The Hydrasynth's Defining Feature // Oscillator Mutants Explained 

This is great content Jorb. I will be coming back to this multiple times. Your good at teaching and demonstrating this sort of stuff. I was excited to see another hydra synth video. Very deep. Lovely. Thank you. Cheers.

I’m never able to watch videos on synthesis for more than like 10 minutes before I’m too confused to go on. This was relaxing to watch and I feel like I learned something. Before watching this video I thought this synth would be way over my head as a beginner but now I’m much more confident I could figure it out.

Thanks Jorb! Best explanation of many of these mutant modes I’ve seen yet!

This is super useful in my decision making and learning. Thanks, Jorb! I imagine you would be a great and fun person to go to NAMM or Superbooth with, lol

Lovely video, I'm completely new to synths and while I may not have understood everything, I enjoyed your conciseness and methodical approach

You are a great noodler. I could listen to those little phrases all day.

At the risk of sounding like Nick Batt here .... 3 flavors of PWM is simply brilliant and cracking 🧐

Very interesting video, I still hesitate between this synth, the Novation Summit and others. Your video clearly enriches my thinking. 👍

The manual is pretty great! Good to see it.

Great explanation. Thanks a lot. Got the HS Explorer as my first (!) synth. It’s a beast

Nice explanation of the mutants👍 On Osc Sync: I view the Depth control as the pitch of the slave oscillator. Ratio at zero is normal hard sync but Ratio expands things by determining *how many times* the slave osc resets inside each waveform cycle of the master oscillator. Re PWM the middle of the wave on the Hydra oscilloscope is the zero crossing point - 0 degrees phase. So it makes sense the wave form pulse should vary from that imaginary line.

That thing at 20:25 is just great, actually! Not great at english, so don't know if I can put it into words and make sense, but... As you've already TRIGGERED a note, and THEN transpose it, as the wave KEEPS on "rolling" WITHOUT getting re-triggered as you transpose, you get a different phase offset compared to the other oscillator, than what you get if you transpose FIRST, and THEN press a key, as they would then "re-sync" the oscillators from the note on incident. This (triggering the osc's and THEN modulating pitch with some mod) will be highly useful for getting "lively" or "organic" sounds when modulating the pitch then. ASM really did their homework, grade A+, on this beast.

For the phasediff section, the dry/wet isn’t wrong. The mutant seems to subtract the signal from itself with some offset (offset being set by depth) For instance with the pulses, the regular pulse is when the mutant subtracts the actual pulse location from the “zero’d” non-pulse part of the signal. While the inverted pulse is when the mutant is subtracting the “zero’d” pulse part from the pulse, resulting in a negative version of the same waveform. The same is true for your square explanation, it is very much the addition of the two saw waves, one inverted, one not, but both of those are results from the 100% wet version of the mutant

I suspect the Depth of the Oscillator Sync mutant is attempting to emulate more of a "Soft Sync". Old modulars had choices of hard vs soft sync, but generally analog mono / poly synths just did hard sync. Soft sync basically means instead of being directly coupled to the source oscillator, the following oscillator has some leeway onto when to reset. Basically it's a sloppy sync.

Your vids are great dude. Thank you. 🙏🏻

Just got the desktop Hydra. Jeezus this thing is powerful, loving mixing the various kinds of synthesis together in the one box

Excellent information and demo!

I didn't realize wavestack is just several voices slightly detuned or unison. the unison mode in the voice settings stops at 8 voices which is only really useful for reese basses bc you can only play one note. I was really frustrated. I thought I wouldn't be able to create the wide pads I make in Vital. will have to get my Hydrasynth Explorer out and experiment with this, thanks for the video

Great tutorial on a great synth, thx!

This is a defining W on this channel

Love your videos man

I understand you and your way of teaching is fantastic. Please make more tutorials for the explorer. I was going to send mine back and get the desktop until i watched this . I got the hydra synth explorer and the korg monologue xd desktop the same day . I really wish i would have done that the other way around.

This info is golden. Thanks

Great very well explained tnks

Great video. Hamming windows are used in FFTs, to reduce sampling harmonics. Maybe they are shifting to freq domain for processing and then back.

I really should read the manual too.

My Explorer will be here any day now Thank You.

Jorb. I love your videos. How are you feeling about the keys? How would it compare to other mini-keys such as a Roland Boutique? I'm looking for a travel poly, and this looking like a great option. But I have not had a lot of love for mini-keys. So any input you have is appreciated. Thanks 😁😁

You mentioned this guy is gone already in the nymphes firmware update video. I would really like to hear your thoughts on why. Maybe the next vid idea? I’m scouring the used market, but unlikely to find an explorer for a while with supply being so low. Anyways, I sold my desktop, thinking that now was the time with these explorers hitting the market and kind of supplanting the utility of the desktop for a similar footprint. The pads on the desktop were fun and interesting, but a lot like a total new instrument to learn. That might be the cheapest of the line to find used in a few years likely due to that reason. Anyways, this is probably the best synth to go down to your local music store and try out in person, as I feel like this is the best example of not translating via RU-vid for synths as far as sound goes. I was floored by the low end and general “heft” of the synth engine. It’s not “brittle” sounding in person.

Reason “depth” is a general label instead of specific for each mutant is because of the mod matrix and macros. That way you can assign modulation to Mutant [x] depth without having to match the mod matrix destination to the type of mutant you’re using.

My volume knob is weird when I play a new patch with headphones (with speakers it’s ok): Turning it clockwise, the volume does not increase as it should, but it has louder and less loud positions. Overall, the volume is extremely low. There is massive crackling with the movement. The problem disappears when I add OSC 1 pan value. I already had the unit replaced, but the replacement shows the same behaviour. Anyone know more?

Hi Jorb. You're getting good at this. RU-vid seem to agree as their adverts now interrupt your musings at the worst possible moment... Anyway, thanks for the work that you're doing, always enjoyable and ever informative. Just got to work the phrase "some maths shit" into everyday conversation now.

Great video

26:45 this really sounds like something you'd hear on an early video game with digital samples or an old sampler

Quick question. Did you have the oscillators on free running or on retrigger in the WaveStack example? I'm asking because when you played chords it sounds very phasing and nothing like a real supersaw.

I'm really interested in this piece of gear lately. Do you think it could make a nice pairing with Arturia's Keystep Pro, as that one has a sequencer which Explorer lacks, and the possibility to function as the main controller of the gig? I would very much appreciate your thoughts! Thank you.

The description of PW ASM sounds the same as phase distortion synthesis, like how the Casio CZ series worked.

Ok fine internet people, I need one synth to rule them all. I've been considering this. I'm not new to synthesizers or how they function, but it's never been my thing. I mean, I want them to be my thing, but I just never stick with it enough so far. I have omnisphere and the arturia collection and plenty of vsts. I have the Arturia Keylab Mk II and it's a pretty nice midi controller. I want a hardware synth that is going to have plenty to offer and be good enough to last. I tried eurorack, spent 10k, lost 7k when I sold it, and I'm just exhausted with that whole thing (My own fault, should have walked before I ran. Don't spend 10k on Eurorack and not know how to use all the modules you just bought. It's overwhelming). I'm primarily a guitarist and I just want to create music with synths that'll supplement the rest and sometimes shine on it's own (think Pink Floyd vibery kind of music). So I'm REALLY trying to be careful. I'm debating this, the Moog Sound Studio with the Mother 32, DFAM, and Subharmonicon or maybe the Matriarch but that's on the high end of what I want to spend. 2k is my limit and I'd rather not spend that if there's something out there that I haven't thought of. I know this is a lot to read and I thank anyone who'll take the time and make suggestions. Maybe this is it (It sure seems like it has a lot to offer)... or something I haven't even thought of yet?

Awesome! But Deepmind 12 or Hydrasynth tho?

“Cool” -Jorb

Regarding PW-Orig - isn’t it odd that a synth like this can only compress the pulse wave from 50% to 0%? As in, it can’t go any greater than 50%! Or am I missing something?

Yesss thanks:)

I’m stuck between a mini freak and the hydra synth explorer… first synth but I love making beats. Help anyone?

Regarding this synth I'm between extremes: it seems it can do the most annoying and the most beautiful sounds...

Is this a synth, well, the full version, not the double deluxe or whatever, and not the mini featured in this video, but the regular full size Hydrasynth, that is sufficiently well built and consistently QC'ed that it is worth the risk in buying used? I may sell half of the music equipment I own, after three+ decades collecting equipment, failed attempts at quitting music, robbery, and reacquiring gear, a couple weird early 80's analog polys, stacks of niche under valued old compressors that have THE op-amp/chip, whatever, old preamps built in the Neve factory, etc., to buy the full sized Hydrasynth. I have no income and am terminally ill, but before that termination is progressive disability that has accelerated considerably, shrinking my remaining "window" (for Jorb) of functionality, or capability to conceive of and record music, in fact, I'm jumping through the pane/pain of that window already, I've gotten 4 bars of bass guitar recorded in the last 3 days. Painful. But 3 of my 8 daily prescriptions that keep me alive and provide a few functional hours a day, are no longer available at pharmacies, due to shortages, supposedly, though Canada and Mexico don't seem to have shortages of these medications. I think I, and many other disabled, or terminally ill people are being murdered systematically. Just a fun fact, I apologize. Saying all that so that a charitable reader can understand that I'm not just cheap, as so many are, spending money frivolously, then complaining about musical limitations due to a lack of funds. I wear the same dirty, and 15 year old, clothes for a week just to save money on detergent, water, and electricity, I shower once a week to save on water, electricity to heat it, shampoo and soap, and the limited standing/functional time I have. I eat one meal a day, I leave the house maybe once a month, but also more likely once every two months. I have several broken caps on my teeth that are painful and troublesome. I spend money like it is blood or time, which it is both of those things, multiplied. So, again, (perhaps you can tell I have moral problems with art/music making while being disabled and economically non-viable) I'm not devaluing music making in my life, though I have a specially endowed child that just started college at a public university, with a partial scholarship, but those expenses are completely unreasonable and unmanageable... I do value their education, and their potential life options more highly than my physical maintenance and well being, AND my art/music making. So, I hope I've established that I'm not a stingy dirt bag, I'm not an idle collector, I'm not a gear whore (I am, of course, but my economic reality prevents my whoring) and have a legitimate, well founded interest in acquiring the Hydrasynth at a reduced cost, which will still be too much for me to responsibly spend. And therefore, I absolutely cannot take a loss on a scammer, or your typical ebay'er/reverber in these days, on a broken or defective used Hydrasynth, especially due to the physical complexity of the Hydrasynth, and my potential delayed realization of its hidden defect, but even if timely discovered, my time and energy is too limited, to scarce, to spend hassling with reversing the machinations of the dark scammer through whatever platform and payment mechanism I purchase and pay with... the dark scammer who is now almost exclusively the norm, in my experience, in fact, EVERY purchase of music gear I've made in the last 7 years on ebay or Reverb has been a scam, most of which were reversible, to the scammer's extreme rage, though with difficulty and stress (stress exacerbates and accelerates my disability, so it is very expensive to incur that cost). And a couple I did not notice the defect until the window of reconciliation was closed. So, I just took a loss, a loss I REALLY could not afford. I can't do that again. So, how robust, how sturdy, how reliable is the full sized Hydrasynth, how likely am I to purchase a used Hydra that is fully functional, with no real deficiency, like a flaky, intermittent encoder, a partially dead key or button, or double triggering every now and again, a screen that goes weird occasionally, something goofed in the updates that prevents future updating of the firmware... any of the thousands of things that can go wrong with a hardware synth of this complexity... In attempting to sufficiently justify myself, I've precluded actually getting a response. I'm awesome. Bye.

Harmonic sounds a bit like the PAF synthesis example in pure data.

PW-ASM modulates the phase of the wave, not the actual frequency, so if all the warps are set the same, you just get the original wave phase shifted. This can be used to address one of your complaints about not being able to get a phase shifted wave in the PhasDiff mutant without the dry wave mixed in... just use PW-ASM with all the warps maxed out, and then you have a fully wet (or any mix of wet and dry) phase shifted waveform.

I normally enjoy your videos but this felt a bit too technical, lacking the musical application. Would be more interesting with some really good examples of how to use them to sound great in a patch.

Okay, now explain it in 10 minutes! ;-)

Sounds like my children Casio

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