Iridium Desktop MK2 Digital Synthesizer

Waldorf Iridium Desktop MK2

Explore expansive sonic terrain and make your musical mark with the Iridium Desktop MK2 from Waldorf, the second generation of Iridium with even more power and flexibility for uncompromising sound design. The Iridium MK2 retains all the vast potential that made the original a go-to choice for everyone from sound designers to producers and performers, featuring its multi-engine design for versatile sound creation, multi-timbral power, and deep yet intuitive interface. New to the MK2 is a revitalized design featuring an improved CPU board with additional RAM and flash storage, which greatly enhances and extends the formidable power of the Iridium platform.

In addition to the return of engines like Wavetable, virtual analog Waveforms, Particle granular synthesis, Resonators, and Kernels, the MK2's improved performance ushers in a totally new engine called Seeds. This sixth engine, available for each of Iridium MK2's three oscillators, takes a new approach to Waldorf's long legacy of wavetable-based techniques. Rather than morphing between static waveforms, Seeds dynamically synthesizes each waypoint between disparate sonic worlds using sub-oscillators called "Seeds". Complete with additional timbral shaping tools like ring modulation, FM, and noise sources, Seeds offers a new way to achieve rich timbral transformations, enhancing your arsenal of audio delights for new creative pathways of expression.

Additionally, the Iridium MK2 has expanded the ways in which you can perform, manipulate, and organize its diverse sonic possibilities, most notably with the addition of per-note parameter locks across all patches. This incredibly powerful feature, made in collaboration with electronic music mastermind Aphex Twin, allows you to independently assign parameter values to each note of your connected MIDI keyboard or sequencer, enabling dramatic transformations in each key press. Fantastic for creating rich and unique percussive passages, far-out soundscapes, and so much more, this powerful feature is sure to bring an entirely new avenue of performance and sound design to Iridium. Taking cues from Waldorf's Protein synthesizer, the Iridium MK2 also adds a "Flavour" knob, which introduces parameter variations automatically as you play, providing an organic and lively playing experience that keeps sounds fresh and dynamic.

Beyond these expansions of Iridium MK2's vast sonic world, the additional CPU power under the hood has enabled even more opportunities for integrating it into a DAW production or live performance workflow. Thanks to the increased memory capacity, multi-timbral support has been increased up to four parts, allowing for layered and split mode performances, as well as new multi-timbral modes like round-robin and random-robin. Whether you're performing live with a split keyboard rig or designing cinematic soundscapes, these powerful multi-timbral capabilities ensure the Iridium MK2 can be your one-stop-shop for creative sound design and expressive performances. The MK2 also integrates well into your existing hardware set-up, with support for MIDI 2.0, plentiful CV, gate, and clock I/O for interacting with modular gear, and two USB ports for simple connection to computers and use as a USB MIDI host. With its refined and expanded functionality adding tons of creative sound potential and a premium build quality fit for professional audio work, the Iridium Desktop MK2 from Waldorf is sure to expand your sonic practice into bold and beautiful new forms.

Iridium Desktop MK2 Features

• Digital desktop synthesizer with expansive multi-engine design
• 3x flexible oscillators with independent selection of 6 diverse sound engines
• Wavetable, Waveform, Particle, Resonator, Kernel, and Seeds engines for flexible sound design from virtual analog to cutting-edge digital techniques
• New Seeds engine with unique dynamically-synthesized wavetables based on sub-oscillator "seeds"
• Dual stereo filters per-voice with flexible filter types and sophisticated routing options
• Digital former shaper effect models including SVF, PPG-inspired filters, Comb filters, Bit-crusher, drives, ring-mod, and more
• 6 envelopes and 6 LFOs for vast modulation potential
• Komplex modulator combines LFO and envelope with user-definable shape and morphing controls
• Per-note parameter locks inspired by Aphex Twin
• Flavour control introduces microvariations in timing, pitch, and timbre for organic performance
• Vast yet intuitive modulation matrix with 40 flexible modulation slots
• 5 effects slots per layer with flexible routing
• Effects include reverb, chorus, delay, phaser, flanger, drive, EQ, compressor, and tremolo
• Advanced arpeggiator and new polyphonic arpeggiator
• 64-step sequencer for notes and parameters
• 4x4 silicon performance pads assignable to notes, scales, or chords
• Intuitive touch screen interface with simple navigation, XY controls, and MIDI control wheels screen
• MPE capable for expressive control
• 16-voice polyphony with up to 4 multitimbral layers
• Advanced multitimbral modes for diverse performance options
• 1750+ factory patches onboard with up to 7000 patch memory slots
• Patch randomizer for quick inspiration
• 6 GB sample flash memory with 2 GB of factory samples
• MIDI 2.0 compatible with DIN MIDI In, Out, and Thru
• USB-A and USB-B connections for use with computer or as MIDI host
• Stereo audio input and output plus TRS headphone output with level control
• MicroSD slot for additional storage
• 4x CV inputs and clock input and output for modular integration
• Rugged metal case and aluminum knobs