The Hydra was my first synth and to this day (I now have a decent size studio with many synths), it's still my favorite. I just really enjoy the workflow and to have so many mod matrix possibilities.
I have the explorer and even at that price point the build quality is just in another level. The front panel is plastic but the knobs, the keyboard and the metal back are fantastic.
I've the Deluxe; great synth, great keybed and great poly-aftertouch. Might be the closest (not to mention 'most affordable') alternative for the Yamaha BoatAnchor-80, and the HS is clearly inspired by that and all the Blade Runner-lore.
With comments like this, the 80 will finally come down to where its prices belong like, under a thousand bucks. Woody, your demos are priceless; on the other hand.
I have both the 49 key, and the Deluxe boards. I started out with the 49 since at the time that was the only offering. When the Deluxe 73 came out, I was shocked how much better it was. If you can afford to get the Deluxe version from the start, it's worth it. I love the poly aftertouch. It's super expressive. I've spent hours having fun with the ribbon controller. Woody is right about the build quality. Quite simply one of the best built boards I've seen in years! I play in a cover band, and another commendable quality is it's ability to cut through the mix with a lot of punch. Some of my other modern keyboards that I gig with sadly have that refined sterile sound. The Hydrasynth is kind of like a digital Moog that never goes out of tune. It closely models an analogue sound even though it's digital. If anyone ask me "What kind of synth can purchase just to have hours of fun with?" This would be the one! It's a great value for you what you pay.
I feel so jealous!! I've had my Hydrasynth since August and I still haven't learned a tenth of what you're doing here! Bravo!! Of course, I've also bought a Montage M8X that I'm still learning, a new PC from PC Audiolabs, added new VSTs, and expanded my studio with new guitars and effects. But I'm really keen on getting more into this great synth. I do love the poly aftertouch a LOT. I use aftertouch extensively in my recordings. Being able to attach a modulation or filter parameter to that function makes the keyboard playing experience that much more expressive and engaging. Having POLY aftertouch is the penultimate control parameter for me (and why I paid for the more expensive Montage M8x).
thanks for sharing your thoughts and congrats on yours, and the M8X. yes, i'm in the same situation, switching between several synths all the time, and then when you revisit you kind of forgot everything and almost have to start over. we'll both get there eventually, there is no rush!
Regarding the form factor, the 49 key Hydra has the ribbon controller which extends over all the keys. That full key coverage ends up being quite a helpful feature. It looks like the ribbon coltroller remained the same size in the Deluxe. This becomes a factor because when bending notes using the ribbon, you can reference the keys for how far to bend, and have a visual reference for returning to your starting note. On the upper keys of the deluxe, you woudn't have the same positional alignment.
It sounds like it does analog sound pretty nicely as well as more digital textures. Synths that have a foot in both camps are powerful and useful. Its like having two in one.
Thank you for this clear and precise overview. I put my order in for the deluxe during the pandemic but my order was cancelled due to shipping issues. I bought a Roli Seaboard Rise 2 in the meantime. The performance features you touched on (pun intended 😅) the poly aftertouch and ribbon are perfect for the style of music I write - prog rock - where organic expression is a primary feature of the music itself. My Seaboard caters for that, and I definitely still have the itch for the Hydrasynth for two main reasons. 1. The amazing UI that makes programming and experimenting with sound easy to understand and straight forward. 2. The mod matrix opens up a near endless number of sound design possibilities. It's a lot to dive into I get that, and I think not everyone will have a chance to delve into its depths fully. There have been some great updates released for the Hydrasynth that added features, but two part multitimbrality is a restriction that can't be fixed by software unfortunately. Maybe they'll release an upgraded chipset?
About a filter bypass for one of the filters...from init everything in the mixer is routed through filter 1. So turning on the parallel filter mode bypasses filter 2. To bypass filter 1 you'd have to adjust the mixer levels to hit filter 2 instead, but again the parallel filter mode would mean you'd bypass filter 1.
Thanks for the great video. Loving your enthusiasm for this synth! You've probably found this out by now - the filters are in parallel by default and in the mixer menu you can pan each oscillator to choose the amount going into the filters. So, panning hard left 100:0 the oscillator goes through filter 1 only and vice versa. Quite cool that you can mix into the filters like this :)
I have the original Hydrasynth and I am still loving it. But would like to have Hydrasynth 2 if ASM would do one some day. One major improvement ASM could do, would to pack it with Osmose quality keyboard. Hydrasynth has "ok keyboard", but it is not "the best keyboard one can buy". It could be. The Osmose has computer-only and really weird sound engine, there would be an opportunity to have such keyboard with Hydrasynth sound engine, or rather with improved Hydrasynth sound engine. One thing for wavetables could be that there could be user wavetables, like on Serum. Typically a Serum soundbank comes with wavetables for the sound bank. There would be an opportunity for that in the Hydrasynth as well because what would prevent loading wavetables on it because it is a computer with keys anyway. Also the analog feel of the oscillators could be improved, maybe something alike the simulation of the atrophy modes of Behringer UB-XA. The bare oscillator sounds a bit too perfect and too digital when comparing it to an analog VCO-synth, albeit as a sound the Hydrasynth can sound very analog as can be heard from the numerous presets. But some love additional there would not be so bad. Also because it is a digital synth, it could have audio out via USB to computer. The D/A and A/D in between is unnecessary for a digital synth. Novation Ultranova had that and it was a good feature. Why not Hydrasynth 2 also have digital I/O.
I am curious to know your path with this beast, because I am planning to buy it. I would do immediately if there was a VST version. I play live and I like a lot things that I can use with my computer and midi controller. Minifreak was such a perfect design device because of that.
I don’t really mind that the USB on the Hydrasynth only does midi. In my experience audio over USB is a bit of mixed experience. I recently acquired a roland TR-6S and an S-1. They both do audio over USB, but the implementation is rather different between them. The TR-6S is not class compliant but has an ASIO driver with multitrack capabilities (which is nice) but S-1 is class complaint but has no ASIO driver and only does 44.1 kHz (I record in 48 kHz). In my experience the audio over USB is a bit of hassle, especially on Windows as only 1 ASIO driver can be used at the same time which means you’ve got to monitor through the device itself. I wish the ASIO standard would be modernized to allow a separation of the recording device and the monitoring device. Also I have experienced USB ground loops noises when the analog output is used together with the USB for power with both Roland synths. What’s your experience with these sort things? Do you use the USB over audio on devices that support it? I feel that devices should preferably have a class complaint mode (for iPad recording which I do a lot) as well as an ASIO driver and should also not be limited to 44.1 kHz but have a 48 kHz mode as well.
some great points and insight and I fully agree. if you have one "pro quality" interface already with good drivers, that is tried and tested, then I myself also tend to always use that, instead of installing dozens of drivers from different manufacturers, bloating up the PC and with sometimes "quirky" features and stability. perhaps audio over usb on synths is more for "amateurs" who don't already have audio interface. no offense meant. although of course quality is superior with digital all the way from synth to PC, avoiding DA and AD conversion.
I love my Hydra (original keyboard), it is simply the most expressive synth I’ve ever owned. The only way I would part with it would be to get a Deluxe.
Hey @WoodyPianoShack, thanks for doing this, and I say this as an owner of the OG HydraSynth (and a YC61)-a really good pairing, btw. Just a quick question: what keyboard stand are you using here?
Great video Woody. Thanks for sharing your thoughts ! I am in bit of dilemma. I have the fantom 8, love it but want either Jupiter X or Hydrasynth deluxe. I tried both of them and bad news is that I like both and I can only buy one of them. Any thoughts or help in that front.
As alway a fantastic review, you mention the poly after touch, I have heard that quite a lot of people say the 73 key Deluxe versions poly after touch is inferior to the 49 key version, I find the Original 49 key version has brilliant feel and control, I also have a Waldorf Iridium with poly aftertouch, and Expressive E Osmose, my 49 key Hydrasynth feel and control is superior. I wish the Hydrasynth had a decent sample engine in it, maybe that would be over kill I suppose, All the Best for the New Year If you get chance try an Original 49 key version
Yes, I agree about the sample engine, and what I'd really love to see is "resynthesis" from samples in a hardware synth. Granular comes pretty close to resynthesis, but has a bit of a blurry feel to it. For a good example of resynthesis, check out Image Line's "Harmor" VST.
The actual Quality of the Instrument's shassis and the sound of it makes it even more sad they didn't put more effort into the keybed. I don't know if it has something to do with the poly AT. I have read that not all reviewers of the Montage M8X are happy about the keybed even Yamaha don't hold back on selling it as the best keybed man have ever seen. It's the only negative I can say of this synth. Its sonic capabilities for the price is darn good, even for the Deluxe model, if ASM can do anything about the noisy keybeds please do: I've read that ASM is even starting selling the keybed to other brands. the Deluxe model with its 73 keys, poly AT and ribbon controller is the best controller for the various CS80 emulators so a slight mod to at least remove the noise from the keybed would make this a perfect controller with a very interesting Synth engine of its own as a bonus.
i would not say it is a poor keybed, the feel is a bit unusual but perfectly playable imho! it is quite noisy though compared to my other keyboards, but not a bother.
@@WoodyPianoShack Ya it highly depends on peoples references. I have personly always been extremely picky about keybeds and I realise that not everyone feels the same way. I think if you have been playing since kid and is over 50 you have tried the prime era of the 80's where Yamaha reigned surpreme in providing keybeds for almost every synth manufactors that didn't make their own keybeds. And even the tech have advanced much, nothing beats a welldone keybed from the 80's. I'm still no fan of Fatars synth beds unless they are modded. I even was disapointed with the Genos which uses an FSX board just like the Montage and the new Genos 2, but the aftertouch is somehow much better in my new Genos 2. I was very posively surpriced. They have done something with the aftertouch implementation that makes it much more controllable or I just had a monday model in my Genos.
As with very many wavetable-based VSTs, the Hydra has a nice, huge selection of wavetables. However, I have really no clue in how to choose the wavetables for various target sounds. I say this because, beyond the obvious sound of each, I'm rather convinced that many of those wavetables are intended as transients. The horizon1 through horizon4 waves are examples of how many are organized into series. Are some of those wavetables derived from samples? Intended to represent real-world conplex sounds? Or am I over-thinking this? Scrolling through the waves, I just hear various combinations of overtones, and I'm certain that I'm not at all seeing the potential of them. If someone knows of a web site with a hydra wavetable cookbook (this wave as a transient to that wave fading into this third wave sounds nicely like a goat playing the tuba on a windy day) or a preset collection which makes nice use of the variety of wavetables, I'd sure love to hear about it. Excellent review, Woody. You make me feel much better about not yet having dived as deeply into programming the hydra as I'd wanted to.
you are welcome, i would also welcome a cookbook manual or webpage describing all the wavetables, their source and suggestions how to use them. myself, i only call up the single cycle waveforms so far!
Woody, regarding the multi-timbrality and increased polyphony, I'll suggest a different approach from putting too much effort into increasing the voices of the hydra. I could be very wrong, but I'm wondering how much of what you're wanting could be accomlished through midi with a number of smaller hydras. My suggestion would be a new, smaller rack-mount unit with even less interface than the desktop model (make it as inexpensive as they reasonably can), which is intended as a midi slave. Patches would be loaded in by USB, and should you need 32-note multitimbrality, I imagine that there must be midi hardware which can assign notes as needed among banks of gear. I like this suggested approach because it doesn't make the keyboard models overly expensive, and it should be extremely expandable. Maybe Ashun could develop their own customized midi controller/sequencer box to facilitate this setup, because the hydra currently lacks a sequencer.
i like that you thinking out of the box! the idea is interesting. but ergonomics, hands-in control and programming would be a pain, so methinks might as well fire up instances of your favorite vst plugin at that stage! i really want 4 part multitimbral in my digital synths in 2024, it's only a question of algorithm efficiency and cpu, no other extra hardware cost except some extra buttons for the parts, of course! and some software development of the OS to support it of course. i think we consumer should demand and expect these features, in order to compete with plugins?
@@WoodyPianoShack I was thinking "how could he possibly need that many voices at once, unless he's running a sequence" so that's why I started thinking about a rack of inexpensive midi slave units. Now after looking at other synth reviews, I see that the expectation does really seem to be going much higher in the number of voices supported. I just wouldn't want the nicest, newest version to cost 4.5k, which would be out of the reach of many of us. Speaking of that figure, I was just watching a demo of the Super Gemini, which seems amazing, but I'll probably never get to play one.
I have the original, non-deluxe, and I find that the black keys are particularly slippery. Might sound like a silly complaint, but for someone learning keyboard it's a bit challenging having my fingers slip off of the keys. Maybe I should put double-sided tape on my fingers before playing 🤣
I have three main requests of feature additions: 1) Be able to treat it as a plugin with complete remote control including being able to store the patch of a given track with the rest of the settings of that track; 2) Audio over MIDI at high bit-depth and bit-rate; 3) Flat-out, make a plugin version of the synth with it being able to take full advantage of the much more powerful processor of your computer for greater polyphony, and multi timbrality. I suspect that a plugin version would be a very hot seller.
@@WoodyPianoShack It could but, then, it would also allow a whole lot more people to experience the synth who cannot afford to do so now opening up a much broader customer base to ASM. I suspect that hardware preferring folks will still prefer the hardware as that hardware has a lot to offer that software can't, and that those of us who started out in the very early days of software instruments going back some 20-years+ would never be hardware purchasers anyway. I am also aware that they would need to put together a whole software development team to create a plugin version and that would likely be a pretty decent cash outlay for them. They could also partner up with somebody like Arturia to develop the software for them since they are the true experts in the field and know a thing or too about taking the synth engine guts of an all-digital synth and converting the code to their internal format and build a killer GUI on top of it. But, you are correct, that may be something they are not willing to risk.
It's their own keybed so hard to compare it as there isn't that many different keybeds with poly AT yet. It's extremely clunky and noisy. just watch woody's first video. But feature wise it's a great board. I wish I could find a store that have the NI S61 MKIII I could try to compare it. It uses a Fatar board with poly AT. So if its anything like their usual synth key models propaby the best comparison to one of the many synths with a 61key long hinged Fatar synth keybed. They do have short hinged versions too tho for budget synths/controllers but Ni's top models always been high quality keybeds.
Woody playng piano and synth s alike and different,, Love the funky sounds and playng you are really developing just your groove ability am impressed Love all the great sounds and beats , but I have arrved at a place want lyrics that have human story 2024 edm must have deep meaning lyrics for me now ,,,just the beats and great sounds are not enough ,,,, l liike the song writing from the 1970's
I am not a fan of the size, not for me anyways. I like things more intimate where I could fit 5 modules in place of the Deluxe. I am sure it would be a dream to play, just that I don't do much keys and this would be wasted on my desk, where space is of a premium.
Your camera is way too overexposed and your windows are letting in too much light into your shot. I realize you are in Sweden in the winter and it's dark there... but this is overcompensating.
actually if you check the exposure of me and the synth, it is perfect. and that is what matters, you are getting fooled by the white walls, if I underexposed then the walls would appear grey!
If this were the case, the outside shot of the hedge would not have the same color saturation is the plant indoors. You get a somewhat filtered representation of outside as you have a window that is filtering light. Woody would also have more of a halo around his head if there was an over exposure, which there is not. Curiously, what does this have to do with the Hydrasynth?
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The Hydra was my first synth and to this day (I now have a decent size studio with many synths), it's still my favorite. I just really enjoy the workflow and to have so many mod matrix possibilities.
Getting my Hydra tomorrow! Really excited, I cant wait to dive deep into the settings and program and play this thing..
oh wow, congrats, which model did you opt for?
I think the Hydrasynth is great. It is exactly the type of synth that I appreciate: it has an interface that gives you something that a plugin can’t.
I have the explorer and even at that price point the build quality is just in another level. The front panel is plastic but the knobs, the keyboard and the metal back are fantastic.
yeah i heard also that the explorer is really nice quality! thanks for sharing.
Yes the multi tap to jump on the orange button you select jumps U down instantly to lower menus on the explorer is awesome
I've the Deluxe; great synth, great keybed and great poly-aftertouch. Might be the closest (not to mention 'most affordable') alternative for the Yamaha BoatAnchor-80, and the HS is clearly inspired by that and all the Blade Runner-lore.
LMAO! "Boat-anchor" 80. Brilliant!
Less affordable alternative being that Super Gemini. It also looks quite nice, but *ooof* that price.
Happy day to you too 😐
With comments like this, the 80 will finally come down to where its prices belong like, under a thousand bucks.
Woody, your demos are priceless; on the other hand.
Thank you so much for these two Hydrasynth videos. I really appreciate your perspective as an experienced player. Hope to see more soon!
I have both the 49 key, and the Deluxe boards. I started out with the 49 since at the time that was the only offering. When the Deluxe 73 came out, I was shocked how much better it was. If you can afford to get the Deluxe version from the start, it's worth it. I love the poly aftertouch. It's super expressive. I've spent hours having fun with the ribbon controller. Woody is right about the build quality. Quite simply one of the best built boards I've seen in years! I play in a cover band, and another commendable quality is it's ability to cut through the mix with a lot of punch. Some of my other modern keyboards that I gig with sadly have that refined sterile sound. The Hydrasynth is kind of like a digital Moog that never goes out of tune. It closely models an analogue sound even though it's digital. If anyone ask me "What kind of synth can purchase just to have hours of fun with?" This would be the one! It's a great value for you what you pay.
I feel so jealous!!
I've had my Hydrasynth since August and I still haven't learned a tenth of what you're doing here! Bravo!!
Of course, I've also bought a Montage M8X that I'm still learning, a new PC from PC Audiolabs, added new VSTs, and expanded my studio with new guitars and effects.
But I'm really keen on getting more into this great synth.
I do love the poly aftertouch a LOT. I use aftertouch extensively in my recordings. Being able to attach a modulation or filter parameter to that function makes the keyboard playing experience that much more expressive and engaging. Having POLY aftertouch is the penultimate control parameter for me (and why I paid for the more expensive Montage M8x).
thanks for sharing your thoughts and congrats on yours, and the M8X. yes, i'm in the same situation, switching between several synths all the time, and then when you revisit you kind of forgot everything and almost have to start over. we'll both get there eventually, there is no rush!
Regarding the form factor, the 49 key Hydra has the ribbon controller which extends over all the keys. That full key coverage ends up being quite a helpful feature. It looks like the ribbon coltroller remained the same size in the Deluxe. This becomes a factor because when bending notes using the ribbon, you can reference the keys for how far to bend, and have a visual reference for returning to your starting note. On the upper keys of the deluxe, you woudn't have the same positional alignment.
it is the same 49 note ribbon yes, very good point about the reference to the keys, had not considered that.
It sounds like it does analog sound pretty nicely as well as more digital textures. Synths that have a foot in both camps are powerful and useful. Its like having two in one.
Thank you for this clear and precise overview. I put my order in for the deluxe during the pandemic but my order was cancelled due to shipping issues. I bought a Roli Seaboard Rise 2 in the meantime.
The performance features you touched on (pun intended 😅) the poly aftertouch and ribbon are perfect for the style of music I write - prog rock - where organic expression is a primary feature of the music itself.
My Seaboard caters for that, and I definitely still have the itch for the Hydrasynth for two main reasons.
1. The amazing UI that makes programming and experimenting with sound easy to understand and straight forward.
2. The mod matrix opens up a near endless number of sound design possibilities.
It's a lot to dive into I get that, and I think not everyone will have a chance to delve into its depths fully.
There have been some great updates released for the Hydrasynth that added features, but two part multitimbrality is a restriction that can't be fixed by software unfortunately. Maybe they'll release an upgraded chipset?
Sounds amazing. Great deep overview. Now let's see you take that experience and compare it to the hydrasynth explorer!
About a filter bypass for one of the filters...from init everything in the mixer is routed through filter 1. So turning on the parallel filter mode bypasses filter 2. To bypass filter 1 you'd have to adjust the mixer levels to hit filter 2 instead, but again the parallel filter mode would mean you'd bypass filter 1.
Thanks for the great video. Loving your enthusiasm for this synth! You've probably found this out by now - the filters are in parallel by default and in the mixer menu you can pan each oscillator to choose the amount going into the filters. So, panning hard left 100:0 the oscillator goes through filter 1 only and vice versa. Quite cool that you can mix into the filters like this :)
I have the original Hydrasynth and I am still loving it. But would like to have Hydrasynth 2 if ASM would do one some day. One major improvement ASM could do, would to pack it with Osmose quality keyboard. Hydrasynth has "ok keyboard", but it is not "the best keyboard one can buy". It could be. The Osmose has computer-only and really weird sound engine, there would be an opportunity to have such keyboard with Hydrasynth sound engine, or rather with improved Hydrasynth sound engine. One thing for wavetables could be that there could be user wavetables, like on Serum. Typically a Serum soundbank comes with wavetables for the sound bank. There would be an opportunity for that in the Hydrasynth as well because what would prevent loading wavetables on it because it is a computer with keys anyway. Also the analog feel of the oscillators could be improved, maybe something alike the simulation of the atrophy modes of Behringer UB-XA. The bare oscillator sounds a bit too perfect and too digital when comparing it to an analog VCO-synth, albeit as a sound the Hydrasynth can sound very analog as can be heard from the numerous presets. But some love additional there would not be so bad. Also because it is a digital synth, it could have audio out via USB to computer. The D/A and A/D in between is unnecessary for a digital synth. Novation Ultranova had that and it was a good feature. Why not Hydrasynth 2 also have digital I/O.
Hydrasynth has very impressive looks. Korg's flagship arranger workstation PA5X-76 looks almost like this synth.
I am curious to know your path with this beast, because I am planning to buy it. I would do immediately if there was a VST version. I play live and I like a lot things that I can use with my computer and midi controller. Minifreak was such a perfect design device because of that.
I don’t really mind that the USB on the Hydrasynth only does midi. In my experience audio over USB is a bit of mixed experience. I recently acquired a roland TR-6S and an S-1. They both do audio over USB, but the implementation is rather different between them. The TR-6S is not class compliant but has an ASIO driver with multitrack capabilities (which is nice) but S-1 is class complaint but has no ASIO driver and only does 44.1 kHz (I record in 48 kHz). In my experience the audio over USB is a bit of hassle, especially on Windows as only 1 ASIO driver can be used at the same time which means you’ve got to monitor through the device itself. I wish the ASIO standard would be modernized to allow a separation of the recording device and the monitoring device. Also I have experienced USB ground loops noises when the analog output is used together with the USB for power with both Roland synths. What’s your experience with these sort things? Do you use the USB over audio on devices that support it? I feel that devices should preferably have a class complaint mode (for iPad recording which I do a lot) as well as an ASIO driver and should also not be limited to 44.1 kHz but have a 48 kHz mode as well.
some great points and insight and I fully agree. if you have one "pro quality" interface already with good drivers, that is tried and tested, then I myself also tend to always use that, instead of installing dozens of drivers from different manufacturers, bloating up the PC and with sometimes "quirky" features and stability.
perhaps audio over usb on synths is more for "amateurs" who don't already have audio interface. no offense meant. although of course quality is superior with digital all the way from synth to PC, avoiding DA and AD conversion.
Brilliant review. Sensible useful stuff like the laptop/gear shelf....who'd of thought it🤣
I love my Hydra (original keyboard), it is simply the most expressive synth I’ve ever owned. The only way I would part with it would be to get a Deluxe.
What the keyboard feels like - the most important part that you decided to omit
Does it have poly aftertouch?
Hey @WoodyPianoShack, thanks for doing this, and I say this as an owner of the OG HydraSynth (and a YC61)-a really good pairing, btw. Just a quick question: what keyboard stand are you using here?
this is an old roland, i have a video about it
What page did you find your Chorus sounds on ? Great video Woody looking forward to your next Hydra vid. Thank you
just hit the effects module and scroll the macro 1 knob a couple of clicks to reach the chorus! adjust wet/dry to taste.
Sounds like the Genos2 after a few hours!⭐️🌹
Great video Woody. Thanks for sharing your thoughts ! I am in bit of dilemma. I have the fantom 8, love it but want either Jupiter X or Hydrasynth deluxe. I tried both of them and bad news is that I like both and I can only buy one of them. Any thoughts or help in that front.
i don't know either, i agree, both are superb
I enjoyed the playing, but not having experience with this keyboard, I can't tell how much was the synth, and how much was the Maschine.
yeah i understand, in most cases just the drums are maschine. check my hands to see what parts I am playing.
As alway a fantastic review, you mention the poly after touch, I have heard that quite a lot of people say the 73 key Deluxe versions poly after touch is inferior to the 49 key version, I find the Original 49 key version has brilliant feel and control, I also have a Waldorf Iridium with poly aftertouch, and Expressive E Osmose, my 49 key Hydrasynth feel and control is superior.
I wish the Hydrasynth had a decent sample engine in it, maybe that would be over kill I suppose,
All the Best for the New Year
If you get chance try an Original 49 key version
yes, would like to try the 49! i find it hard to believe it is a different keybed, except for obvious number keys, thanks for the insights
Yes, I agree about the sample engine, and what I'd really love to see is "resynthesis" from samples in a hardware synth. Granular comes pretty close to resynthesis, but has a bit of a blurry feel to it. For a good example of resynthesis, check out Image Line's "Harmor" VST.
I felt that too but you can adjust the aftertouch response on Deluxe quite a lot to bring it closer.
The actual Quality of the Instrument's shassis and the sound of it makes it even more sad they didn't put more effort into the keybed. I don't know if it has something to do with the poly AT. I have read that not all reviewers of the Montage M8X are happy about the keybed even Yamaha don't hold back on selling it as the best keybed man have ever seen. It's the only negative I can say of this synth. Its sonic capabilities for the price is darn good, even for the Deluxe model, if ASM can do anything about the noisy keybeds please do: I've read that ASM is even starting selling the keybed to other brands. the Deluxe model with its 73 keys, poly AT and ribbon controller is the best controller for the various CS80 emulators so a slight mod to at least remove the noise from the keybed would make this a perfect controller with a very interesting Synth engine of its own as a bonus.
i would not say it is a poor keybed, the feel is a bit unusual but perfectly playable imho! it is quite noisy though compared to my other keyboards, but not a bother.
@@WoodyPianoShack Ya it highly depends on peoples references. I have personly always been extremely picky about keybeds and I realise that not everyone feels the same way. I think if you have been playing since kid and is over 50 you have tried the prime era of the 80's where Yamaha reigned surpreme in providing keybeds for almost every synth manufactors that didn't make their own keybeds. And even the tech have advanced much, nothing beats a welldone keybed from the 80's. I'm still no fan of Fatars synth beds unless they are modded. I even was disapointed with the Genos which uses an FSX board just like the Montage and the new Genos 2, but the aftertouch is somehow much better in my new Genos 2. I was very posively surpriced. They have done something with the aftertouch implementation that makes it much more controllable or I just had a monday model in my Genos.
As with very many wavetable-based VSTs, the Hydra has a nice, huge selection of wavetables. However, I have really no clue in how to choose the wavetables for various target sounds. I say this because, beyond the obvious sound of each, I'm rather convinced that many of those wavetables are intended as transients. The horizon1 through horizon4 waves are examples of how many are organized into series. Are some of those wavetables derived from samples? Intended to represent real-world conplex sounds? Or am I over-thinking this?
Scrolling through the waves, I just hear various combinations of overtones, and I'm certain that I'm not at all seeing the potential of them.
If someone knows of a web site with a hydra wavetable cookbook (this wave as a transient to that wave fading into this third wave sounds nicely like a goat playing the tuba on a windy day) or a preset collection which makes nice use of the variety of wavetables, I'd sure love to hear about it.
Excellent review, Woody. You make me feel much better about not yet having dived as deeply into programming the hydra as I'd wanted to.
you are welcome, i would also welcome a cookbook manual or webpage describing all the wavetables, their source and suggestions how to use them. myself, i only call up the single cycle waveforms so far!
Woody, regarding the multi-timbrality and increased polyphony, I'll suggest a different approach from putting too much effort into increasing the voices of the hydra. I could be very wrong, but I'm wondering how much of what you're wanting could be accomlished through midi with a number of smaller hydras. My suggestion would be a new, smaller rack-mount unit with even less interface than the desktop model (make it as inexpensive as they reasonably can), which is intended as a midi slave. Patches would be loaded in by USB, and should you need 32-note multitimbrality, I imagine that there must be midi hardware which can assign notes as needed among banks of gear.
I like this suggested approach because it doesn't make the keyboard models overly expensive, and it should be extremely expandable. Maybe Ashun could develop their own customized midi controller/sequencer box to facilitate this setup, because the hydra currently lacks a sequencer.
i like that you thinking out of the box! the idea is interesting. but ergonomics, hands-in control and programming would be a pain, so methinks might as well fire up instances of your favorite vst plugin at that stage! i really want 4 part multitimbral in my digital synths in 2024, it's only a question of algorithm efficiency and cpu, no other extra hardware cost except some extra buttons for the parts, of course! and some software development of the OS to support it of course. i think we consumer should demand and expect these features, in order to compete with plugins?
@@WoodyPianoShack I was thinking "how could he possibly need that many voices at once, unless he's running a sequence" so that's why I started thinking about a rack of inexpensive midi slave units. Now after looking at other synth reviews, I see that the expectation does really seem to be going much higher in the number of voices supported. I just wouldn't want the nicest, newest version to cost 4.5k, which would be out of the reach of many of us. Speaking of that figure, I was just watching a demo of the Super Gemini, which seems amazing, but I'll probably never get to play one.
I have the original, non-deluxe, and I find that the black keys are particularly slippery. Might sound like a silly complaint, but for someone learning keyboard it's a bit challenging having my fingers slip off of the keys. Maybe I should put double-sided tape on my fingers before playing 🤣
Agree maybe next gen could have grippier black keys.
oh, that is interesting to read, never noticed myself that this keybed is any more slippy than anything else I play.
Hi Woody! Could you tell me the name of the drum Kits are you using on the Maschine +? Thanks
sorry, i never noted them, just winging it as usual as soon as camera is recording, nothing pre-planned.
What is the difference between this hydrasynth deluxe synthesizer and the other commonly seen synthesizers like montage, fantom etc..???
the others you mention are workstations with realistic sampled instruments. sequencers, multitimbral etc. HS is just a synth.
Digital modeling synth is nothing else but VST in hardware form
Review latest Vanger 2
It may change your mind about hardware synths
I have three main requests of feature additions: 1) Be able to treat it as a plugin with complete remote control including being able to store the patch of a given track with the rest of the settings of that track; 2) Audio over MIDI at high bit-depth and bit-rate; 3) Flat-out, make a plugin version of the synth with it being able to take full advantage of the much more powerful processor of your computer for greater polyphony, and multi timbrality. I suspect that a plugin version would be a very hot seller.
i always wonder if vst version would cripple sales of hardware, i suspect so!
@@WoodyPianoShack It could but, then, it would also allow a whole lot more people to experience the synth who cannot afford to do so now opening up a much broader customer base to ASM. I suspect that hardware preferring folks will still prefer the hardware as that hardware has a lot to offer that software can't, and that those of us who started out in the very early days of software instruments going back some 20-years+ would never be hardware purchasers anyway. I am also aware that they would need to put together a whole software development team to create a plugin version and that would likely be a pretty decent cash outlay for them. They could also partner up with somebody like Arturia to develop the software for them since they are the true experts in the field and know a thing or too about taking the synth engine guts of an all-digital synth and converting the code to their internal format and build a killer GUI on top of it. But, you are correct, that may be something they are not willing to risk.
What about the key bed? Is it close or similar to any other synth?
i forgot to mention that, it is fine, feels quite different to everything else. but you can never describe an action in words anyway so never mind!
It's their own keybed so hard to compare it as there isn't that many different keybeds with poly AT yet. It's extremely clunky and noisy. just watch woody's first video. But feature wise it's a great board. I wish I could find a store that have the NI S61 MKIII I could try to compare it. It uses a Fatar board with poly AT. So if its anything like their usual synth key models propaby the best comparison to one of the many synths with a 61key long hinged Fatar synth keybed. They do have short hinged versions too tho for budget synths/controllers but Ni's top models always been high quality keybeds.
Woody playng piano and synth s alike and different,, Love the funky sounds and playng you are really developing just your groove ability am impressed Love all the great sounds and beats , but I have arrved at a place want lyrics that have human story 2024 edm must have deep meaning lyrics for me now ,,,just the beats and great sounds are not enough ,,,, l liike the song writing from the 1970's
much appreciated, thanks!
I am not a fan of the size, not for me anyways.
I like things more intimate where I could fit 5 modules in place of the Deluxe.
I am sure it would be a dream to play, just that I don't do much keys and this would be wasted on my desk, where space is of a premium.
yeah, i get that too!
AI will listen and set up the effects for you? Help me AI. Make this easy for me.
ai, make me a warm analog pad sound. give me another. a lot quicker than making it yourself! fingers crossed.
Your camera is way too overexposed and your windows are letting in too much light into your shot. I realize you are in Sweden in the winter and it's dark there... but this is overcompensating.
actually if you check the exposure of me and the synth, it is perfect. and that is what matters, you are getting fooled by the white walls, if I underexposed then the walls would appear grey!
If this were the case, the outside shot of the hedge would not have the same color saturation is the plant indoors.
You get a somewhat filtered representation of outside as you have a window that is filtering light.
Woody would also have more of a halo around his head if there was an over exposure, which there is not.
Curiously, what does this have to do with the Hydrasynth?