Hydrasynth from ASM

[Six06]

I went to this awesome music store that had every single (currently in production) keyboard imaginable. I tried the Quantum, Moog One, P5, OB6, Cobalt8X, Montage, Kronos, Matriarch, etc.

I tried the Hydrasynth and it blew them all away. The build quality was amazing, and the keyboard pressure is so natural, almost like an acoustic instrument. Like no other keyboard I’ve ever played.

Side note, the Moog One and Quantum really disappointed. They look so authoritative online, like a Porsche or something. In person… kind of puny and weak. Underwhelming.

EDIT: Last side note. Forgot to mention the Opsix. Wow. I would pay a maximum of 100 dollars for it. Build quality was worse than any Volca I have used. Truly felt like a toy.

Will definitely buy a Hydrasynth KB when the time is right.

[danishdaycare]

My hydrasynth desktop always boots up on E042…
Factory reset?
Don’t really care but it’s strange that no matter what patch I have when turning off the power it always boots up on that patch, never A001

[phaelam]

[danishdaycare]

Thanks! Back to rtfm

[Castor]

Two days ago I briefly tried HSK, DN keys and OB-6 keyboard version in a store and now I’m gassing over all of those synths!

I actually came to the store to try DN bc i was thinking of buying it for a week or two (even tho i have Mnm and OT) but now I’m thinking of buying a HSD (or even HSK) instead. The store only had a keyboard version which is lovely but it’s kinda too big for my room and I don’t know what to do now…i could find a place for it but portability also matters bc I can then use it for shows (once they start again) more easily

I wanted to ask you is it hard to play melodies on the desktop version’s pads?

Also, was the chord mode removed from the HSD? (I thought i saw it on some YT demos)

P.s. that OB-6 was a monster! Can’t stop thinking about it! maybe I should just buy it instead of everything else

[blipson]

I had the desktop for a year before getting the keyboard as a kind of protest purchase. If you can manage it, get the keyboard. My desktop got peripheralized and underused after a while, but then the keyboard somehow presents a much more inviting environment or layout or whatever into the Hydrasynth experience so that I have to call my original purchase of the desktop a mistake. There are no real mistakes unless it’s something that you truly should have known better, but did the other thing anyway, which describes my situation. Add to that my skepticism that I’ll get any real use out of polychaining or the second timbre and that makes my HSD a mistake, one of my very few purchasing decisions without some redeeming feature.

The HSK enabled me to move the Keystep Pro out, which cleared some room. The sheer playability of the HSK is another big thing, with the ribbon and poly AT, but then I do have hardware modules that respond to poly AT, so that might not matter to you, though there are PAT plugins. The desktop’s pads are great for what they are, so if you truly don’t care about keys, or upgrading your keys, then maybe the size and price difference matter more to you.

[12eightyfive]

One thing I like about playing on a nonstandard keyboard is that it inspires melodies that I wouldn’t think up on black and white keys.

Being used to trying to play melodies on Elektron trigger buttons, the HSD pads are a major step up. I think they might even be poly after touch sensitive!?

The HSK is a major step up in terms of expressivity, but it takes up 2 maybe 3 times as much space. If you’ve already got a master keyboard that you like and don’t mind modules in practice, consider the desktop.

[Tchu]

@12eightyfive

I think they might even be poly after touch sensitive!?

Yes they are.

[Jukka]

@Castor

Also, was the chord mode removed from the HSD?

Like what Blipson said. And to your specific question, there is no Chord keyboard mode on the HSD, Chord mode is especially nice used with a Voice Key and Scale set ( perhaps you tried that ) and so even more of a difference.

I only own the HSK, but i differ with Blipson, in wanting two – two keyboards, one mounted above the other set back so you could play them two handed.

( In competion to this idea, i do have an Osmose SLOWLY making it’s way to me, and i’ve also considered a Korg Modwave as something that might flow with a HS given their similarities and differences. Splitting the HSK keyboard, though that’s not built in, to the Modwave would be a nice way to play the MW. Also in competition with these ideas is a possible ASM second product whatever that may be and whenever that may come to be. )

[Castor]

Thnx for the answers!

I haven’t been much of a keyboard player (read: I totally suck) but playing on the said synths did something in me; maybe I could start playing, after 15 yrs of controlling/sequencing/composing/OCDing/automating everything event-related.

Actually, Lyra 8 changed something in me first. Although, Ive been playing my Mnm like an instrument since i got it and that gave me excellent results many times but it was easy bc i would just set a key and press the triggers. A monkey can so that!
So, I still don’t know how to play a keyboard; im still such a n00b that it takes me 2 seconds to find a C on it and thinking all over again “are those E and F without a black key between them?” lol BUT ive made quasi-symphonic compositions and string quartets that one might get an impression that i know what I’m doing
I’ll need ti think about it a bit more which version to buy. Atm the biggest problem is portability, then space, then money.

Also, anyone compared HSK to a Sequential synth? I know it’s apples vs asteroids but still… something about the OB-6 that got me thinking and i was always a digital “endless possibilities” guy. The only problem with the OB-6 that i saw in that brief demo was that I couldn’t push in extremeness; it always sounded “nice, polite and heard”

[Jukka]

It’s possible to make / find patches on the HS that resemble an analog synth.

Making and finding patches on an analog that resemble the HS is far more challenging. ( I would say near impossible sometimes. )

I can find middle C, but enjoy newer ways of playing now too, which opens up possibilities for everyone.

Congratulations on being the 2000th post on thread. We’re still picking your special prize.

This is the Space Odyssey post.

[Castor]

@Jukka

It’s possible to make / find patches on the HS that resemble an analog synth.

Making and finding patches on an analog that resemble the HS is far more challenging. ( I would say near impossible sometimes. )

Yes, that’s what I thought! …but sometimes it’s hard to resist just buying an analog monster with a dedicated knob per function design

@Jukka

We’re still picking your special prize.

A brand new HSK?!

[Jukka]

@Castor

with a dedicated knob per function design

Most definitely !

Creating your own set of eight custom controls with LED rings and captions, and numeric read outs goes a long way in compensation though.

( I’m referring to Macro controls, not an external MIDI controller patched through the Mod-Matrix, though that is possible too. )

BTW: I’ve been changing patches around to have a more universal Macro interface. Anybody else doing this too ?

[blipson]

@Castor

anyone compared HSK to a Sequential synth? I

It’s funny you mention that: re-getting in to the HS, I was reminded how it’s a bit lacking in the balls department. My other keyboard in this setup is a Super 6, which has no capacity to be a filhty beast, as Gaz Williams put it. So I’ve decided on a Pro-3 as another Osmose tider-over. Without a two-tier keyboard stand (I have one, but don’t want to use it), I can only have two keyboards in action at once, so we’ll see how it goes when the Pro-3 is here.

Regarding sucky keyboard technique, it hardly matters with the HS’s characteristic long developing patches. I mean, no one’s playing Rachmaninoff on a Hydrasynth. You can always think of the keyboard as 49 pads, with the bonus that you slowly get more and more used to the 12-key layout that we all love and hate, though the pads on the HSD are the best I’ve ever seen when it comes to pads. With the HSK, however there’s something about the spacious layout and positioning of the controls that makes wiggling the knobs in conjunction with playing notes and the ribbon feel much more organic than on the HSD.

[Jukka]

@blipson

Rachmaninoff on a Hydrasynth

Hold that image in your mind for a moment. What does Rachmaninoff or Liszt do on a synth keyboard ?

On dedicated knob per function again that is also a difference between the HSD and HSK. One can certainly want different choices, but there are more knob per function controls on the HSK.

[Castor]

Is there a dedicated dust cover for a HSK? I saw only some ugly plastic for a HSD on Thomann.

[AdamJay]

@Castor

Also, anyone compared HSK to a Sequential synth?

I considered HSK vs Rev2 before my purchase, and decided to go with the HSK as i love to use FX and modulate FX parameters.
HS’s four FX processors offer a good deal of options to expand a sound. I prefer this over external FX for the instant recall capabilities.

The extra OSC and dual filter configuration also gave me what I was looking for the most, something akin to a polyphonic Pro 2. My only gripe has been lack of sequencer but Octatrack MIDI sequencer is keeping me happy there. And the chord mode that can use all 8 voices is a blast for pads and atmospheres.

Does it sound “as warm” as a Sequential? Probably not. But I have transformers, both actual and emulated, that can take care of that.

[Castor]

Got it! I also have OT for sequencing and AH for analogization if needed

[Castor]

One more distinction/comparison before spending some money…. HSK vs DN keys?
Or simply Hydrasynth vs Digitone?

I do own Mnm and OT but DN can still probably greatly contribute to the palette.

[J3RK]

I had the Rev2 and HSK together, and that was absolutely perfect sonically. However, I didn’t have the space any longer, and had to reduce to a single keyboard. I kept the HSK. I actually liked the feel of the keybed on the Rev2 better, but poly AT won there. As far as sound, the HSK seemed to be able to do the analog thing very respectably, then added so much more to the mix. I ended up begrudgingly selling the Rev2. I do plan to get another Prophet again when I have the space though. I had to consolidate my synth-building space with my studio space. I foresee being able to expand those back out in the nearish future though.