Now that you've had your Hydrasynth for a while...

[RABid]

How do you like it? I've been debating this synth for quite a while, mainly for the poly aftertouch. Watched a bunch of YouTube videos. My worry is that to my ears it sounds a bit thin and digital. Not sure if this is the true sound or an effect of YouTube compression. I don't have anyplace to try one in person so I am relying on the word of forum members. Do you actually USE the poly aftertouch? The other synth I am considering is the Korg Wavestate which really has my interest.

[CyberGene]

I've had my Hydrasynth for a year now. Coincidentally I've had my first jam with it only yesterday (due to Covid) and the other band members were wow-ed by it.

 

Summary: it's a fantastic keyboard for the price and definitely a keeper although not perfect.

 

When I purchased it I wasn't very familiar with synthesis and was mainly after vintage analog sounds, I play mostly funk/fusion/jazz. I purchased a Roland SE-02 which was faulty and then a Behringer Poly D because I was in love with the vintage Moog sound. I sold the Behringer because although it was great, it was PITA to reprogram it on the fly and I wasn't still very experienced with sound synthesis, besides it's mostly a one trick pony and I needed a polysynth.

 

And so I ended up with the Hydra. First: this thing is so intuitive, it actually taught me how to make very complex patches with a lot of modulations, FM and stuff and in a matter of days I was able to create at least 10 patches that I still use. Creating very realistic Moog leads is a breeze.

 

Anyway, it will sound cold and digital by default and requires careful attention and knowledge on how to make it warm and analog. I feel confident now but I was often at the verge of selling it and replacing it with a real analog synth. I'm glad I didn't because in the meanwhile I purchased a Novation Peak which is a much warmer (and mostly analog) synth, however I prefer the Hydra so much more as a layout and interface. The module buttons with the OLED screens and the endless encoders make it so easy to see the entire patch. On the Peak you load a patch and... well, the knobs stay as they were before, so you have absolutely no clue about the current patch. That drove me crazy and I sold it, although it sounded slightly better than the Hydra in regards to analog sounds.

 

The poly AT is really nice and although I mostly use it in a monophonic mode (for mono patches and leads), occasionally I rely on the poly AT. Besides, even the monophonic AT is very smooth and gradual. I am yet to try an AT-enabled keyboard that has this ultra-smooth and precise aftertouch that makes it feel like a real expressive instrument. Even as a controller it is killer when you take in mind the quality of the aftertouch implementation.

 

I've been very active on the Hydrasynth Facebook page and people there are very helpful. Even Glen Darcey, the mastermind behind Hydra, participates and recently he helped me nail a Moog lead by providing detailed settings for the envelope slopes, so that they resemble Moog ones.

 

Here's the result:

It all started with me trying to recreate the original Moog lead from a video by Jamiroquai's Matt Johnson:

(starts from 12:20)

 

Listen to both and let me know if I managed to recreate it well enough. I think it's so close! And then take in mind I was a total noob in synth programming, so I definitely think the Hydra is a fantastic and intuitive synth.

 

I love it so much now that I pimped it and replaced the cold aluminum sides with pear wood:

[Doerfler]

I have had mine for several months now, had a chance to play it some just yesterday.

 

Keyboard feels great. Poly after touch to me is more fun than useful.

 

It does sound digital, because, well, it's digital.

[marino]

I have recently started programming the Hydra again after a bit of hiatus; a project has popped up, which was a good excuse to dig a bit more into its depths.

 

Well, my feelings about it haven't changed in these months: Great admiration for the whole concept, the great UI, the infinite modulation possibilities, the ergonomy, etc.

The pure tone of the Hydra, however, still sounds a bit sterile to my ears. I just can't help noticing it.

You need all the tricks in the book to make it sound a bit more--- should I say *musical*? I know that's very subjective, and I'm not talking about creating warm 'Analog' sounds. It's not its forte of course. It can make infinitely complex sounds with its digital voice channel, but often they need extra work just to take that slight harshness out of them. Other digital synths don't give me that sensation.

 

I mean, I hate to criticize such a fantastic endeavor to design a great instrument, and perhaps I just shouldn't.... but sound is sound, and tastes are just that.

I have a very similar feeling about the Alesis Ion. A great, very deep synthesis channel and a fantastic UI. But on both instruments, not many patches (mine or not) really tickle my eardrums.

 

In short: The more I play the Hydra, the more I crave a Quantum.

[David Emm]

Its hard to see a solid standard ever developing for how AT/POLY-AT should be implemented when it ranges from the CS-80 to the Hydrasynth to Buchla's Thunder. The idea has also become a bit smeared to consider because its a central part of MPE. Aside from the few, the brave, the weird among us, the idea gets hung on its own hook for want of enough familiarity to reach a level of "herd inclusion" resembling that of the American Guild of Organists keyboard we generally employ. Your ROLI skills won't transfer to a Linnstrument, for instance.

 

Its almost like a personal calling when you feel drawn to one such tool or another. My only advice at that point is to buy three of whatever it is, because sheer time, red glue syndrome, the cat and/or company failure generally guarantee a limited window of opportunity.

[Marzzz]

Who are you calling weird?

 

btw- I have had the Hydrasynth Desktop for more than a year, I love it. Would have bought the keyboard if it had at least 5 octaves. FWIW I sold a Peak to get the HS, and have been much happier. I just seemed to gel with the HS more than the Peak.

[marino]

About the Hydrasynth keyboard, I am grateful that someone finally is offering poly AT at a great price. But for both velocity and poly AT purposes, the keys would need a bit more throw and a bit more weight. I appreciate that they keep improving the dynamic response of the keybed with every OS update, but I'm afraid it's more a matter of hardware in this case - feeling some resistance helps immensely in controlling both velocity and AT with more precision.

Probably, my judgement is influenced by having familiarity with the keys on the Sequential Pro 3, one of the best synth action I've ever played.

[Dr Mike Metlay]

I love my Hydrasynth without reservation, I use the Poly AT all the time and value it greatly, it's intuitive and welcoming to program (a huge rarity these days), and while I originally got it for the poly AT keyboard and ribbon, I now like the sound so much that I am contemplating picking up a desktop unit to be able to stuff in a backpack with my Linnstrument 128 and have a full-on keyboard rig for travel gigs.

 

As soon as I claw my way through the last few wavestate videos, I am packing it up and sending it back to whence it came.

 

YMMV.

 

mike

[RABid]

I think the problem for me is that I have it in my head, because it has poly after touch, it is a CS80 replacement. It and the CS80 is very very different in sound. On the other hand, the Korg Wavestate has a very smooth sound, even though it can be bright and digital. I just like the sound much better. So, today I ordered the Wavestate. I plan to use it in my DAWless jam setup. The layers and sequences will match up well with my Roland MC707 and Elektron machines. However, I do plan to revisit in a couple of months and seriously consider the tabletop version. But next time I will not be looking for a CS80 replacement. I'm thinking PPG 2021. If it is going to sound digital, then go for those moving airy pads that I first heard and fell in love with from a PPG and Synclavier. The desktop version is a REALLY good deal.

[Iconoclast]

Owner for several months and gigged with it a lot.

 

Yes, I find poly AT useful. Forgive me if I've mentioned on this site before; one of the bands I play in does some real boring 2 - 4 chords songs. John Mayers Covered in Rain and Chris Isaaks Wicked Game for example. You can just use a couple of pads and really make some of those parts a LOT more interesting sounding just by changing your finger pressure while holding some inversion of the same chords over and over again for 5 minutes. It's actually pretty effective and useful and keeps me from dying of boredom during some of those 2 chord snoozers.

 

They made the keyboard work very well for poly AT also, in that the AT is pretty deep and controllable and not just an on-off switch like it seems to be on a lot of other keyboards. On the other hand, when not doing poly AT stuff, it's not really my favorite synth keybed. When compared to my OB-6, it's a noticeable difference. But then again, the OB-6 AT is pretty poor, so there's some trade offs. So the Hydras's keybed isn't the greatest for say fast leads, but it's certainly playable and optimized for poly AT.

 

The Hydra can certainly sound digital, but that's tame-able. In the presets there's a lot of those kind of digital sounds, almost like they really weren't going for a VA type synth even though it's VA capable. So I'd say there's a pretty wide target area of sounds and some of those are very VA, but it's not a naturally analog sounding machine. YMMV. I noticed that a lot of the super lush presets can absolutely disappear in a live band mix, but they sound great by themselves.

 

They did a great job on the UI for this machine so that it's pretty easy to navigate even though it's incredibly deep. There's still a couple of UI things that I hope get changed in future updates but even as it is right now, it's a quantum leap forward in balancing menu diving vs knob per function.

 

It's kind of funny in that some of the mutants are normal things like sync and PWM, but those pages have a lot of other variables that aren't explained very well (or in some cases at all) in the manual. So I have at times had difficulty getting the synth to do some of the standard synth tricks. I mean in most synths, sync is an on/off button but in the Hydra it's got ratio/source/depth/window/feedback/dry-wet.

 

One other minor complaint is the pitch bend wheel has a lot of dead space on it. Most of the pitch modulation happens in the first 60% of travel from zero and the last 25% of travel is basically no modulation. Add in the silly tabs that they put on the pitch/modulation wheels, and I have a little trouble getting the same response that I get from other synths.

 

Overall, a killer little machine especially for the price. Can't wait to see what ASM is working on now.

[StalledOtter]

Poly Aftertouch is amazing. I wish more things (ie anything else) had it.

 

The hydrasynth synth engine itself is great and the UI for it is fantastic, but I'm not using it as much as I expected because it turns out that in depth synthesis was not actually what I needed. Still don't anticipate ever getting rid of it because having something that has that depth and can do most anything I have the ability to program it to (besides samples I guess) is great.

[David Emm]

I can understand the luv for the Hydrasynth. It establishes a high threshold for what the touch mechanism should be in hardware keyboards. The demos make it clear that the sound is riveting. I may have come across a bit Luddite-like, but MPE could distract the hell out of me. It might be that I think a bit whole-hog. I'd feel like I was missing half of it if I didn't have a Thunderbird next to the Hydrasynth for the rest of the Big 5 performance gestures.

 

What am I snorting about, anyway? I live in a Logic hive-mind now. I left most of my hardware Gear Lust in the dust once a DAW put it all right in front of me again, as with the piano.

 

I don't get to kvetch much over this one, as my main thrill lately has been doing odd Logic/Spitfire trumpet quartet things, some padded by croaky Mellotron brass. I believe this is where I have a cup of cold gravy with a human hair in it and STFU.

[David Emm]

Who are you calling weird?

 

I realize its a bit redundant in this realm.

 

Have you ever had someone ask "what you do" and then stare at you like a startled cat when you show them? We're all hypnotized by the tech, but at least we know the basic score.

 

I hit GO after showing a visitor the instruments on each Logic track and she was boggled, having never seen a DAW in her life. Most "normal" people don't have studio monitors that are spewing out some mad pipe organ/choir/synth blorp epic. I can sympathize, having felt much the same while inspecting the monster graphics/modeling/animation app MAYA. That's the one God uses to make His Xmas cards.

 

If you're ever feeling too cocky.... I have an Oblique Strategies card that says "Read the MAYA manual. Come back down to Earth."

 

Brings "weird" into perspective.

[DrSynth]

Love mine. Huge timbre palatte, fantastic controllability, It is one of the best purchases I've made. So much so I have both version (KB and DT). The flavors of phase modulation in the various mutants have some unique implementation/versatilities that even the Quantum/Iridium can't do (BTW the KB is a great controller for the Iridium). I don't find any issues with it's 'sound' per se, though you do have to explore balancing the gain staging and filter overdrive to massage the sonic character at times (not unlike the MoogOne so I'm told)

 

My particular reason for getting is was Wavetable - Wavetable FM, and the way you can set up the individual sequences of waves and dynamically modulate them interactively from so may controllers giving ever changing Modulator-Carrier waveform interactions makes it a textural pad monster (really enhanced with the poly AT)

 

Two thumbs (way) up!

 

Manny