ASM Hydrasynth Desktop Synthesizer

The ASM Hydrasynth Desktop features 24 Polytouch pads and a powerful, highly customisable sound engine.

Highly Customisable Desktop/Rack Synth

With the Hydrasynth Desktop, you have the same great sound engine found in the Hydrasynth Keyboard but without the keyboard.

In its place, you have 24 Polytouch pads to perform with and the option to connect an external keyboard. You can even use the Hydrasynth Desktop as a rack synth.

Boasting a smooth workflow and powerful, highly customisable sound engine features, the ASM Hydrasynth is the perfect synth for both sound designers and musicians.

ASM Hydrasynth Desktop Synthesizer Key Features:

• Metal Chassis with Steel Top and Bottom and Aluminium Side Panels
• 24 Polytouch Pads
• 3 Oscillators
• Mixer/Filter Routing
• 5 Low Frequency Oscillators
• 5 DAHDSR Envelopes
• Modulation Matrix with 32 User Definable Routings
• Built-In Arpeggiator
• MIDI, USB, CV/GATE Interfaces
• OLED Screen
• Pre-Effects and Post-Effects
• Use as a 5U Rack Synth or Desktop Synth

24 Poly Pressure Touch Pads

With most desktop or rank synths, you need an external controller to play them.

While it's great to have a powerful synthesizer that you can keep out of the way, sometimes you want to actually perform with it.

Because of the 24 polyphonic pressure sensitive pads, you can play the Hydrasynth Desktop synth without any external controllers.

Extremely expressive and with multiple pad layouts to choose from along with multiple scales, playing the Hydrasynth Desktop is fun, unique and inspiring.

Oscillation and Mutation

Three oscillators are on board the ASM Hydrasynth Desktop and give you the choice of 219 single cycle waveforms.

Wavelist mode allows you to select 8 waves from a huge collection of 219. You can then arrange them in any order you want and morph through them on oscillators 1 and 2.

Extra customisation of your sound comes in the form of Mutators. Both oscillators 1 and 2 are routed into Mutators which give you 7 processes with with to transform your sound.

You can also generate waveforms with the Mutators in both FM and Sync modes so you don't have to use another oscillator (unless you want to!)

Furthermore, oscillators 1 and 2 are routed into Mutators which allow you to seriously shape your sound. Come up with something completely new or recreate classic synth sounds.

Mix and Filter

Giving you more tools to manipulate your sound, the Hydrasynth's three oscillators are fed through a mixer, a Noise Generator and a Ring Modulator.

You can set the levels and pan the input source with the mixer. A balance control allows you to adjust the amount of signal you route to each filter from each source.

Two filters can be found on the ASM Hydrasynth Desktop with the first offering 11 different filter models for a wide variety of sonic options.

The second filter works similarly to the classic SEM filter. It is a 12dB per octave and gives you a continuous sweep from Low pass, through bandpass and up to High Pass.

Giving you even more flexibility, the filters can be set to parallel or series.

Take 5

Five LFOs and five DAHDSR envelopes are on board the Hydrasynth, further powering your sound shape shifting adventure.

Each of the Hydrasynth's LFOs feature a STEP mode for patterns up to 8 steps. Using five of these mini step sequencers at once, you have a huge amount of room to really manipulate your sound.

There are also 10 standard waveforms to choose from.

Furthermore, all of the Hydrasynth's LFOs feature delay, fade in, 3 triggering modes, smoothing, start phase and one shot modes allowing them to act as envelopes and BPM sync.

The envelopes aboard the Hydrasynth Desktop feature six stages including Delay, Attack, Hold, Decay, Sustain an Release.

Allowing you to get the envelopes perfectly in sync with your music, you can adjust the stages in seconds or time divisions.

What's more, you can loop the envelopes to create LFOs with shape can be voltage controlled with modulation matrix.

Enter The Matrix

The customisation potential really hits lightspeed when you get to the the Modulation Matrix. Using this, your creativity guides the way, all the way.

32 user definable modulation routings are available for you to bridge 29 modulations ources and 155 modulation destinations.

You can use almost anything on the Hydrasynth as a destination, including the effects, arpeggiator and Modulation Matrix points.

Furthermore, you can also use the CV Mod, In & Out Jacks and MIDI CCs as both modulation sources and destinations.

A Musical Adventure

Whether you just perform with the 24 built-in poly pressure touch pads or attach a keyboard controller, you will love performing with the Hydrasynth Desktop.

Designing sounds has never been so open and with the musical potential of the Hydrasynth, both you and your audience will be inspired by its performance.

Buy the ASM Hydrasynth Desktop synth from PMT Online now and begin a musical journey with the Hydrasynth as your passport.

Hydrasynth Firmware Update

Ashun Sound Machines has released firmware update 1.4 for their Hydrasynth Keyboard and Desktop.

As well as several bug fixes, Firmware 1.4 adds some fantastic new features such as a new Mutator and some new types of Noise.

The new Mutator, called PhazDiff, creates a new waveform which is derived from the difference between the incoming waveform and its inverted and phase-shifted counterpart.

The Noise feature has 7 different options. These now include red, blue, violet and grey noise which pushes the Hydrasynth to new sound design capabilities!

You can download the Firmware 1.4 update from the Ashun Sound Machines website here.

ASM Hydrasynth Keyboard Synthesizer Specifications:

Physical Specifications:

Metal Chassis

• Steel top and bottom
• Aluminum side panels
• 5U in rack

24 pressure sensitive pads

4 octave (67 cm, 26.4”) Ribbon controller

• Pitch bend mode
• CC control mode – modulation source
• Theremin mode - triggers envelopes and plays pitch
• -Continuous pitch or choose from multiple scales

5 banks of 128 patch memories

CV gate input and outputs

• Support multiple CV/GATE standards
• -CV
• --1v per octave +/-5V
• --1V per octave 0-10V
• --Hz to Volts +/-5V
• --Hz to Volts 0-10V
• -Gates
• --V-trig, S-trig
• --3V, 5V, 10V
• -Mod In/Out range
• --+/5V, 0-10V, 0-5V, 0-1V
• Clock in and out
• -1PPS, 2PPQ, 24PPQ, 48 PPQ
• -Clock Voltage - 3v, 5V, 10V

MIDI IN/OUT/THRU

• Voice overflow mode for expanding voices with another Hydrasynth

Expression pedal input

Sustain pedal input

• Polarity sensing input

DC input jack

USB port

• Supports USB MIDI In/Out

Dimensions

• 44 x 22.3 x 7 cm
• (17.32 x 8.78 x 2.76 inches)

Weight

• 3.6kg (7.94 lbs)

Sound Path Specifications:

8 Voice Advanced Wavetable synthesis

2 Wavemorphing Oscillators

• 219 single cycle waveforms
• User wavetables - 8 user selectable ‘wavelist’ per osc to build user wavetables
• Every osc and patch can have its own user wavetable
• WaveScan parameter for modulating through wavetables.
• Keytracking – 0-200%
• +/- 3 octave tuning range

1 fixed Wave OSC

• 219 single cycle waveforms
• +/- 3 octave tuning range
• Keytracking – 0-200%

Dual Mutators per oscillator

• FM – Linear FM
• -Selectable Modulator source
• --Built in Sine & Triangle, OSC1, OSC2, OSC3, Mutators A, B, C, D, Noise gen, Ring Mod, External Mod 1&2 input.
• WaveStack – Generates 5 detuned waves from input source. Detune amount.
• Pulse Width Mod – Adjust pulse width of ALL waveforms.
• PWSqueeze – Compresses the center section of the waveform. Differnnt type of PWM
• PW-ASM – 8 User adjustable wave squeeze/stretch points.
• Hard Sync – gives that classic sync sweep sound.
• -Selectable Sync input source.
• Harmonic Sweep – will scan through the harmonics of the incoming sound.
• Dry/Wet mix to blend the original OSC source.

Noise Generator

• White, Pink, Brown noise sources

Ring modulator

• Selectable input sources
• -OSC1, OSC2, OSC3, Noise, All Mutator outputs, External Mod ½ in.
• Depth control

Sound source mixer

• Mix the following sources - OSC1, OSC2, OSC3, Noise, and Ring Mod.
• Panning for each source
• Filter routing mix
• Solos for each source (solo status is saved in the patch)

Two Filters

• Series or parallel routing
• Filter 1
• -12 & 24db modern ladder (compensated)
• -12 & 24db vintage ladder (uncompensated)
• -Threeler HP, LP
• -MS20 HP, LP
• -Low Pass Gate
• -Vocal filter
• --Multiple vowel order parameter
• --Formant parameter
• Filter 2
• -Continuously Variable Lowpass-Band pass-High pass (Oberheim SEM style)

Modulation Specifications:

5x Low Frequency Oscillators

• 10 static waves
• -Sine, triangle, Square, Saw up, Saw down, S&H, Low random, Noise, Pulse width 25%, Pulse Width 12.5%.
• Step Wave – 8 steps that the user can set (like a step sequencer).
• -Step smoothing
• -Step glide
• Clock sync
• Starting phase
• Start delay
• Fade in
• Master output gain
• Trigger modes – mono, poly, free
• One shot mode

5x Envelope Generators

• 6 stage DAHDSR envelopes
• -Delay, Attack, Hold, Decay, Sustain, Release
• Slope curves for ADR stages
• -Variable from full exponential to full logarithmic
• Tempo or Time option for setting length of each stage.
• Looping of AHD stages for creating LFO types of modulations.
• Trigger modes – Legato, Reset, Retrigger

Matrix modulation

• 32 slots for source-destination mod routings with amount
• Modulation matrix slots can be mod destinations

8x Macro knobs and buttons

• Each macro knobs allows positive and negative of up to 8 destination controls

Arpeggiator

• Arp parameters can be modulation destinations.
• Modes
• -Up, down, up/down, Up&down, random, note order, chord, pattern
• Octave
• -Range, 1,2,3,4
• Play order
• -Up, down, up/down
• Swing
• Gate time
• Ratchet – repeats notes
• Chance – sets how often the ratchet takes place.

Effects Specifications:

Pre-effects – before Delay and Reverb

• Chorus
• Flanger
• Rotary
• Phaser
• Lo-Fi
• Tremolo
• EQ
• Compressor (with side chain)

Delay

• Tape
• Ping-pong
• Analog
• PitchShift
• Reverse
• Filter delay

Reverb

• Room
• Hall
• Shimmer
• Cloud
• DarkSpace

Post-effects – after Delay and Reverb

• Chorus
• Flanger
• Rotary
• Phaser
• Lo-Fi
• Tremolo
• EQ
• Compressor (with side chain)