Waldorf Iridium Core: 12-Voice compact synth with screen-led focus
4,5 / 5,0 | 
Waldorf Iridium Core · Source: Waldorf
Waldorf Iridium Core · Source: Waldorf
Waldorf Iridium Core · Source: Waldorf
Waldorf Iridium Core · Source: Waldorf
Waldorf Iridium Core · Source: Waldorf
Waldorf Iridium Core · Source: Waldorf
Waldorf Iridium Core · Source: Waldorf
Waldorf Iridium Core · Source: Waldorf
Waldorf Iridium Core · Source: Waldorf
Waldorf pulls nearly all the power of Iridium into a smaller, heartfelt form. Iridium Core loses the knob control and focuses on the core parameters and big display navigation.
Iridium Core
The knob-festooned front panel of the original Iridium gives you an awesome way to engage with the digital synth engines. But many people are comfortable with a more screen-led interface and would appreciate the compact size and slightly lower price.
Waldorf Iridium Core · Source: Waldorf
So, let’s talk about the specs. Iridium Core has the same three oscillators per voice as the original but is limited to 12 voices. The sound generators appear to be identical with Wavetable, VA, Granular, Resonator and Kernal, but we only have two digital filters as opposed to three. The six LFOs and six envelopes follow the same modulation configuration, as does the 40-slot modulation matrix, but it doesn’t have the Komplex Modulator. Master effects and the physical ins and outs are very similar.
The pads have been reduced to 8 from 16, but there’s a new “Samples” button at the top, which isn’t mentioned in the press release. Maybe it indicates some additional functionality to the triggering of notes, arpeggiations, sequences and chords.
Waldorf Iridium Core · Source: Waldorf
Overall, the layout of the front panel looks very ordered and straightforward. Nice big buttons offer access to all the main synthesizer features, which will then get navigated on through the screen. It is patch-compatible with the bigger Iridium and Quantum, so we can expect it to sound amazing. While I’m someone who would very much feel the loss of the knobs, the other bits that have fallen off, like the third filter option, the esoteric modulator, or even the four notes of polyphony, are no big deal. What you end up with is a tidy-looking, powerful digital synthesizer that’s not going to dominate your workspace.
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