OMG, I thought I was through with GAS. This thing looks like a real performance device. It’s strangely limited in some ways but gorgeously designed so it kind of makes up for it.
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Looking forward to checking more of it. I already have the Linnstrument, so I don’t need the keyboard version, and from what I’ve seen desktop one is a no-brainer in terms of “amount of synth for your buck”. Hope it supports full MPE at some point.
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There’s more info at the website but the manual isn’t available yet.
It would be really weird if it didn’t have MPE out of the gate though, since even the desktop version has poly aftertouch.
What I like is how they basically made a fixed architecture synth out of virtual modules and designed the flow chart so you can jump to any module to adjust specific parameters. It’s a really interesting approach that I’m not sure I have seen before.
Nice looking poly synth with a lot of features for the projected price. It’s similar to the UltraNova in many respects, although certainly much more advanced. As much as I like the flexibility of the UltraNova, particularly with an on-screen editor to simplify some of the menu diving, I found the assignable knobs and mod matrix somewhat unsatisfying to use in practice. It also has a pretty well laid out control system, but I often find myself flipping through presets rather than starting from scratch. Still a polyphonic synth covers a lot of territory you just can’t get to with a mono synth. I wonder if there is any provision for multi-timbral operation. That’s one feature I wish the Ultranova had.
full MPE support wasn’t mentioned anywhere, so it seems there’s “only” poly aftertouch so far.
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Forgive my ignorance, but what is the difference?
If it doesn’t have MPE eventually I will be super shocked. The long-time Arturia Product Manager Glen Darcey is behind this device in collaboration with Medeli Musical Instruments. They even head hunted Daniel Troberg of Elektron fame! So I have hope.
Polyphonic aftertouch as opposed to channel aftertouch allows the controller to send aftertouch data for each held key rather than a single value for the entire keyboard. The information is sent on a single MIDI channel as a series of MIDI messages. MPE however uses a separate MIDI channel for each note so things like pitch bend and other modulation can be sent on a per note basis. Implementing MPE is a more complex undertaking than poly aftertouch so even if the Hydra offers one there’s no guarantee that it will offer the other. Still it’s all software so it’s certainly possible.
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MPE is: poly aftertouch, poly pitchbend, one poly midi CC (usually 74) via vertical position on a MPE surface, plus on and off velocity.
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The big difference is the use of multiple MIDI channels to carry the information rather than a single channel. Poly aftertouch and note on/off velocity can be carried with a single channel but for per note pitch bend and CCs it’s necessary to use a separate channel for each note.
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Every time I think I am free of GAS for this synth some new demo will come out and I’m back to thinking about what I can sell to buy one.
I have never seen an envelope whose stages can be independently tempo synced.
I have the opposite. I make a coffee look at some new gear and get motivated to work with what I have.
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I thought I’d take a minute and share my impressions of the Hydrasynth. I purchased a keyboard version several weeks ago and have really enjoyed the experience. As other reviews have noted, the build quality is superb. Everything feels solid and operates smoothly. The keybed is outstanding. The feel of the polyphonic aftertouch is “just right”, the velocity sensitivity seems excellent and the mechanical feel is great although the key travel is a bit longer than I’m used to. Both aftertouch and velocity are adjustable in settings, but I haven’t felt the need to change anything as yet. The OLED displays are bright and clear and easy on these old eyes.
The layout of the controls is well thought out and makes navigating the menus very intuitive. Although my UltraNova and the Hydrasynth are similar in many respects, I’ve found the Hydrasynth to be much easier to program. Its doesn’t ever feel like you are “menu diving”.
In terms of flexibility, it’s hard to imagine anything else they could add. You can do traditional subtractive synthesis, wavetable scanning, linear FM, 3 different types of PWM, hard sync etc. and almost any combination you can imagine. All the envelopes and LFOs can be synced to clock so building complex modulations is pretty straightforward.
It has 2 external CV mod inputs, 2 mod outputs, pitch, gate, and clock out so integrating it with modular gear or an ES-8 is straightforward. Voltages can be adjusted in setup to accommodate different standards.
The biggest difference between the Hydrasynth and the UltraNova is in the sound. They’re both digital polyphonic instruments with 3 oscillators, wavetables, two filters and effects with plenty of LFOs, envelopes and an arpeggiator. On paper they should be comparable, but there isn’t any comparison in the sound. I don’t know if it’s the quality of the effects or a higher sample rate or differences in the DACs, but the Hydrasynth sounds WAAAY better.
Since I’ve purchased the unit there have been 3 firmware updates, each of which has added significant new features. The Hydrasynth now supports MPE, they’ve added a new phase difference effect, 5 new filters, an additional shortcut for assigning modulation, additional modulation targets, support for micro-tuning including the ability to import scales, and other bug fixes and improvements. They are clearly interested in improving the instrument over time. I contacted their customer support with a minor issue and had a response in a matter of hours.
I am really happy I took the plunge and invested in this instrument. I honestly think that there’s nothing on the market today that can even come close for the price. Even adding the desktop unit, the pair would still be under the price of a Novation Summit. I would love to add a desktop version which would give me 16 voices or multi-timbre operation but that’ll have to wait for another day.
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I thought I had overcome the GAS but now its rising again.
As much as I hate to admit it, I have a spot reserved for a desktop unit next to the keyboard version. I love the poly-aftertouch which was the primary reason I went with the keyboard, but either one is a killer synth. I don’t really “need” another 8 voices, but it couldn’t hurt, right? I’ve been particularly impressed with the feature upgrades to the unit since I purchased it. It just keeps getting better. Filter 1 is now up to 14 different filter models and filter 2 has both an LP-BP-HP and LP-NO-HP mode. The filters are quite distinct in their sound and resonance behaviors. The machine learning algorithm used to create the filter models was pretty effective IMO. I also appreciate the 2 CV mod inputs and outputs and the CV pitch, gate and clock outputs. I can easily clock Audulus using the Hydrasynth’s clock out and since the Hydrasynth is synced to my DAW I can can get everything in time without using a separate MIDI track. BTW the mod inputs will accept audio rate signals so you can route external audio into the synth if you wish.
One of the new features I have been experimenting with is the LFO step mode. Originally you were limited to 8 steps but the last firmware rev increased it to 64 steps and made it easier to set the steps to specific pitches. They have also added the ability to trigger envelopes from the LFOs so by modulating the oscillator pitch and the envelope from the same LFO you have a crude 64 step sequencer. Combining this with the arpeggiator has led to some interesting outcomes. Not a replacement for a proper polyphonic sequencer, but interesting none the less.
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That is very intriguing, considering my love of LFO sequences. Can you modulate the pitches and keep them quantized to a chord?
When you have the LFO in step mode there’s a switch to lock the steps to semitone values (so long as the modulation depth is set to max). If you set the LFO to a single trigger so it stays synced across voices, any chord you play will move in sync. It’s also possible to use a separate LFO for each of the 3 oscillators and have a melodic line for each oscillator. Since you can sync the LFOs to the beat clock they can run in sync with each other. Lots of possibilities.
Since the LFOs can be set to different subdivisions of the beat (e.g. one to 1/4 notes, one to 1/8th triplets) you can get some very complex melodic sequences.
The range for the steps is +/- 12 semitones but it is possible to “stack” more than one LFO to cover additional octaves.
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