Waldorf Iridium (16-voice, duo-timbral Quantum desktop)

:joy:

I see youā€™ve had yours for a while. How do you feel about navigating around the synth? Is it getting pretty fast for you or is it an annoying amount of presses to do things?

Is the touch screen finicky?

Iā€™m very into the idea of grabbing one of these in the near future. I love Waldorf Synths in all of their digital glory, so organic!
The resonator looks and sounds amazing as well as the wavetable stuff. If the Digiformer is similar to their previous filter distortion algorithms, Iā€™ll be in sound design heaven!

The only thing that throws me off is knowing how deep of synth this is and if the required navigation can become muscle memory or not.

1 Like

I personally find navigation to be a breeze.

By default, itā€™s set to switch to the corresponding page whenever you address a knob on the machine. You can disengage this behavior, though.

The Kernels engine is the only thing that ever gets a bit laborious, since you have to juggle 4 pages for each of the 6 operators, etc. But even then, itā€™s always clearly laid out and sensible.

Iā€™ve had no issues whatsoever with the screen, aside from the qwerty keyboard that pops up whenever youā€™re typing a filename to save. (It can be easy to click the wrong key, given the amount of hot spots on that screen.)

2 Likes

Awesome to hear that :slight_smile: Thanks!

I navigate the Iridium with ease. Iā€™ve not even really needed the manual for anything because itā€™s so easy to use. The touchscreen response is good but I can accomplish almost anything without ever touching the screen. The ergonomics of this synth is well thought out. Youā€™ll absolutely love this synth, such a joy to use.

6 Likes

Awesome! Thanks! Looks like Iā€™ll be putting this on my short list once I part with some other stuff to make room!

1 Like

Itā€™s like have two synths in one, two part muti timbral. Iā€™ve heard that importing samples is a bit awkward. Iā€™ve only sampled directly into it and thatā€™s a straight forward process. Granular synthesis on this is my favorite feature by far.

3 Likes

Yeah, itā€™s every digital synthesis type I would want in one synth! It really eliminates a lot of other synths and software for me.

In a way Iā€™m happy itā€™s only duo timbral. Itā€™ll make me focus on making each sound shine rather than just layering things which is something Iā€™m more into these days. A couple of awesome sounds vs a bunch of okay ones. The endless possibilities means I wonā€™t be looking elsewhere for something better for a long time. Win, win, win, for me anyway!

4 Likes

Something else Iā€™d like to point out to anyone reading this thread is:

You can mute modulation slots in the matrix.

Not only does this aid the user in diagnosing, if they should later hear something theyā€™re not fond of, but it also affords them the ability to ā€œreconnect patch pointsā€ as a performative feature. (Ie. Clip launching, but for modulation)

9 Likes

I must admit Iā€™m dreaming of owning one of these.

2 Likes

Yes, I can confirm that, too. Could not spend so much time with it yet. But so far everything is structured very logical. Youā€™ll get very far without even touching the manualā€¦

A short question: there is a screen saver available. Is this working on your devices? On mine I was not able to activate it, even with setting the waiting time to 1 min

A short review from Amazona (in german)

2 Likes

Yes, the screen saver is working on my Iridium. Just tested it, set on 1 minute.

You have installed the 2.5.1 firmware?

3 Likes

In the review they are talking about firmware 2.5.2. On the Waldorf support site the latest is 2.5.1. Did I miss something?

I know thereā€™s no way to predict the future, but how well will the value hold up for the Iridium?

Also want to know if I should wait a few monthsā€¦ do we know for a fact that Waldorf will be making minor revisions to the assembly? Do owners have concerns about build quality after using it for a while? The reviews and articles Iā€™m seeing say itā€™s very well constructed.

At Sweetwater itā€™s now listed as a ā€œpre-orderā€ and I added my name to be contacted when itā€™s available. Most likely their production was interrupted and complicated by Covid, or is it that they are making revisions?

Ok, thanks. Iā€™ll check which firmware is installed. Did not do any updates yet.

I think the build quality is very good. Really like the encoders. No issues with the housing or the screen on my device.

However, the buttons can be moved around a little bit causing the impression of misalignment. But itā€™s not different to other synths/manufacturers. If the labels would be on the housing and not directly on the buttons you would probably not really notice it. Having seen it in real (could test it in my local store before buying it), I think itā€™s not a production issue but due to the design & material of the buttons. So I guess it wonā€™t change any time soon. Not perfect from a design perspective. But it does not bother me and the buttons are responsive and all work fine (also the touch screen).

Have to spend more time with the Iridium. But so far Iā€™m loving it. UI is straightforward - especially regarding the complexity and all the options it offers.

4 Likes

It would have been nice if the text under the knobs had some background light. They are difficult to see.