Warmth: ASM Hydrasynth vs. Novation Peak (Lossless Examples) (Patreon)

Hi,

As per my video on warmth (watch here: https://youtu.be/R1q1vHPby9Q), I've attached a zip file of 48k 32bit wav files for each example in the video. Check them out yourself and make your own conclusions based on this text which you like better. 

Some thoughts:

Both synths are able to faithfully recreate warm analog tones. The Peak gets there faster and more naturally, but that's because it's tuned very nicely for its tone and architecture. The Hydra is more opened ended and has more options, so it takes a little more work to match the Peak's sound.

The snappy envelopes on the Peak are really fantastic, and without knowing what's going on with them you might just think all ADSRs are the same. Absolutely not the case. Dialing in a little bit of exponential curves to your envelopes on the Hydra will help them feel snappier and more alive.

The Peak has a wonderful midrange tone that can be hard to match on the Hydra. Its filter has a sort of "compression effect", where everything sounds nice and in a pocket. Things come across as "warm" and "even", well defined and confident in their place in the sound.

Because the Hydra has so many more options for filters, you would be selling it and yourself short if you didn't explore the different LP options and see which best suits your sound.

I think the Hydra can do big sub-basses with a little more impact than the Peak.

I think the chorus and the reverb on the Peak are absolutely fantastic and of the two synths sound effortlessly more a part of the instrument. I think they suit the sound of the instrument very well and it's hard not to use them on every patch. The Hydra has a lot more control and types for each effect, so again, you have more control but it may take more work to get the "right sound", but the Hyrda also presents two whole extra multi-effect engines you can use to shape your sound, which is really huge.

As for workflow, I think the Peak has a better overall front panel for quickly dialing in sounds, but I think the Hydra has a better implementation of the mod matrix and mod assignment. 

There are a ton of other factors here. Price being a big one, followed by the fact that you can play the Hydra desktop on its own with no external keyboard or sequencer needed. The Hydra also has a more robust mod matrix and more modulation sources. 

I'm not here to make a final judgment on either synth, so don't ask me to. They're both great and both would work extremely well as a primary hardware synthesizer in your studio.