ASM Hydrasynth

FM VERDICT
9.4
I mpressive fi rst release.
Looks and sounds great,
invites exploration, built
to last but not overpriced.
What’s not to like?
RIBBON CONTROLLER: Use this
full-length ribbon (CS80-style) to
control modulation and pitch, or as an
instrument in its own right
MODULE SECTION: Access for all the
main areas of the Hydrasynth’s engine
including oscillators, mixer, fi lters,
envelopes, mutants and effects
KEYBOARD: It may look
unremarkable but this keybed has
poly aftertouch. Hold a chord, wiggle
one note – instant pleasure!
CV INTERFACE: For all of the
modular-heads out there, the
Hydrasynth offers up plenty of easily
accessible CV connectivity
setups too, so that your favourite
buttons’ macro setups can be applied
to any of your custom patches.
Macros can also control mod-matrix
mod routes too (again, much like
‘control routes’ on the Alesis
Andromeda – which give you a way to
‘interrupt’ the mod paths).
Talking of mod routes, there are
32 here and really, you can let your
imagination run wild! Setting up mod
routes is super-fast and can be done
in and out of the Mod Matrix page
(accessed by the Mod Matrix button).
Simply hold any source (LFO1 for
example) then hit your desired
destination (fi lter cutoff for example),
tweak the level and you’re set. You
can modulate the excellent effects
too (which is always something that
impresses me), greatly increasing the
Hydrasynth’s versatility.
The ‘module select’ area gives you
fast and direct access to all the main
modules that make up your sound. I
like that you can instantly see what is
being triggered by a key press, (for
example the envelopes and LFO
buttons will light up, if assigned). All
familiar sound building blocks are
nicely presented here including
oscillators, envelopes, fi lters, amp,
mixer, LFOs, noise and effects.
However, this is the Hydrasynth and it
isn’t conventional in any way! Firstly,
you have three oscillators per voice
which include standard waves, plus
wave-scanning (an intuitive type of
wavetable synthesis where you can
assign eight waves and scan through
them using a dial/mod route). Then
within the ‘mutants’ you’ll also
discover linear FM, plus unique types
of pulse-width modulation. In
addition, there are fi ve (looping)
envelopes per-voice, an amp module,
two fi lter modules, fi ve LFOs, reverb
and delay modules, plus pre and post
effects. In essence, all you’d likely
want in terms of sound design is here,
directly accessible and mostly
modulatable! And as powerful as this
looks on paper, this is refl ected in the
sound too.
General sound quality is truly
excellent (precise and crisp yet it can
be warm and textured) whilst the
resulting sounds can be anything
from high quality ‘bread and butter’,
to unique sounds that you’ve truly
never heard before. Inject the ribbon
controller, arpeggiator, macros, mod
routes and of course the poly
aftertouch (and very musical
sounding effects/drive) and you’ll be
churning out refreshing new sounds
fast! Admittedly, there is a shallow
learning curve but that is to be
expected with the level of complexity
onboard. With deep synths like the
Hydrasynth, it’s always advisable to
draw mental maps of your sounds
fi rst, then go in (and I suggest reading
the manual too), but if you’re into
modular then the Hydra will be very
fast for you to get to grips with due to
its module-based layout. Alternatively,
to get exploring quickly, you can just
hit the random button and shoot the
breeze; sometimes results will be,
shall we say, a bit off, but then gems
will appear that can be great starting
points, or great sounds in themselves.
As a fi rst new synth from a new
company, the Hydra is hugely
impressive all round (and this is not
an easy thing to achieve on the fi rst
throw)! Build quality, looks, features,
sound – it has it all and at a price
that is actually affordable too. Let’s
also not forget that there’s a beautiful
rackmountable/desktop version too
(with all the features but pads instead
of keys). Congratulations to ASM on a
brilliant machine!
RIBBON CONTROLLER:
Use this
full-length ribbon (CS80-style) to
control modulation and pitch, or as an
instrument in its own right
MODULE SECTION:
Access for all the
main areas of the Hydrasynth’s engine
including oscillators, mixer, fi lters,
envelopes, mutants and effects
KEYBOARD:
It may look
unremarkable but this keybed has
poly aftertouch. Hold a chord, wiggle
one note – instant pleasure!
CV INTERFACE:
For all of the
modular-heads out there, the
Hydrasynth offers up plenty of easily
accessible CV connectivity
ASM Hydrasynth | Reviews
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