Waldorf has shipped the second generation of its flagship multi-synthesis instrument, the Iridium Desktop Mk2, unveiled earlier this year and now widely available. The update keeps the original Iridium's MPE compatibility intact while substantially expanding what the synth can do per note — a detail that will matter most to players running MPE controllers into it.
More Layers, More Headroom
The original Iridium supported two simultaneous synth layers. The Mk2 doubles that to four distinct layers, made possible by an upgraded CPU board with significantly more RAM and flash storage. That extra headroom also unlocks Waldorf's "Seeds" synthesis method and opens up sample-based patches that weren't practical on the original hardware. For multitimbral performers — especially those splitting or layering zones across an MPE keyboard like the Expressive E Osmose or a ROLI Seaboard — that means more independently expressive voices stacked in a single patch without running out of processing power.
Per-Note Parameter Locks, Co-Designed With Aphex Twin
The Mk2's headline feature is a collaboration with electronic musician Aphex Twin: per-note parameter locks that let each of the instrument's 128 notes carry its own set of up to 16 individually assigned parameter variations. In practice, a player can hold a single note and turn a knob to sculpt that note's filter, envelope, or modulation behavior independently of every other note on the keyboard — a feature that dovetails naturally with MPE's per-note pitch, pressure, and slide data, since both are built around treating every note as its own expressive channel rather than a shared, global signal.
Pricing and the Upgrade Path
The Iridium Desktop Mk2 is available now at £2,095 / €2,399 / $3,699. Notably, Waldorf isn't forcing existing Iridium owners to buy new hardware to get the new capabilities: starting in mid-August 2026, Waldorf's service team will offer a hardware upgrade path for all existing Iridium units, priced at €598 including VAT, installation, and return shipping within the EU. Owners send their unit in and get it back running the Mk2's expanded synthesis engine.
Why MPE Players Should Care
Waldorf's Iridium line has been part of the MPE-capable hardware conversation since its original release, thanks to its wavetable, granular, resonator, and FM synthesis engines all being playable via per-note expression data. The Mk2 doesn't change that foundation, but the jump to four layers and true per-note parameter locking gives MPE performers considerably more to work with inside a single hardware unit — particularly for layered pads, splits, and complex multitimbral setups that would otherwise require patching together several synths.
In practice, that opens up performance approaches that weren't feasible on the original Iridium. A player working an Osmose or Continuum could, for example, assign one layer's filter cutoff to respond to slide while a second layer's amplitude envelope tracks pressure — all on the same physical note, at the same time, without external MIDI routing tricks. The Aphex Twin-designed parameter locks push that even further by letting individual notes carry entirely separate modulation destinations, which is a natural extension of what MPE already does at the protocol level: treating every note as its own independent performance channel rather than a shared, global one.
A Broader Pattern in Hardware Synths
Combined with the growing list of desktop and rack synths adding or maintaining MPE compatibility this year — from Dreadbox's Artemis and Nymphes lines to Ashun Sound Machines' Hydrasynth family — the Iridium Mk2 reinforces a trend worth watching: manufacturers are increasingly building expressive, per-note control into flagship hardware rather than treating MPE as a firmware afterthought bolted on after launch. For musicians shopping for a centerpiece expressive synth, that means the field of genuinely MPE-native hardware options keeps getting deeper, not just wider.
Existing Iridium owners weighing whether the upgrade is worth it should note that Waldorf isn't discontinuing support for earlier units — the €598 hardware upgrade path means the investment already made in an original Iridium isn't wasted, even if it does require shipping the unit back to Waldorf's service team for a few weeks starting in mid-August.
Full specs and ordering information are available on Waldorf's product page.