Replace my Sub Phatty with an Opsix or Hydrasynth Explorer?

The Lounge Other Gear
#1

Hi there,

I currently have an MPC Live as my centerpiece with a Sub Phatty for bass/leads and as my main keyboard. I also have an SP404 and OP-1 but don’t use those as much in my home “studio”. However, I am considering replacing the Sub Phatty with either a Korg Opsix or the newly announced Hydrasynth Explorer. The main reasons being that I’m tired of the monophonic aspect, both keyboards have one more octave than the Moog, and I find sound design on the Moog to be a hassle because of all the hidden parameters.

I have no real allegiance to any type of synthesis, (i.e. analog, FM, etc.) and I have limited space. All three synths are about the same dimensions and I should be able to replace the Moog with either synth without losing any/much money.

Does anyone have any thoughts on which synth would be the best replacement for the Moog? Is that “Moog sound” too valuable to part with? Which of the two synths would be easier to do sound design on? (I have limited time and like spending less time doing sound design and more time playing music). For reference, I primarily make hip hop, or electronic music. I also play music with my toddler when I can and she isn’t always the most gentle. I haven’t had to worry about that with the Moog because it’s a tank so I don’t want a replacement that is too frail and will break easily.

From what I’ve read and seen (via Youtube & Elektronauts) is that the Hydrasynth is more capable, with a better keyboard, and more sound design options with a streamlined ui. However, too often the demos/reviews trail off into ambient (sometimes nonsense to me) and half the time it doesn’t sound like music to me at all. Can I get enough musically pleasing sounds out of the Hydra or is the Opsix better suited for that?

Any experience or thoughts you can lend are a great help. I’ve come to really enjoy this community over the years despite this being my first actual post :laughing:

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#2

I have and love the Opsix, but it is NOT built like a tank. It isn’t going to crumble in your hands or anything, but I wouldn’t let a toddler bang around on it. The build quality of the Explorer is TBD, obviously. As for sounds, Opsix has some pretty wild presets, and the more “traditional” sounds are great jumping boards to muck around with to get your own thing.

Since you’re looking to play around with presets, as opposed to sound design, it might be worth clicking around YouTube for preset and 3rd party preset pack demos. I’m willing to bet that there are more Hydrasynth preset packs out there than there are for the Opsix (which are few and far between so far).

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#3

Get the Hydrasynth first, then get an OpSix later. You can use the poly aftertouch of the Hydrasynth to control the OpSix :+1:

#4

Thanks @pentagraham, I had wondered about the build of the Opsix so that helps a lot. That’s also helpful to hear about the sounds you can get out of it and your positive experience with it! Also I hadn’t thought about the possibility of preset packs so that’s another good thing for me to think about.

#5

:smile:That’s a good way to look at it I guess. Although I don’t see myself having the space for both any time soon! I was leaning toward the hydrasynth more though, with the high quality keybed being one of the main factors. Thanks for your input.

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#6

I’ve not played either but I’ve often admired the way the signal path is clearly laid out on the Hydrasynth panel, making it much easier to see what’s what at a glance (I would imagine), and it seems very intuitive yet immensely deep from what I’ve seen on YouTube. The poly aftertouch would be very expressive too. However, the sound of either synth is going to be a complete departure from that of a Moog mono synth, ofc. So, ensure that you really like the sound of either of the replacements before making the leap.

#7

Thanks Craig, I really appreciate your input. It has given me more to think about.

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#8

You have very clear objectives which helps a lot.

The Explorer should be in stores quite soon, ASM held the announcement off. Is there any way you can take the trip to a store that would have both where you can try them ? Your criterion being so focused should make trying the two side by side very informative.

I know the HS pretty well. As far as replacing your Moog, doing virtual analog patches on the HS, works well. You also can do FM patches on the HS, with the Mutators, but that is obviously the Opsix’s strong suit.

I put together a list of patch libraries for the HS. I still need to add a couple, like there is a new one, at the end of that thread.

With the two new Hydrasynths that all share identical patches expect a ton more. Also the targeted patch randomization built in to the HS makes uncovering new patches by chance far more successful.

Enjoy the adventure as you pursue your new synth.

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#9

The only place you will find the Moog sound is with a Moog. There is something in that sauce that just isn’t replicated in many other places. As far as ease of use for programming and sound design, the Moog probably has a leg up at getting to what you want quickly, but part of that is because it is a bit more limited. The Hydra has a pretty logical interface as well, especially for how deep it is. The OPSix is probably not quite as easy to program as the other two. And the OPSix is FM, which has a bit of a learning curve if you aren’t familiar with it compared to subtractive, and even wavetable synthesis.

In my opinion, all 3 synths have fairly different sounds, and a big part is that they are all different types of synthesis. I would go with the one that sounds best to you.

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#10

Wow! The hydrasynth explorer, for that price is bonkers. Going to have to listen to some demo’s myself.

Been getting back into VST’s for poly action on an A49 roland keyboard. Roland System 8, wasn’t supposed to work on win7, downloaded it, cancled 30 trial b/c of tethering as I wanted to buy it, but the vst shows up now randomly so, going to sample the crap out of it for the next 30 days.

Giving up my phatty, would require I make a proper front panel and it isn’t happening. I need my Moog. But the modulation and it’s basically an 8 voice monster in a microkorg body. That is going to probably interesting to see it’s popularity.

#11

One of the drawbacks of the sub phatty is the limited keyboard range so as a main keyboard, it isn’t great. But the sound is huge and can’t be replicated by much else. My fair collection of analog/digital synths can attest to that.

As always, it’s about flavour. If it has the sound you want, best keep it. If it has approximately the sound you want, many other things will do.

Build quality tho. My sub phatty will survive nuclear winter. I will not.

4 Likes
#12

Right, it’s still heavy even without the keybed on mine. Yeah, I love the flavor, use the OT to manipulate under the hood stuff.

Yeah, the hydra seems tasty indeed. I hope I’ve satisfied my craving for poly, sampling the system 8, vst of oberheim eight voice, into harmor to have some ob and roland analog flavor to mess with. But look forward to hearing what comes of that new hydra, looks like a steal so far as possibilities and on the go.

#13

The type of sounds you’re going to get from the HS or Korg are easily attainable on demand, either as softsynths or hardware, and they’ll always be there.
That’s not the case for the Moog.
Just keep the Moog or you’ll cost yourself more money down the line when you realise you shouldn’t ever have sold it.
Maybe trade it up for a Sub37 if/when you can.

Have you explored the MPC built in synths? There’s a lot of really good poly action going on in there now…

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#14

I did go through regretting getting rid of my first sub phatty, in part that’s why I removed the keyboard on my 2nd one, as it’s less likely to sell.

I don’t really have any experience with mpc’s, I got into elektron pretty quick when I decided on using a sampler to produce my music and been on the OT. I have some decent vst’s but just have that desire for hardware. The more I’ve been listening to the hydra demo’s the more I can see why it is picking up so much attention.

Been using the Roland System 8 and for digital it does have a great analog warmth to it as well as can be that really clean/glassy digital. And the hydra seems pretty convincing. With all of it’s abilities, the ‘classic analog’ patches I heard were pretty good.

And Jexus’s demo really demonstrates it’s flexibility as well. I may find myself bailing on my moog again, and I could content myself on a little monster like the explorer. Just hook up to my OT and full sized keys when I’m at home with it and lay out in the park with some headphone’s on batteries if I want as well. For 600.00 that synth engine is pretty smokin’. And I still have a steiner parker filter on my minibrute or my cassette recorder to warm up or dirty up the hydra some more if need be.

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#15

Thanks @Jukka, I really appreciate the link to the patch libraries! I recently had a chance to try out an Opsix, not sure if I’ll get to try the ASM in person but I’d love to. You’ve given me some good things to think about.

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#16

It’s good to know how unique the Sub Phatty sound is. I thought that was the case but it’s the only analogue synths I’ve owned so I wasn’t too sure. Thanks for the info about the user interface of each device and the sounds they each offer. The problem is that I like the sound of all 3 at times but only have the space for 1 :smile:

I have been multisampling the Moog quite a bit recently in case I decide to sell it so if I do, I’ll at least have those sounds to return to!

#17

Very well said. Currently I think the Sub Phatty has approximately the sound I want :laughing:

#18

You make a good point @CCMP. However, the 2 octaves of the Sub Phatty seem too limiting a lot of the time. I do like a lot of the synths in the MPC but find it fiddly to edit on the touchscreen and I like the idea of have something like a Hydrasynth to better sound design on + having such an expressive keyboard. Still undecided though.

As for the Sub 37…not sure I’ll ever have space for that bad boy.

#19

Yeah, each Moog synth has its own flavor, but they all come from the Moog lineage, and there is just something in a Moog you just don’t find anywhere else.

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#20

After seeing the extensive settings, though in part a breeze to navigate with it’s layout, I can say the OT, and my VST’s can do what the hydra does, but when it comes to a tone and a pallet to source from I am going to revert and say I’ll just wait it out to get an OB-6. The OT and VST’s like Harmor can handle the digital tones if I want them.

I guess overall the analog hardware synth is like an acoustic instrument in the electronic realm and the tone of each is unique. And though the Hydra has more than enough detailed modulation to get convincing, it’s not just there. And I didn’t think I’d even go for the OB, after all the 80’s synthwave stuff out there I listened to. But nope, the OB has it’s own charm that can take me back there unlike any Digital emulation. Sure I’ve played the Eight Voice VST recently and it sounds awesome, but that control setup, and even the OB vst’s having the straight forward layout still just rather go all the way and have the real thing like a Gibson or a Taylor guitar over some VST or Digital synth.

I knew I cut off the keyboard for a reason.