Yes, that post on KVR is definitely speculation (as the author noted), and incorrect... Now I think you've come to the right place. :)
Waverazor has 3 oscillators and each one is composed of a Razor (wave slicer) and anywhere between 1 and 16 independent waves occupying the slices, or steps, and these steps are played through sequentially in order to generate a concatenated output wave.
The Razor and its component waves are all phase coherent (perfectly aware of phase and frequency), which allows you to maintain a consistent wave shape, with each slice contributing harmonics to the oscillator output according to its waveform content. Furthermore, any discontinuity going from step to step also contributes pulse-like harmonics to the output timbre.
The steps themselves can be anywhere between 1/64 of a cycle to 64 cycles long (in reference to a single cycle at standard tuning), and this step size along with the number of steps can have an affect on the fundamental frequency. The perceived fundamental is determined by the repetition of a wave pattern, which is affected by these settings and the contents of each slice.
Variations in frequency (that are not hard sync reset) can break phase coherence and create shifting harmonics as different parts of the wave are captured by the slice at different points in time. This also affects the discontinuities at slice boundaries. Any detuning of wave slice frequencies can effectively sound like multiple detuned oscillators even though, technically, the oscillator output is a singular wave. And shifting the frequency of the Razor in relation to the component waves can create phase slips across all slices at once, making additional harmonics from the new frequency relationships.
In addition to Pitch, the volume, phase and DC offset parameters can all be set and modulated per step. Any one of these sonic dimensions is capable of generating significant timbral shifts, and all are available simultaneously. Furthermore, the duty cycle of the slices can be modulated from 0 to 100 percent, favoring one set of slices or the other. And lastly, we have a new parameter called "constpol" (constant polarity) that keeps a slice's wave energy in the correct polarity in accordance with the current cycle position.
Waverazor's synthesis is different from the other types the KVR post mentioned in that Wavetable is normally based on single cycle samples and it crossfades between shapes, while Granular is not phase coherent. The Waverazor oscillator's system of phase coherent slicing and concatenation is unprecedented, so we've applied for a patent, protecting our wave slicing method as a new form of synthesis. It makes new synthesis techniques possible, such as Multi-Sync, which is hard sync applied individually per slice, allowing for multiple hard sync points within a single cycle or beyond a single cycle, and Mutant AM, which is amplitude modulation based on the tapestry of harmonic content spread over a sequence of wave slices... Neither of these has ever been done before, and we are making more discoveries all the time!
And finally, although Waverazor's oscillator is its main differentiator, there are a lot of other powerful and groundbreaking new features in the synth:
- 3 filter blocks that can be run in series, parallel or mixed, and each block can hold a filter bank sub-configuration containing up to 8 filters. That's a total of up to 24 filters per voice.
- 3 Effect buses that can be run in series, parallel or mixed, and each bus can contain an effect bank sub-configuration encapsulating up to 16 effects, including all the filters. That's a total of up to 48 simultaneous effects.
- Up to 128 modulation sources (LFOs, Envelopes, etc.) and 128 modulation routes, with up to 48 of those routes having multiple destinations (as many as 16 each).
- An innovative Contextual Editing System that allows you to focus on any section of the synth and surrounds it with only the items that are directly connected to it. For instance, when viewing an oscillator, you may see a vibrato LFO on its input and the Pre-Filter Mixer on its output.
Alright, I hope that helps! I know that's a lot to digest, so if you have any follow up questions, I'll be more than happy to provide further explanation. We at MOK really appreciate your interest in Waverazor, and thank you for being a part of our forum community.
All the best,
Taiho