I was on the fence about the Hydrasynth until the poly aftertouch Explorer was released. It’s an unbelievable deal, and now I’m thinking about buying a Deluxe!
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Me too!
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That would be fantastic.
Two Explorers gives you multi-timbral options too, or you can use one half as a controller.
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Damn, still no progress on this? I was really hoping Arturia’s Minifreak would have a PolyAT keybed to go head to head with the Hydrasynth Explorer on both features and price.
Any news on products in the pipeline with new keybeds?
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idk if counts as keybed but k-board had a soft refresh and now has usb c. (maybe qunexus soon too)
want to give KMI a try. though i still dont know a lot of things about how their devices can be set up.
how much i can get out of MPE controller if i end up pairing it with DN, is still a big question 
I’m sure just about everyone is aware, the new Anyma Omega from Aodyo will get a poly-aftertouch keybed from Fatar if the Kickstarter pledges hits €160K. ( EDIT : The poly-aftertouch keyboard feature is now INCLUDED ! ) ( thread )
So interesting to compare the various synths attached to these advanced keyboards, Waldorf Iridium Keys, Hydrasynths, and someday soon — Anyma Omega and Osmose.
Slightly surprising there aren’t more at the moment, but they’re coming.
Anyma Omega
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the thing with MPE is that you’re able to express motion on every finger.
on the k board pro 4 I discovered that you’re playing the sounds like on a real surface so when you hit and hold its plucky to near silence (you’re stopping the surface to ring out) or you hammer it with a fast finger and it rings out (like it would resonate)
I know that a Piano uses a hammer to hit a string and needs the keys to lift the hammer. Piano.
but a Synthesizer can do all sounds imaginable or can recreate the foundation of different aspects from analog instruments, sometimes long blowing pads and sometimes plucky clicks, drums.
that’s a thing I really like because the inspiration comes within the feel of that particular surface not a recreation of a piano playing non piano sounds but even try’s to fill the gap of imagination by traveling a bit, then triggering a sound, followed by the only real expression (tiny amount of aftertouch control)
that’s not so intuitive but often great fun, for sure.
but if you want to play a xylophone with mallets on a near identical surface, some have to kill the long time training between hit a key, fill that gap, wait for sound, imply AT expression.
with the K board Pro you just directly hit the string inside your virtual Piano.
(got a good deal on a second one on reverb for 500) 98keys of expression.
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Rather than hijacking this thread with discussion that would be marginally off-topic here, i created a new thread for comparison of the new generation keybed synthesizers.
I think Glen Darcey might be teasing a new ASM product, or a new 3rd party product with a Polytouch keybed. Specifically see his reply to my comment. I might be reading the tea leaves a bit too obsessively, but being vague on purpose right?
That reads like a product tease to me. It’s not like he’s in the habit of posting super-artsy gear photos, from his grid.
…all sorts of uberexpressiveness coming along with various takes on the mpe protocal will stay niche products, no matter how sexy it actually is, if ur keybed marries a guitar fretboard…
but “simple” polyphonic aftertouch is here to stay and will soon become the new standard for all kinds of keyboard controlers…
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Nah, I checked the pixels. The color ones look like algorithmic blurs and the bokeh on the first one doesn’t feel like a Noctilux from the examples online. 
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Just looks like a blurred Hydrasynth Desktop
Damn, I got baited by a firmware release
Don’t lose hope yet, ASM is doing at least two of the three big shows right here on the horizon. ( thread )
As nice as the 2.0 upgrade is, that can’t account for all the time of their talented developers so other stuff is in stream from them.
Plus we’re still waiting for the other makers that will be using the Medeli Polytouch keybed.
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It’s possible but it also could be they just have the firmware to show off for this round of trade shows.
Modal updated to Argon V3 before doing some shows.
I really hope that with this PAT revival, more synths will be updated to receive PAT. It’s annoying when flagship polys like the Polybrute don’t receive it. Shouldn’t be an issue even for the budget ones.
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Ninety days later and three big shows and we’re still waiting. Perhaps there are reasons that the Fatar keybed seems to be getting the wins.
Speculating – I’m still hopeful that Medeli will be involved with the keybed evolution. It might even be possible for them to step ahead to the next generation, now that the Osmose keybed from Expressive E is around. It may be necessary for Medeli to improve to be competitive, with Fatar. No signs yet that Expressive E has any intent to OEM their keybed though. ( What may EE be working on ? )
If Medeli is progressing, i’d think it reasonable to see ASM building a product around that.
Would X-dimension motion sensing like on the Osmose be next for Fatar and Medeli, or would true Y-dimension sensing along the surface of the keys be more in order as a next improvement. Or perhaps something else ?
Personally i’d prefer the true Y-dimension sensing.
In a Patreon post a few weeks ago, a well-respected synthfluencer indicated that there’ll be “a few” poly AT keyboard products showing up in the form of mass-market controllers and instruments “soon.”
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