Much too cramped for such a deep synth. Not something I’d want to spend a lot of time with. At the risk of being a buzzkill, I have to say the design looks pretty half-assed. Someday I really want to get a Waldorf synth, though. Just not this one.
If that’s accurate that means Korg is adding close to $500 to the price.
That’s why the Quantum Plus, or whatever it gets called, makes so much sense.
Quantum Duo ? It’s kinda what the Summit is to the Peak.
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Very tempting. The demos sound ace
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Thomann says 5-7 weeks (the english version).
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a) The first batch is sold out
b) Thomann “accidently” gives a closer date so that people order from them instead from other stores.
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Nice visuals on that trailer.
Sounds nice too
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Rolf really clears up a lot of questions in this video.
Something to really consider with the Iridium will be what external controller gets connected to it.
Any thoughts on that ?
ADDED: According to Rolf they are investigating MPE and/or MIDI 2.0 for the MIDI interface. Both Iridium and Quantum can currently receive Polyphonic-aftertouch.
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Maybe I missed it but I was surprised to not see effects like reverb and delay for a synth of this type and price range. Did I miss it?
Yeah I agree, an incredible amount of space is wasted on those pads while the knobs are so cramped below. Why?! Would much rather have more knobs to control more parameters. Novation Peak did it right, bristling with knobs and if I want pads, I can buy their pad controller and configure as needed. Sounds good though…
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Yes you missed it.
Check the manual starting at page 109 – Phaser, Chorus, Flanger, Delay, Reverb, EQ, Drive, Compressor.
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Think I would be more then happy to sacrifice those pads for a slightly more spacious layout for the knobs.
Basing that on a quick skim over the manual section “Working with the Pads” [p175] it says they can be used in “Arpeggiator, Sequencer, Trigger Mode” all of which seem like they don’t add that much value.
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BTW: What i learned from the Synth Anatomy video with Rolf, is the pads are very basic – no velocity, no aftertouch, and they are not meant to be drummed. Think of them as switches you can toggle – but you get to switch between the modes they can be used in.
The Quantum will eventually have the same thing, all on the touch screen – in Firmware V 3.0 that feature i think is in the Beta for that out in a few days.
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I kind of think the physical pads sound like potentially a really interesting part… they say they are looking at eurorack sequencers for inspiration here, it could end up being a big part of performance and sound design with it.
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Thanks for the clarification Jukka, but even with that as the case, I would much rather have more hands-on control of the synthesis parameters and bring my own pad controller to the party, which I configure to trigger/toggle/activate whichever parts of the synth I choose. Maybe others will feel differently. I just think that this synth looks overall even more unappealing to edit and use than the Quantum, and I don’t understand why they chose to fragment the line by going with a slightly different architecture. Makes the Quantum look like a “whoopsie” step in the wrong direction that they are now correcting.
It does sound gorgeous of course, like all Waldorf products.
Yeah, Rolf talks about this, the idea i guess comes some from [Make Noise] Rene with X and Y direction sequences, and random walks. According to Rolf, it’s like Rene with fewer features.
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I wasn’t disagreeing with you Hawk. I think the fact that all these pad features can be done on the touch screen, and all those features will be on both Q and I, backs up what you say.
Oh I didn’t think you were disagreeing, I was trying to express that even with the info you shared with me about the designers intent for the pads (which I didn’t know) I still disagree with their decision to include the pads.
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Yeah I wonder if that is the more or less “single OS” thing coming into play more so, like if the Iridium didn’t have the pads then they wouldn’t be putting resources into making these sequencer/pad functions because the touch screen is a less ideal way to use them and designers generally won’t do design for some external pad controller most people don’t have hooked up… Makes me wonder if the next product in this line will continue the trend with another new hardware interface addition. The touch screen means they can add in control functionality to the older units easily while continuing to be creative with there new hardware designs.
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And Rolf definitely implied that there are more with this “platform” as i noted over on the Quantum thread.
Also right at the end of the video Rolf was talking about Waldorf’s low cost hardware, like the Streichfett and Blofeld, and indicated that they are perhaps working on something more at this price-point. It was completely unclear if that has any relationship to this “platform”.
Using my own imagination only – but what about a module sized box like the Blofeld or Streichfett, with a single voice, or other restrictions from this “platform” ?
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