. The audio engine uses a 32-bit Velvet Sound DAC with eight 1/4" TRS balanced outputs grouped in stereo pairs. What s more, Kyra offers rock-solid USB 2.0 high-speed audio and MIDI implementation that can stream all 8 of Kyra s Parts as studio-quality 24-bit / 96 kHz audio to a DAW. Kyra can also accept a single return audio stream from a DAW setups so that your final playback can be via Kyra, which allows you to use the unit as your audio interface. The sturdy metal enclosure with wooden end checks is roadworthy with an aesthetic appeal. The Waldorf Kyra includes a power supply.

• Sound engine
  • Virtual analog synthesis
  • 128 voices
  • 8 parts
  • All sound features can be used simultaneously for each part
• Oscillators per voice
  • Two Wave osc with 4096 wavetables
  • Two Pulse osc
  • Two Saw osc
  • Two Noise osc
  • Two Sub osc with several waveforms
  • Hard Sync
  • Hypersaw Mode
  • Oscillator FM and Ring mod
  • Oscillators are in two groups for better overview
• Effects
  • 9 simultaneously available effects
  • 3 band EQ, Formant Filter, Input limiter, Distortion module, Delay module, 6 stage phaser, chorus/flanger, stereo reverb, output limiter
• Modulators
  • 3 envelope generators (EG)
  • 3 LFOs with 128 shapes each
  • 6-slot mod matrix with multiple destinations per slot
• Filters
  • 12/24 dB/octave with LP/BP/HP available. Two filters per voice and true stereo signal path available in Dual Mode
• Extras
  • 26 patch banks (A to Z) with 128 slots each
  • 128 multi-configurations
  • Arpeggiator with 128 preset patterns
  • Octave/key transpose
  • Dual Mode: layers the same sound two times (which can be detuned against each other) and provides true stereo signal path, dual filters, and stereo LFOs
• Hardware
  • Sturdy full-metal case
  • 256x64 pixel OLED
  • Kensington lock receptacle
• Connections
  • USB 2.0 for MIDI and audio
  • 5-pin DIN MIDI In/Out/Thru
  • 4 stereo, balanced, analog audio outputs plus stereo headphone output
• Audio interface
  • Kyra can be used as an audio interface to stream a single stereo stream from your computer
  • Kyra can stream its 8 parts individually to your computer via USB in stereo at 24-bit / 96 kHz (48 kHz option)
  • USB MIDI and Audio 2.0 Class Compliant - can be used with Mac OS and Windows (Windows with supplied driver)