@plusn @auditorycanvas @Jukka @michaeljk1963
…
thank you all for your tips. When reading comments, reviews and opinions, one can get into a dead end from time to time and lose context what to achieve in the 1st place. I think I am back on track now…
2 Likes
Ahem…the MB is real analog…or what did you mean?
1 Like
Yes, “real” analog (on a circuit board). True. I am old enough to remember analog gear with tubes, so that seems like real analog. Sorry for the misstatement. It also explains why the MB is so big, thick, heavy and expensive.
2 Likes
Actually…i find the price of the MB, just like the price for the Iridium, very very good and competitive. Remember a MOOG Studio bundle with DFAM, Mother32 and SubHarmonicon is all together 2000€…and that´s basically only three monosynths, each with a single osc. No preset patch saving, no FX, no keyboard. So the Iridium and MatrixBrute are featurepacked incredible good sounding, extrem versatile synths.
The Moog Studio bundle mainly has as the biggest selling point, its Moog sound. On both (Iridium and MatrixBrute) you can do Moog-like sounds. Check out the Don Solaris presets on the Iridium (1x00 onward IIRC).
2 Likes
I agree that what I paid for the MB and the Iridium was more than fair, and I am getting a lot of bang for the buck. I was also able to get a steep discount on both, but even at MSRP they are priced fairly for what you get. I even traded in my Mother 32 in order to afford the Iridium.
1 Like
After upgrading to OS 3.0, Beta 12, I’ve been using the IR (Iridium) several hours for about 5 days now, without a single hiccup. I think this one’s a keeper. I’ve been loading new samples and all of the free presets available at Waldorf’s website, plus purchased two additional preset collections, and been messing around with the samples, and no problems with this unit.
Anyone have a quick reference for adding my own wavetables (e.g. from Serum or Massive)? I haven’t checked the entire manual for that yet, but just curious since I think this was an added feature in OS 3.0.
2 Likes
I’ve had the Iridium for over a year now and I can attest this synth is worth every penny. The deepest synth I’ve ever worked with yet easy to navigate. Never once have I opened the manual. The envelope section is the best I’ve ever used on a synth. The sequencer, the arp, the mod matrix and digital former give you more options than you’ll ever need. This is like owning a wall full of eurorack modules. 
11 Likes
Now that I have had a week to spend with mine, trouble free, I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment of its capabilities and how just kind of awesome it is.
6 Likes
I have a Linnstrument 128 that I want to use with the Iridium. I upgraded the OS on the Iridium to 3.0. I see a couple of added sources for Mods including y axis, but don’t see all that I’d expect for full MPE integration. I would like to be able to assign separate mod sources and destinations for x axis (not just for pitch bend), y axis, full pressure (not just aftertouch), velocity and note off. Anyone else using an MPE controller with the Iridium? Thoughts?
My only guess is that MPE is unfinished in the beta. For most mod features, the depth is thorough (envelopes, LFOs, etc.), so maybe this is the reason 3.x is not out yet.
I’m not into MPE, so I don’t have any hands on experience to offer.
“TJ on the Road” did a video quite a while back setting up the Iridium beta 3.0 for MPE from a KMI K-Board Pro 4.
He sets the modulation destination for the Y and Z dimensions, but he just uses the X as pitch bend setting, and does not change that. I don’t know if you can’t reset that, but he doesn’t.
Obviously you’ve looked through the modulation matrix settings.
Not sure what you mean by “full pressure (not just Aftertouch)”. The Linnstrument uses MIDI 0xDn (Channel Pressure) for the Z axis, which is pretty much standard MPE.
I got a response over at Gearspace to my questions about MPE. The guy said that Rolf at Waldorf specifically stated that version 3.0 of the OS is not out of Beta yet because they are still working on full MPE implementation.
2 Likes
Thanks Jukka. I’ll check out TJ’s video. Apparently, you can just set “pitch bend” in the Oscillators to “0” and then use x axis as a mod source for other things just fine in 3.0. I will try that. I do understand how you can set the Linnstrument to either after touch or pressure, I just hadn’t tried “aftertouch” as a mod source on the Iridium yet.
1 Like
Background information on MPE, that you probably already know.
In standard MIDI, without using MPE, MIDI Message 0xAn (Poly Aftertouch) contains the Note value, so that message distinguishes between the different notes being played simultaneously without using separate MPE MIDI channels.
MPE instead uses MIDI Message 0xDn (Channel Pressure, or Channel Aftertouch) to transmit that information. This message does not contain the Note value, and so in MPE the messages are transmitted in separate MIDI channels to distinguish which MIDI note that aftertouch is attached.
Using a Poly Aftertouch message in separate MPE MIDI channels, would contain redundant information about the Note to which it is being applied. Therefore the Channel Pressure message is used instead in MPE to make the message, which streams in abundance, smaller and more efficient.
ADDED : Put in the hexadecimal symbol ‘0x’. Note the little lower case ‘n’ is the channel number in a MIDI command byte.
3 Likes
Very helpful, as always Jukka. Thanks!
2 Likes
It’s probably time for another wishlist post. What features do you want to see in the Iridium?
For me, the #1 feature would be some type of audio rate modulation between the oscillators.
While the Kernels mode is a cool rabbit hole to get lost in, it’s also very menu heavy.
With my setup of using the PRO3 to drive things with CV, I get many cool results that the engine is capable of. IOW if you could map an OSC to CV, you could do a lot of fun stuff with that.
For example, OSC1 as a wavetable, OSC2 as a sine, route OSC2 to modulate the filter cutoff.
I can get the engine to do something very close by using the PRO3 to provide the sine and sending it to CV1. Once I do that, I just map CV1 to the filter cutoff. While it’s not 100% audio rate (our best current estimate is 11Khz is the max) it’s still really cool to explore. <<<< Ok, I just realized that if the CV polling rate could be increased to true audio rate, that would be my #1 request 
So my thinking is that if the Iridium can modulate so many things with CV (to a very fast rate), then why not make that internal routing possible? I believe most (if not all) the processing is on applying the modulation.
2 Likes
AT the least, PM/FM would be cool. Using the granular engine as a mod source would be interesting.
My IK is on 2.8.2, which Waldorf tells me, “includes all improvements from OS 3.0 BETA 12 for Quantum and Iridium Desktop.” I have an expression pedal plugged into the control jack and a sustain pedal plugged into the sustain jack. In the mod matrix, when I choose “Expression”’ for source, I get no modulation from the expression pedal, but when I select “Pedal,” then the expression medal modulates per my mod settings. The sustain pedal continues to sustain as usual. I get the same behavior without the sustain pedal attached.
Is it a bug that the mod matrix only recognizes my expression pedal as “Pedal,” not “Expression”? I’ve done the calibration routine in globals, but it gives no positive feedback.
As someone considering replacing my Wavestate with an Iridium, what should I be aware of?
I’ve watched reviews, feel I have a basic grasp of it’s modes and appreciate its deep and menu-divey.
If you have any questions, I can answer them. Not regarding the Wavestate, though, as I haven’t used one