Hydrasynth Desktop

Product Information

The Hydrasynth is a seriously impressive opening salvo from a fledgling company; hopefully it heralds a more expressive future for synthesis. One problem with many desktop or rack synths is that you usually have to connect them to an external controller to play them.

After some time now in the hands of users, I'd imagine the ASM team is assembling a list of UI/doc/patch improvements to make the experience even better. The Hydrasynth Desktop has near limitless capability for the creation of nuanced and nonlinear sounds – the 5 ADSR envelope generators offer delay and hold and can have either linear or exponential curves in between stages, whilst the 5 onboard LFO’s deliver upto 11 waveshapes plus delay, fade in and smoothing. If you are approved for a credit limit with PayPal Credit and use it for future purchases, the APR for those purchases wont be more than 23.Consider the 24 performance pads with polyphonic aftertouch, alongside CV/Gate connectivity, and the ASM Hydrasynth Desktop really does start to look like the innovative and versatile module your synthesizer setup has been patiently waiting for. Features 24 polyphonic pressure touchpads so that you can play the unit without needing to connect a keyboard or other controller.

Repeatedly pressing a button progresses through the pages, and there are dedicated page buttons too.I find myself using the FM mutant a lot and Wave Stack (in limited amounts, always sounds trashy from very early in the pot). It doesn't end there, either: the source could be taken from another Mutant or either of the Mod inputs.

The first filter has 11 different filter models, giving you multiple options for tailoring your sound.I could see it being more 'budget friendly' to have a single analog and a single digital filter per each of 8 voices, with a few modes to use these. For now, it's worth knowing that all audio sources — internal and external — may be panned and processed by a pair of filters, a balance control setting the amount for each. It's so fast I wished the selection process could be extended to include other sources, such as the mod wheel, aftertouch and so on.