Hydrasynth from ASM

The Lounge Other Gear
#3158

Use the Mod1 and Mod2 CV inputs with a two axis controller of your choice. ( Not available to those with an Explorer. )

So for instance Doepfer makes a double wheel CV input device.

image
image608×1111 117 KB

You can also get this in a version with both wheels unsprung.

Or how about a joystick instead. That would have been nice on any of the other Hydrasynths.

Erica makes a fancy joystick controller, that can do stuff like record up to 8 seconds of motion, and then loop that.

image
image674×1144 149 KB

That would be fun on your HS. This one has all sorts of crazy other modes too.

4 Likes
#3159

Yeah, those would be nice if self-contained hey ho

Happily you reminded me that I haven’t recently been doing anything with the moogerfooger ring mod lfo out that’s already next to the HS, so I can do fun things with that :smile:

#3160

Another option with the Desktop, 49 Keys and the Deluxe, is to use the Expression pedal input. It’s not CV but can function quite similarly. It doesn’t have to be a pedal, the input just has to look like one electrically. The Expression Pedal is an input to the Mod-Matrix. It’s nice that the Desktop has both pedal inputs.

Unfortunately there is no Expression Pedal input on the Explorer, so you can’t sneak around the lack of CV inputs that way either. Its only got the Sustain Pedal. MIDI inputs are your option with the Explorer.

1 Like
#3161

More infos about original filters they emulated ? (Clear for MS20)
Which one would you choose for TB303 style ? (I chose LP 3-Ler, LP Ldr24)

Screenshot_20221126-153026_Adobe Acrobat
Screenshot_20221126-153026_Adobe Acrobat2400×1080 368 KB

#3162

3-Ler: Ian Fritz Threeler VCF
Stn12: Steiner Parker filter

Apparently Filter 2 is modeled after the Oberheim SEM filter.

2 Likes
#3163

Hmm what about skipping Filter 1 and just using the Filter 2 one, it does give you the most control over its characteristics.

1 Like
Hydrasynth from ASM - Tips, Tricks and Queries
#3164

I was thinking about getting a Minilogue XD for a small keyboard synth to use with my SP-404 Mk2 but found I mostly prefer the digital oscillator sounds.

Hydrasynth wasn’t on my radar at all but is now looking even better to me. I like what I’m hearing so far and having a MPE controller would be nice. It also looks like a great VST controller and I have just enough space for one…

#3165

I see a blip on the screen, and it’s getting bigger and headed right toward the center of the monitor. Better scramble those jets before it’s too late. :laughing:

2 Likes
#3166

Ordered a Hydrasynth Desktop in light of the Black Friday sale. At $649, the price was too good to pass on.

5225×2819 3.78 MB

Edit: It’s arrived! Photo added.

2 Likes
#3167

Questions to confirm complains (I think the answer is no) :

Can Vibrato Amt be lower than 1 ?
(I know there is the Mod Matrix)

Can HS Explorer Pitch Bend curve be modified ? (There is an annoying pitch interpolation between middle and max/in, I find it too long).

Keys are just ok but a bit hard.
I didn’t appreciated aftertouch yet, I change sensitivity, not other setttings yet.

Already read that somewhere : why didn’t they put knobs 5-8 instead or Arp knobs ? Cheaper ? Because Arp settings can be assigned to Macros, so I still don’t understand.

Btw there are not enough macros.
I would have prefered 16.

I guess I will have to work on Wavescan and Mutants to get the most interesting things with the Hydrasynth.

I’ll have to make presets bases, starting from scratch is too long for me, too much parameters to change, too much macros to make.

That said I’m a bit sick, maybe I wouldn’t be able to appreciate anything. Ok, back to a new patch…

1 Like
#3168

No on the vibrato, alas. Came across a preset with a vibrato macro that was exactly what they should have done. No on the pitch bend, I’ve not really notice, I assign pitch bend via the mod matrix because (a) microtonal and (b) you can also flexibly assign values to each oscillator so as .one goes up another goes down. But I’ve been having issues with the oscillator keytrack so there may be something hinky with the pitch interpolation.

I found the aftertouch on the XD module useful because you could record it into the sequencer, I guess it’s handier to have than not have.

I went from half a dozen years using nothing but analog synths to 2 Hydrasynths. You can get analogish sounds out of them, but I wouldn’t do it from scratch.

The presets on the Explorer are actually a lot better than the ones that came with the desktop. The easiest way I’ve found to get my way around them and hunt down the analogish ones is to browse by preset category and any I like I save into the ‘sequence’ category (it was unpopulated in the DT).

When I first turned it on I was probably like you ‘yikes! so many filters’. I did a quick audition, decided I liked the LP MS-20 the most, so I just use that in filter 1. Not sure I’ve come across a preset that uses it, but when sometimes I try the others out, nope, stick with plan a.

2 Likes
#3169

Nice. Was deciding between Desktop or Explorer and went for the latter. Gonna try out polytouch with this engine!

1 Like
#3170

Sounds similar to my experience with the Hydra. Even though the controls and signal flow are layed out pretty easy i struggled to have fun programming my own sounds.
And i wished it had 4 knobs for the filters, 2 for each instead of arp knobs.

1 Like
#3171

I had better results after posting. Anyway I don’t want to make analogish sounds only, but I think it is a good start to learn a VA synth, to appreciate filters / envelopes / lfos behavior, from simple saw waves.

#3172

Which one ? Do you still have it ?
I thought about the Desktop version for the knobs 5-8, audio / cv inputs, exp pedal, but I think the keys will still put the balance for Explorer for me…

#3173

Another complain (don’t worry it won’t last), which seems a buggy UI behavior :

Home page : I see macros 1-4
Filter 1 : page 1
Home page : I see macros 1-4
Filter 1 : page 1 > PAGE 2
Home page : I see macros 5-8

So when you press an Access button, you systematically get first page, and when you press Home after, you still have macros 1-4.
But, if you press an Acces button twice, getting 2nd page, you get macros 5-8 after Home press.

Doesn’t seem logical at all. If someone can confirm, I’ll write to ASM…

#3174

I had the desktop version.

#3175

Currently debating getting an Explorer for couch duties (not in love with the sound character or mini-keys really but all things considered it seems the best option at the moment) but no matter how hard I Google something is eluding me: which of the effects are per-voice/polyphonic?

The blurb suggests there are two ‘master’ effects which I assume are the delay and reverb, so I’m guessing those aren’t polyphonic… But then if that’s the case surely the post-effects can’t be either, unless I’m missing something? How about the pre-effects? Can those be assigned to the polyphonic aftertouch and modulated on a per-key basis?

Please put me out of my confused misery :slight_smile:

#3176

I can’t check right now but I’m 100% sure all the effects are per channel, & the pre/post refers to before the Delay/Reverb. You can see where they are on the flow diagram:

image
image1429×650 145 KB

#3177

Thanks, yeah I know where they occur it’s more the properties they have I guess. That’d be great if they’re all polyphonic, I think it was the ‘some effects are inserts, some are master’ terminology in their own materials that’s thrown me off. I’ve seen reference to global effects elsewhere as well.

It made me unsure if the signal flow diagram was entirely per-voice or if global/master effects came in at the end of the audio chain on top of the final stereo output, like maybe everything up to the amp was polyphonic and everything after not. Or after the pre-effects perhaps.

Normally I wouldn’t really consider getting something when I’m not jiving with the sound but since the couch synth I’d like doesn’t really exist the more silly I can get with this the better really. If you can do stuff like per-note reverb that’d add a lot to the fun factor.