ASM Hydrasynth Desktop
The ASM Hydrasynth 8-voice polyphonic wavetable synthesizer.
The HYDRASYNTH Desktop / Rack has the same great sound engine as the HYDRASYNTH keyboard. The sound engine is a dream designer for sound engineers and an ideal one for performing musicians. The sound engine is designed for maximum flexibility. At the same time, they designed the user interface in such a way that you can edit the patch quickly with a minimal amount of paging and lots of workflow shortcuts.
Utilizing an advanced wavetable synthesis engine, 3 oscillators, dual wave mutators and 2 filters that can be configured in series or parallel, the tone generating capabilities are unparalleled.
As for the performance options, the Hydrasynth Desktop/Rack has 24 polyphonic pressure touch pads so you can play the unit without having to plug in a keyboard or other controller. Using multiple pad layout modes and quick access to scale modes, the Hydrasynth Desktop/Rack is easy to lay out music.
The Hydrasynth Desktop / Rack comes with rack ears so you can mount it in a standard 19″ rack.
Poly Pressure Touch-pads
One problem with many desktop or rack synths is that you usually have to connect them to an external controller to play them. The idea behind having a rack or desktop unit that you can place anywhere is that it doesn’t get in the way. This is fine until you want to do some sound editing or adjust it in real time. Then you want a way to play it.
They’ve included 24 polyphonic, pressure-sensitive pads that let you actually play the synth. With multiple pad layouts to choose from and multiple scales, playing the Hydrasynth Desktop is its own musical experience.
filters
If oscillators and tone generators are the heart of a synthesizer, filters are the soul.
The Hydrasynth desktop has two filters that can be configured in series or parallel.
The first filter has 11 different filter models, giving you multiple options to customize your sound.
The second filter is a 12db per octave and has a continuous sweep from low pass to band pass to high pass, similar to the way the classic SEM filter worked.
LFOs
5 low-frequency oscillators … YES, 5.
Like our sound engine, the LFOs are in no way ordinary.
The Hydrasynth LFOs have a STEP mode that allows you to create patterns with up to 8 steps. With 5 mini step sequencers you have an amazing amount of possibilities to further shape your sound.
Of course, there are also 10 standard waveforms to choose from.
The LFOs all have delay, fade in, 3 trigger modes, smoothing, stage start, one-shot mode so they can act as envelopes and BPM sync.
MODULATION MATRIX
The modulation possibilities on the Hydrasynth Desktop are endless.
With 32 user-definable modulation routes, you have plenty of ways to use the 29 modulation sources and 155
modulation destinations.
Almost everything in the synth engine can be a modulation destination, including the effects and arpeggiator.
The modulation matrix points themselves can also become modulation destinations.
Modulation sources and destinations include the CV Mod In & Out jacks and MIDI CCs.
