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The candy red colour Q+ marks a real treat from the modern age of synthesizers.
I paid ~2500usd for a repaired Q+ on eBay auction site; Sold by Boombox United on behalf of GSF Agency, the former USA distributor for Waldorf.
I'm told that a retail store had once improperly return-shipped the Q+ unit to GSF Agency, damaging the endbells. A tech servicing the unit assured that everything checked out functionally, and suggested having wooden replacements fabricated and installed in place of the damaged endbells. The result looks really nice.
This synth is really sturdy/well-built, and must be packed to the brim with electronics as it is quite heavy. The Q+ sounds like, ... well a Q+. It's a digital synth with analog soul.
Occasionally a voice would drop and require the unit to be power cycled. Updating to the latest System OS helps improve the stability of voice management. Also, the 44.1/48khz user-switchable S/PDIF interface claimed on website specifications seems errant. S/PDIF output appears locked to 44.1khz and I don't see any method to change the rate.
All audio output is digitized, processed, and converted again for main outputs. There's no way I can see to output directly from the analog filter section, which is a shame.
As other Q+ owners will tell you, the System OS and documentation are 99.5% and do not feel finished. Waldorf has entered insolvency, and though the former employees oblige requests for information, I don't believe we can expect new updates. There's still a healthy community and mirrors of Waldorf's ftp archive available.
If it were lost or stolen, I wouldn't know what to do. It's the most inspirational synth I've ever used. There aren't many Q+ units out there so I'd be hard pressed to find another one.
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