ASM Hydrasynth offers
Hydrasynth desktop
Thomann
ASM Hydrasynth virtual Analog...
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Hydrasynth Keyboard B-inventory
Thomann
Hydrasynth Keyboard
Thomann
what's it?Ashun Sound Machines can be a new name to most of us however it's a part of Medeli – a neatly based Hong Kong instrument maker. VP of their product building group is the vastly revered Glen Darcey, who has conceptualised and brought to market items like Arturia's 'Brute' synthesizer range, and Akai's MPC Renaissance and Studio samplers to name just a few! We were in little doubt that the Hydrasynth would have no aspect left unchecked. but had been our (admittedly excessive) expectations met?
The Hydrasynth arrived properly packed in a sturdy box and – have fun – with a full, printed consumer manual. It actually feels extremely sturdy, with all-steel construction and a special entrance panel. The knobs feel clean and weighty when turned and the clear backlit buttons think soft below the fingers and glow a nice orange too (the ASM signature coloration, very '70s)! whereas the main panel is all steel and painted black, the aluminium Roland-esque end cheeks add a nice industrial seem. The best slight disappointment right here is the lack of developed-in vigor deliver which would have been greater fitting with the universal top rate suppose.
moving onto the keyboard, it's a bespoke 49-note keybed which feels properly balanced and high-quality whereas playing. despite the fact, it additionally aspects some thing rather particular in the existing industry: polyphonic aftertouch (or 'polytouch'). here's a big moment because it brings poly aftertouch to the market at an inexpensive rate aspect and that i can say this for particular; once you try it, it's complicated to head again to average channel aftertouch. for those that don't comprehend, poly aftertouch lets you play a chord but just add modulation to one (or greater) notes in it. this is exquisite as that you may achieve results performed by one hand that can sound like a melody and accompaniment in a single (and still have your other hand free). The poly AT response is relatively a whole lot ultimate too – not too complicated to trigger but now not too effortless either. An achievement on all fronts and motive by myself to buy it.
outcomes, arps and connectivityThe Hydrasynth has a variety of elements to treat your sounds. First off, there's a whole lot of exceptional results in 4 blocks. The pre and publish outcomes encompass chorus, flanger, rotary, phaser, lo-fi, tremolo, EQ and compressor, while there are five prolong forms and reverbs. The best is spectacular and makes it possible for sounds to really breathe. As mentioned, consequences can even be modulated, which lets them actually turn into a part of the sound design method. ASM also offers a finished arpeggiator onboard with a few octave modes, faucet tempo (for jamming along reside), swing, gate, ratcheting with chance (known as 'chance'), sixty four preset phrases, chord mode, plus latch and preserve. The arp's deepness certainly does make up for the inability of onboard sequencer.
The Hydrasynth has a good array of connections together with wall-wart power connector, two entrance-side hooked up headphone sockets, stereo unbalanced outputs, MIDI in/out/via (DIN), USB, plus maintain and expression inputs. not forgetting the CV connectivity which is slap bang on the front panel (for convenient access) and includes two CV inputs and 5 CV outputs.
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If we assess the entrance panel in chunks we rapidly take into account how this computing device works beneath the hood and on the surface. It's very logically laid out in clear blocks of functionality. beginning on the left-hand facet, you've got master quantity and a handle to turn on float (drift modes encompass logarithmic, exponential and linear curves, much like my Andromeda).
Then there's a ribbon button (for setting how the eye-catching lengthy ribbon controller influences sounds) and a chord button (hang chord unless it flashes, press up to eight notes after which trigger them from one key (plenty like some basic polysynths). To assess the ribbon a little greater – this is a very nifty component indeed and might act as an instrument in its personal appropriate (performed like a theremin), for modulation tasks, or to bend held notes/chords.
One change we wish right here is for the pitches on the ribbon to line up with the notes on the keyboard (for instance, press center C and the ribbon place directly in line is additionally a C). a few different issues of be aware, (while we are speakme efficiency controls) are the interesting paddle-style pitch and mod wheels. These paddles are suave and they do add a extra nuanced technique to movement the wheels. They additionally easy up in a few somewhat stunning colorations along with the huge selector wheel and this can be customised when saving patches.
in the subsequent area, you'll locate CV ins/outs and an arpeggiator and a neighborhood called 'main gadget'. right here that you would be able to alternate patches and banks, store, choose usual patches, initialise, and create patches out of thin air with the random button (a function I additionally love on Korg's Wavestate).
a pleasant big 'home' button additionally takes you lower back home if you ever suppose you've strayed too far! during this part is also the largest monitor which deals with patch option (and different projects) while also exhibiting waveshapes in true-time (a lot like Korg's 'Logues).
next up is the grasp handle area. here, you have got eight chunky rotary controls, every with a corresponding backlit white button and with LED rings to display saved/latest values. There are also four smaller displays which line up with the rotaries – the right third of each screen displays assignments for the precise row of knobs and the backside third, the assignments for the lower set of knobs.
The center phase of every display shows the button assignments. This works very well in observe, with a plethora of parameters controllable and viewable on the identical time.
also consider...
(graphic credit: Future)
• Waldorf Blofeld Keys ancient gold! The well-revered Blofeld comprises consumer-sample-upload, digital analogue synthesis, three quick LFOs per voice and 4 quickly envelopes per-voice, sixteen constituents, arpeggiator, three oscs per-voice (with wavetables) and FM.
• Modal Argon 8XModal's newest board contains all the outstanding features of the Argon 8 however with a sixty one-observe keyboard. features include 120 wavetables, 32 static wavetable modifiers, 32 excessive-resolution wavetable oscillators, eight forms of oscillator modifier and four filter kinds.
• Nord Wave 2 Nord's most powerful synth to date. It has a 5-octave waterfall keyboard, four parts and comprises pattern-based mostly waves, virtual analogue waves, wavetable and FM synthesis, plus 48-voice polyphony.
but then there's more! the use of the macro facility, each knob and connected button (every button also has several set off modes) can handle eight person-assigned parameters directly, so that you can installation your most-used performance parameters and tweak them out on the fly throughout are living suggests or when jamming within the studio.
you can save and name these macro setups too so that your typical buttons' macro setups may also be utilized to any of your custom patches. Macros can additionally handle mod-matrix mod routes too (again, an awful lot like 'control routes' on the Alesis Andromeda – which offer you a means to 'interrupt' the mod paths).
speakme of mod routes, there are 32 here and in reality, which you could let your imagination run wild! establishing mod routes is super-fast and may be performed out and in of the Mod Matrix page (accessed by using the Mod Matrix button). easily hold any supply (LFO1 as an example) then hit your preferred destination (filter cutoff for example), tweak the degree and also you're set. you can modulate the wonderful effects too (which is at all times anything that impresses me), drastically increasing the Hydrasynth's versatility.
The 'module opt for' area gives you speedy and direct entry to all the leading modules that make up your sound. i admire so you might straight see what is being caused by way of a keypress, (as an example the envelopes and LFO buttons will light up if assigned). All universal sound constructing blocks are properly offered right here including oscillators, envelopes, filters, amp, mixer, LFOs, noise and outcomes.
besides the fact that children, here is the Hydrasynth and it isn't time-honored in any means! at the start, you've got three oscillators per voice which consist of usual waves, plus wave-scanning (an intuitive type of wavetable synthesis where which you could assign eight waves and scan through them using a dial/mod route).
Then inside the 'mutants', you'll also find linear FM, plus wonderful forms of pulse-width modulation. furthermore, there are 5 (looping) envelopes per-voice, an amp module, two filter modules, five LFOs, reverb and lengthen modules, plus pre and put up outcomes.
In essence, all you'd likely desire in terms of sound design is right here, directly purchasable and in most cases modulatable! And as powerful as this appears on paper, here is reflected within the sound too.
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time-honored sound great is truly surprising (precise and crisp yet it can also be warm and textured) while the resulting sounds may also be anything from excessive fine 'bread and butter', to interesting sounds that you've actually in no way heard before. Inject the ribbon controller, arpeggiator, macros, mod routes and naturally the poly aftertouch (and extremely musical sounding consequences/pressure) and you'll be churning out clean new sounds speedy!
Admittedly, there's a shallow getting to know curve but it's to be expected with the level of complexity onboard. With deep synths like the Hydrasynth, it's always really helpful to attract intellectual maps of your sounds first, then go in (and i imply reading the guide too), but when you're into modular then the Hydra should be very quick that you can familiarize yourself with as a result of its module-based layout.
on the other hand, to get exploring immediately, you could just hit the random button and shoot the breeze; on occasion consequences can be, let's assume, a bit off, however then gemstones will seem that can also be great beginning elements or awesome sounds in themselves.
As a first new synth from a new business, the Hydra is massively incredible all-circular (and this is no longer a straightforward component to achieve on the primary throw)! construct first-rate, appears, elements, sound – it has it all and at a cost this is actually low-priced too.
Let's additionally no longer neglect that there's a gorgeous rackmountable/laptop version too (with all of the aspects however pads instead of keys). Congratulations to ASM on a brilliant computer!
MusicRadar verdict: An amazing first unlock. appears and sounds exquisite, invitations exploration, built to remaining but not overpriced. What's no longer to like?
The web says"i like to recommend the ASM Hydrasynth to any synthesist, but specially any individual who likes to build patches from scratch. If that describes you, it offers powerful programming tools and a neatly-designed, intuitive interface."Synth and application
"Let's face it, if the Hydrasynth had a control for every parameter, few of us might come up with the money for one."Sound on Sound
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