Any new synth, I find all the best patches, make a copy then start tweaking them. It’s a great way to understand how they’re structured.
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nice examples @Gino. but tastes are very different and for me it still sounds like a standard pad, where I don’t think, ok, the synth really has its own characterful sound and it’s worth spending over 2.5k for it, because that’s what I was talking about here.
I have a nice example here of how a plugin can sound and I think it’s not much better than the iridium, maybe even better. it is also digital. and it certainly wasn’t a joke.
i think iridium is just a luxury device. if you can afford it, great. but a good plugin could do it too. the guy here in the video also uses iridium.
here is another example with the iridium. the above sounds better to me. but now it’s fine.
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In those examples i prefer Neptun’s Dream over Eternia.
The sounds seems a little more focused and specific (to me)
Sounds like you made your mind up.
Not sure branding it “just a luxury device” is called for tho.
Personally I have no interest in VSTs or using them, but I don’t make posts about why X vst is pointless.
Also I don’t think a product needs to be world-endingly unique to be a good purchase that can be thoroughly enjoyed.
You seem annoyed that it isn’t blowing your mind, but some of us are having our mind blown by this, and I’m not sure pointing at an app is going to change much?
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I just wanted to be convinced whether it’s worth spending so much money, nothing more. And yes, now I’ve come to a decision.
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Sounds like it’s the right decision for you. 
I’ll be selling my Wavestate 
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For me the bottom line is that the Iridium is high fidelity digital with lots of controls, and an actively developed synth engine.
I’m not trying to convince anyone that the Iridium is better than a high quality VST in a studio setup.
To me they are the same quality if you use the same settings (bit depth, sample rate, good monitors, etc).
But if you’ve done sound design on the computer with VSTs it has a certain feel to it. It’s not “bad”, and many prefer it. I like both but prefer devices with knobs, because it’s more tactile.
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From your posts, it would seem that what you miss from the Iridium is the raw analog sound + filter.
I think you should keep on digging this way, and come back to digital once you are truly looking for what it has to offer.
Maybe the Quantum (you made a typo in your initial post btw) would be closer to what your ear longs for. But if you didn’t like the Peak, I’d say forget this, sell the Iridium and get yourself a Moog Matriarch ^^
You might just want to rename the thread, like “Waldorf Iridium too digital for me?”
Because crappy is not the right word.
I mean, I used to hate FM synthesis, the sound was too artificial to my taste. Until I educated my mind and my ear, and eventually got seduced.
Maybe at one point you’ll feel the same with the different digital synthesis types…
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I think a lot of this stuff is a luxury 
Quantum, Prophet 10, Buchla Music Easel, or the dreaded “just one more module” custom modular, this stuff can get crazy expensive.
“worth it” is how much you use it. Whatever you have, if you use it a lot, and it brings you joy, then it has value. We really are spoiled for choice in the modern day. VSTs are great, and hardware is great too. There’s really no right or wrong here
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For me yes, 100%, I do not regret my purchase at all and I love this synthesizer. It took a few months to arrive last year but it was worth it.
Then I enjoy living in the lap of luxury. I hit keys and it makes sounds that I love to hear, maybe not the correct notes all the time because I’m a rubbish keyboard player but I will be using the Iridium for many, many years to come. It’s fun, making music is fun and I like having fun.
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Came here following a too-long Twitter doom-scrolling session.
It was the right decision.
LOL much appreciated.
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Just reminder than anything not required for making money, eating or keeping a roof over your head, is technically a luxury.
To some that includes any form of entertainment, including computers, VSTs and Pocket Operators (as a non-pro)
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I went back and forth on the Iridium as well and in the end decided against it because, even though on paper the features were really what I wanted out of a workhorse synth, I struggled to find anybody playing it that really inspired me.
I do think the whole “could a VST do this” thing can be a bit of a red herring though. In principal the sound of most hardware can be replicated/achieved on a computer if you put enough effort/processing into it: but what I’m after with hardware is a good workflow/interface that gets me to where I want to be easily and routes me towards things I might not otherwise get to. It’s pretty much 95% disliking the interface/feel of using a computer that makes me buy hardware. I’ve also bought gear like the Tasty Chips GR-1 which really is a high powered granular synth VST in a box when you get down to it (I actually got it instead of the Iridium since I decided the granular stuff was what I most wanted out of that), but taking that cpu load off of my computer is the gamechanger and makes it worth the money imo.
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Lots of pads and atmospheres which I love, but how is it for dirty and wubby basslines? I’m talking DnB, Dubstep type kind of stuff!(I like the sound of Logic’s EFM1 for reference 
)
I do think the analog filter in the quantum adds a lot. However, when I compare the older microwaves and M’s overall wavetable vibe to the quantum, I prefer the microwaves and M.
They have a much rawer tone overall. The quantum definitely has this newer digital vibe.
With something like an XT, it sounds magical from the get go, and will always sound good no matter what you do.
The quantum takes a bit more work to dial in a great sound IMO. Though I’ve had many moments in deep patching with my quantum where I think “damn this is the best thing I’ve ever heard”, so YMMV
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…last time waldorf really added something to the modern overall sonic equasion was their microwave 1…back in 90ies they were a gamechanger…one of the first wavetable hw synth with a truu analog filter at the end…this thing had a bite…and so had their pulse…
even when they once thought, as less as possible knobs to twiddle is the future…
all their latest designs are luxury items, fallen out of time…but if they were still in contact with fresh mindsets, also an iridium could spit out great sounds, i guess…but who really needs that expensive hw these days…?
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in my opinion, the iridium is a good alternative to the quantum if you don’t have much money. and the iridium is already very expensive.
but i personally think that the sound of the iridium is completely different than that of the quantum. really every video with even bad audio quality proves that to me.
it’s those lousy resonant frequencies that are very often heard on digital synths. even with some analog ones. mostly cheap devices.
iridium still sounds better than omnisphere, for example, but not much better. and if i personally dig so deep into my pocket, then the sound is the top priority, what’s the point if you accept the DAW.
if i had the money, only the quantum would come into question, because the sound is not to be found in the DAW. I’m only missing a synthesizer that is well suited for pads and atmospheres. and decent digital hybrid synthesizers, such as quantum, UDO would be very worthwhile for a pure analog synthesizer environment.
I already had the waldorf M and I found that it also had these lousy resonant frequencies. it is clear that almost every sound has to be processed with eq etc, but in moderation and not as drastically as with such synthesizers. why does e.g. NINA so fantastic? this is not for nothing. so it makes a difference if you listen more closely. as soon as i hear the iridium sound loud in my ears, they hurt.
with the rytm I also had concerns at first. but with the kicks i found that the frequencies at 200 hz are very present. a little dip is enough here and they sound wonderful. and that’s the way it should be - edit in moderation.
but the quantum is really the non plus ultra because it has more sound design options than any other synthesizer. this is definitely a masterpiece for advanced producers or enthusiasts and i’m into new devices.