#367

Love it! Great UI and easy to move around on. Keys feel great, though an extra octave would have been nice. All the encoders are very solid also.

Huge amount of depth to it with all those mod slots.
There are also some smaller features that I like, other than the polyAT keys and ribbon:

-There are 8 performance macros that each can have 8 destinations and depths. When saving a patch you’re able to ‘print’ these macros to the patch itself and remove all macro assignments, which is nice for where you take a patch into a completely new direction and want to save that as a new starting point.
-Anything time related (envelope times, LFO time, delay and fade in etc) can be set by the length of a button hold.
-Envelope curves are all continuously variable
-No main sequencer, but each of the 5 LFOs can be a 8 step sequence
-Setting up modulation is very easy, press Mod Matrix, then hold a source button and press the destination module, and it will create a new routing. The Hydrasynth is full of quick UI shortcuts using the module buttons (Eg randomise or init one module)
-Each mod slot depth is a destination from another mod slot
-Nice integration with other gear with CV I/O (can also process external audio through CV in), and MIDI CCs are freely assignable as mod sources or destinations, so you could use it for CV to MIDI conversion, or control other gear with the onboard LFOs etc

They have been fairly active at fw development too, adding a couple of new features in the few months its been out

8 Likes
#368

Oh man, this thread is like a dream come true. I’m absolutely a nut for polysynths, and have had many both HW and SW.

Started with an alpha Juno-1 in 2012/2013, that I managed to get for $200 before anyone realized how good they are, and wrote maybe 6 dozen songs with that thing, and absolute monster synth. My brother’s former roommate gave me a JP-8000 along with some other gear in 2016, and I had that in a studio space that I shared with my best friend/bandmate, who at the time had a Mininova, DX21, and a 106.

Almost all of that hardware was tragically stolen from us late 2017, which took a lot to come back from - Whomever robbed us for some reason left my aJuno, though, so I was able to hold onto that until I sold it to partially fund my Deepmind 12.

Overall faves:
106
DM12
Pigments 2
Mono/Poly VST
Prophet V2 (the oscillators had to ‘warm up’ when instantiated for the first time in a session).

In the future, when I can afford it, I’m going to get a Summit and possibly offload the Deepmind to avoid redundancy and maybe wash the Behringer off of me. That beast, Pigments, and the Mono/Poly will be more than enough.

2 Likes
#369

More thoughts on sound of modern Polysynths:

Waldorf Quantum-yeah! Nice concept,would love to hear this hands on or in a live situation. What i‘ve seen in YT videos probably wont come near its true nature!

Recently i jammed with my novation Nova and my Eurorack system. Hermod opens up its capabilities in that it can go new routes with hermods midi effects. I realised that its actually quite hands on and not so much menudiving as i thought it was. Soundwise its fun to be propelled into the 9ties😆 and even tho these converters did not sound that great then, the engine has a character of its own. Its rather murky, lo mids are great.

I was really impressed hearing a Moog one the other day in an otherwise fully analogue concert. Live Piano, Sitar, Flute, percussion and voice. Almost two hours of no moog and then the guy plays a solo on it (the only 8 bar solo and a preset sound apparently :laughing:) whoa-bliss! Needless to say there were some ambient synthtones inbeetween songs off a laptop and they sounded shite…

Also, i bought an Acidtech Chainsaw-wow! This sounds exactly like these Roland JP broadband pads i was always looking for. This is really precise and cutting through any mix. A tad of lopass filter and you have that incredible broad stereo background❤️

3 Likes
#370

The AJ2 is my only analogue poly. It still holds up very well. Sometimes I want something more modern but I would either have to sacrifice a lot of sound or a lot of money (don’t have space for another). Still a bargain on the used market. Lack of midi cc is a bummer. I should look into a way around that…

1 Like
#371

PCA got the Hydra desktop back in yesterday… Ordered and waiting. :dizzy_face:

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#372

I dusted off my Blofeld last night. It was the first polysynth I bought, and when I first got it I had no idea what I was doing :smile:

Using the modular has helped me crack patching this little beauty (lovely wavetable pads :heart:). That’s part of the joy of modular patching I think; as its so immediate and at a component level, it works great at teaching the basic principles of synthesis, which then opens up the more complex stuff.

With the Blofeld, the effects are a bit lame, but other than that it sounds good to my ears for what it is (unashamedly digital). It sounds way better than I expected a 10+ year old synth to sound.

8 Likes
#373

I can’t decide between a DSI OB-6 and the UDO Super 6, and will be hard to get hands on with either in these times.

#374

The polymod section and other design choices makes Sequential’s Prophet series (5 / 6 / T8 / 10, OB-6 too) incredibly inspiring to work with. In my experience it allows me to think about synthesis from a modular perspective with the beneficial confinements of an instrument and without the distraction of menus. I was recently able to pick up a Prophet 6 for “cheap” because it needed some repairs and I’m always able to create an inspiring sound every time I play with it.

This is a clip of a patch I’ve been tweaking for a little bit, reminiscent of yr favorite Mangrove. The only audible oscillator is the triangle sub of oscillator one, which is sync’d to oscillator two’s sawtooth. I’m using the filter envelope via polymod to sweep the frequency of oscillator 1 as the note sustains and the sub oscillator abruptly jumps in pitch as tries to latch onto a stable fundamental of oscillator one. Oscillator one’s frequency is also being modulated by the LFO to give more irregular octave jumps, plus some onboard delay and reverb from an SP404sx. I’ve also explored using a square wave as a sync source and modulating it’s pulse width, but haven’t cracked the code on how to make it sound how I’d like.

I really love having a fixed architecture instrument that can explore these types of synthesis.

20 Likes
#375

About to do the same! Happy to hear it’s working out for you.

#376

Good luck! The hardest thing for me was taking out the old chip.
And make sure you get the latest firmware - it’s not totally clear on the site. I messed up with that - but you can flash an upgrade via midi if need be.

1 Like
#377

I am not a good enough musician to make full use of a poly. I currently don’t have one, in fact. But I do feel the urge to grab one again.

Polys I’ve owned in the past:

  • Volca FM: sounded pretty good, and I loved the motion sequencing aspect to drastically change a patch. It only has 3 voices, but I can barely play chords so it was fine for me at the time
  • E-MU MP-7 command station. So cool that I got another, the PX-7, consolidated the roms, then sold off the MP-7

About the command stations (and really most of E-MUs products from the proteus2000 and on): their specs are ridiculous! 128-voice polyphony, 16 part multitimbral. The command stations could also sequence 16 external devices in addition to the 16 internal patterns. Each of those 32 patterns could have a dedicated arpeggiator. Patterns can be 32 bars long and be as fine as 32nd note divisions. You could record sequences in real time, grid, or step. Easy punching in and overdubbing.

A preset on the command stations consists of:

  • a sample from an installed rom card (either a waveform or short instrument sample)
  • a filter (50+ types to choose from)
  • 3 six-stage envelopes: amp, filter, and aux. Clock syncable, loopable, and the stages on the filter and aux envelopes can run positive or negative. Envelopes can be triggered when you press a key down, or key up!
  • chorus, detune, transposition
  • configurable sample start and end points
  • 2 LFOs: free running or triggered, can be delayed or synced to clock
  • 24-point modulation matrix
  • 2 effects sends (internal or external send/return)

Oh and that’s one layer. A preset consists of up to 4 such layers. Each layer has the above capabilities. The entire preset has an additional 12-point modulation matrix and you can adjust the mix of the layers.

Also, a preset can trigger 2 other presets. Its possible to program 3 presets to work together as one this way.

The pads on the command station feel awesome, i think I liked them better than my MPC. Both velocity and aftertouch sensitive.

Pain in the ass to program. Menu diving masterclass. Even with 16 knobs, 16 dedicated menu buttons, etc. The data wheel on it was the only way to adjust values when doing serious programming rather than on-the-fly tweaks via the knobs.

I honestly loved the command station but I sold it to get some of my moogerfoogers back and explore 5U modular. I kind of want one again but they are bulky and I have little room.

If you crossed the korg wavestate and the hydrasynth you’d be in the ballpark of what the command station could do, albeit with a better interface. I’m leaning hydrasynth for my next poly at the moment.

3 Likes
#378

I decided on the Super 6, pre-ordered, hope the wait isn’t too long!

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#379

I recently picked up the Reface CS. My lack of keyboard playing skills and space made it a good option. Overall I really like it and I don’t mind that it doesn’t have a lot of options, because it’s easy to dial in something that sounds good quickly. This kind of immediacy makes it a nice counterpart to modular and software for me.

9 Likes
#380

Nice. I think I am about to pull the trigger on this as well.

My dedication wavered slightly when the Waldorf Iridium was announced. (I know they are not super similar, but budgets are limited.) I have been longing for a dedicated machine that could function as a granular synth. I’ve talked myself out of it though. I am not a person who is anti-menus / screens necessarily, but I have found myself more inspired recently by interfaces that at least approach knob / button-per-function.

(I had a Hydrasynth keys for a little while, for example. I loved the sound. I loved that the keyboard had poly AT. But I just didn’t enjoy the sound design experience.)

Sounds like we’re looking at August for delivery at the moment :crossed_fingers:

2 Likes
#381

which color did ya get? I ordered a black one back in January from PC. I’m sooo excited for this, more than any other gear, but the lack of updates on shipping kind of stinks. Anytime there’s a new video I get more amped :slight_smile: I thought I was getting it in May at the latest lol but they’re saying July now. beats meeee

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#382

I haven’t quite pulled the trigger yet, but if I do, it will be blue.

Re: timeline, Detroit Modular told me August in an email. So :man_shrugging:

1 Like
#383

blue looks great! I wish there was clarity on these dates. oh well, I’m getting batter at being patient haha

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#384

Good to hear this! My two years with eurorack were basically learning I get along a lot better with knob/button-per-function interfaces, and limited systems/functionality. I was debating getting a Hydrasynth because I’ve read it’s super easy to program, but I’ve watched videos where that doesn’t seem to be the case. Looks like a lot of encoder twisting.

The UDO looks and sounds beautiful. I know the Matriarch isn’t poly, but that’s the other one I’m considering.

1 Like
#385

I got a Hydra maybe 6 wks ago and I agree, the ‘it’s so intuitive’ thing obviously is coming from people who are used to menu diving and not modular. I find it a lot more complicated to route things around than it is to just grab cable and patch it how I want. It’s cool, and I’m still figuring it out, but I do kinda regret missing the opportunity to get a Peak second hand right around when I got the Hydra and comparing and maybe keeping the Peak.

#386

I preordered and paid in full for the Blue at the beginning of May. Whatever you hear about the dates it will finally be ready, it has constantly, always been pushed back, from UDO themsleves, distributors, and dealers, so I’m not holding my breath.

Same dude uploaded another video yesterday, and has been talking about it on Reddit. The firmware STILL has no MIDI I/O or Mod Matrix working. I think we’ll all be lucky if it’s available by the end of the year… But it’ll be worth the wait!

2 Likes