Pitchbend eventually? 
Acoustic pianos miss pitchbendâŚ
You bet !
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Release velocity on envelope release stages is no less useful than note-on velocity is for varying attack, really. Both can make a sound massively more expressive to play and interesting/varied to listen to.
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That could be true but I think it is patch specific. A normal lead would not benefit from it since the playstyle doesnât take release velocity into account. Iâm guessing modifications would be necessary and a special play style developed to use release velocity creatively and to not be all over the place like anyone would be playing a normal lead. As an example, the difficulty in controlling RV would increase with speed and amount of keys played.
Many things are patch specific, isnât that part of the fun of programming synths? Aftertouch is useless on a plucked bass, etc.
No, it wouldnât do much/anything on something like a monophonic lead where youâre quickly moving from one note to another with portamento or whatever but arps or leads with some space between notes can benefit from it. Moreso when any of those are played on a poly synth; obviously the benefit is reduced if release phases are getting cut off regardless on a mono. Pads can use it well more or less universally, assuming there are enough voices that theyâre not getting stolen with new notes.
Personally I donât find it any more unintuitive or difficult to physically control than note-on velocity⌠I mean itâs the same idea really and velocity sensitivity in general is touchy enough on most keybeds that both tend to be best set up fairly subtly. But subtle programming like that definitely adds up.
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All I have done so far with release velocity on HSK is a sound that I can play funky but when I release the keys ver slow it would get s long release. Pretty basic stuff.
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HSE keys are great, AT is a lot of fun. I donât have a lot of basis of comparison, but it feels better than all the $200-and-under MIDI controllers Iâve tried.
Obviously thatâs not a great comparison given the price, but Iâve become hesitant to spend more on a MIDI controller if a used HSE at $500 could be used as a great MIDI controller with a free synth thrown in.
Itâs probably my most fun late night jamming before bed instrument.
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For those interested I have carefully replicated + 30 patches from the Prophet REV2 to my Hydrasynth.
Macros for Spread, Slope, Sub, Chorus to replicate the behaviour of the REV2.
All sounds recorded directly from the Hydrasynth. No additional processing/EQ/effects.
Here is a demo Stream DafonkLive | Listen to Hydrasynth patches inspired by the Prophet REV2 playlist online for free on SoundCloud
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Well I just got a Hydrasynth desktop 12 hours ago and holy shit the hype is real. The price was good, I liked the design/specs and I really liked what I heard in demos on youtubeâŚbut that didnât prepare me for actually playing it.
Hands down the most expressive synth I have ever played - the pads themselves, the poly aftertouch, the knobs, the encoders - everything feels wonderful. The user interface was even easier and smoother than I imagined. And most of all, every time I get an idea and adjust something it does what I expect, or more. Just feels like a zero compromise machine. I spent the whole evening just auditioning one bank of presets and exploring single patches. Online demos absolutely do not do it justice. It sounds incredible.
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Awesome, hydra enjoyoors rejoice! Youâll probably keep twiddling anyaway but if you want a challenge, make a preset bank for the forum.
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Just as a thought. This is more limited than the ribbon on the HSK and the Deluxe, but it does pair a ribbon with the pads which would be completely unique to that arrangement.
Oh and welcome to the world of Hydrasynth. This thread has been somewhat low-key for a while, but thatâs the surface.
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I just meant that I would have liked to try the ribbon on the keys version of the Hydrasynth (which looks especially well implemented), but I was happy with the pads. Even though theyâre small, theyâre very pleasant to play and a bit softer than those on the Rytm or (older) MPC live.
I just got an Explorer a couple weeks ago, and totally agree. The hardware feels amazing and the UI is super smooth. I wish it didnât take me so long to give it a try, haha
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Nice to hear this as just ordered the desktop also. Have had my eye on one of these for years. The pads look great, but Iâve got the Equis controller and also Hapax, so will figure which is the most intuitive UI to play with.
The poly aftertouch on the pads is a big deal, and you can adjust the velocity and aftertouch sensitivity separately. The Note off velocity is also very nice (assuming its mapped to something of course). Itâs super expressive, a real pleasure to play.
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I found them deceiving concerning velocity and poly AT, but I didnât spend time on settings.
Compared with Explorer, Linnstrument and Akai mini padsâŚ
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Do you mean the Hydra pads or Exquis pads? They both have ok pads, but not to the Linnstrument standard, I suppose. The Exquis has a lot of adjustability in the settings, but Iâve not explored this much yet as only just bought it.
Iâve also got the Novation launchpad pro 3 and that has pretty good poly after touch feel and functionality.
I have to say that having spent an hour or so with the Hydra, Iâm mightily impressed with its sound and just how easy it is to navigate the controls. Pretty much no manual reading necessary, it just all makes sense and is very intuitive. Already had some fun with the Hapax controlling it 
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Hydrasynth Desktop pads.
Didnât try the exquis, but I am not interested in the layout. (I tried the Dualo).
You can change the Layout to your liking 
(I changed it so there are no duplicate notes = smallest 61 key keyboard in the world )
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I like the 8 x 8 layoutâŚTempera is small too !
(A friend of mine has the exquis so Iâd may test itâŚ)
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