Another hydra and iridium owner here. If I had to pick one it would be the iridium. Hydra has a cool interface and a great keyboard but iridium is way way deeper with sound options. I find myself going way out there with the particle and kernel engines but also using it as a traditional subtractive synth. Really easy to navigate, though there are some weird quirks (like how the LFO menu sends you to the mod matrix to assign things, probably makes sense but it keeps fooling me.)
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Thanks man! Coming from you, that means a lot 
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Some of my pads on the Iridium. Using the bitcrusher in the digital former to give the pads some grit.
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Hi Gino,
I like Waldorf Hardware and design but their implementation of Software/Integration is pretty woeful going on past history and support (Blofeld related) its often clunky and doesnāt work. QQ - has Waldorf managed to create any decent software for the Iridium wrt sample import/multi sample keyzones/layers and management of patches etc
this is a critical factor for me as Iām keen on the Hardware but software/librarian/editors are ofter a deal breaker as it can be so laborious/difficult/time consuming
cheers
@echothief - I honestly donāt work much with samples on my Iridium, but I will say that assigning them is workable, but not great when I did explore it in the past.
It looks like it would be a decent amount of work to make a multisample instrument for example.
But Iād defer to others who have more experience in that area than me.
When I do use samples, itās more to do weird stuff by mangling them
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Added a video on filters with key tracking
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Thanks Gino , your video is very helpfulā¦
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Does the USB port for controllers supply power?
Seems that my Iridium has some problems. It wonāt boot - i just see the LFO-lights are running back and forth and it stucks in this mode. Seems to be something seriously ā¦ i did nothing wrong ā¦ just after some days i decided to work with this machine again ā¦ what a mess 
Oh dear, hopefully you can get that sorted out. There might be was to re-initialize or flash the unit again? I would contact support before doing anything, but this user sounds like they had something similar happening and from the replies it looks like thereās a way to initialize it.
https://www.waldorfmusic.com/en/myproducts/iridium-init-en
Unfortunately, it sounds like someone else in the same thread experienced something similar too. 
Hope you get it fixed easily. I really want one of these machines myself, but canāt do it for the foreseeable future.
thx for the hint, bro 
i will try it out
great dusty pads demo!!
Subd on your YT channel.
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Thankyou, very much appreciated!
Just noticed that the retail price of the Iridium in the US went up $200. Itās now $2700.
Yeah, I ended up getting one form Thomann last week for quite a bit less instead. Only paid $25 import duty.
Running the beta OS 3 and so far loving it very much. It really is in dire need of a patch manager/librarian though. Sadly it seems thereās no sysex at the moment, so hopefully thatā's addressed in future FW so 3rd party librarian support can happen if they donāt plan on providing one.
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Quite intrigued by this synth. Most of my outboard gear is extremely quirky and focused and does some particular thing very well with a specific character: this seems like an extremely powerful all rounder that could cover lots of ground that Iām missing (and kill off the last bits of awkward VST usage in my workflow). Interested if anybody has thoughts on any of these things:
- How is the granular engine? Iām a little concerned itās underpowered given the relatively low number of grains per voice (though I guess you could simply have three instances of the granular engine in a patch). This vid was quite encouraging that you can do some bonkers stuff with it, but I canāt really find any videos that get into the full capabilities. In an ideal world it would completely replace Slate and Ashās Cycles for me, which I love but is simply too cpu hungry to ever use in any significant way. Can it get into the kind of fun demonstrated in this video (or, if you know the VST, how does it compare to Cycles)? Eg. pitch fluctuations at grain level, good control over grain envelopes, a decent number of modulatable parameters, clocking time-based parameters/grain density etc.
- Relatedly, does anybody have any favourite videos/recordings of people doing interesting/deep things with the granular, resonator or kernel engines? So far the best video Iāve found is Loopopās, but that is (necessarily) limited to a general overview because of how full featured the synth is, and most other videos Iām finding are people just playing presets that sound like Dream Theater or bad movie scores. Rationally I know this thing has crazy potential just based on the specs, but itād help the lizard part of my brain a bit to see this actually being demonstrated given the cash involved.
- Are the onboard effects any good or am I more likely to be processing the synth through the interesting boxes I already have?
- Very interested in whatās going on with the beta firmware (esp MPE support), but I canāt find where the full list of new functionality is listed. Can release notes be found somewhere, or pasted here if itās only accessible to people currently on the beta? Itād be encouraging to know thereās a good direction of travel for ongoing support. Bonus extremely niche question: does anybody have the MPE beta firmware, own a Sensel Morph, and have it attached directly into the Iridiumās USB host port? The Morph is currently my only MPE option and itās workedā¦ somewhat inconsistentlyā¦ for me thus far, so it would be great to know if my planned set up actually has a chance of functioning.
Thanks in advance to anybody who can take the time to address any of this wall of text!
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Iām still on the fence, but more for the Quantum than the Iridium. You spend a lot of time treating this as a workstation, with tons of knobbing and buttoning so that I want 100% tabletop stability, which makes the VESA mounting not an option for me. But putting the Iridium on a tabletop means that itās a pain to use it with a keyboard larger than a Keystep. Plus, the Quantum has the larger screen and more spacious knobs, providing an all around more comfortably immersive experience; itās extra colored status lights and knobs to control more things just adds to the luxurious feel. But then the thing is big as hell, forcing me to move something out. I think I can live with 8 voices instead of 16, and the general view is that thereās not a whole lot of difference between the analog vs. digital filter.
Thereās the price difference, but that gap seems to be narrowing, as Iāve found a better than average deal on a new Quantum. My major impediment, though, remains hardware reliability. You still hear about too many white screens, which may just be firmware, but I donāt have confidence I can get quality servicing in my location without shipping the thing overseas, and that would balloon the total cost of ownership. I wouldnāt want to live with a bubble under the screen.
Iād be satisfied with my Prophet X, but I knew I was sacrificing a lot due to my need for MPE, which Waldorfās beta provides. On the other hand, Prophet Xās super nifty integration with Omnisphere provides a nice workaround, which is why I got it, but there I am back ITB. Prophet X and Quantum may seem like apples and oranges, but Yehuda Rothschild makes an informed and interesting comparison that can clarify your thinking about the Iridium even if youāre not interested in the Prophet X.
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I was super gassing over thisā¦
Until I had a play in store. I know you can never judge a piece of gear by playing with it for less than an hourā¦ however I was a bit underwhelmed.
Just my opinion though and thatās in a big part influenced by my taste in music.
It has some pretty cool people rooting for it. A. Cortini about the Quantum:
" I bought the Waldorf at beginning of the album mixing session, which, for me, is a period that goes well beyond just mixing. This is the time where I make all the tracks fit together. Itās like a puzzle: I have all these pieces and I listen to them together and then make the final changes. The Waldorf provided the right ingredients for me; it was like the clear coat that glued the music together.
The machine came via a recommendation from my friend Richard Devine, who had worked with them originally, and also Richard James who loves the instrument too. When those two Richards speak, you have to listen. It really is what they described. Out of all the instruments from the last decade, itās the one that sounds like a universe on its own, and it finds the perfect point of having the right features and ease of use in accessing these features. "
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Ive been underwhelmed ever since the Yamaha CS80 left my studio sigh.