Waldorf Iridium Core

Waldorf’s all‑encompassing Iridium engine is now available in its smallest form yet.

As you may already know, the Waldorf Iridium is not just any digital synthesizer. It’s the company's flagship. With a sprawling synthesis engine embracing virtual analogue, wavetable, frequency modulation, phase modulation, granular, multisampling and physical modelling, the Iridium is a true all‑rounder. While being everything to everyone may seem impossible, the Iridium’s sheer scope is undeniably impressive.

The Core is the latest option in an expanding line‑up and the smallest Iridium thus far. It measures 346 x 200 x 64mm and weighs 2.2kg, so it will fit comfortably on your desktop. It retains all of the features of its bigger siblings but with a reduced voice count of 12 (16 in the bigger models), a few changes to the inputs and outputs on the back, no keyboard, and fewer dedicated encoders.

Atomic Number 77

Like the previous models, the Iridium Core revolves around a large 1024x600‑pixel colour touchscreen. Most dedicated controls for synthesis parameters found on the larger keyboard and desktop models have been sacrificed for a smaller form factor, but you still get the top row of Section buttons for navigating, Macro buttons that can be freely assigned, the six contextual endless stepped encoders, eight rubberised pads for triggering notes and chords, and a selection of other encoders and buttons for quick access and navigation. One addition that helps with the reduction in dedicated controls is the four assignable Control knobs located underneath the screen. By default, they adjust filter cutoff, resonance, effects send and patch volume, but they can also be customised per patch, giving you control over the most important parameters for any given preset.

Iridium’s synthesis capabilities remain identical to those of its older siblings. Patches between all the Iridium models can be shared and loaded on any other model, which is easy thanks to the microSD card slot. The Iridium Core has 2.6GB flash storage for samples, pre‑loaded with a 2GB library of factory samples. There are over 1700 patches, with space to save several thousand more.

The synth engine uses two layers, which can be stacked, key‑split and panned, and assigned a custom number of voices per layer. Each layer uses a voice per note, so if you stack two polyphonic layers, you get a maximum of six voices. Layers can also be played bi‑timbrally from different MIDI channels. Each layer is essentially a full synth patch, with three oscillators, three filters, six envelopes, six LFOs, a Komplex modulator and up to five effects. Layers are always saved together as a ‘Multi’ but can be loaded individually.

Each layer is essentially a full synth patch, with three oscillators, three filters, six envelopes, six LFOs, a Komplex modulator and up to...