PPG Wave 2.2

The PPG Wave 2.2 is a hybrid synthesizer famous for combining digital wavetable synthesis with analog filters. The digital oscillators generate complex, evolving waveforms by scanning through wavetables, which are then routed through warm, analog voltage-controlled filters (VCFs). This combination gives the PPG Wave its signature gritty, evolving sound that defined the 1980s.

The PPG Wave was developed in Germany by Wolfgang Palm, the founder of Palm Products GmbH (PPG). Released in the early 1980s, it was the culmination of Palm's years of research into complex digital waveform generation. Wolfgang Palm is widely considered one of the absolute pioneers of wavetable synthesis technology.

The main difference is that the PPG Wave 2.3 expanded the polyphony and added more voices compared to the 2.2. The 2.3 also featured an updated interface and was often paired with the Waveterm unit, allowing for more extensive sampling and sequencing capabilities. The 2.2 is often favored by purists for its specific, slightly grittier sound character, but the 2.3 offered a more robust feature set.

Yes, Waldorf Music, a company founded by former PPG engineers, released the PPG Wave 2.V software synthesizer to digitally recreate the hardware. Additionally, plugins like Arturia's PPG Wave tribute and Native Instruments Massive utilize wavetable concepts originally pioneered by Wolfgang Palm. These emulations aim to capture the digital grit and analog warmth of the original 1980s hardware.