PPG Wave

Wolfgang Palm transcended this limitation by pioneering the concept of wavetable synthesis, where single cycle waveforms of differing harmonic spectra were stored in adjacent memory slots.

Collectively, this setup is referred to as the "PPG Wave System", which with its sampling and sequencing was intended to compete with the more expensive Fairlight CMI.

[6] Notable artists which used the Wave included: a-ha, Alphaville, Bronski Beat,[7] David Bowie, Diane Arkenstone, the Fixx, Go West, Hall & Oates, Trevor Horn, Steven Halpern, Propaganda, Laza Ristovski, Marillion, Journey, Level 42, Art of Noise, Michael Jackson, Michael Omartian, Saga, Rush, Depeche Mode,[8] Gary Numan, Robert Palmer, Gary Stadler, Kitaro, Jean-Benoit Dunckel, the Psychedelic Furs, Tangerine Dream, the Stranglers, Talk Talk, Tears for Fears, Michelle Tumes, the Twins, Silent Circle, Steve Winwood, Stevie Nicks, Styx, Thomas Dolby, Ultravox, Wang Chung, Eurogliders, Stevie Wonder,Ilan Chester[2] and Justice.

Furthermore, the rapidly evolving development of digital sampling technology and reductions in memory prices facilitated the emergence of a new generation of standalone, easy-to-use samplers, such as the Emu Emulator II (1984), Ensoniq Mirage (1984), and Sequential Prophet 2000 (1985).

PPG's dwindling market share and the high development cost of new products created financial difficulties, that resulted in the cessation of company operations in 1987.

[11] After PPG, other manufacturers also produced Wavetable 'look-up' synthesizers, such as Sequential's Prophet VS (1986) and Ensoniq's VFX series(1989) and later models such as SD and Fizmo which used Transwaves.