ASM Hydrasynth

If we examine the front panel in
chunks we quickly understand how
this machine works under the hood
and on the surface. It’s very logically
laid out in clear blocks of
functionality. Starting on the left hand
side, you have master volume and a
control to switch on glide (glide
modes include logarithmic,
exponential and linear curves, much
like my Andromeda). Then there’s a
ribbon button (for setting how the
beautiful long ribbon controller
affects sounds) and a chord button
(hold chord until it fl ashes, press up
to eight notes and then trigger them
from one key (much like some classic
polysynths). To examine the ribbon a
little more – this is a very nifty thing
indeed and can act as an instrument
in its own right (played like a
theremin), for modulation duties, or
to bend held notes/chords. One
change I would like here is for the
pitches on the ribbon to line up with
the notes on the keyboard (for
example, press middle C and the
Next up is the master control
section. Here, you have eight chunky
rotary controls, each with a
corresponding backlit white button
and with LED rings to show stored/
current values. There are also four
smaller screens which line up with
the rotaries – the top third of each
screen displays assignments for the
top row of knobs and the bottom
third, the assignments for the lower
set of knobs. The middle segment of
each screen displays the button
assignments. This works very well in
practice, with a plethora of
parameters controllable and viewable
at the same time.
But then there’s more! Using the
macro facility, each knob and related
button (each button also has several
trigger modes) can control eight
user-assigned parameters at once, so
you can set up your most-used
performance parameters and tweak
them out on the fl y during live shows
or when jamming in the studio. You
can store and name these macro
ribbon position directly in line is also
a C). A couple of other things of note,
(whilst we are talking performance
controls) are the unique paddle-style
pitch and mod wheels. These paddles
are clever and they do add a more
nuanced way to move the wheels.
They also light up in several rather
lovely colours along with the big
selector wheel and this can be
customised when saving patches.
In the next section you’ll fi nd CV
ins/outs and an arpeggiator (see
below) and an area called ‘main
system’. Here you can change
patches and banks, save, choose
favourite patches, initialise, and
create patches out of thin air with the
random button (a feature I also love
on Korg’s Wavestate). A nice big
‘home’ button also takes you back
home if you ever feel you’ve strayed
too far! In this section is also the
biggest screen which deals with patch
selection (and other tasks) while also
displaying waveshapes in real time
(much like Korg’s ‘Logues).
EFFECTS, ARP AND CONNECTIVITY
The Hydrasynth has plenty of features to treat your sounds. First off, there’s plenty of high
quality effects in four blocks. The pre and post effects include chorus, fl anger, rotary,
phaser, lo-fi , tremolo, EQ and compressor, while there are fi ve delay types and reverbs. The
quality is impressive and allows sounds to really breathe. As mentioned, effects can also
be modulated, which lets them truly become part of the sound design process. ASM also
provide a comprehensive arpeggiator onboard with several octave modes, tap tempo (for
jamming along live), swing, gate, ratcheting with probability (called ‘chance'), 64 preset
phrases, chord mode, plus latch and sustain. The arp’s deepness certainly does make up
for the lack of
onboard sequencer.
The Hydrasynth has a
decent array of
connections including
wall-wart power connector,
two front-edge mounted
headphone sockets, stereo
unbalanced outputs, MIDI
in/out/thru (DIN), USB,
plus sustain and
expression inputs. Not
forgetting the CV
connectivity which is slap
bang on the front panel
(for easy access) and
includes two CV inputs
and fi ve CV outputs.
THE ALTERNATIVES
Waldorf Blofeld
Keys £645
Old gold! The
well-respected
Blofeld includes
user-sample-upload,
virtual analogue
synthesis, three fast
LFOs per voice and
four fast envelopes
per-voice, 16 parts,
arpeggiator, three
oscs per-voice (with
wavetables) and FM.
waldorfmusic.com
Modal Argon 8X
£682
Modal’s latest board
includes all the great
features of the Argon
8 but with a 61-note
keyboard. Features
include 120
wavetables, 32 static
wavetable modifi ers,
32 high-resolution
wavetable oscillators,
eight types of
oscillator modifi er
and four fi lter types.
modalelectronics.com
Nord Wave 2
£2069
Nord’s most powerful
synth to date. It has
a fi ve-octave
waterfall keyboard,
four parts and
includes sample-
based waves, virtual
analogue waves,
wavetable and FM
synthesis, plus
48-voice polyphony.
nordkeyboards.com
Reviews | ASM Hydrasynth
72
FMU360.rev_ASM.indd 72 13/07/2020 16:32