so, after seeing this demo
i’ve become really impressed by this synth. who can speak to how nicely it plays with the OT? and i’ve read a lot of comments that say just get a blofeld because it has the same wavetables… but it can’t be the same sound, right? because i haven’t really seen any blofeld demos that made me “have to have it”
Microwave XT is one of the best digital synths ever made- tons of programmability on the front panel and so deep with software editors it is more versatile than a Virus in the right hands.
First of all, yes, the sample modded Blofeld is able to morph waves together like the XT, but that’s about it. The massive control panel, massive digital FX, and very unique filters make it one of a kind.
It will sync perfectly to the OT and easily assigns channels from the front LCD.
It’s not a very common opinion, I know, but I prefer the Blofeld much over the XT (have had the XT, currently have the Blofeld). They’re both capable of some incredible sounds, and sound very similar, in my opinion, probably the biggest difference are the filters of the XT, which sound a tad “warmer” somehow. Despite all the knobs of the XT though, I personally find that I have much more of an overview of what I am doing on the Blofeld, and don’t get constantly lost in button-pushing and menu-diving to get to the right menu (which strangely happened a lot on the XT, for all of its “hidden” parameters).
Also, the Blofeld supposedly has even more wavetables than the XT and you can load your own samples into it and treat it with synthesizer magic. They are both insanely cool to use with the OT, of course.
Just beware that the 40 knobs are a bit misleading on the XT, as a lot of the functions are hidden deep inside the menus, can’t stress that enough, as opposed to the Blofeld, where the whole concept is the matrix parameter editing, which makes it a lot more logical, in my opinion. To reach a certain parameter of one of the LFO’s on the XT, for instance, you have to click the menu-button over the list with the LFO’s a few times, then scroll with the data wheel until you find the parameter, theeeen edit it with a knob.
I’d get another Blofeld over an XT any day of the week, but I think I am one of very few who would. 
Ok, Im on the other side. Much prefer the XT/Microwave 2 sound to the Blofeld.
The Blofeld has never been able for me to get that lofi digital character of the PPG Waves (and Microwave 1) that the Microwave 2 and XT can still manage.
The Pads on the XT/2 can be amazing! Basses as well, destroy speakers
2 things:
Its easy to sync the MW2/XT to the OT. The XT responds to Midi CC so you can do anything including wavetable sweeps (or ever sweep through different wavetables) through the Octatrack and you can lock that into the step sequencer.
The new Monstrumwave editor is an amazing editor and allows you to load up your own wave files as well. It literally turns the Microwave 2/XT into a VST (you can load it in your DAW) if you want that kind of thing.
Here are some other good demos:
My favourite (because I like deep housy sounds): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoxKlxBTP8I
Retrosounds demos are among the best:
Also, consider a Korg Wavestation A/D as well. Not as “sexy” as a Micro XT, but another “as close to a PPG wave as I’ll ever get” synth with MASSIVE and lush strings and pads and a very powerful vector synthesis engine (a.k.a. the type of synthesis in the Prophet VS…with the joystick on the front of the rack instead of where the pitch/mod wheels should be on the VS!).
MUCH easier to program and use than the Micro, too. It’s a Korg, though. Some people love them, some hate them.
Wavestation is cheaper than an XT, more polyphony, and is simply hauntingly beautiful.
Retrosound has a bunch of demos.
I got an XT last week and first impressions are that its amazing.
I prefer digital to analog so this thing is right up my alley.
I love my monomachine but you really have to work hard to get interesting sounds out of it, the XT seems to just drip with quality.
Check out this amazing demo i found:
Uhhh, say what? You sure you got a Monomachine? 
after having played with the presets you’ll probably find yourself starting to tweak all those knobs on the xt … the monomachine has a lot of depth but be reassured, the xt too
you may want to have a look at these editors as well (they’ve been probably mentioned on the forum already):
Soundtower uWaveEditor (free but only for windows
MonstrumWaveXT (not free, runs on both OSX and windows though)
You make me miss mine… Both of them… Had 10voice tabletop and 30voice keyboard…sold both…miss 'em both!
Imo Blofeld is the cheap bastard child of Microwave and Q…has a bit of both in it…can do the sounds, but lacks the mojo in sound and the pleasure of the workflow!
Not to forget the beauty of that big orange keyboard ;o)
The MonstrumWaveXT looks sick, def my next purchase.
My plan is to sequence the XT with MnM and route the audio through for extra effects… best of both worlds
go for it, you’re going to have some really good fun 
(worth trying the audio input on the xt as well, even though not as advanced as the one on the MnM)
im having some regret (not for the first time) about selling a xt back in the late aughts after not getting to spend a ton of time with it (life situation compelled the sale)
is it silly to think about rebuying this synth in 2018 for $800+? is there anything else out there that will scratch my wavetable itch (what im mostly interested in at this point is hyper detailed high-res concrete sounds) for a similar price point. also: are these getting a little long in the tooth/old by now?
I had a Microwave XTK way back in the day but returned it quickly. From what I can remember(this was 15 years ago or more) was that the manual was poorly written and that the midi implementation was odd. I gave it up after struggling with the MIDI. After watching that video I would like to get this again and give it another shot.
Having had one myself in the late 90’s / early 2000’s I miss it now too. I looked at picking another one up, but from what I saw they weren’t aging particularly well with many of them having issues. IIRC bad displays was one of them, but this was a couple years back, so my recollection could be off or just the ones I was finding. As to whether or not it’s worth $800 that’s entirely subjective.
Frankly, being an all digital synth I’m kind of shocked Waldorf never resurrected it as a VST. I’m guessing it’d have done quite well even if priced $200-300. Sure, there’s Largo, but a virtual XT would be really cool. It’s probably a lot more work and investment than I realize for a small company like them.
$800 is a decent price for an XT tbh, the other high quality wavetable polysynths I can think of are Ambika and Peak, and they’re both around the same price.
I guess you could try a Blofeld first for not much cash just to see if you click with it?
yeah ended up getting it. extremely happy to have it back. nothing i know of is quite like it. dialing in some crazy francois bayle patches already
Nice! It’s a good feeling to regret letting a thing go and then eventually being reunited.
I love my XT. With the 30 voice you can get some crazy multi patches going. I use it with the OT frequently and can say they are great partners.