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

What do you mean? I don’t know any of the kyra backstory…

Waldorf essentially licensed a synth called the Valkyrie from its designer, an FPGA engine with a huge number of voices. Then released it as the rebranded Kyra. It’s an absolute beast of a synth if you can harness its power. Some users have complained about some UI features like button scrolling through 1000s of presets or the wave tables, instead of a wheel selector. The effects section suffers from a lack luster reverb and distortion. There’s been lots of requests for quality of life updates by the loyal user community, but most have the feeling that the original developer has moved on to other projects and no one inside Waldorf is familiar enough with OS. There are some free editors available for it which mitigate patch library and let you really utilize the multi-patches. It’s a great box if you need a VA with a ton of voices, the used market has them floating around at decent prices. I’m still very happy with mine, it keeps my Virus Snow company since they both seem to be dead platforms now :joy: if I ever get a few minutes free I’ll share some multi patch recordings that really show this things power! :rocket:

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Did anyone else here take advantage of this deal? If so, did your Iridium actually ship? My tracking has been stuck on “Label Created” for a week, with no evidence that the unit has actually left Korg USA’s warehouse.

@Scot_Solida I did! And my Iridium arrived on Wednesday. Mine did sit in “label created” for like three days though.

Definitely a good deal, other than a little dust the thing was in perfect shape. Even had the screen protector on.

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Ah, I’m glad someone got one! Mine has been hung up at “label created” since Saturday. :grimacing:

The Kyra is the Beta Max of VA synths in Waldorf’s line up while the Iridium is the VHS of VA synths

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Reminds me of the scene in servant where uncle george is asking: ‘where is your beta max player?!’

‘Where is your waldorf Kyra?!’

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I ordered an Iridium through that deal and it shipped 2 days after I ordered I think.

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I got the Opsix through them when they had the sale, and it did take quite a while for it to ship, but was quick to arrive once it did.

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:thinking:

Still “Pre shipment, label created…”

Email the seller bro. They’ll sort it out.

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Done it. Got “we’re investigating it today and will let you know.” It won’t be the end of the world if I don’t get it. I have Kyma, a PPG, Wavestation, SD-1… plenty of alternatives for this sort of thing. I just figured it be worth a try at that price. :+1:

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I have the iridium keys and I know we have similar synth tastes. You will love it

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I bet you’re right!

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It took 11 days, but my tracking jumped straight from “label created” to “out for delivery” this morning. Must have been a USPS glitch with tracking. :thinking:

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Others have already said this (and so have I above), but I imagine you will be very happy with your Iridium.

When I think of the synths I have (quite a few), the Iridium is the one I would keep above all others (and that is after having sold three synths just to get to the price you paid for yours). Despite paying more for this synth than any other I own (with the exception of the Kronos, which really is so much more than a synth), the Iridium has never caused me a moment of doubt about the purchase, which I am prone to do with musical gear (e.g. MPC One, OT, Lyra 8, etc.). The possibilities of what it can do are nearly endless. The UI is now my gold standard for how accessible and immediate a synth should be. The form factor is pretty much perfect (okay, actually, not a fan of the pads, but glad they are there when using it on its own). Waldorf has seemingly figured out any quality control or firmware issues of earlier iterations (I’ve been using mine for almost exactly one year and has been flawless). Finally, Waldorf has continued to demonstrate its very high commitment to the Iridium/Quantum platform with the introduction of an iridium keyboard model and the very recent announcement of the Quantum MKII.

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I’m looking forward to giving it a spin. I have bought a number of Waldorf instruments over the years, but none have stayed in my studio for long. I am hoping the Iridium will be the exception, since it can play so many roles - wavetable, FM, resonator and granular synthesis, plus multi-sampling/sample-playback. I always hesitated to pay full price, since I can do all of this stuff and more with something like Kyma, but sometimes I don’t want to bother with the computer. The Iridium will give me the option, and will allow me to jettison some older gear that takes up a lot of space (SD-1, EPS, Z4).

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Similar experience here. I tried a new Pulse 2 due to all the love it gets here and immediately knew I didn’t like the sound of it compared to my other monos (quickest turnaround to date for me). I tried a used Blofeld Desktop that I was enjoying but the output was super low volume and dull so I returned that but the Iridium immediately sounded and felt very nice to use. The effects are not great but all the oscillator engines, general interface, feedback of voices on the envelope page and the always active little customizable monitor page and so many other things just sound and feel great to use and everything works together to inspire exploration and orientation in a really remarkable way. Instant click.

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I agree on the effects–usable but not great. I have outboard effects pedals which are much better (Strymon Blue Sky Reverb and Eventide H9 for other wobbly stuff–delay or chorus/flanger).

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Also agreed on FX. I wish the thing had an extra pair of stereo outs so I could properly use the bitimbrality.

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