With the Hydrasynth ExplorerASM (Ashun Sound Machines) the company presents an eight-voice digital keyboard synthesizer with Wave Morphing synthesis. The enormous variety of functions paired with the first-class sound testifies to the many years of experience of the development team. The specially developed "Polytouch Keybed" is a velocity sensitive 37 mini-key keyboard with polyphonic aftertouch. The main section and the module selection have been taken over 1:1 from the big models, all other sections have been shrunk to a compact size, so that at Explorer a little menu work leads to the desired result. If you want to exchange sounds between one of the big models and the Explorer, they are fully compatible with each other.
Thanks to the chord function and the very extensively programmable arpeggiator, you have two very powerful creative tools at hand to work out your ideas on stage as well as in the studio. The Hydrasynth Explorer comes from the factory with two preset banks of 128 sounds each; a total of five banks with a total capacity of 640 sounds are available. A small highlight are the five analog outputs for CV, Gate, Clock and two definable controllers, making this synthesizer the control center of a connected modular system!
Sound creation
Three full-fledged oscillators draw their base material from 219 waveforms. Oscillator 1 and 2 are furthermore capable of wave scanning, where up to eight waveforms can be crossfaded respectively morphed. By means of four "mutants" the oscillators can be further shaped; besides FM, three different types of pulse width modulation (PWM), Hard-Sync and Harmonic-Sweep there is Wavestack. With the latter you can create assertive unison/supersaw sounds with only one oscillator. The repertoire is rounded off with a noise generator and the ring modulator.
Filter
With two different filters that can be operated in parallel or in series, nothing stands in the way of detailed sound shaping on the Hydrasynth. The first filter covers eleven different filter models (including 12/24 dB lowpass, highpass, vocal). The second filter is a state-variable filter with a slope of 12 dB and is continuously variable from Lowpass via Bandpass to Highpass (similar to the SEM filter).
Effects
The last link in the signal chain are four effect blocks to give the sound the final touch. The first and last effect blocks each contain the same selection from Chorus, Flanger, Rotary, Phaser, Lo-Fi, Tremolo, EQ, and compressor (with sidechain). In between, Delay and Reverb (five respectively six variations) can be activated.
Modulation & Controller
What would such an oscillator and filter setup be without modulation! Five loopable DAHDSR envelopes and five synchronizable LFOs with several waveforms and trigger modes including a sixth vibrato LFO provide plenty of movement in the sound. Besides some fixed modulation connections, almost every parameter in Hydrasynth Explorer can be modulated via the modulation matrix, which comprises 32 slots.
Hydrasynth Explorer Performance by Dominic Au
Hydrasynth Explorer Introduction
Exploring the ASM Hydrasynth | A Digital Hardware Monster
The broad spectrum of sound from this synth, is amazing. To match this you would need a hardware synth, plus multiple virtual synths, on a pc to get anywhere near, or a full modular system. A great synth.
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