Groove Synthesis 3rd Wave — The COMPLETE Review (Every Feature Explored)

video upload by Scott's Synth Stuff

"The Groove Synthesis 3rd Wave is a 24-voice wavetable synthesizer with real analog filters, three oscillators per voice, and a 6-stage wave envelope that can independently sweep each oscillator through 64-position wavetables. It's built as a modern successor to the PPG Wave 2.2 and 2.3, carrying the original PPG wavetables alongside 56 high-resolution modern wavetables, analog-modeled waveforms, and — as of OS 1.8 — a built-in sampler. In this review, I go through every major feature of the 3rd Wave in detail: the four oscillator types (PPG legacy, modern user wavetables, analog-modeled, and samples), the dual filter architecture (4-pole analog low-pass plus 2-pole zero-delay state-variable), all four envelopes, the four LFOs, the 16-slot modulation matrix, 11 built-in effects, the arpeggiator, the pattern-based sequencer with parameter automation, 4-part multitimbral layering and splits, the Wave Maker custom wavetable tool (including Serum wavetable import), unison with chord memory, MPE support, and more.

Whether you're considering buying one, comparing it to other hardware wavetable synths like the Waldorf Iridium, Modal Cobalt, or ASM Hydrasynth, or just curious what a modern PPG-inspired instrument sounds like in 2025/2026, this is the full picture. I cover every section of the signal chain with sound demos, explain what makes the wave envelope system unique, show how to build patches from scratch, and give my honest take on where the 3rd Wave excels and where it falls short. Timestamps for every section are below — jump to whatever interests you."

0:00 Groove Synthesis 3rd Wave
0:50 Introduction and Background
4:40 Functionality
7:00 Sample Track
10:02 Other Form Factors
10:42 Wavetable Patch Demos
12:46 Oscillators: PPG Wavetables
13:27 Prophet VS Wavetables
13:43 Waveflow Interpolation
14:37 High Resolution User Wavetables
15:55 Visualizing Wavetables
17:05 Wavetable Key Tracking
18:38 PPG Imaging
20:16 Waveform Smoothing
20:50 Other PPG Oddity Emulations
21:44 Wave Envelope
25:03 Other Wave Modulation Options
25:59 Wave Surfer
27:13 Virtual Analog Engine
28:00 Sample Engine
29:30 Building a Multi-Oscillator Patch
31:07 Frequency Modulation
32:47 Oscillator Sync
33:09 Analog Low-Pass Filter
36:31 Digital State-Variable Filter
37:21 Resonance Compensation
38:19 Envelopes
40:52 LFOs
42:06 Modulation Matrix
44:14 Modulating Sample Playback
45:59 Effects
49:04 Multi Parts
50:56 Keyboard Split
52:54 Sampling
57:12 Making a Wavetable
1:01:47 Arpeggiator
1:02:48 Sequencer
1:05:00 Unison Mode
1:07:24 Binaural Patch Demo
1:08:42 Strengths
1:10:29 Limitations
1:14:07 The Screen
1:15:16 Who Is This For?
1:17:36 Your Only Synth?