Waldorf IRIDIUM: Review and full tutorial (applicable to Quantum too)
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- čas přidán 25. 07. 2024
- Pretty much every important feature of Iridium tested and reviewed. If you'd like to know what to do with all those features, check out my ever-expanding book below:
► Patreon: / loopop
Check prices here (affiliate links help the channel):
► Sweetwater: imp.i114863.net/32XoB
► Thomann: www.thomann.de/gb/waldorf_iri...
► Amazon: amzn.to/3vCR1un
Other Gear in the video (affiliate links help the channel):
► Blackbox from 1010Music: amzn.to/2DEV15i
► Adam A8X Monitors: reverb.grsm.io/Adam-A8X (affiliate link)
Other places I hang out:
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My music:
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TIMELINE:
0:00 Overview
7:50 User Interface
13:00 Osc controls
13:55 Wavetable
18:10 Waveform
21:15 Sampler
22:15 Multisamples
24:25 Granular
27:30 Live granular
28:40 Resonator
32:45 Kernels synth
38:00 Subharmonic kernels
39:05 Kernel macros
41:40 Stereo filters
45:15 Digi former
47:50 Effects
50:30 Modulation
53:10 Controllers
55:15 LFOs
56:10 Envelopes
57:15 Komplex mod
58:30 Layers & unison
1:00:20 Arpeggiator
1:01:40 Sequencer
1:04:13 Pad config
1:05:00 Pad trig sequencer
1:06:55 Misc
1:08:10 vs Quantum
1:09:00 Pros & cons
I was asked how Iridium compares to Hydrasynth. Here are some pros and cons:
Hydrasynth pros:
- Less expensive
- Velocity and pressure sensitive pads (desktop) poly aftertouch and ribbon (keyboard version)
- More filter and reverb models
- Different wave mutators vs digiformer
- Macro mode for the knobs
- More flexible arpeggiator
- Desktop version is smaller and lighter, and comes with rack ears
Hydrasynth cons:
Monotimbral, 8 voices vs Bi-timbral and 16 voices on Iridium
No resonator engine
No custom wavetables
Shorter wavetables (8 vs 128 waveforms in a table)
No sampler/granular playback engine
No engine like the kernel engines
Mono filters as opposed to stereo filters in Iridium
No proper sequencer vs two sequencers on Iridium
Want to email me personally?
► Ziv (at) loopopmusic.com
NOTE: Occasionally I’ll try out affiliate marketing and include affiliate links. This means that I may earn a commission when you click on or make purchases via affiliate links. The content of this clip is entirely my opinion, and was not paid for or dictated in any way by the company creating the gear. Without addressing the particulars of products shown here as they might be under NDA, gear shown on this channel may be either sent by the manufacturer, on loan for review or bought at a discount.
I have so much respect for this guy. His ability to deep dive into so many complicated synths and explain them so well makes him probably my favorite reviewer these days. By the end you understand more than any other reviewer if this is for you or not. I still want you to review the Essence FM or give your brief impressions.
I wish the Iridium had 4 parts, that would make me pull the trigger much easier. I could get rid of several synths to fund one if it had that feature.
Yeah, I have no clue how he does that either. Feel so stupid watching this channel...
What I like about your reviews is that they're very structured, deep and sober, everything is straight to the point. No aaahs and ummms, no attempts at explaining things to people who see a synth for the first time in their life at the expense of depth, no wallowing in marketdroid superlatives. That's an hour well spent.
this piece of gear is waaay beyond me and my needs, but man, your reviews are the most thorough and comprehensive of all the channels I've watched....the companies must either be thrilled or frightened sending you items :)
You need a few 1000 years to test all these synths thoroughly...
I just found your channel a bit ago trying to learn about the TD-3 from Behringer. Your videos are so in depth and show information that most others skip over, including comparisons. They've been a godsend my guy, thank you so much :)
Thank you .I can watch this presentation twenty times and I will still learn something each time .It is comprehensive reflecting the depth of the instrument .
Thank you Loop Op for your video(s). Enjoy looking, learning with the manuals as a visual. The way you explain it...makes it more easy to understand.
Really appreciated your comparison to the Quantum sir! 🙃
You’re so necessary in my education on new and complex instruments!
🙌🏻🙏🏻
Brilliant thanks! Just about to dive into one of these and this is a big help!
Good that you got a chance to make this review, extremely valuable for an Iridium newbie!
Your channel is state of the art. And that's an understatement. It's one of the greatest channels I've ever come across.
I’ve been eagerly waiting for this to show up to my door!! You’ve really went into detail with this which I appreciate. Between this and a novation summit this summer I think this will cover my poly needs.
How is it going since you received the synth?
Great video! And thank you Loopop for having introduced some of my FM presets! 41:07
Thanks for sending them over!
Go make a nf-1 only video
Hogman 5000 😊👌🏻
What a great watch this was, thanks for another awesome video Loopop.
I like how connectivity is one of the first things you address because often it’s one of the main factors that determines weather or not I’m interested in a synth.
Realy love what you do, that's help a lot to understand what is about synth we can get hands on, on sometime manual are not realy clear... 👌💯
Yet another fantastic, balanced review - as always! Cheers!
A movie length review. I am trying to imagine the effort needed to make a video like this! Impressive.
Really like this piece of hardware, it is incredible what they have squeezed in that little box.
I have the greateshit respect and admiration for Mr Loopop. I have never and I no doubt will never ever see a better reviewer. He is mind boggelingly good at his job - his attention to detail is wonderous to behold. Many times I have found help from one of his videos at a time when I'm stuck for a workaround whilst using some piece of studio gear or another - and then added to which - whatever instrument I'm using I can rest assured that Mr Loopop will have reviewed it which is awesome!!! Mr Loopop for President.
Super nice tuto.Thanks !!! i will was impacient for this review.
You really do the work for your reviews well done.
I can't begin to fathom how long it must have taken to plan and make this video, with so many features to cover. yeesh! great review
thinside AWESOME REVIEW! It is amazing how touch’s on literally everything the synth does and how to edit it, in every video he does!
1:12:13 That's what I was waiting for. Beautiful demonstration of this complex synth.
Best video about that instrument. This subharmonicon section is mind blowing
Can I afford this $2500 synth? Nope.
Am I going to watch all 72 minutes of this and pretend like I can? Yep.
Same here, hehehe
That’s how much?! Sorry but I’m not watching past the 2 min mark!
Spoken like a true master of GAS
maybe i can get it at the library.
And that's the "lower price tag" they were referring to.
Wow, what a fantastic and elaborate review of this complex synth. You should work the trade shows for Waldorf to increase their sales, since they are not able to explain the synth in other than technical specs. You are such a natural presenter and everything is spot on. Great content 👍 what strikes me about the iridium is that it is such a hands-on synth that I really can imagine that the desktop format is easier to work with than bending over the keyboard at the quantum for hours in a row to create amazing sounds. At this point I can’t determine if the analog filters of the quantum weigh up to that. It has been over 30 years ago that I bought a brand new synth., the last I bought was an ESQ1( still have it) but the quantum/ iridium is something that I see myself ordering now after seeing this. It gives you many more palettes to choose from to complement my vintage analog gear , fm and vst’s like Omnisphere
The amount of detail and in depth knowledge you convey with each piece of hardware you review just keeps blowing my mind.
Netsuko he does such an awesome job!
Great in depth review... well chosen skipping on small detail functions. 5 star review! Only small gripe on FX preview... maybe something more open sounding (saw) for modulation fx and more transient sounding for reverb tails. Thanks for your great videos!
I always thought that the Yamaha EX5 would be the most crazy digital synth ever made, but Waldorf totally warps the EX5 (I own one, rack version, it's amazing, will never sell it) this synth is so bonkers, sounds amazing, endless possibilities I really want one. I prolly need a month or so to figure the thing out, but I want it. Great presentation!
Awesome review. Thank you!
This synth is incredible!
My only regret about Iridium is that I hesitated for two years before buying it. I thought the learning curve was too steep, but it turned out to be accessible and instantly gratifying.
I just got the keyboard version and I am amazed how initiative the whole system is to use, between the screen and the physical.
same here, but the core was a lot cheaper so ... i dont like the factory patches - but i really liked the first patch, i did on my own. Top synth.
Man a monster review for a monster synth! I may need to pop out for beer and snacks!
I was waiting for this!
Oh I need 1 of these in my life
@@agreen9903 Absolutely
My wallet was dreading this
me 2!
been waiting on this.
This Synth looks amazing !! I wish I could afford it. Thanks for the awesome review!!!
You could, but only buy it, if you really invest 10 years nonstop into it..
subharmonic kernels is the name of my new band
Yo can I join? Not to brag, but I am a great triangle player.
I’d go for, The Subharmonic Colonels.
@@watercolourmark badum tsh :D :D
What type of popcorn is that then? Lolol.
Loopop, your demos and reviews are the most detailed and competent I've ever seen; much appreciation for your exploration of powerful gear that most of us can really only afford once we're sure we're not wrong about knowing it's what we need and want and that it'd work how we want it to. Thank you.
My pleasure - thanks for taking the time to write!
Great. It helps me a lot to understand Waldorf and Synth. Many thanks.
Waldorf has always been on the cutting edge of creativity. Sounds absolutely stellar!! Would have voted to replace touch pad section with some other synth features/functionality. Couldn't see if there was a plucked string resonator.
I certainly don‘t mind the pun 😄 Thanks for this comprehensive and fun overview!
A great video. At 44:00 you mention the panning of the dual filters and how the Quantum cannot do this. That feature is in the 3.0 update for the Quantum, which was just released as a beta version.
superb video Loopop, I have been eyeing up the keyboard version of this, I feel its time to max out my credit card again!!!!
My pleasure - keyboard review coming out real soon!
Thank you , great stuff
Had this beast of a synth for a few days and it is absolutely amazing.I have scaled down my set up to get this as it can do so much. Anyone complaining about the price should go out and test this, you will not be disappointed.
Same. I’m about to sell some gear because this is so damn capable.
i gonna buy the behringer system 100 and syatem 55 modulars instead.. i have the vst version of this already.
We are in a pandemic and though it looks amazing it's digital which should mean that it should not be that expensive. My DSI Tempest is a thing of electronic wizadry , I can understand why it's so expensive. This is basically a music computer in a plastic box, ALOT cheaper to make
@@cheekoandtheman It's actually a metal chassis. Since it's digital it should be cheap? So anything digital is overpriced? Your Tempest is an analog drum machine and though an excellent one, it isn't doing anything special, you just like what it does. The truth of the matter is all of these machines we love can be replaced with a laptop or desktop for less cost and much more power and capabilities. You and I all those like us buy these machines for the experience of using them, the tactile feedback and feeling of the machines, that's what we are paying for.
cheekoandtheman what has a pandemic got to do with this synth? I have one and there is no computer available that could give the same tactile feel and ease of use. With your train of thought why bother buying a tempest when there are some amazing free drum vst’s and some definitely cheaper than the tempest that can do more...
Lovely bit of kit!
Just wow. What a synth!
I don't have the budget for it - so I'd love to have a software/VST version of it! Unbelievable.
With this machine i would leave the realm of making music really quick.
I thought so too, but after creating a particular sound, I rush to perform and record it, and then essentially have laid down the foundation of my entire new track, which I think enhance, sculpt and chisel at for another few days and boom! A pure source of inspiration!
Yup way too many menus...pass....
My feeling too. It would be a great sound design tool for going deep with, though. For those so inclined.
Yup. Sofa noodling
Same. You gotta take that and resample
Within a few hours after watching i decided to sell my Prophet Rev2 and another Eurorack Module and pre-ordered this beast. This is my kind of a modern workstation, wow!
How'd that work out?
@@SomeOne-pd6vm exactly like planned. loving the Iridium, not missing my Prophet
Can I afford it? Yes. Do I want it? Yes. Do I need it? Nope...
Can you give me some green bro? I'm a poor musician ;)
Nice to see. The filter actually sounded a bit better than I expected.
Those rubber pads though. Ouch.
I wish they made it larger with more controls (skipped those rubber pads to begin with) but I see the point of re-using the Kyra sized box.
And I agree with the buttons. Things that make the experience a bit less nice : )
Well, I resisted for about a week after watching this video (the first time). Then once I saw an option to VESA mount it on a swivel arm...I gave in. Thanks for your reviews. Absolutely the best synth reviews I've seen. I think I need to move to a place with another room.
So how do you like it?
@@BrianHalePhoto I like it a lot. It's one of the more powerful synths I own, for sure. I do have a little issue with some notes sticking on after the last firmware upgrade. And the upper left buttons are a little wiggly as loopop discusses. Waldorf website is pretty disappointing. But overall it's hard not to be pretty praising towards the Iridium.
Guess I need to get uses to riding the bus because I'll have to sell my car to afford this or the Quantum.. man this is why I fell in love with Waldorf back in 1999..... they just make amazing synths... I 💘 my microwaveXT
Ouch, no famous Loopop screens are needed to show this beaut :) esthetically I’ll hate my white Keystep, your black looks much better, but I got Beatstep Pro in black for it! Will be enjoying your detailed review while mine is traveling home, thank you Sir Loopop :)
... I thought there is a way to bulk load samples by special file naming already, maybe for Quantum only yet. Looking forward to drop Hangdrum and guitar in multi velocity with round robin to tweak those further. Sold anything else in my studio, and a kidney to have it all :) cheers!
Sounds great. The only thing making me hesitate a bit is the build quality. Lots of gaps in the casing and being able to see light thru those edges is irking the OCD in me
Got one. No more time to spend on CZcams now. WHAT A SYNTH !!!
Iridium killed the computer star? As always, your outro was amazing.
indeed. i want more from that outro!
This.................this is godriffic. I might sell my car for this! But aside from that, Loopop, you're the greatest gear reviewer of music of all time. You deserve a full television network.
Thanks, and go LoopFlix!
My dream synth!
Whaat.. The interface looks very intriguing.. Interesting
Eventually I bought my iridium. Now I keep coming back here to find out how to do stuff I can't find in the manual. I don't know how Loopop figured it all out but I'm sure glade he did, and keeps explaining it to me.
How do you like it? I’m thinking on getting one as well very soon. Don’t know if I can get away w something cheaper while still allowing the same type of sound design. Thanks!
@@macthomas8899 I like the iridium a lot, but I'm not worried about the price. If you want to go cheaper, Arturia's soft synth pigments is excellent for sound design. Live's suite also has tons of excellent stuff for sound design. But that's the whole software vs. hardware thing. Be warned about the iridium: there are still some bugs and the manual doesn't really tell you HOW to do stuff. I figure I can spend the rest of my life playing with my iridium, but I'll probably buy something new anyway just 'cause it's fun!
@@chriscopeman8820 Very helpful, thanks! I am going big on the analogue side, looking at a Prophet 10. Thought I'd try out the Hydrasynth if the Iridium isn't meant to be.
@@chriscopeman8820 Pigments 3 is, indeed, wonderful. I really dig it. I also owned a Quantum, which I sold at the top of the COVID-19 pandemic. I've missed it ever since and thought Pigments filled the same need, but I recently jumped back in with the Iridium. Waldorf really nailed something delightful here.
Nice! I use an Ableton Push and mapping the macro knobs on it (or whatever controller you use) to midi CC so they function as macros is a fine compromise to not having dedicated macro knobs.
So if I understood, can I use other midi or Ableton Push to midi map parameters of Iridium? I was wondering if that is possible.
Classical Waldorf,out of this work sounds and ideas.Loved the review as always!Perhaps the most powerful sound engine I ever seen.
awesome video as always - question about the sequencer: can the parameter sequencer(s) have different lengths from the note sequencer? and can you use that to modulate subharmonic ratios in the kernel engine?
I hope to see Jexus get his hands on one of these...or better yet, a Quantum.
he did already and found a time warp back to the future. where he was from.
for such a machine, the lack of more physical I/O seems rather limiting; e.g. send&return jacks and additional stereo out would be beneficial (otherwise seems like squashing creativity through a thin straw)
man i can't wait to get my hands on this thing
Another brilliant exposition, packed with useful info! Have you considered highlighting the current topic in the timeline/index, e.g. with a different shade, to help location in a long video? It's just a suggestion and I know you already do a ton of work to make these vids as good as they are.
Thanks - I have considered it, but didn't find a way to do it that was quick and easy. Now that youtube is highlighting the topic on the timeline, hopefully that's a happy medium
@@loopop Yes, I imagine it would be fiddly and time consuming to do by hand - and if your ocd is anything like mine I'd be fretting over potential mistakes. I've only just noticed yt's topic highlighting. Thanks for pointing it out. That is really helpful!
I have no interest in buying this mostly do to cost , but I watched most of this video ! Your video quality and information is unmatched
Great Video..Almost reminds me of the Hydrasynth Desktop...
Oh I forgot to ask - how does the granular compare the the GR-1? Does it have the fixed / absolute grain length you were looking for?
Hello loopop thxsomuch 💥🙏💥
Brilliant! You are my hero! :-)
Great overview thanks! Shallow I know but , Aside from how amazing this is sounds it’s & feature-set its a fantastic looking thing 😍......( so now I really don’t understand why the Kyra ended up so ugly😏)....
Such a great video ! Is this the Access Virus ti successor?
Great review as always! I've got one question on the chord sequencer: Can or can't you choose which chords you'd want to play from the 16 given ones?
Wow... nice synth, nice review, and nice magic trick turning a keystep pro white into a keystep black edition! ;-)
Cool piece of equipment
This synth absolutely IS overkill, which is exactly my kind of synthesizer. I'm going to put this on a stand with my Kronos and just overkill the universe.
makes sense. i'll prob do the same thing. we have a problem.
Destroy only the bad things in the universe. I'll help!
Is the hydrasynth the best controller if you have the desktop version?
A Kronos and an Iridium is everything you'll ever need. I haven't scratched the surface on my Kronos II.
I’m going add this to my YamahaMODX setup
Really good for sound design
My starship needs one of these in auxiliary control right next to the warp drive to handle shield harmonics.
Damn it!
This is a truly deep beast!!
17:57 that sound so cool
Many thanks for this detailed tutorial. I would be very happy if you might have the opportunity to make a tutorial for Kyra! thanks in advance 🤗
Undo button is missing ! 😟
That what I was thinking during your very good demo regarding the massive experiment you can make in few steps.
Should be a multilevel undo based on a permanent cash memory saving...
Anyway a very powerful synth for sound scientists 🤪
Imagine this + the Hydrasynth desktop together...game over and how cool would they look side by side?
Great! Many thanks for your effort. That helps a lot. It's not just nice to listen to you. I learn a lot with every video. I am very grateful for that. If you have the opportunity to do a review / tutorial for Waldorf M it would be super cool! Thanks.. keep it up!
My pleasure and I will!
Excellent, excellent review. Thanks! Do know if the Iridium has true 16 voices no matter what, or if the voice count goes down with processor-heavy functions? I ask because the Blofeld has "up to 25" voices," but using two wavetables and a comb filter brings it down to only 3. Thank you!
I did try to stress test it with 3 oscillators of different types and voice count went down to 11 (no special modulation)
Sounds meaty!
Amazing tutorial so inspiring. Just one question At around 22 minutes in you need Timor’s their were two ways to prevent samples from speeding up and slowing down. Chip monkey. However you only illustrated one method. What is the other one please.
Chip monkey?
Hi Ziv. Another great video!! What are all those holographic scopes and other tools you use?
It's just an overlay in post of scopes by Melda... not real unfortunately
Quantum beta 3.0 adds the pads (and lots more) and Rolf's said the Quantum's getting a digital/analogue hybrid mode, that includes up to 16 digital voices (in beta but not yet public)
And thus began the age of mini computers to get away from mini computers.
Right!
yeah going back to self contained mini laptop synths!
Hey! How about to get rid of the pads and put a double sized or dual screen isntead waldorf :)
I fear for my wallet every time I see a new post here.... with good reason this thing looks fantastic!
There making the costs ridiculous, only trust fund babies can afford this, especially during a pandemic. Because it was digital I was hopeful for a second. . Imagine if it was affordable it would of taken the music world by storm
This synth keeps calling "Buy me!". I can afford it, but I have to keep coming back to this video to remember why I'm not smart enough to own this synth. Thanks, I'm sure I'll have to come back here again next month for another humbling experience.
WHOA. This is almost overwhelming! It's amaaaazing, this is from the year 2098!! It's like having Serum in your hands on steroids
You can auto map samples when importing a folder, at least on the quantum.
Not by file name or pitch to my understanding. There may be some meta data in there, but I tried my own multisamples and it didn't work and verified with Waldorf that file name and pitch aren't currently supported as mechanisms for multisample import. If you've succeeded please share how!
i'm most curious about using samples within the sequencer and what level of flexibility/depth is available there. without having read the manual i'm guessing you could only use 3 samples at a time amongst the available 'oscillators?'
Thank you so much for all these amazing reviews. I'm going to be watching all your videos and trying to decide which synth to purchase. Can I ask what you think the best couple of synths are in your opinion for the money between the $1,500-$3,000 range? I have just under 3k and looking for something with a unique character for songwriting/production. Mostly into tone and character opposed to a bunch of features.
Thanks! There's no right answer - continued research recommended...