Imagine picking up a synth that feels like your favorite sax or flute, but unleashes the wild synthesis power of the Hydrasynth—now with breath control that actually responds like a real reed instrument. That's the magic here, blending mechanical keys with cutting-edge digital sound design for wind players ready to go electronic.
At its core, two WaveScan oscillators draw from 219 waveforms, paired with a sample playback engine featuring 128 acoustic captures like contrabass flute, Eb tubax, and even Peruvian llama whistle, all shapeable through 16 Hydrasynth filter models including the vowel filter. Five looping envelopes and five step-sequencer LFOs feed a 32-slot mod matrix, with onboard delay, reverb, and a unique Growl ringmod effect from a third oscillator. Breath and bite sensors drive expression, joined by a gyro for motion control, X/Y joystick, two pressure pads, three assignable buttons, and four octave keys spanning 9 octaves—multiple fingering modes like saxophone or trumpet make it intuitive. Layer or split two parts monophonically across 768 patches (384 factory-loaded), with a built-in 2W speaker, stereo I/O, headphone out, MIDI/Bluetooth/USB connectivity, and OLED display; it's slim at 3.27 x 2.65 x 27.46 inches, 2.2 lbs, running on rechargeable 18650 batteries or USB-C.
Since launching late last year, players love how it nails realistic wind emulation while opening synth doors—praise for the responsive keys and gyro tricks, though some note the learning curve for deep editing via the companion app. If you're a horn player eyeing hybrid sounds, this one's a game-changer worth trying.
