If I had a decent keyboard I might go for the desktop because those CV inputs that can be used for audio make me breathe a deep, satisfied sigh of being understood. But 37 is the magic number, being able to actually make sounds that suit outdoor moods with a portable synth is brilliant, and, yeah, the price is right.
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Yep battery powered is a huge plus for me, being able to doodle on my bed before sleep.
Letās see if the desktop drops in price though. Itās odd that itās $200 extra for more knobs and minus a keyboard.
Of course the better option would be to just get Serum or Phase Plant or use the stock Ableton Wavetable synth because that thing is goodā¦
Plus the LEDS, fancier buttons, bigger screen, full metal enclosure.
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And the HSD pads and pad modes are fantastic, at least from a mostly non-keys playerās perspective.
Also, being able to manipulate 8 module params at one time while programming makes most standard things knob per function with the click of a button. Not a game changer considering the price, but there will be a decent amount more menu diving on the HSX for people who always start from INIT
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Envelopes, if it were me. If it were possible to copy macros (or pick from a stored macro library) mine would feature envelopes quite heavily. However, setting up macros is a chore I never quite get round to in my own patches.
a macro library seems like something that would be right up asmās alley, have you made that a feature request?
I mentioned it yonks back when I first reviewed it. Itās not a big issue for me as I donāt use my Hydra too often these days - and when I do, it tends to be a case of hitting Random until it does something freaky enough to record. Now Iām old, I like simpler, more direct synths for my daily pleasures.
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This is why my favourite is the MicroFreak!
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great idea never-the less
Iām currently in love with the Udo Super 6 and Roland System 8. I feel a strange urge to buy any synth with a ā7ā in its name to sit between them.
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Iām full of great ideas. Over the years, a handful of companies have listened to them. 
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In a typical patch that Iām creating, Iāll almost always have the bottom row of macros set up to manage fx wet/dryās, simply to bring them to a performance level so I can adjust the fx to sit in the mix while Iām playing/tracking. Occasionally Iāll group the Delay/Reverb wet/dryās under a single macro so theyāre easy to turn off (the Control Button is king here) if Iām planning to use different (vst) reverbs in my actual track (as in I design the patch with internal R/D to get an idea of what I want it to sound like, but know that I want to use a plugin that offers something else).
On the top row I will generally create more transitional/morphing style combo macros, or things that get me to sweet spots. Usually Iāll create one that does a combined filter cut-off and res adjustment that takes me to a pre-determined spot. Another that does some sort of destabilization (maybe messing with tuning, or wavestack depths). A macro that controls a few Mutator functions, and one that adjusts wave scanning. Basically I want to be able to crank them all and have a different but related patch, with lots of interesting things between the min/max settings.
If Iām creating a pluck or arp, I usually create a humanizer that send LFOās to Env2ās Attack/Decay in the mod matrix with depth at zero, then a macro that micro-adjusts the MM lfo depths.
Nothing here is set in stone, I seem to find new uses for the macros all the time based on what kind of sound Iām creating, or how I want a sound to progress over time
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Great ideas here braken ! I will try splitting the Macros the way you suggest, and see how i like that.
Nothing is set in stone with Macros for sure, i find i am mucking with them often.
Your idea would work well with the Explorer ( i will abbrev with HSX ), with one page of Macros just the Effects Wet/Dry, and the other page the more patch specific controls.
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I stole the idea from the presets! Sometimes they split them as L/R columns, others are T/B rows, but the idea is the same.
I forgot two other concepts that I use fairly frequently.
If I want to adjust filter drive or distortion (in fx) over time, but I donāt want the volume boost, or I want less boost. In those cases Iāll create a macro that increases drive, but also decreases the patch volume. Itās a bit tricky to get right, but can be super useful in keeping levels in check.
Another ādestabiliserā style trick plays on the LFOs modulating LFOs concept. You set it up by sending LFOās to other LFO rates w/Depth at zero in the MM, then create a Macro that adjusts those MM depths to you liking. Iām still playing with ways to use this one, but Iāve found that you can generate some pretty insane rhythmic modulations (aka chaos) depending on what you have those LFOās pointed at, and how you fine tune the macros to modify each others depths.
edit: dammit, I keep mixing this thread up with the tips and tricks thread!
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It seems itās ONE THREAD for everything.
Good idea to balance out the overdrive volume increases.
ADDED: Tips and Tricks Thread.
Things to put on your Deluxe Shelf:
So iām thinking with the dual stereo outputs in MultiMode, something nice to put on āThe Shelfā would be a dual stereo ( or more ) to 3-D ( quadraphonic ) processor of some sort. There are a few of them, that can move sound around in 3-D space. Then you could integrate control from either CV or MIDI CC coming from the HS Deluxe, and create quadraphonic patches on the Hydrasynth.
For more on 3-D immersive sound technology see this thread:
Anything else that makes sense on the Deluxe Shelf ? How would you use that with the HS Deluxe ?
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what the heck, the mutator is a randomizer right, you can actually set the macros to the randomizer???
I know earlier I think Jukka said something about the macros being save with a patch, but if you want them to be used globally can you do that, or would that be basically just creating a template patch?
Template patches are something i use. The āInitā patch if you look at it is pretty often a strange place to start.
Mutators are additional ways to change the oscillator operation. The basic mutators are:
- FM-Lin
- WavStack
- OSC Sync
- PW-Orig
- PW-Sqeez
- PW-ASM
- Harmonic
- PhazDiff
Look up in the manual for detail. There is all kinds of variety here.
ADDED: There are two Mutators with both Oscillator 1 and 2, so four Mutators total per patch, mix and match any of the above.
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I use the macroās in pretty much the exact same way 
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requested LEDs button color change option on existing Hydrasā¦
got a responseā¦no can do, they donāt have multi color LEDs 
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