How about making a retro/modern blend that keeps the original concept of him disguising as a civilian device and make him one of those turntables that encodes vinyl records to MP3? The minions could turn into records and SD cards  

 

I'd personally have him as a LAV MEWSS (MEWSS Electronic Warfare Vehicle | Military-Today.com). Soundwave is all about communication so having a vehicle mode capable of electronic warfare and communication jamming is a natural fit. The sloping front of the vehicle can easily become that iconic chest design, and it should give him a good height (if you care about scale), 7.5Ms perhaps.

 

This but as a Comanche Stealth chopper

 

I personally liked his Transformers Cybertron “alien stealth jet” mode the best of modern takes, but for me, his DotM mode makes the most sense for modern Soundwave. It wouldn’t necessarily mean he has to be a specific high performance foreign car though. I like the SLS AMG, but he’d either have to be genericized or be a less conspicuous car.

...and of course his car radio would be the G1 Soundwave design.

 

I wouldn't be too opposed to see a Soundwave as an E-2 Hawkeye or a similar radar aircraft. bot mode would take a few cues from the Prime version but be a lot bulkier like many of his other incarnations. Propellers would also form his claws, and each blade could extend out as tentacles.

 

His design in the film is crap but a satellite alt-mode from ROFT is the best updated alt-mode Soundwave has had.

 

Satellite

 

Beast Wars'D

 

As someone who doesn't mind mass shifting, I think a good modern interpretation for Soundwave would be a laptop or cellphone of some sort, with the cassetticons turning into USB drives.

 

Satelite or spy plane

 

A communications vehicle either land or aircraft with a satellite dish. He must have his iconic chest plate and head sculpt and be blue no matter what.

 

Some kind of massive potentially alien Sound System. At the end of the day making Soundwave just another van or plane does away with the uniqueness of his character and originally established alt-mode. Doesn’t matter if it’s unrealistic or out of scale, the guy’s got a million tapes in his chest.

 

A swarm of Cybertronic vermin that he uses to spy on both Autobots and his fellow Decepticons. For added horror, picture the Scraplet scenes from TfP's early episode, only that swarm is sentient and loyal to Megatron.

 

I’d like to see him as a large communications van, with the cassette bots as motorcycles hauled in the back, but the birds as drones. Frenzy as a v-twin cruiser and Ravage as a sleek sport bike would be cool.

 

I think a News Van would be an interesting alternate mode for him, gaining information and reporting it to Megatron.

 

Soundwave isn't really one of those characters who needs to transform into the exact same thing every go around. Like Optimus is some kind of semi, Starscream is a jet and Ratchet is an ambulance but we don't really know what Megatron will turn into next and I like that. The same with Soundwave. I liked the stealth bomber, the Scion XB, the satellite, the luxury car and the drone. But for my personal idea, I went with a mobile control center like this:

with Laserbeak and Ravage being a drone and launching cat-apult trailer like so:

 

I think he should be a stakeout van and the casettes should be motorbikes that are stored in the back of the van.

A van would make him look most g1 (window=tape deck) and the bike wheels could, with certain transformations, look like the casette wheels in the chest of frenzy and rumble

 

A news van or a customized SUV to evoke his original boxy toy and have tape window details on the back.

A stealth bomber is fine too if he must have an aerial Alt. mode.

 

A bit of a far fetched idea I have:

• He “transforms” by molecularly breaking up, AOE Galvatron style. As a cloud of molecules, he can seep through electrical sockets and enter what I call the “electric realm” to travel wherever he wants. Wall huggers and electric car users beware!
• For example, if you’re plugging your phone and Soundwave happens to decide he wants to enter it, he will manifest within the phone’s code like malware and manipulate it as he wishes. No anti-virus can stop him. For a comparison think of the virus Frenzy used to hack AF1 in TF2007, only now this virus has access everywhere.
• While Soundwave cannot “transform” into an alt-mode, when he’s in an electric device he can control it as he wishes AS IF it were an alt-mode. If he’s infiltrating a radio (because G1, duh) he can become a spy for important information or turn off the radio when Despacito comes on. Come on, even alien warmongers have standards!
• Alternatively, when he’s in an electric car (extremely vulnerable to his schemes given the time it takes to charge their batteries) he could basically drive and take control of it as if it were his alt-mode. Beyond that however, he does not have any other abilities.
• Whenever he wants to, he can, at his will, eject from the electric socket he was plugged into and manifest physically without harming the device at all.
• He also has the ability to partially manifest and create tentacles (eww) like his Prime and DOTM counterparts from the electric socket he entered.

I know. He sounds overpowered as hell, but here’s the catch:

1. It takes time to travel the electric realm. Distance, time, and speed in our world and the realm are identical. Soundwave isn’t supersonic or remarkably fast, so travelling in the realm takes as much time as travelling in our world.
2. Theoretically it’s quite easy to “capture” him. Have him infiltrated a charged phone, plug it off, and put it in a sizeably large container for his physical form to manifest from said phone he’ll basically be a prisoner. But he knows the risk so he hardly ever thinks of going for such endeavours.

His ability to just manifest at will makes him sound extremely difficult to kill despite his lack of physical strength. However, unlike Galvatron, he has a spark where his “soul” resides that CAN be destroyed unlike his body.

For a comparison, think of his spark as being sort of like Voldemort. Voldemort may have a physical body, but because of Horcruxes he created years ago, if you “kill” him only his body is destroyed while his soul is not. He can continue to travel the world until someone commits to a ritual to manifest a physical body for his soul to occupy.

Soundwave’s Horcrux is his spark. You can beat him to pieces, but if his spark stays active he can just turn into molecules to retreat in the electric realm and restore himself to full health. If you destroyed his spark, it would vanquish him for good.

When or if he turns into Soundblaster, he gains a proper alt-mode (thinking of an armored truck like Prime Breakdown) but loses his ability to manifest. However he can still hack and plant viruses.

 

Nice idea! Definetly would be cool to see on screen. I had an idea awhile back that was similar to this, but it was for a new namslap of Refraktor that could turn into a flash drive, while he couldn’t go into the electric realm, but he was able to manifest tentacles and self locomote in flash drive mode, while also having the ability to control machinery. In robot mode, he would have had a large chemical mixing gun, that could be adjusted for different situations.