Waldorf Crema: a two-engine string and pad synth
Waldorf has launched Crema, a desktop string and pad synth that extends the Streichfett with wavetable and FM, priced at €345.45.
Waldorf has launched Crema, a polyphonic desktop synthesizer dedicated to strings and pads. It builds on the sound architecture of the Streichfett and extends it with wavetable and FM synthesis. Announced on 29 October on Waldorf’s official product page, it is already in stock in the manufacturer’s online shop. The news was also covered the same day by Synth Anatomy.
Two engines in a small box
Crema combines two engines that can be played together or separately, each on its own MIDI channel:
- Texture brings together 24 sound types: the Streichfett’s string-machine sounds (the 1970s keyboards that imitated a string section with an ensemble effect), Waldorf wavetables and FM tones. You can morph between them, and the Streichfett Ensemble effect can process the result.
- Lines is an eight-voice virtual-analogue engine with two detunable sawtooth or pulse oscillators, vibrato, stereo tremolo and pulse-width modulation (PWM). It adds the basses and leads the Streichfett never had.
Wavetable synthesis sweeps through a series of waveforms to make the timbre evolve (see our wavetable synthesis explainer); FM creates harmonics by modulating the frequency of one oscillator with another (see our guide to FM synthesis).
Effects, Flavour and presets
- Two effects processors, serial or parallel: chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo, drive, delay and reverb, plus a dedicated Shimmer reverb (a reverb that adds an upward-pitched copy, a staple of ambient pads).
- A Flavour knob adds small variations in pitch and wavetable position, to mimic the instability of a vintage instrument.
- Over 130 factory sounds, by Christian Kleine, LimbicBits and others, and 360 preset slots, managed from the free Chutney Librarian app already available for the Protein (see our article on Chutney and the Protein).
Connections
| Item | Waldorf Crema |
|---|---|
| Format | desktop module, same enclosure as the Protein, no keyboard |
| Weight | 0.9 kg |
| Power | USB-C |
| MIDI | MIDI over USB, mini TRS MIDI in and out |
| Audio | stereo outputs, headphone output |
| Expressive playing | MPE, separate MIDI channel for each engine |
MPE (MIDI Polyphonic Expression) lets a compatible controller send pressure or pitch bend for each note of a chord individually, which suits pads particularly well. Waldorf’s page does not state the voice count of the Texture engine; Lines is specified at eight voices. For the difference between polyphony and paraphony, see our guide to synth voice counts.
Waldorf walks through the instrument in a deep-dive video with its CTO, Rolf Wöhrmann:
Who it is for, what it costs, what it competes with
Who it is for. Players who want ready-to-use pads and strings, driven from a master keyboard or a sequencer, without programming a full polysynth. Crema targets the backing layer of a track, in the studio or in a portable USB-C-powered setup. With no keyboard and no built-in sequencer, it needs a MIDI controller.
What it costs. €345.45 including VAT in the Waldorf online shop, available now, or €379 bundled with the Wavecase carry case. View at Thomann
What it competes with.
- Waldorf Protein: same enclosure and same price (€345.45 in the Waldorf shop), but a general-purpose synth. Crema specialises in strings and pads, with the Ensemble effect and the Shimmer reverb.
- Arturia MicroFreak: €349 on Arturia’s website, with a touch keyboard, digital oscillators (including wavetable and FM) and an analogue filter, but paraphony limited to four voices. More versatile and playable on its own, less suited to big chords.
Crema stands out through specialisation: where its neighbours try to cover every register, it focuses on the string-machine legacy and the digital pads of the 1980s and 1990s. More new gear in our Announcements section.
