Did you do it, or did it do it ?
I assume you mean another broken WIK, and another two shipments across the Atlantic ?
What’s the story ?
I sourced another Iridium Keyboard domestically, and it ships out of the very big city I’ll be moving to in August in case I have service needs. This doesn’t avoid the cost of customs since that’s still factored into the price, but the total cost was a bit better than Thomann’s.
I liked the first one just fine for the 12 hours that it worked, but more than that, it fits my current and anticipated needs in so many particular ways, none of which are worth mentioning because my quirks are just too idiosyncratic in this case. For people considering a purchase, existing information is already good enough. I guess the price factors into the lack of owner discussion here. It’s kind of a weird-ass synth, as synths go, but if it cost, say $1500, I bet a lot of people who aren’t so turned on by it would give it a serious trial.
I’ll just mention that I’ll really appreciate having one device that always provides persistent visual feedback of patches’ original settings so that you can easily go back after tweaking and comparing. I just plain liked interacting with the UI in general because it’s got a screen quality that allows it to anticipate better what you want to be looking at when you tweak a knob. The desktop version’s somewhat smaller screen, fewer knobs, and tighter spacing–not to mention the reputation–kept it out of consideration. If Quantum had PAT, I might have gone for that instead, in view of the Q’s low rate of reported malfunctions.
This thread makes me nervous about buying an Iridium desktop…
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Thanks for posting this.
One take away is that Loopop purchased an Iridium desktop for himself at a discount. I think that reflects very positively for the synth engine as he could own pretty much anything. No idea what the discount was, but I’m sure he didn’t buy it for $1 
Plus I consider him to be extremely well educated on synthesis hardware. Bodes well for the platform.
I laughed when he had to touch the screen multiple times, it’s really a shame it’s not as responsive as an iPad.
Also I really like extra buttons on the keyboard, and the poly AT Fatar keybed on it.
Loopop without blatantly saying it, made a sharp statement by including the US/Europe price comparison screen ( at 13:45 ).
We know who’s to blame on this, as has been discussed earlier.
I’d order through Thomann USA, except for the issue of trans-Atlantic shipment with returns and service.
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From my understanding if it breaks I have to ship back to Germany right ?
If I buy in the states then Korg handles the return and replacement ?
Indirectly perhaps, according to Waldorf the dealer handles the return for their warranty period. That’s how Sweetwater works too, and i think they handle repair beyond the 24 months as well, so Korg is only an intermediary, at most. Sweetwater has their own extensive repair operation as well, though i have no idea if they also repair Waldorf stuff directly.
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Loopop sounds a little sick. I hope he doesn’t have Covid. The main thing I like about the Keyboard version is not the keyboard (I have too many of those in my studio already and I am not a fan of aftertouch due to the amount of pressure it takes), but rather that there is more space between the knobs. On my desktop version, I find myself often rubbing up against an adjacent knob, and it is sometimes difficult to read the labels under knobs because there are so many and they are so close together. I think this is a good tradeoff though because. the desktop is a very large desktop synth and needs all those knobs to do all thing things it does with little menu diving. I really wish they’d done something else with the pads on the desktop, although like the Hydrasynth desktop they do come in handy for couch (or in my case cabin) jamming.
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yeah, I was just looking for an aftertouch adjustment because it does take more pressure than I’d like and doesn’t seem to respond the way I want it to, but it’s still very useful. Maybe more practice time. It’s an appreciated luxury to have the full keyboard, with performance elements, extra space, etc. Because of how little you actually need to use the knobs, though, I’ve mulled over what it would be like to have the desktop instead. I’ll see how I feel about that once I’ve tried out my external keyboard of choice. Isn’t the desktop’s screen also a bit smaller? And then there’s the relatively high rate of reported desktop failures even after you take into account that negative reviews get overrepresented.
If they came out with an all-screen version surrounded by the control buttons and knobs, I’d go for that----an IridiuMini----if only for the portability.
I’m curious about this price difference. Can you summarize, or point to where this was discussed?
Loopop’s Iridium model price comparison in US and Europe from his video.
These aren’t precisely what you would pay in the US, there are other fees. Loopop is pointing out the difference in how the models are priced.
Actually, I mean do we have any ideas as to why there’s such a price difference?
It’s Korg being the official distributor for the North America market. And I believe you can swap out the power cable and you should be good. So with the Euro at a 20 yr low against the dollar minus the Korg distributor fee is where you see the difference in pricing
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I just got a B-stock from Thomann and the import fees were ~$100 - still made it worth buying from them except for the fact that the screen popped out of place during shipping. Debating if I return and get one that’s brand new or just suck it up. Also trying to see if I can get a new screen altogether and re-install.
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You mean the Iridium Keyboard ? I presume you do.
Is this an issue with the keyboard ? I read it occurred with some of the early desktops at some point.
nope, sorry - desktop. Must have gone through some shipping trauma as it was not in place when I first opened the package seemed like it fell out of the styrofoam/plastic meant for holding it.
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Low volume and historically poor QC on Waldorf’s part goes a long way to explaining Korg’s pricing. I would be tempted to order from Thomann if it weren’t for all the reports of Waldorf issues.
Instead, I should make better use of the wavetables on my Virus & Blofeld. 
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The Iridium Desktop has its own thread.
Problems, particularly with early production of the Iridium Desktop doesn’t have a strong correlation for determining the manufactured quality of the Iridium Keyboard.
Not saying that the quality of the WIK is good or bad, just that from my manufacturing experience, the mechanical quality of a manufactured product, has many more factors involved than may be expected.
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Agreed. Also, I don’t know how you can blame shipping on Waldorf. I bought a MatrixBrute and when it arrived, there was a huge dent on the outside (shipping box) and a hole on the inside box, and then when I removed it, one of the knobs was completely bent to the side and there were other obvious signs of trauma. I returned it the same day (not fun with a MatrixBrute). Similar story with my Iridium (desktop). The first one was wonky (and I think a return that got rerouted to me). Second one has been flawless for the past 5 months.
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According to Loopop the screen size is exactly the same size on both Desktop and Keyboard versions. He also noted the greater distance between knobs, but also noted, like me, that this is the price you pay for keeping the desktop as small as possible, especially given all the immediacy the Iridium offers despite its incredible complexity and depth. Beats every other instrument I’ve ever used in this regard.
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