Review: Waldorf Iridium Core
Iridium is a three-oscillator digital monster synth. Iridium Core makes the platform more accessible without much of a sacrifice in performance.
30 April 2024
Waldorf’s primo synth offerings are highly regarded by those in the know. The reasons to spend top dollar (A$5000+) on a Waldorf Iridium or Quantum are not so obvious to those less informed. Gen X-ers will have memories of drooling over the seemingly unattainable Waldorf Wave back in the day and now, perhaps, in a position of a middle-aged financial comfort, can finally afford the Wave’s 21st century progeny, and have no issue in doing so. Millennials and Zoomers might look at the Iridium as an overpriced VSTi container. After all, Waldorf’s special sauce has always been digital, especially wavetable, synthesis – which it pioneered via its familial PPG lineage. Flip the desirable synth ‘coin’ and you have analogue behemoths and, thanks to honest-to-goodness electronics and componentry, it seems easier to rationalise the outlay.
With its Iridium synth (released in 2020), Waldorf has made the price tag easier to swallow thanks to great industrial design and solid build quality, with pots that feel great and generous display real estate.
Internally, Iridium packs a veritable ‘best of digital synthesis’ offering. Not only do you get Waldorf’s stock ’n’ trade wavetable synthesis, you get an additional four digital synth engines. The icing on the cake are the factory presets. Waldorf’s cadre of gun programmers are all named in the sound banks and become like old friends as you grow to appreciate each’s patch-personality and the flavour of their creations. It’s a huge asset.
TO THE CORE
Iridium Core is a more cost-effective repackaging of the original, with a smaller complement of pots and controls. The differences aren’t entirely around the size and UI, the sound engine steps down from 16 voices to 12. Interestingly, the 12-voice Core features a two-layer (duo-timbral) approach rather than the single layer of the original, which provides additional flexibility.
The rest of the engine is retained:
- 3 oscillators with different modes (Wavetable, VA, Particle, Resonator, and Kernels)
- 3 stereo filters per voice
- Digital former effects (filter models, comb filter, bit-crusher, drive, ring mod, and more)
- Modulators: six envelopes, six LFOs, and a komplex modulator
- Modulation matrix with 40 slots and fast assign mode
- Arpeggiator
- Step sequencer with up to 32 steps for notes and parameters
- Mod wheel, pitch bend and poly-aftertouch
- MPE support
NEED TO KNOW
In some ways, the release of Core, is like taking Bugatti’s W16 engine, trimming it down to 12 cylinders and popping it in a top-of-the-range Citroen. It’s an imperfect metaphor and Waldorf is German not French (and probably cancelling their AudioTechnology subscription after seeing this!) but you get the picture.
This isn’t an Iridium review, it’s a Core review, so I won’t waste our time retracing steps. Instead I’ll jump straight into the biggest questions:
WHY CORE?
Question 1: is the ~25% price difference what it’ll take to go with Core, or should I save up for the OG Iridium?
Answer 1 – Yes: If the form factor suits you better, then Core is the one. In other words, if you have limited space in your studio or gig bag then Core gives you most of the power of Iridium but in a more manageable chassis.
Answer 2 – No: If you’re buying into the Iridium ecosystem to fully explore the sound design possibilities then I’d recommend saving up for the full-blown Iridium. Not only will the extra polyphony help (it’s amazing how easy it is to bang your head on the polyphony ceiling when playing basic chords of complex patches), but the expanded UI will play a large role. In my time with Core I’ll admit to finding the UI, at times, frustrating. It’s inevitably less logical than the Iridium with its much wider array of pots and buttons.
Answer 3 – Yes: If you’re sniffing around and finding yourself attracted to the Waldorf world of synthesis, then Core connects you with a super-powerful hardware synth for less dosh. Who knows, you might be upgrading to a Quantum (with its analogue filter) in a couple of years time.
Connections
- Stereo Audio Out: 2x TS jacks
- Stereo Audio In: 2x TS jacks
- Headphones TRS output with level control
- DIN MIDI IN & Out, mini-TRS Type A (two adapters to DIN MIDI sockets included)
- USB Type B (device) for MIDI connection to computer
- USB Type A (host) for storage media and MIDI devices
- MicroSD slot
- 2 high-resolution CV Inputs which can be used as modulation sources in the Mod-Matrix
- Analogue clock In & Out with clock divider settings
EITHER WAY
Regardless, Core is a big-time synth with enormous sound-shaping potential. I alluded to a frustration with the UI – the four black pots at the bottom of the touchscreen bugged me… I know they’re user definable but they’re also marked ‘Cutoff’, ‘Reso’, ‘Effect’ and ‘Volume’ yet rarely perform that duty depending on what edit screen you’re on… Also at times I really wished there was a large Home button to return to base (which, in itself, isn’t an amazing endorsement of the UI). The MIDI breakout cables made me wish for full-size DIN sockets on the rear panel and the multipin power socket also worries me (if the lead happens to get separated from the synth). But the overwhelming sentiment I’m left with, is the joy of exploring the huge canvas of sonic possibilities. There’s a richness to many of the 1700 factory sounds. Not a fat analogue richness, but a digital complexity – especially in the evolving pads. Meanwhile, sound design is hugely rewarding.
Iridium is a sound designer’s paradise and Core makes that paradise a little more attainable.
Oscillators
3 Oscillators each capable of 5 synthesis modes:
- Wavetable
- Waveform (VA)
- Particle (Sampling and Granular Sampling)
- Resonator
- Kernels (up to 6 sub-oscillators which can be interlinked through FM, AM or Wavetable-position at audio rate)
Dual Stereo Filters per voice
True stereo path Dual Digital Filter with independent modes:
- 12/24dB LP/HP/BP in all combinations
- Nave, Largo, PPG, Quantum and StateVariable models
- Analyzer displayed in Filter view
- Filter curve animation when modulated (optional)
- Sophisticated filter routing options with modulatable panning and levels
Digital Former
- Filter models like State Variable, Waldorf Nave, Largo and PPG in HP/LP/BP/Notch
- Comb filters, Bit-Crusher, various Drives, Ring-Modulation
Modulators
- 6 Envelopes
- 6 LFOs
- Komplex Modulator (LFO/Envelope combination with user-definable shape and morphing)
Mod Matrix
- 40 slots
- Fast assign mode
- One additional control amount per slot
- Identical Sources and Destinations can be used multiple times until the matrix is full
Effects
- 5 slots per layer
- Various parallel and sequential routing options
- Reverb, Delay, Chorus, Phaser, Flanger, Drive, EQ, Compressor, Tremolo
RESPONSES