#618

I had one for about a year. I did not enjoy using the synth. I found the lay-out unhelpful and the menus unintuitive. Normally, I like menus and menu-diving but something stuck in my craw about the Radias. I don’t recall too many specifics as I owned it long ago but the Radias is not so simple to program or sequence as it seems from looking at the panel.

However, I will say I think the Radias has a good sound. I was able to make one very interesting patch on it before someone finally purchased the thing and I was able to move on to greener synthesizers.

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#619

I had one ages ago. I think it’s one of the better sounding VA synths of its era. The step sequencer was really neat (and seemed really innovative to me at the time) and I liked the general layout. However, I’m not sure if I’d buy one today, esp. at $700… I’d think a used ASM Hydrasynth Desktop should be somewhere around that price and I’d say that’s just the better synth all around. Better interface (even though less knobs), more modulation options, way better sound…

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#620

well that’s good to hear, i really don’t need another synth. thanks for the insight

that is one thing that holds me back when considering any synth, if it doesn’t have the elektron sequencer and multiple synth tracks, it just seems like it’s not living up to the potential that exists now. i think unless i found one that had extremely deep flexible sound design tools and parameters or routing, where i can sculpt any sound imaginable, i wouldn’t be able to justify most purchases

@x2mirko thank you. something about the hydrasynth i can’t put my finger on, but it never appealed to me. it should in theory because it’s almost everything i want in a synth but i think the overall sound i hear in every demo holds me back maybe. do you think it’s pretty fun for creative patch design? does it sound pretty musical in a similar way that the digitone does?

#621

Norns works well with Digitone. Sequencing all four tracks using Arcologies or Kria MIDI to create evolving melodies is particularly satisfying.

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#622

I will say that the Radius has one of my favorite vocoders (same with the MS2000). I don’t use it much these days but I keep it around just for that.

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#623

I don’t have much experience with the Digitone (only tried one once in a musicstore), so I don’t know how they relate in sound.

I think of the Hydrasynth sort of like Serum or Zebra in a Hardwarebox. It doesn’t seem to have a very strong character to me, it just has a lot of features and is extremely easy to use. Especially with polysynths, I tend to prefer synths that are somewhat “bland” and just let you do whatever you want with them. To me, the interface is much more important than character in that category.

I also didn’t like the demos I heard of it online very much, but that’s usually the case for me - I need to use it to find out if I like it.

@Deru that’s right! I forgot about the vocoder. That was a really nice feature!

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#624

Thanks! This is super helpful and inspiring to hear your workflow! Tagging @Xylr as well who was interested in sequencing from norns

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#625

I don’t know serum, but I definitely agree that it’s more a set of building blocks than a “sounds” with that said, I found it much more usable to make string, and Wavestation type evolving sounds rather than Organ sounds, for example. For those sorts of sounds, something like the prophet 12 is a bit better.

The thing about the hydrsynth is that you can run audio rate signals into the CV inputs, so there’s a lot more flexibility than might initially appear.

Also, I found the CC implementation to be quite good, unlike the digitone which will choke if you start modulating a bunch of parameters in real time.

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#626

that actually makes me want this thing even more. i also would really like to just have very basic building blocks to make my own things. one thing i dislike about the digitone sometimes is that it does have a distinct sound and can be hard at times to get a pure sine sound. it’s impossible in my experience to make piano sounds though, which according to mangrove’s comment may be the same with the hydrasynth. i might have to try one out. if it has enough flexibility to really morph those fundamental building block sounds, it seems like potentially what i’ve been looking for. i will say, now that I understand the Analog Four better, i don’t think I will be in the market for another synth anytime soon. It has really surprised me in the best way. Thank you for the breakdown. Sounds awesome and not really what i thought it was

#627

Sequential Prophet 6 and OB-6 just got an OS beta update with MPE support and Prophet 5 like “vintage knob”.

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#628

MPE adds sooooo much to these imo. It feels like new life in my ob6.

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#629

This is so exciting. Will load the beta on my OB-6, might hold off on my Prophet 12 for now, just because I have more patches dependent on the old firmware. Thank you so much for sharing!

#630

I can’t afford it but MPE on the OB-6 gives me an itch to make something like “John Carpenter via Vangelis”. I’ll have to stick to OB-Xd for now.

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#631

damn, this is a really nice surprise. wasn’t ever expecting an update to the p6, especially not one that sounds so good :drooling_face:

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#632

And a video of MPE support (Linnstrument + OB6)

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#634

Funny enough, the updates to the P6/OB-6 have encouraged me to take advantage of the low prices on the massively underrated Prophet 12 and I’ve got one of those (in keyboard form) on the way now. Whether my Rev2 stays or goes will depend on whether I want to replace it with a more vintage synth in light of the P12’s capabilities or if I feel it does a good enough job filling in the gaps. I’m not terribly nostalgic for the extremely detuned sounds (frankly I sort of hated the slop knob’s default algorithms on the Rev2), but if they brought this subtler, more nuanced vintage mode to it, that might retain it firmly in the keeper position as it would free up the mod slots and gated sequencer positions I use for VCM.

I couldn’t personally care less about MPE, but I’m very glad to see Sequential continue to improve even their older gear. Certainly gives the P6 a new lease on life. J3PO’s great comparison vid shows some of the areas that the P6 really shines and this vintage knob update closes the gap further. If I were willing to spend that kind of money on a low-voice-count poly (I’m not, at least yet), the choice just got narrowed to “nostalgia” versus “features”.

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#635

Using this for creating weird complex timbre and love it very much

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#636

dream synth. are you posting your explorations anywhere? ig or something maybe? i’d love to see how people are using this one

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#637

Yeah the Iridium is amazing! Kernel mode is bonkers. It could have just that mode alone and be a fantastic synth. Also, I think Waldorf really should emphasize the fact that the digital former effects are per voice, which is a great sound design tool – reading the manual it isn’t clear that this is the case.

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#638

Very soon I just had it this week

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