ASM Hydrasynth Range Gets Major Firmware Upgrade

Features, functions, firmware, it’s free

We stopped by the ASM Hydrasynth exhibit at Synthplex last October and were impressed. If you already have one of these instruments, there’s nothing not to like about a free firmware upgrade that expands their capabilities; if you were interested in a Hydrasynth, well, you’re now more interested.

Here’s the company release:

LOS ANGELES, CA, USA/HONG KONG, CHINA: creativity-sparking sensational products provider Ashun Sound Machines (ASM) is proud to add features and functions to its perennially popular Hydrasynth range — comprising the original Hydrasynth keyboard and Hydrasynth desktop, announced to widespread critical acclaim in September 2019, followed by the flagship Hydrasynth Deluxe and portable Hydrasynth Explorer models announced in September 2021 — with a major (2.0) firmware update available for free as of March 15…

As an appealing appetiser, ASM’s major (2.0) firmware update adds three more memory banks to the Hydrasynth keyboard, desktop, and Explorer models, matching the Deluxe’s existing eight banks for a total of 1,024 patches. Put it this way: all are cutting-edge digital wave morphing synthesizers that positively invite their respective users to get involved in designing sounds, so more memory makes sense. Speaking of sound design, each Hydrasynth oscillator — OSC 1, OSC 2, and OSC 3 — now includes a new BitRedux (bit reduction) parameter that allows users to choose between OFF, 16, 12, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2 bits.

But — given that the 2.0 firmware update readily ranks as a major one — there is more, including more modulation options, thanks to a new modulation source called VoiceMod (voice modulator) that allows users to offset values for each voice that can then be applied in the Mod Matrix to vary chosen parameters per voice. Digging deeper, all five envelopes — ENV 1 through to ENV 5 — and LFOs (Low Frequency Oscillators) — LFO 1 through to LFO 5 — have new Quantize options, so adventurous users can quantize their outputs to achieve unique stepping effects. Excitingly, now it is possible to choose to advance through the steps with each new note on with the LFOs in Step mode, meaning users can play through the steps one by one with each new note press.

For flexibility in the studio or at home, Hydrasynth’s version 2.0 firmware update also allows users to bypass each of the (Pre-FX, Post-FX, Delay, and/or Reverb) effects globally in the system page — to record a dry signal without having to edit each patch, in other words.Thanks to the 2.0 firmware update, Hydrasynth users can choose how the sustain pedal operates. The three options available are: Sustain — traditional sustain (as it has always