Hydrasynth

[Sequent]

The deluxe version is semi-weighted as well.

AFAIK ASM have their own proprietary keybeds (i.e. not Fatar or something).

Does anyone know what kind of keybed the Deluxe has?

[WatchTheGuitar]

They could make good money selling a 73 key PolyAT MIDI controller. People are spending over a grand on 30 year old Ensoniqs primarily to get 61 keys of poly aftertouch.

[BONES]

Yet you own a uno desktop and a rocket!!!!!

Uno Pro Desktop has a 32 key keyboard, and that's how I play it. As for Rocket, it's been sitting in a bag for the last 18 months, pretty much since I bought it (it's my second one), completely unused. If it had a keyboard I'd use it every day but it doesn't, so I never use it. It is, in fact, the perfect illustration of my point - I love the way it sounds and I could use it in every song we do, but the reality is that I never use it for anything, because VSTi are just so much easier.

I've actually thought seriously about building a rig to turn Rocket into a usable synth, by mating it permanently to my Keystep, probably by screwing them both to a board, connecting them with short MIDI cables and daisy-chaining USB for power.

[pdxindy]

They could make good money selling a 73 key PolyAT MIDI controller. People are spending over a grand on 30 year old Ensoniqs primarily to get 61 keys of poly aftertouch.

People will buy the Hydrasynth Deluxe for exactly that purpose. They already got the market cornered.

[Goony]

Yet you own a uno desktop and a rocket!!!!!

Uno Pro Desktop has a 32 key keyboard, and that's how I play it. As for Rocket, it's been sitting in a bag for the last 18 months, pretty much since I bought it (it's my second one), completely unused. If it had a keyboard I'd use it every day but it doesn't, so I never use it. It is, in fact, the perfect illustration of my point - I love the way it sounds and I could use it in every song we do, but the reality is that I never use it for anything, because VSTi are just so much easier.

I've actually thought seriously about building a rig to turn Rocket into a usable synth, by mating it permanently to my Keystep, probably by screwing them both to a board, connecting them with short MIDI cables and daisy-chaining USB for power.

Point being you stated "I don't see any point in "desktop" synths - may as well use a VSTi and be done with it." Yet you still bought and own some desktops. So maybe, before you critize others, get your own house in order first.
Everyone has different needs and uses, and for me Hydrasynth is a great modern synth, hugely flexible, and with the newer additions to the Hydrasynth range, will gain more users of it.

[EvilDragon]

AFAIK ASM have their own proprietary keybeds (i.e. not Fatar or something).

Done by their parent company, Medeli.

[Pashkuli]

More than 12 poly-aftertouch is really an overkill. Most players could barely have control over a 8 poly-AT.
I doubt Hydrasynth to have hammer action keybed anyway, so the keybed must be something "proprietary" with regards to the poly-AT.

Even with that said, the usual way poly-AT is used for tweaking or modifying the timbre of the tones played: maybe saturation, distortion, modulation of some sort.
It is not so critical (although contributes a lot to the expressiveness!) and for more than 4 notes a listener could barely tell any difference at play for each of the affected notes\tones.

I think poly-AT should be designed (with a specific construction in mind) for poly-pitch bend. Again, for more than ×4 poly-AT in that regard, it would be an overkill. A single player could control ×4 pitched notes\keys, but more than that would lead to a wobbly mess (out of control) really.

Just an observation.

[WatchTheGuitar]

I find it a pleasing juxtaposition to only apply polyAT pressure on one hand while the other is producing a more static sound and then maybe to alternate the hand that’s applying the pressure

[Constructed Identity]

More than 12 poly-aftertouch is really an overkill. Most players could barely have control over a 8 poly-AT.
I doubt Hydrasynth to have hammer action keybed anyway, so the keybed must be something "proprietary" with regards to the poly-AT.

Even with that said, the usual way poly-AT is used for tweaking or modifying the timbre of the tones played: maybe saturation, distortion, modulation of some sort.
It is not so critical (although contributes a lot to the expressiveness!) and for more than 4 notes a listener could barely tell any difference at play for each of the affected notes\tones.

I think poly-AT should be designed (with a specific construction in mind) for poly-pitch bend. Again, for more than ×4 poly-AT in that regard, it would be an overkill. A single player could control ×4 pitched notes\keys, but more than that would lead to a wobbly mess (out of control) really.

Just an observation.

12 is just right if you happen to have six fingers on each hand!, but I do not and I am playing a keybed for the first time with aftertouch - mono aftertouch in my Pro3. I am very interested in finding out the feel of the keybed for the Hydrasynth, but no one carries them near me.
Assigning modulation to an aftertouch is a great new thing that hardware didn't used to be able to do because they didn't have the mod matrix that today's synths have.

[BONES]

Point being you stated "I don't see any point in "desktop" synths - may as well use a VSTi and be done with it." Yet you still bought and own some desktops. So maybe, before you critize others, get your own house in order first.

Are you f**king serious? My "criticism" is based on my own, first-hand experience, as illustrated by my Rocket. As opposed to just deciding I wouldn't like them and not even bothering to try. It gives me even greater justification to say what I said, not less, particularly given that I have stated repeatedly that I cannot possibly justify owning any hardware, that my decisions around it are completely irrational.

Everyone has different needs and uses, and for me Hydrasynth is a great modern synth, hugely flexible, and with the newer additions to the Hydrasynth range, will gain more users of it.

Oh, I agree that there's no shortage of idiots in the world. But the fact you get a lot out of your Hydrasynth doesn't change the fact that VSTis offer even more of all of that, coupled with greater ease of use. If you want to make your life much harder than it needs to be for no actual benefit, knock yourself out, but don't pretend you can justify it.

[WatchTheGuitar]

I watched a video today where a guy from ASM mentioned the keybed has had some minor improvement over the 49 key, on both new versions. They’ve added Note Off velocity.
https://youtu.be/DgYCTI6RcA4

[Goony]

Point being you stated "I don't see any point in "desktop" synths - may as well use a VSTi and be done with it." Yet you still bought and own some desktops. So maybe, before you critize others, get your own house in order first.

Are you f**king serious? My "criticism" is based on my own, first-hand experience, as illustrated by my Rocket. As opposed to just deciding I wouldn't like them and not even bothering to try. It gives me even greater justification to say what I said, not less, particularly given that I have stated repeatedly that I cannot possibly justify owning any hardware, that my decisions around it are completely irrational.

Everyone has different needs and uses, and for me Hydrasynth is a great modern synth, hugely flexible, and with the newer additions to the Hydrasynth range, will gain more users of it.

Oh, I agree that there's no shortage of idiots in the world. But the fact you get a lot out of your Hydrasynth doesn't change the fact that VSTis offer even more of all of that, coupled with greater ease of use. If you want to make your life much harder than it needs to be for no actual benefit, knock yourself out, but don't pretend you can justify it.

There you go again, exactly proving my point, lambasting others for using hardware, and you stated just use VSTs, making yourself a hypocrite when you have hardware too, your a joke, as many others have pointed out to you, across various threads, you live in your own blinkered 'Bones' world. Crack on, enjoy your own blinkered existance. Certainly shows why you dont have friends here, openly abusing members. no hiding place for you my friend.

[kcearl]

Look of course you can just use a Vst to replace a Hydrasynth, its obvious

All you need is a $700 laptop, a $1000 49 key poly AT keyboard, a $300 audio/midi interface and a $200 softsynth. Crazy to think that a hydrasynth can beat that value…
what the hydrasynth is only $1299 with dedicated controls, ribbon, and clever matrix UI?

Bargain!
Bullshit, idiots, dumb, etc etc etc


(Joke, no one was harmed in the making of this post )

[Scotty]

As an owner of a now recently dead Ensoniq EPS and a fully functional Hydrasynth I agree completely that there is a market for a good poly AT and one with a ribbon? even more so. There are synths that I believe would exist better in the VST world. The Korg Wavestate for one and even the xD (better in this regard but not ideal) which I own really have minimal knobbage to navigate them with ease. The wavestate engine is so complex that you need a large screen to navigate it. Hydrasynth is so well thought out and easy to program and endlessly rewarding it exceeds any VST with a generic controller that I have seen. If it were only a VST you'd want a controller just like you get with the hardware. Relying on google knowledge and extrapolation from your own experience doesn't cut it when you are assessing this synth. You've got to get your hands dirty with it. The Hydrasynth is exceptionally well thought out. In terms of using it as a controller, try connecting the Hydrasynth to the CS80 Arturia emulation. Poly At and ribbon? Yes thank you I'll have them both. I should note that the Poly AT on the Hydrasynth is very expressive, more so than the EPS and better than the AT (non poly) on my Komplete S2 which works but just isn't satisfactory.

[WatchTheGuitar]

I like not having to run in MPE mode to use the PolyAT features, still being able to send and receive MIDI on discrete channels