Also available for audio input is the FM Mutant source. Glen only uses the Ring Mode input in the video.
1 Like
Thanks! Will give these a (re)watch. Though I am still interested additionally in personal experience from non synthfluencers tooā¦
1 Like
Sure. But as I was watching Sonic Labās review with UI talking just before your postā¦
1 Like
Ultimately I kept the Explorer on account of its portability, but the workflow downgrade is significant.
I wish they would have preserved the 8-button 8-knob Master Control section, but apparently ASM felt they needed front panel arp controls. To each his/her own.
3 Likes
I donāt have one of the big Hydras, but having the Explorer and the Peak I can tell you theyāre night and day from the UI perspective.
I really hate the menu/function buttons layout on the Peak. Those 3 button for selecting row are just plain stupid to me. And also that patch encoderā¦ I have to always think twice everytime, just to be sure to have grabbed the rightā¦ Right knob, before trashing hours of patch modifications.
The Hydra in that regard is in another league. I didnāt even opened the manual once and stll I can find everything that came to mind in seconds. Itās like an opened book in front of you, with everything so logically laid out, thatās impossible to turn the wrong encoder or wasting time looking for a setting buried somewhere.
Sure, 8 encoders and 8 displays would have been better, but I canāt really blame ASM for having shrunk down that stuff, cause itās actually a non issue, to me at least.
itās literally just one more (dedicated) button press to scroll to another 4 parameters set on the screen.
I donāt have the space for the big keyboard, if you do, go with that, but if you end up buying the explorer I canāt see how that lack could be a major letdown in the realworld usage.
5 Likes
Off topic/Peak
You need to update your Peak. They fixed the knob fuck up.
2 Likes
I also wish it had a sequencer, any version. Iāve had every model but the deluxeā¦incredible synth.
I wonder if they could add a sequencerā¦
Off topic/Peak
Iām on the very last firmware, updated two days ago.
Thereās a different behavior of the patch encoder? I may have missed that one I guess
Off topic/Peak
In very early firmware versions the menu structure was even worse on the Peak. I think thatās what he/she means
Off topic/Peak
and @mprinsen
There is a setting to save current patch before applying new patch. Patch Protection.
1:35
manuals are good. reading release notes, good.
1 Like
@LyingDalai OR could be moved to Peak thread?
covering helpful information is pointless. most of the time stuff gets moved. 
if you chose to do soā¦you can delete this as well
odd to cover up as well as that was the end of it. not going to go anywhere else
Every time I see a load of unread posts in this thread, I get excited hoping it means thereās a new FW updateā¦I get here, and itās a bunch of posts about Peakā¦WTF?
5 Likes
Me too!
The Hydra is pretty much flawless as far as just its operation, so I donāt EXPECT them to release a huge functional update like Elektron for example, but it sure would be nice! 
2 Likes
Iād love a hydrasynth but Iād like a smaller desktop. No pads, maybe make some (minor!) efficiency changes to the spacing and sizes and Iād be all over that, as long as it didnāt feel cramped.
I think I might need a small change to how the screens are used though.
Basically I want a hydrasynth in a DN box.
(not that thereās anything wrong with the current form factors, this could be like a desktop-mini)
1 Like
Yep, Iād have bought a Hydrasynth Desktop in a heartbeat, if it werenāt for those pads. I just donāt get them. Theyāre underused as a hardware feature, and make the module so much larger than it needs to be.
I bought an Argon8M instead. Its form-factor is what I would expect a desktop/module version of a synth to be. But I wanted a Hydrasynth.
Cheers!
1 Like
It should be called Hydrasynth Pads.
1 Like
I love the pads! I do have a K37 that can also play the HSD, but I far prefer using the pads. Admittedly, I am a terrible keys player
2 Likes
There are some quirks though:
- vibrato amount at lowest setting is still too high to my taste (and Iām sure Iām not the only one)
- Glide/portamento time is constant rate, which is weird. I hope they will add a constant time glide mode, which is way more musical
- The dedicated LFO to Filter amount knob seems to jitter on some units (including mine: I even returned it a couple of times and all new units had the same probemā¦ now I just keep the knob at 12 o clock, which sucks)
Also, the reverb and delay algorithms can be improved: adding a (pitch) modulation depth and rate control would make a huge difference for both. You can modulate the delay time which is similar, but it is stepped and not smooth enough.
I can probably think of some more things, but these are the most important to me.
1 Like
I posted this image a long time ago and had to edit the post to say āThis is imaginary!ā, because people thought it was real.
13 Likes