Waldorf Iridium Keyboard

The Lounge Other Gear
#184

So I’ve been looking at the poly-aftertouch features of the keyboard.

Starting on page 190 of the Iridium Keyboard Manual ( yes it is online ) there is a description for settings relative to the aftertouch keyboard.

From the Manual :

Calibrate AT Page

Tap on the Calibration AT button to open the display page regarding the polyphonic aftertouch settings. The following options are available:

  • Poly AT Curve determines the sensitivity for the polyphonic aftertouch from Soft to Hard. The default setting is Medium.

  • Poly AT Delay delays the polyphonic aftertouch for a hold and pressed key for the corresponding time amount.

  • AT Min Threshold Min/Max sets the mini- mum/maximum pressure for all keys to trigger the polyphonic aftertouch.

  • AT Key Offset Min/Max sets the offset pressure for the current played key to trigger the polyphonic after-touch. Here, you can make settings for each individual of the 49 key.

The procedure is very simple:

  • Play the desired key on the keyboard. The corresponding key in the display keyboard representation lits in red.

  • Make your settings for this key by using the AT Key Offset Min or Max slider in the touchscreen display. A set value is shown in the graphic grid below the display keyboard representation.

  • Hit any other key and proceed the same setting.

  • Reset Offset resets the current AT key offset to the default settings of 0%.

  • Reset All Offsets resets all AT key offsets to the default settings of 0%.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Can’t tell how many Poly-AT Curve options are available.

So interesting that you can adjust the Poly-AT settings on a per key basis. Can you adjust all at the same time, or do you do the 49 one at a time ? Not sure.

I guess i could see where i might want the Poly-AT reaction to be different across the keyboard.

So i looked carefully through the manual, and searched on-line as well and could not find information relative the keyboard having Note OFF Velocity, also sometimes called Release Velocity. There is a part of the manual that describes how a MIDI Note ON Velocity of zero is treated as a Note OFF but that of course is different.

There is also no Note OFF Velocity parameter provided in the Modulation Sources.

So i think that the keyboard does not have a Note OFF Velocity.

Does anyone have information to the contrary ?

1 Like
Hydrasynth from ASM
#185

As Jukka stated, anecdotal evidence of a problem doesn’t prove much of anything. Without more information, this picture only proves that you found a picture that someone none of us know says was given to him by someone supposedly as new. We don’t know the user, where he got this, which distributor, what kind of circumstances, how it was described, and on and on. This is just not helpful and could easily be spreading false information. Both of the units I purchased were in an sealed bags, clearly sealed at the factory. That is not the case with this picture, so if this guy bought a “new” (not refurbished, open box, returned, or whatever) box, the distributor is at fault, not Waldorf. I’d like to see a pic of the box delivered to him before he opened it (okay, I don’t really want to, but strongly suspect it shows obvious signs of having previously been opened after leaving the factory).

#187

Yes, I picked the one picture and the text you wrote stating that the picture was supposedly a new unit. That’s not gaslighting. That’s healthy skepticism, coming from someone who (mostly) agrees with you that the Iridium has had more than its fair share of problems.

#188

Now I’ve seen it all. Someone gaslighting by saying gaslighting is not gaslighting while gaslighting. :star_struck:

#189

Looking through the manual, getting more detail on the Poly-AT keys, i saw the large section on the Pads.

This of course is relative Pad Mode, where you can put the Pad functionality onto the touch screen. That was probably enough so that the pads didn’t need to be included physically on the Keyboard.

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#190

Hmmm. At the risk (or certainty) of beating a dead horse, my understanding of the term “gaslighting” (from the original movie) applies when a person knows the other person is right, but then tries to convince them they are wrong, dead wrong, and even crazy for even thinking what they are thinking. Here, myself and others are simply saying HBIII is likely overblowing the breadth and scope of the problems he is noting. That is not gaslighting. But, you know, whatever. I am happy with my Iridium, and happy that those who don’t want to buy one won’t.

1 Like
#191

Thanks for checking on this. I will keep an eye out for what other uses the pads might have as the software matures. Others have noted a possible use case for the pads down the road might be as macro switches for the desktop, to give it some of the added functionality of the keyboard version. That would be cool.

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#192

Be careful flinging accusations of gaslighting around… I offered my opinion on the matter, nothing more.

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#193

I’ll go vintage on this one:

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#194

Can you prove that with some fact based reasoning?
You still have also to put into account, in order to be fair, that Waldorf is a very small company. Much smaller than Moog, Sequential, Korg, Roland, Yamaha, Novation, Behringer, Arturia. It’s just a few people. Plus the companies history has been an up and down, before Rolf took over.

2 Likes
#195

For what it’s worth, Rolf does read and on occasion respond to posts over at Gearspace, so Waldorf does seem to be paying attention to user questions and concerns about the Iridium, although I don’t recall ever seeing Waldorf respond to specific concerns about the quality of their products.

#196

If you run a synth company, would you? I wouldn’t do this, I just would make sure that quality isn’t an issue, and from what I perceive from Waldorf is that they work on quality. That early adopters have more problems with brandnew synths, than buyers from the second, third, xyz batch.,.we all know this from Elektron products too. Yes it happens. Question is how you react about this? I had along the years many problems with all brands, right out of the box, it happens. Then I return the unit or sell it again and I get a substitute or something else that works. It’s just tools and not an attempt of a company to willingly sabotage you.

#197

good film.

1 Like
#198

Yeah, I agree. I wasn’t stating that Waldorf “should” address quality control issues on Gearspace. I was just stating that they haven’t. And, I was trying to point out the positive note that the head of Waldorf actually has participated in the discussion about the Iridium, which is in fact pretty cool.

#199

Man, someone complains about waldorf qc and the fanboys are out for blood here. Kind of off-putting, even people complaining about it over on gearspace are not treated as poorly. For what its worth I had to return a defective iridium as well and will not buy waldorf again any time soon.

#200

Just adding my 2 cents…

I think its very relevant to talk about product quality (good and bad) when evaluating a new product (like the Iridium Keyboard).

I’ll share my quick story, and I think it explains why people care deeply and get worked up about this kind of stuff.

I got a Sequential PRO3 a few years ago, and I ran into trouble with it. People rave positive things about Sequential and their products. However, this wasn’t my experience, and in fact Sequential didn’t agree that the filter was messed up on my PRO3. Sweetwater is the one that stood behind it, and had a meeting with me and confirmed it wasn’t right, and sent me a new unit.

How is this relevant to Waldorf?

Well, later I decided to get an Iridium desktop and I’ve had a great experience. In fact, I’ve had no major issues, and consider the build quality to be exceptional (well except the pads, I really wish those had a better feel to them, but I digress.). It’s been a work horse, and the synth I explore the most of any I’ve owned.

So the company with the better reputation gave me the worse experience, vs the company with the lesser reputation. In fairness, Sequential later got my respect back, and they are an excellent company, but you can imagine if I said that Sequential or the PRO3 was “bad”, people get their cackles up.

In the same way, when people say Waldorf or the Iridium is “bad” it gets my cackles up, because they are both awesome in my book. It doesn’t change my opinion, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t care.

My point is that if you are considering an Iridium (desktop or keyboard), every persons experience is different. It’s sad to see people not try something because they heard it might have problems. esp when it’s an excellent product in my own relative experience.

@michaeljk1963 is a perfect example, as he PMed me to ask about the Iridium. He was really concerned about the quality before he bought it, and sure enough the first unit he got had issues (maybe he can sense the future :slight_smile: ). Now however, he has a proper working unit and seeing how solid it is.

I’ve leave you with this. The iridium is the most stable synth I own. I do lots of weird things and push synthesis boundaries for fun. I lock up the Digitone, Digitakt, Pro3, Argon8, and even Omnisphere from time to time. In the last 12 months of using the Iridium, I have never had it lock up or crash, and I use it (and torture it :slight_smile: ) the most.

Best regards,

Gino

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#201

Where is that happening? No one is out for blood. There is disagreement.
And also multiple examples (Iike with me and Gino) both validating complaints and also stating that there are also plenty of examples of solid units.

#202

The Iridium Keyboard is an extraordinary piece of electronic music making equipment. It has a diverse set of unique features, with rich potential as a music making machine.

It is also a central piece of a very significant change in the electronic music industry and culture. It is the product of a unique company with a long storied history. The people involved with its creation, are some of the best in the industry.

The Iridium Keyboard is only now beginning to be used. It is a complex machine, with much being said about it, and there is plenty to talk about with it. Let’s do that.

6 Likes
#203

On the latest SonicTalk #706, with Gaz and Dominic, they spend a few minutes talking about the Waldorf Iridium Keyboard synth.

Well actually they spend some time on the WIK, and more time on poly-aftertouch keyboards in general. Picking up on some of what Dom has to say here, a lot will come down to feel, your expectations, and the mechanical characteristics, and system control of these keybeds.

I look forward to reviews on the WIK. But i also look forward to someone comparing and describing the feel differences of the two ( for now ) poly-aftertouch keybeds.

#204

New from Matt Johnson:

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