Is anyone making use of the CV ins/outs on the Hydra? I never use mine or see them used in videos. Just curious if there’s any proponents.
I did back then. Pro: supports range -5 to +5V, which specific gear needs. Con: most are using 0-10V nowadays it seems, although I don’t have thoroughly made statistics to support that 
Just check what your (modular) gear needs. Worked fine btw.
I’m not really clear what is being said here, sorry for not understanding.
If this means the HS doesn’t do 0-10V, check Pages 7, 8 and 9 of System Setup, where you set voltage ranges, and you have an extensive choice. Maybe this post has some other meaning, i can’t tell, apologies if so.
You never do audio input ?
Apologies, you are right, I had the Explorer which only supports the range I mentioned, while the “better models” also support 0-10V
… CV output. The Explorer does a lot of nice things, but with CV, it is definitely cut-down, and more importantly it lacks the CV input. That also means it lacks the audio in too.
The audio input on the other three though is something the Leviasynth doesn’t have.
I don’t. Is that one of the more useful ways you use the CV?
Really? I haven’t checked new stuff but 5 years ago almost everything was -5/+5V. Time flies.
Back in 2018 or so, when ASM was designing the Hydrasynth, one of the key concepts or models they applied to the design was modular synthesis, with a collection of modules that can be connected using the Mod Matrix acting as virtual patch cables. A key to that is the presence of the CV interface, that through its internal connections to the Mod Matrix, allowed the HS to integrate tightly with CV controlled modular ( Eurorack as for instance ) gear, and create custom patches with collections of external gear.
Keep in mind too, that the HS also has MIDI connections built-in and ready to use with the Mod Matrix, as sources and destinations which in the years since have gained importance as a modular interface.
I used google and found videos.
So the first video is extremely basic, and shows simple examples of using CV output to an external module, a Dreadbox Kinematic pedal, to add that analog richness to the HS, all integrated into the HS keyboard and controls and internal envelopes and LFOs.
Simple. And yet extremely useful, and easy to do. The LS has all that ( expensive ) analog low pass filter stuff, and yes that is polyphonic, but this video shows how easy and inexpensive it is to integrate all sorts of analog functionality with the HS.
On to CV input. Here’s an exmple using CV and Gate ( out ) with a very basic Division 6 Business Card 16 step sequencer. This video is sound only.
While this setup is very simple the video shows a variety of sounds and effects. Much has been made of the HS’s lack of a sequencer. This shows one of many ways to sequence the HS.
Here’s another similar very short video using a similar sequencer, specifically to show that CV can be tuned on the HS.
Another central concept in patch design with external gear is the concept of detach internal processes on the HS to run independently of your main patch. Most common to this approach is to roll off separate knobs in the Master Control area, and extra LFOs, and sometimes Envelopes set to run independently in loop mode to control external modules that run independently.
Useful too sometimes is to have these separate processes and modules to feed audio, that often is used as another oscillator feed, controlled by the HS.
Being this is the Hydrasynth, off-label uses are the name of the game with the CV interface.
One good place to begin for this is use of audio rate inputs to other destination besides a plain old audio input, as for instance as an input to the FM-Lin Mutator.
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Nicely presented. Goes a long way to dispel that CV is ‘only’ useful in a modular / Euro system. Cutting my teeth on guitar always has me looking for audio input processing on a synth.
Sources of CV might be found more easily on devices clearly dedicated to the modular crowd. I added an OXI One mkII strictly for MIDI use. The sheer capabilities of its CV interface has me using that in parallel.
But it might be a surprise to find how many CV-capable destinations are out there now, perhaps in devices you already have. Some are pretty obvious (GCA Auto series, for example). But check out the capabilities on more common processors with expression inputs.
Very often it’s simply a matter of using a TS cable instead of TRS. Look for specific reference to CV input, and take care to match the voltage range specified. It’s a little trickier than just plugging in a cable, and may involve adapters or custom cabling. But the expanded processing options are worth it. Very rewarding.
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My old thinking on CV and modular has definitely been swept away the past several years, especially with the options for dropping any small module into it’s own case standalone, the growth of semi-modular systems ( the big B being involved with that ) and the growth of MIDI plus CV based Eurorack, often with polyphony.
One thing i really would have liked, inside the HS with the audio input, would be a dedicated envelope follower. You can do it externally, though to date i’ve failed at rigging something algorithmically internal to the HS.
Forgot to mention earlier, but built into the HSK and the Deluxe, is a CV/Gate output option direct from the ribbon. Check the manual for details of the various options on this. It’s bitchin’ ( reviving an old expression ).
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Never went away, as far as im concerned 
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Alas, the Holy Grail for any audio input. Sensitivity adjustment puts the ‘burden’ (proper gain staging) on the end user, not unlike a compressor. But ‘getting it right’ falls on the design aspects. There are both (subjectively) good & bad integrated solutions out there.
I’ve run into some EFs that appear to use the same threshold for both the ‘attack & release’ phases. The result drops off a cliff unnaturally at the tail end. I’m so enamored by the H90 PolySynth implementation that I keep lobbying for it as an external control source. Or at the very least, utilized in other algorithms.
The same goes for a deeper toolkit in the S-4 (Follow modulator). My requests to use all of those modulators as general sources will probably go unanswered, as it may compete directly with Torso’s T-1. But - from my POV - use the same CC charting of MIDI In for MIDI Output.
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Off-topic tangent on bitchin’:
The ne plus ultra of bitchin'?
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Definitely the ne plus ultra of bitchin’ lol. A classic!
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I found this older tutorial video that goes pretty deep, but still is pretty easy. This uses the HSD but it’s exactly the same on the HSK
This basically uses two short 8 step LFO sequences, one to jump through a wavetable, and another to run a filter, all fed into an Octatrack for further processing. There’s some other simple tricks shown here, but nothing beyond a few hours worth of experience or so.
( The one thing people might have missed is you can jump through a 8 part wavetable you construct, or alternatively you can jump through the entire 219 waves built into the machine. )
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Thank you for this thorough response and links. Very inspiring.
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Im interested by the desktop version, and I was wondering about preset management, there are only a few hundreds of free space in most Hydras, isn’t ? Can you load a preset quicly in the machine from the software ?
Yeah, you can move whole blocks at a time. 10, 25, 100 you just grab 'em. Good for doing stuff in sets or batches, and storing them off.
Naming patches is a pain on the synth alone ( until they release V2 ! ), but with the Manager you can just type in the names for them then.
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AMAZING !
Only annoying stuff is that I lack money and a bit of space to get a unit with the ribbon controller 