Thanks very much for the feedback! Yes I've got the Deluxe and the desktop. In my opinion the Deluxe is the best conceived synthesizer of modern times - so well designed and so capable and yet not copying anything else. And when you combine the Desktop with the Deluxe you get 3 Hydra engines at once which sounds incredible.
@@synthuniverse Its very intuitive to use, what surprises me the most is how warm and rich it can sound for a digital synth, the filter and filter drive is superb. I just bought your Hydrasynth Vol1 & 2 patches, just what I needed, they are beautifully crafted patches thank you. Deluxe next!
I've just bought your Bundle of Vol 1 & 2 - stunning sounds! Deep Sweep might just be my favourite synth patch ever - I love the way you've programmed the aftertouch for melody. Great work!!
Many thanks for your feedback! The themes just come as I'm playing each sound. To me, that's the mark of a great synth: one that gets the musical ideas flowing effortlessly!
I see I'm not the only fan of Equinoxe part 2 ;) (plus the second Oxygene album) More importantly, I'm hearing sounds suggestive of all decades -- 70s, 80s, 90s etc -- which does indeed show the power of this particular synthesizer.
Thanks for your feedback! Yes it's interesting how a digital synth produced in the 2020s can evoke the sounds/ feel of music produced up to 50 years ago. As I've commented elsewhere, one of the things about the Hydrasynth I really respect is that it's not trying to be anything from the past: it's very much future-facing and has its own personality, yet can also dig in to what has gone before
The Deluxe seems to be so much more than the sum of its parts. I have the original Hydra; it's good, but I've been toying with the idea of selling it as I never really use it. All the Deluxe patches I've heard (these included) sound more than twice as good as the original, making me thinking of upgrading instead. Though it's difficult to tell sometimes if it's the patch or the musical idea you're using to demonstrate it that is luring me in!
Hey thanks for sharing! I can only say that I agree the Deluxe having two Hydra engines was a great decision by ASM as it opens up so many possibilities whilst also covering the basics. It really is a pleasure to programme and my musical ideas come direct from playing the sounds. To me as a musician that's what I want - a synth that inspires me to make music. I would add that the factory presets are also improved on the Deluxe compared to the original - there's some really good single and multi patches there too. Worth reflecting I guess on why it is you don't use the original Hydrasynth - just to check that the same won't happen if you upgrade...Good luck with it
@@synthuniverse I've been listening again to all four of these videos. One of my reasons for thinking about selling the Hydra is that it's quite heavy, and I'm working more and more with plug-ins and mini keyboards such as the MiniFreak (although I bought the Osmose a few months back!), so I don't know whether I'd want to make the space for something this big. Having said that, the sounds are pretty amaxing... I hear hints of JM Jarre in there, and the harmonic sensibilities of a lot of the pieces hint at a classical background - am I right? 🙂
@@billyruss Yes I understand - many people work better in a streamlined environment without huge hardware synths clogging everything up. For pure sound though, to my ears, hardware synths still have the edge. Thanks for your observation re classical background! I can see why you would think that but no - I'm not classically trained at all I can't even read music. But, a few years ago I become a bit obsessed with the harmonic minor scale and it's probably this, coupled with listening to Jarre and Tomita back in the day, that leads to those influences. Regards
I have a question for you, if you can make a comparison: from a performance point of view, have you noticed that in the 73-key version of the Hydrasynth there is a real advantage and more usefulness in playing compared to the 49-key version? I'm asking it because I will be wanting to purchase a Hydrasynth soon, but not being able to try it in person, I need to understand if the larger footprint of the 73-key version is actually worth it. Thanks
Thanks for your question! For me the answer is a definite yes. If you are a keyboard player who plays bass/ lead/ chords or plays two-handed then the longer keyboard is a huge advantage: you don't have to keep toggling the octave up/ down buttons. You can do long runs and really explore the range of each sound. But more than the keyboard size, the Deluxe is worth it because of the dual engines. The Hydrasynth already sounds impressive, but being able to split and layer two sounds opens up a world of more powerful and complex patches, as I hope my videos show. Lastly, although the 73 key Deluxe takes up more space, because it has the space on the right hand side of the panel and the metal plate that can extend out from the back, you can actually sit other desktop synths or even a laptop there. I hope that helps.
Just bought 1+2 recently, great sound design. When I uploaded it to my Hydrasynth everything worked great! Unfortunately, when I rebooted it all the U and L patches for the multis were reset to the Init patch. This happens everytime... Is there some other trick to uploading them? I'm on firmware 2.1 (and the corresponding Hydrasynth Manager).
Many thanks for your feedback - yes it's annoying and other people are experiencing this too. ASM have confirmed it's a bug with firmware 2.0. Their recommended workaround is: once you've got the sounds installed in the Hydrasynth, press save button twice to save each patch - this commits the patch to memory and it won't be initialised again when powered off. Another solution is to re-instal firmware 1.1, then load the sounds, then update to firmware 2.0. Hopefully this will be sorted soon with the next firmware update. Now at least you can enjoy the sounds properly!
@@synthuniverse Ah yep! That works, thanks! Out of desperation I ended up doing a full backup and then immediate restore of what I just backed up. That also works, as it happens -- but takes quite a long time (but less button clicking).
What gorgeous sounds!
Many thanks for the feedback!
Bealtful sound Voice string split 😮
Thanks for the feedback!
I just bought the desktop and love it! These patches are incredible, I think I'll get the deluxe too!
Thanks very much for the feedback! Yes I've got the Deluxe and the desktop. In my opinion the Deluxe is the best conceived synthesizer of modern times - so well designed and so capable and yet not copying anything else. And when you combine the Desktop with the Deluxe you get 3 Hydra engines at once which sounds incredible.
@@synthuniverse Its very intuitive to use, what surprises me the most is how warm and rich it can sound for a digital synth, the filter and filter drive is superb. I just bought your Hydrasynth Vol1 & 2 patches, just what I needed, they are beautifully crafted patches thank you. Deluxe next!
@@bill_astro_music Many thanks for the feedback - enjoy the sounds!
I've just bought your Bundle of Vol 1 & 2 - stunning sounds! Deep Sweep might just be my favourite synth patch ever - I love the way you've programmed the aftertouch for melody. Great work!!
Hey thanks so much for the feedback and for purchasing the sounds! I'm pleased you like them. Have fun...
I like your little themes, they fit perfectly with this beautiful synth
Many thanks for your feedback! The themes just come as I'm playing each sound. To me, that's the mark of a great synth: one that gets the musical ideas flowing effortlessly!
I see I'm not the only fan of Equinoxe part 2 ;) (plus the second Oxygene album) More importantly, I'm hearing sounds suggestive of all decades -- 70s, 80s, 90s etc -- which does indeed show the power of this particular synthesizer.
Thanks for your feedback! Yes it's interesting how a digital synth produced in the 2020s can evoke the sounds/ feel of music produced up to 50 years ago. As I've commented elsewhere, one of the things about the Hydrasynth I really respect is that it's not trying to be anything from the past: it's very much future-facing and has its own personality, yet can also dig in to what has gone before
The Deluxe seems to be so much more than the sum of its parts. I have the original Hydra; it's good, but I've been toying with the idea of selling it as I never really use it. All the Deluxe patches I've heard (these included) sound more than twice as good as the original, making me thinking of upgrading instead. Though it's difficult to tell sometimes if it's the patch or the musical idea you're using to demonstrate it that is luring me in!
Hey thanks for sharing! I can only say that I agree the Deluxe having two Hydra engines was a great decision by ASM as it opens up so many possibilities whilst also covering the basics. It really is a pleasure to programme and my musical ideas come direct from playing the sounds. To me as a musician that's what I want - a synth that inspires me to make music. I would add that the factory presets are also improved on the Deluxe compared to the original - there's some really good single and multi patches there too. Worth reflecting I guess on why it is you don't use the original Hydrasynth - just to check that the same won't happen if you upgrade...Good luck with it
@@synthuniverse I've been listening again to all four of these videos. One of my reasons for thinking about selling the Hydra is that it's quite heavy, and I'm working more and more with plug-ins and mini keyboards such as the MiniFreak (although I bought the Osmose a few months back!), so I don't know whether I'd want to make the space for something this big. Having said that, the sounds are pretty amaxing... I hear hints of JM Jarre in there, and the harmonic sensibilities of a lot of the pieces hint at a classical background - am I right? 🙂
@@billyruss Yes I understand - many people work better in a streamlined environment without huge hardware synths clogging everything up. For pure sound though, to my ears, hardware synths still have the edge. Thanks for your observation re classical background! I can see why you would think that but no - I'm not classically trained at all I can't even read music. But, a few years ago I become a bit obsessed with the harmonic minor scale and it's probably this, coupled with listening to Jarre and Tomita back in the day, that leads to those influences. Regards
Just bougt it, FANTASTIC !
Am over the moon with "deep sweep"...
Thanks so much for purchasing and for your feedback! I'm pleased you like the sounds - have fun!
@@synthuniverse No doubt about that ! 🙂
stunning synth - poly aftertouch?? great presets - good playing style - whats not to like!!
Thanks for sharing - pleased you enjoyed!
I have a question for you, if you can make a comparison: from a performance point of view, have you noticed that in the 73-key version of the Hydrasynth there is a real advantage and more usefulness in playing compared to the 49-key version?
I'm asking it because I will be wanting to purchase a Hydrasynth soon, but not being able to try it in person, I need to understand if the larger footprint of the 73-key version is actually worth it.
Thanks
Thanks for your question! For me the answer is a definite yes. If you are a keyboard player who plays bass/ lead/ chords or plays two-handed then the longer keyboard is a huge advantage: you don't have to keep toggling the octave up/ down buttons. You can do long runs and really explore the range of each sound. But more than the keyboard size, the Deluxe is worth it because of the dual engines. The Hydrasynth already sounds impressive, but being able to split and layer two sounds opens up a world of more powerful and complex patches, as I hope my videos show. Lastly, although the 73 key Deluxe takes up more space, because it has the space on the right hand side of the panel and the metal plate that can extend out from the back, you can actually sit other desktop synths or even a laptop there. I hope that helps.
Thank you@@synthuniverse
Just bought 1+2 recently, great sound design. When I uploaded it to my Hydrasynth everything worked great! Unfortunately, when I rebooted it all the U and L patches for the multis were reset to the Init patch. This happens everytime... Is there some other trick to uploading them? I'm on firmware 2.1 (and the corresponding Hydrasynth Manager).
Many thanks for your feedback - yes it's annoying and other people are experiencing this too. ASM have confirmed it's a bug with firmware 2.0. Their recommended workaround is: once you've got the sounds installed in the Hydrasynth, press save button twice to save each patch - this commits the patch to memory and it won't be initialised again when powered off. Another solution is to re-instal firmware 1.1, then load the sounds, then update to firmware 2.0. Hopefully this will be sorted soon with the next firmware update. Now at least you can enjoy the sounds properly!
@@synthuniverse Ah yep! That works, thanks! Out of desperation I ended up doing a full backup and then immediate restore of what I just backed up. That also works, as it happens -- but takes quite a long time (but less button clicking).
Can you save your own patches to this thing? Also how many can you add?
8 banks of 128 patches in Single mode. 5 banks of 128 patches in Multi mode
Is there a software Hydrasynth???
No and personally I hope they don't go down that route
@@synthuniverse oh, OK :-(( My house is vibrating with your playing...