NAMM 2024: Waldorf previewed an upcoming new firmware for the Quantum and Iridium synthesizer lineup with MIDI 2.0 support.
Some well-known companies were missing from NAMM 2024. Among them was Roland. Waldorf had a booth. There were no major global product announcements—one major news, however, for North America. A new distributor, American Music & Sound (AM&S), represented them for the first time.
At the booth, they organized four days of talks with Rolf Wöhrmann and users, including sound designers Richard Devine and Jörg Hüttner. Waldorf also showcased the new Iridium Core Synthesizer with the latest firmware 3.2.0 update, announced in December 2023.
Waldorf NAMM 2024
As exclusive news for NAMM 2024, Rolf previewed the current status of the MIDI 2.0 implementation of the Waldorf Quantum and Iridium synthesizers.
There is currently no video fromNAMM about MIDI 2.0. Maybe there will be one in the coming days. Until then, we knew that MIDI 2.0 was coming to the Waldorf flagship synths, but the details are missing.
I’m pretty sure the MIDI 2.0 update will significantly raise the MIDI capabilities of both synth series. I’m very curious to see full specs of it. Rolf is very active on the Gearspace forum where he probably adds the next weeks more about the update.
In the meantime, it’s a perfect moment to remember the latest firmware update 3.2, which is now available.
It includes a new formant filter from the Blofeld 2 update in three variations in the digital former section. Then, there is a new modulable tilt parameter to detune the amount parameter between left and right channels.
Another highlight is the updated arpeggiator/sequencer with triplets and dotted options for the step length programming.
First Impression
MIDI 2.0 will be an exciting topic in the next few years. I will extend the article when there are more details about the MIDI 2.0 implementation in the Quantum/Iridium synths. So stay tuned.
The new Waldorf Quantum + Iridium firmware 3.2 is available now as a free download in the MyHardware section—the MIDI 2.0 update is TBA.
More information here: Waldorf
Available at my partner
“the US continent”?
I mean North America 😉
Canadian here. AM&S will distribute Waldorf in a single country, the United States of America. Canada and Mexico remain independent nations on the North American continent.
There was at least one MIDI 2.0 video from NAMM…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AZmAvaeBjM
yeah that was for MIDI 2.0 in general. I mean a video about the implementation of MIDI 2.0 for the Quantum/Iridium. Especially on the features 🙂
SonicState has an interview on NAMM somewhere with Microsoft about MIDI 2.0. What Microsoft said in it about upcoming releases might be quite relevant!