How are the pads…1 to 10
1 - being Rytm
5 - MPC
10 - Maschine
[feel and response]
Cuckoo had a livestream today where he showed some Hydrasynth patches and they sounded absolutely incredible…
Made me reconsider the Hydrasynth mostly for the poly aftertouch. I really hated the desktop version, I realize it’s probably because I enjoy using a keys interface rather then pads…
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It’s worse than an MPC imo. I only use the pads to demo the patches. I use a variety of midi controllers otherwise to play the synth. I’d say go for a keys model if you’re looking to play it.
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Newer MPCs ? MPC 1000 and 500 pads are crap, I didn’t like AR MKI pads either.
Akai Mini Play are better…
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I’ve only used MPC Live and Live 2. Not a fan of those pads (and on that guys ranking I’d definitely agree that Maschine are the best). The Hydra pads feel very similar to Maschine or Push 2 but the sensitivity is real bad. Often notes don’t trigger or in general I feel like I have to press harder than I’m used to. Again, they are ok for testing out patches I’m making but I don’t bother to use them otherwise. Still prefer the Desktop form factor just for my personal spacial situation.
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Just because Im bored I figured I’d rank every pad I’ve used for perspective:
1. Maschine+ / MK3 (perfection imo)
2. Push 2very close to Maschine
3. Isla Instruments S2400 very good feeling and soft yet sensitive
4. Embodme Erae Touch not sure if it counts but it feels really good to play but not quite as good as actual pad.
5. SP-404 MKII Honestly the velocity sensitivity is pretty bad, I usually just go for fixed velocity because of this. That said, the actual pads do feel nice and it’s very playable.
6. Novation Circuit they are fine and do what you need it to do though not extremely good for velocity but they do feel nice to touch
7. Deluge not really pads but more like soft press buttons but they do feel very good though they lack velocity
8. MPC Live / Live 2 way too hard for my liking and even with extensive amount of tweaking it doesn’t feel like it gets anywhere near as expressive as Maschine
9. Hydrasynth Feels close to Maschine but isn’t very sensitive and often notes don’t play because I don’t press them hard enough.
10. Arturia Minibrute 2s It’s like a pretty bad combo of having MPC hard pads and not sensitive like the Hydrasynth though it’s not the worst like…
11. Dreadbox/ Polyend Medusa Often have to press harder than expected and pads feel way too small for proper MPE input. Missed notes quite a bit and the extremely flat pads can often feel less tactile then they should.
12. Elektron Model Circuit I just don’t understand why they even bothered with pads on the models if this is what they are gonna use. I never felt confident finger drumming with this. They should have just used mechanical keys like the Digis and big boxes.
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I haven’t used the Maschine, and haven’t touched an MPC in decades. 
However, I’d rate them higher than anything else that I’ve touched a pad on in the last several years.
1 - Being QuNexus
10 - Being Hydra
They’re different though. They’re not what I would call percussive. Sure, you can tap them and they respond fine. However, what makes them amazing IMO, is that the curve for pressure just feels natural (at least to me). I found them to be extremely expressive, which is the way that I used them on my desktop.
For something Rhythmic, there may be better out there. I don’t input percussion like that though. I always program it.
So for synth use at least, I rate it a 10.
Just a small respons to the post above mine: I’ve never had an issue having them register, or the pressure curve. I wonder if there’s some variance between units, or maybe the settings were set differently or something. Mine was pretty much perfection in a pad.
Also, my scale is 1 for not good, and 10 for excellent.
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Yeah if there’s settings for the pads somewhere I wouldn’t mind trying different ones. If you have time to write down what you have yours at. To my knowledge I never messed with them and it was purchased new so it should be factory settings.
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Korg PadKontrol
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MPC
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push 2
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maschine
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Yes.
- Roland HPD-20 (had HPD-15)
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After doing a simple test the way it’s set up actually makes most sense as plus or minus 10 in the mod matrix equals a semi tone, so an octave modulation should be +/- 120 and not 128. I guess the extra 8 gives you a bit more leeway for detuning from a perfect octave. Having said that it would still be nice if the matrix went up by more than +/- one octave, but duplicating in the mod matrix is all that’s needed I guess.
i might add that there are 2 versions of the padkontrol, the older(beige) one seems to be loved, the newer(black) one not so much. looks like they changed something in between versions.
yep, I always thought of it as cream though… never had the black one… but the pads of the cream version were so good , I can still feel them
Knobcon 7 ( 2019 ) ASM announces Hydrasynth Keys and Hydrasynth Desktop
Knobcon 9 ( 2021 ) ASM announces Hydrasynth Explorer and Hydrasynth Deluxe
Knobcon 10 ( 2022 ) — Less than a week to go !
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Loving the Hydrasynth Explorer! Best form factor for me, same excellent sound engine with great mini-keys and polyphonic aftertouch!
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I’m still very interested in. I thought about Desktop for audio in, but finally it doesn’t seem that interesting (having OT and Zoia, I can do certains things).
Not convinced by this video but if someone have a more convincing example…
More for making sounds than processing sounds.
Can anyone who has or has had both the Keys (or Deluxe) AND the Explorer chime in on whether the change in screen/knobs to the explorer affects your experience of the workflow/UI?
One of the main reasons i’m interested in the hydra is for the UI. The explorer is a lot cheaper and a lot more space friendly than the Keys, but fewer knobs means more paging up/down, which is one of my main gripes with the Peak;) I would be interested in the desktop, but I do want the poly AT keys, whether full sized or mini…
So yeah - how would you rate the workflow downgrade when going from the full sized to the Explorer?
Some answers…
