Hydrasynth from ASM

I’ll ask ASM about it. Have a number of requests too like remembering pad settings and last patch used.

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Was going to ask if you had contacted ASM about it…
Let me know what you hear from them if you don’t mind :pray:

Sure. I’ll post here :grinning:

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There is this from the manual :

Save System State

You can specify which patch you see first when the Hydrasynth is powered up. It’s a simple process:

• Select your favorite patch (that’s the hard part).

• Hold [SAVE] and press [SYSTEM SETUP].

• The display shows “STATE SAVED!” to confirm the action.

For the desktop unit this process also saves the Pad Mode (Octave Row, Fretboard, etc.), the Pad Scale, and the Pad Key.

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Thank you Tchu :pray: Great! Somehow I have missed that. Really useful. Yes I had to change scale, note, Pad Mode and patch each time. No more :smiley:

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As has been chatted about elsewhere

Glen Darcey in this recent interview, said that they ( Medeli and / or ASM ) is licensing and selling the keybed used in the Hydrasynth – that senses the aftertouch pressure from all the key individually. They will be licensing and selling the keybed to more than one company.

First, that’s good to hear, at least for me as a poly-aftertouch keyboard player.

From a business sense though ( please all business discussion haters switch off right here ), this puts ASM in an interesting business position. They will at the same time be both competing with other companies, and also helping them and having them as customers.

This is similar to the position of Fatar, with their Studiologic products. You want to sell and compete with your own products, but your OEM customers also need to feel that you are not taking unfair advantage of the corporate relationship, to out compete them.

There is a potential conflict of interest, and we could list many companies that get themselves in trouble with this.

( NOTE : In my corporate career i have direct experience and knowledge of this dual role. )

I’m definitely looking forward to seeing lots of competition, with enhanced keyboards. Products like Osmose, and the new Seaboard, and all the companies that will be using the Medeli / ASM technology. It’s about time for improved options for keyboard players.

Onward and upward for ASM and the Hydrasynth.

( Thanks DavidL and Fin25 ! )

ADDED : I would expect that the mini-key poly-aftertouch keybed that is used in the Explorer is also available to other companies now too. I think of an Arturia Keystep-Poly-Pro, but that adds another layer of ethical concerns as well.

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Sadly I’m going to let my HS KB go. It isn’t getting any use from me since getting both a Nord Lead 4 and Nord Lead 3 rack. In fact I loaned it to a friend to check out for a bit. I do love the sound, but the older I get, the more the interface becomes the most important aspect of an instrument for me. It’s why I love the OT more than the Rytm. Or the Pro 2 more than the Typhon.
I can always improve the sound of keyboards with a plug-in or two. But the user interface is set in stone.

If ASM made something akin to the NL3 interface, with Hydra’s sonics, and perhaps an update to the mutant modulators to produce a little less latency, and (of course) chord memory settings saved per patch, I’d be pleased to give ASM another go.

Still, it’s on 4 tracks on my new album. Definitely the best sounding synth I ultimately didn’t fall in love with.

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My wild-ass-guess is that companies who want to use PolyTouch will have to sign a non compete clause with ASM, like when Volkswagon let Porsche go. (Porsche had to agree it wouldn’t directly compete with VW’s offerings.)

So I doubt you see a digital wavetable synth from someone else that uses PolyTouch.

But I bet a MIDI controller is a possibility.

As the parent company, I would think Medeli would be the one licensing the keybeds, not ASM directly.

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Another tidbit from the Darcey interview, not too surprising but good to hear anyway.

ASM is working on unspecified new products with unspecified schedules, with the goal of creating products that people like.

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^^^
I’m gonna start using that answer when my wife asks what i’m doing.

“I am working on unspecified new PROJECTS, with unspecified schedules, with the goal of creating PROJECTS that people like.” :sunglasses:

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This is interesting to me. I just got my Hydrasynth and I’m absolutely enamored with it. Granted, I’m still very much in the honeymoon period, and on top of that it’s the first real polysynth I’ve had since I ditched the Micron (yuck!) in 2011. Anyway, I also picked up a RYTM fairly recently and I feel similarly about it: it seems very “deluxe” and has quite nice onboard facilities, but my aging Octatrack is just a much more consistent workflow for me, and frankly I think it sounds better.

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It’s an incredible instrument.

In fact, with an enhanced GUI editor, it could compete with a Nord Modular G2 in many ways. Editor aside, there are a lot of similarities when you consider the capabilitie, and all that is under the hood.
I’d certainly keep mine before going that route.

I hope your honeymoon never ends!

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This is surprising to me to hear someone say about the Hydrasynth. Of all the instruments I own, I’d have to say the HS has the best interface, at least in terms of how “smart” it is–it strikes the best balance of usability and immediacy (it just makes sense), while also giving you the option of considerable depth in light of its ease of use. Now that I have an Iridium, I don’t think I really need the HS, but I find using both together quite enjoyable (right now, the IR takes second place in terms of that balance because, while it is a bit more difficult than the HS to figure out, the enormous depth explains why). Perhaps it is because your willingness to live with very high complexity at the cost of ease of use (the OT is the extreme in this regard) is much higher than mine (that might be my ego-protective way of saying you are smarter than me). :sweat_smile:

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Must admit, for me it’s sound < interface

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tIB – Your opinion carries real weight, played it a weekend, and hated it. I thought you sold it long ago ?

Jeez, has my opinion on the thing upset you somehow? I don’t really see why you should have any issue with my opinion on a synth. This isn’t tribalism, it’s an opinion.

Edit - and yes, it remains for sale - no one wants it.

I’ve never had an issue selling anything, you just gotta set the right price.

I always looked at it like, ive rented the gear. had my fun with it, now its time for someone else to have fun. so I don’t mind taking a hit to recoup. what are you asking for it? [i’ve got one, I’m just interested]

getting some back, for something you aren’t interested in, is better than none.

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Agreed, and I have it at something like 55% of new.

Be patient - people think the plague is over. Once Deltacron is in the news, people will be back to bidding up expensive isolation toys. :innocent:

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