The 12dB and 24dB ladder filters are smooth and effective; they're accompanied by bass-compensated versions (Fat12 and Fat24) that don't sacrifice their bottom end to high resonance. As Darcey explained, “(Product Manager) Dominic (Au) and I come out of modular backgrounds so being able to route anything to anything was in our DNA, so to say.

Those markets tend to be more desktop-centric and less about keyboards so we pushed to get both versions launched at the same time. Let’s take a look at the synthesis architecture and see if that reveals any of Hydrasynth’s secrets.In full eight voice mode, the analog and digital filters could be run in series or parallel for 8 voice mono (but into stereo fx), OR, digital and analog filter panned left and right for 8 voice stereo (into stereo fx).

Hydrasynth is a great end user product and built better than anything else I own in the high-end synth offerings. I did initially wonder whether a couple of hundred waves would be enough, but since the Hydrasynth offers myriad ways to twist, squash, mash and trash them, it should be ages before you try every combination. 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. In the 1970s, many of us lusted over that instrument despite the fact that it was impractical for any bedroom studio, even if a rich aunt died and bequeathed the necessary dosh. On top of that you get a further 200 or so waveforms which can be scanned during play for complex and evolving tones.The LFO's all have delay, fade in, 3 triggering modes, smoothing, start phase, one-shot mode so that they can act as envelopes and BPM sync.

If there's a shortcut key combo to jump to page 4 or page 9 of the system menu, I'd like to know that (as one random example). As with oscillator sync, Ratio sets how many times the process occurs within a single cycle, leading to mad wave-folding flavours if you depart from the standard ratio of 1. Rather than fixed tables, the Hydrasynth permits the user to create lists of up to eight waveforms, with gaps and silences available for punctuation and fades. I know manuals are great, but this synth is 'soooo' close to be fully useable without needing the manual, it's hard not to see wanting that as a goal. Scrolling through presets goes faster, and if you hold shift and just turn the knob for the first wave in the wavetable, the synth scrolls through all the waves in cascading tables.It really is an all purpose tool and it does not surprise me why it has received the praise that has been heaped upon it since it's launch late last year. The Hydrasynth Desktop boasts 8-voice polyphony, ‘Mutator’ waveshaping, and a 32-slot modulation matrix to deliver a genuinely revolutionary, virtual analogue synthesizer, for the revolutionary music producer. When you purchase a sofware licence you are effectively purchasing a code that will allow you to use the acquired software on your computer. The keyboard model has a ribbon controller running almost its full length, and on both versions, every knob, button and encoder feels solid and trustworthy.

The only trick ASM have missed is the ability to trigger envelopes independently of the keyboard, say from a Mod input, LFO or Macro button. The real-world principle applies to the envelopes too, in what must be one of the best implementations I've seen in years. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. To my memory (not having the XL or Blofeld in front of me anymore), the hydra filters sound no better, if not worse, than these synths. Getting around isn't as easy as it might be because there's no method of going directly to a particular location.You can route the modulation in almost any direction, including the effects, arpeggiator and Modulation Matrix points. And while the third oscillator lacks the scanning functionality, it can still select any waveform and you can modulate the selection too.