Hydronexius Workstation ROM

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sleep1979

24 May 2018

whats is like for 17 quid ?

i tried it before but never tried it ( if you know what i mean ) the download was too big lol so now i cant try it , anyone tried it ?

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Loque
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24 May 2018

Reason12, Win10

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Aosta
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24 May 2018

Tend the flame

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TritoneAddiction
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24 May 2018

I'll quote myself from a very similar recent thread.

"It's alright, I've had it since it was first released. But honestly if I load any other synth like Expanse, Zero, Legend, FM4, Parsec and scroll through some patches, most of their sounds will sound "better" or will be more interesting imo. Because of that Hydronexious hasn't been used much in my productions.

If you just want a new exciting toy to play with for a while then why not. But I've stopped buying/downloading things just because they're cheap or for free. I care less about the price and more about whether or not I'll actually use the stuff I'm getting."

sleep1979

24 May 2018

TritoneAddiction wrote:
24 May 2018
I'll quote myself from a very similar recent thread.

"It's alright, I've had it since it was first released. But honestly if I load any other synth like Expanse, Zero, Legend, FM4, Parsec and scroll through some patches, most of their sounds will sound "better" or will be more interesting imo. Because of that Hydronexious hasn't been used much in my productions.

If you just want a new exciting toy to play with for a while then why not. But I've stopped buying/downloading things just because they're cheap or for free. I care less about the price and more about whether or not I'll actually use the stuff I'm getting."

your right tbh , polar things like that i'll use but the skrock plug ins i have i dont even download any more( auroura and solar 5 ) , man why do the really good synths have to be so expensive? , i'll sidestep it because if its 17 quid it must be not great , if somethings to good to be true it usually is

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TritoneAddiction
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24 May 2018

sleep1979 wrote:
24 May 2018
TritoneAddiction wrote:
24 May 2018
I'll quote myself from a very similar recent thread.

"It's alright, I've had it since it was first released. But honestly if I load any other synth like Expanse, Zero, Legend, FM4, Parsec and scroll through some patches, most of their sounds will sound "better" or will be more interesting imo. Because of that Hydronexious hasn't been used much in my productions.

If you just want a new exciting toy to play with for a while then why not. But I've stopped buying/downloading things just because they're cheap or for free. I care less about the price and more about whether or not I'll actually use the stuff I'm getting."

your right tbh , polar things like that i'll use but the skrock plug ins i have i dont even download any more( auroura and solar 5 ) , man why do the really good synths have to be so expensive? , i'll sidestep it because if its 17 quid it must be not great , if somethings to good to be true it usually is
More expensive things tend to be better, but there are plenty of exceptions.
The Synapse RE collection is a crazy deal with a lot of high quality REs, especially now during the sale.
FM4 costs 25 bucks now. Sure it's a fairly limited synth but it's still great.
The McDSP bundles are fairly priced.
Saturation Knob is free but it's still good.

But tbh I don't think spending 100-150 bucks on a really nice instrument is too much. But I know many others think differently about it.

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hurricane
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25 May 2018

I unfortunately bought this for full price a long time ago - and it was more of an impulse buy. And while I've used it on occasion, there are things about this RE that just drive me completely nuts. The main thing is that there seems to be some sort of pitch envelope or glide baked into the samples and I hate this - it sounds like a fucking trumpet. I emailed the developer about this and he suggested to "increase the attack". Take the preset in the leads folder called "A Dance Club the Lead Sky" - play a series of notes and notice the weird legato/glide thing going on. Now play some chords. Do you hear that??? How do I turn that off?? There's a polyglide knob there, so turn that all the way down. Ah, much better - but that glide is still there. I can still hear it. Play some chords in the upper register of the keyboard. Do you hear it? It's like a squeaky, trumpety character that I hate. Ok, well, lemme increase the attack. I can still hear it. Call me anal and such, but I don't like this. Another thing you can try is to hit the Mono Retrigger box. Ahh! Yes, that's way better. BUT NOW I CANT PLAY CHORDS!

That glide is on almost every patch. Hate it. Check out the pluck folder for example.

Secondly, try this - reset the device. Select the "Bsc Saw". Again notice the glide. Now play some high notes - notice how the saw just gets weaker and weaker and squeakier. Like WTF.

Hydronexious gets a poor review from me mainly for that pitched glide at the attack of EVERY sound. That's just not my thing - but if you don't mind it, then at $19 it's ok, I am sure you will get some use out of it. LOTS of presets. But again, that pitchy glide is horrendous. I just picked out (like at this very moment as I am writing this) a random patch from the guitar folder - Cyber Chorus Guitar - this is a perfect example of what I am talking about. YUCK.
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dustmoses
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25 May 2018

I don't like Hydronexius. Bad sounds. I would sell it if Props had a reasonable policy on REs.

GRIFTY
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25 May 2018

dustmoses wrote:
25 May 2018
I don't like Hydronexius. Bad sounds. I would sell it if Props had a reasonable policy on REs.
me too. the thing is just sort of flat sounding. i made an impulse buy when i first heard it but i regret that now

djadalaide
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25 May 2018

Buy a real synth plugin first.

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miscend
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25 May 2018

The name is a derivative of Nexus.

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CephaloPod
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26 May 2018

I trailed it. I didn't care for it. If you already have a bunch of synths, I don't think there is much use for this, even just as a sound bank.
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jimmyklane
Posts: 740
Joined: 16 Apr 2018

26 May 2018

I wouldn't take an RE ROMpler for free these days....there is a 200MB upload limit (to my understanding) and therefore I can match that with my hardware samplers....with the option of actually sampling! In addition, sample playback (and software samplers in general) tend not to have "a sound"....in other words, they are plain vanilla and you've got to work to get something unique that all the other users of the device don't have. I can't tell you how many times I've recognized REX loops on TV and in commercials!

What I really want to know about this device is: is it a vanilla ROMpler, or are the samples set up to have character and flaws....if the latter, even though everyone won't like it, it's still got a definable sound to it and I can enjoy that for what it is. if it's just a vanilla sound module, than you've got to struggle to make the sounds inside something unique to you that doesn't sound like everyone else that owns the RE. That's my reasoning behind my initial "criticism" . I'll have to try it to give a real verdict.
DAW: Reason 12

SAMPLERS: Akai MPC 2000, E-mu SP1200, E-Mu e5000Ultra, Ensoniq EPS 16+, Akai S950, Maschine

SYNTHS: Mostly classic Polysynths and more modern Monosynths. All are mostly food for my samplers!

www.soundcloud.com/jimmyklane

sleep1979

27 May 2018

jimmyklane wrote:
26 May 2018
I wouldn't take an RE ROMpler for free these days....there is a 200MB upload limit (to my understanding) and therefore I can match that with my hardware samplers....with the option of actually sampling! In addition, sample playback (and software samplers in general) tend not to have "a sound"....in other words, they are plain vanilla and you've got to work to get something unique that all the other users of the device don't have. I can't tell you how many times I've recognized REX loops on TV and in commercials!

What I really want to know about this device is: is it a vanilla ROMpler, or are the samples set up to have character and flaws....if the latter, even though everyone won't like it, it's still got a definable sound to it and I can enjoy that for what it is. if it's just a vanilla sound module, than you've got to struggle to make the sounds inside something unique to you that doesn't sound like everyone else that owns the RE. That's my reasoning behind my initial "criticism" . I'll have to try it to give a real verdict.

why do you have to be unique ? just be good , lots of people use that piano sound i hear it all over movies everywhere , nothing original but there making money enjoying life and their music , trying to be too original may alienate you , just do what you like and love , peace i didn't buy this i bought the aeon organic its nice sounding just not many presets i will use it though , man when can we resell rack extensions or give them away for christmas ?

avasopht
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27 May 2018

jimmyklane wrote:
26 May 2018
there is a 200MB upload limit (to my understanding)
There are already a lot of IDT ROMplers that have much more than 200MB - including Hydronexius, which has over 2GB of samples.

jimmyklane
Posts: 740
Joined: 16 Apr 2018

27 May 2018

sleep1979 wrote:
27 May 2018
jimmyklane wrote:
26 May 2018
I wouldn't take an RE ROMpler for free these days....there is a 200MB upload limit (to my understanding) and therefore I can match that with my hardware samplers....with the option of actually sampling! In addition, sample playback (and software samplers in general) tend not to have "a sound"....in other words, they are plain vanilla and you've got to work to get something unique that all the other users of the device don't have. I can't tell you how many times I've recognized REX loops on TV and in commercials!

What I really want to know about this device is: is it a vanilla ROMpler, or are the samples set up to have character and flaws....if the latter, even though everyone won't like it, it's still got a definable sound to it and I can enjoy that for what it is. if it's just a vanilla sound module, than you've got to struggle to make the sounds inside something unique to you that doesn't sound like everyone else that owns the RE. That's my reasoning behind my initial "criticism" . I'll have to try it to give a real verdict.

why do you have to be unique ? just be good , lots of people use that piano sound i hear it all over movies everywhere , nothing original but there making money enjoying life and their music , trying to be too original may alienate you , just do what you like and love , peace i didn't buy this i bought the aeon organic its nice sounding just not many presets i will use it though , man when can we resell rack extensions or give them away for christmas ?
Being original is something worth striving for. I’ve done student films with nothing but two samplers and a synth....so I’ve used those vanilla sounds too. At this point in my career, I want a software ROMpler to have a sound that defines it. Since most don’t, I make them myself from scratch. And since every production of mine is created by me (I haven’t used a preset in 10 or more years) I feel like I have now DEVELOPED a sound based upon how I program.

Any synth, sampler, or ROMpler that won’t allow me to create my own sounds is essentially worthless TO ME. The “to me” part is important, but I’m just one guy sharing his opinion over the web
DAW: Reason 12

SAMPLERS: Akai MPC 2000, E-mu SP1200, E-Mu e5000Ultra, Ensoniq EPS 16+, Akai S950, Maschine

SYNTHS: Mostly classic Polysynths and more modern Monosynths. All are mostly food for my samplers!

www.soundcloud.com/jimmyklane

avasopht
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Posts: 3931
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28 May 2018

jimmyklane wrote:
27 May 2018
Being original is something worth striving for. I’ve done student films with nothing but two samplers and a synth....so I’ve used those vanilla sounds too. At this point in my career, I want a software ROMpler to have a sound that defines it. Since most don’t, I make them myself from scratch. And since every production of mine is created by me (I haven’t used a preset in 10 or more years) I feel like I have now DEVELOPED a sound based upon how I program.

Any synth, sampler, or ROMpler that won’t allow me to create my own sounds is essentially worthless TO ME. The “to me” part is important, but I’m just one guy sharing his opinion over the web
If you want a "sound," then just create a chain with a little coloured noise, apply some EQ / filtering and distortions such as saturation applied to the signal (oh, and maybe some minor bitcrushing such as the RX950). If you apply this during the sampling stage you might want to make the effect chain more subtle.

Oh, and Crapre. Pretty sure there's is a combinator that emulates it fairly well.

avasopht
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28 May 2018

My thoughts on Hydronexius.

At first glance I was not a fan of it as a workstation, but when creating my Hydronexius competition submission I found it was very easy to pleasing sound with it. My composition approach was to first create a song using my normal tools, and then replace the sounds and integrate sample replacements with Hydronexius.

I'm still not sold on it, but I already have a library I'm more than content with.

jimmyklane
Posts: 740
Joined: 16 Apr 2018

28 May 2018

avasopht wrote:
28 May 2018
jimmyklane wrote:
27 May 2018
Being original is something worth striving for. I’ve done student films with nothing but two samplers and a synth....so I’ve used those vanilla sounds too. At this point in my career, I want a software ROMpler to have a sound that defines it. Since most don’t, I make them myself from scratch. And since every production of mine is created by me (I haven’t used a preset in 10 or more years) I feel like I have now DEVELOPED a sound based upon how I program.

Any synth, sampler, or ROMpler that won’t allow me to create my own sounds is essentially worthless TO ME. The “to me” part is important, but I’m just one guy sharing his opinion over the web
If you want a "sound," then just create a chain with a little coloured noise, apply some EQ / filtering and distortions such as saturation applied to the signal (oh, and maybe some minor bitcrushing such as the RX950). If you apply this during the sampling stage you might want to make the effect chain more subtle.

Oh, and Crapre. Pretty sure there's is a combinator that emulates it fairly well.
I’ll just be straight up here...there is a preset in the truly excellent Decimort 2 called EPS. I’ve spent hours and hours trying to emulate the sound of my actual EPS and just cannot make them sound even kind of close. Decimort is more capable than the RX950 in terms of sounding like more than one thing....I know the RE very well, I entered the song competition.....I own a bunch of vintage (old?) samplers for a reason, and it’s not because I LIKE taking ten minutes to loop a couple of PWM samples for a pad! It’s because they sound really good.

Look, my point is that I think ROMplers are lame. I also think the newest line of samplers (Akai S000 for example) are worthless because they give a carbon copy of your input. The old Roland stuff (JD990, etc) is supposed to be a big deal but I’ve never seen the appeal. Get a sampler, and if you don’t want to make your own sounds then buy a library. At least you can get more and more sounds for it.
DAW: Reason 12

SAMPLERS: Akai MPC 2000, E-mu SP1200, E-Mu e5000Ultra, Ensoniq EPS 16+, Akai S950, Maschine

SYNTHS: Mostly classic Polysynths and more modern Monosynths. All are mostly food for my samplers!

www.soundcloud.com/jimmyklane

avasopht
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28 May 2018

jimmyklane wrote:
28 May 2018
Look, my point is that I think ROMplers are lame. I also think the newest line of samplers (Akai S000 for example) are worthless because they give a carbon copy of your input. The old Roland stuff (JD990, etc) is supposed to be a big deal but I’ve never seen the appeal. Get a sampler, and if you don’t want to make your own sounds then buy a library. At least you can get more and more sounds for it.
My point above was, if you don't want a carbon copy then apply processing.

Decimort's EXS preset not giving you the exact same sound as your EXS is inconsequential. It's just a preset, not a core functionality of the device trying to be a full on emulation of the EXS. You follow? It would be like saying, "there's an EXS combinator using stock Reason devices that doesn't sound exactly like my EXS, therefore software samplers can't add the same amount of character."

Samplers reproduce the exact sound by design and desire. If you're playing back an orchestra you most likely don't want to be fudging around with bitdepth and other artifacts because you actually want to sound like an actual orchestra and not Run DMC sampling an orchestra.

Some of the sounds you've attributed to hardware samplers might all be artifacts people would much rather avoid. If you identify them you shouldn't have too much trouble replicating them.

When recording everything passes through an anti-aliasing filter prior to the ADC. To cut costs while still achieving a steep filter cutoff, some ADC's would use a cheaper anti-aliasing filter, sample at a higher sample rate, and then apply a steep digital filter. There may be other effects at play when signals pass a threshold above line level (or just general clipping ;) ).

All in all it pays to sometimes take a step back and identify exactly what it is you really want from your sound.

And you said you wanted to create your own sound, so go ahead and do just that. Instead of trying to emulate your EXS, why not try to create the JK (jimmyklane) sound!

Also not every 12-bit PCM format is the same. Some are linear, some are logarithmic / exponential (can't remember which).

jimmyklane
Posts: 740
Joined: 16 Apr 2018

28 May 2018

avasopht wrote:
28 May 2018
jimmyklane wrote:
28 May 2018
Look, my point is that I think ROMplers are lame. I also think the newest line of samplers (Akai S000 for example) are worthless because they give a carbon copy of your input. The old Roland stuff (JD990, etc) is supposed to be a big deal but I’ve never seen the appeal. Get a sampler, and if you don’t want to make your own sounds then buy a library. At least you can get more and more sounds for it.
My point above was, if you don't want a carbon copy then apply processing.

Decimort's EXS preset not giving you the exact same sound as your EXS is inconsequential. It's just a preset, not a core functionality of the device trying to be a full on emulation of the EXS. You follow? It would be like saying, "there's an EXS combinator using stock Reason devices that doesn't sound exactly like my EXS, therefore software samplers can't add the same amount of character."

Samplers reproduce the exact sound by design and desire. If you're playing back an orchestra you most likely don't want to be fudging around with bitdepth and other artifacts because you actually want to sound like an actual orchestra and not Run DMC sampling an orchestra.

Some of the sounds you've attributed to hardware samplers might all be artifacts people would much rather avoid. If you identify them you shouldn't have too much trouble replicating them.

When recording everything passes through an anti-aliasing filter prior to the ADC. To cut costs while still achieving a steep filter cutoff, some ADC's would use a cheaper anti-aliasing filter, sample at a higher sample rate, and then apply a steep digital filter. There may be other effects at play when signals pass a threshold above line level (or just general clipping ;) ).

All in all it pays to sometimes take a step back and identify exactly what it is you really want from your sound.

And you said you wanted to create your own sound, so go ahead and do just that. Instead of trying to emulate your EXS, why not try to create the JK (jimmyklane) sound!

Also not every 12-bit PCM format is the same. Some are linear, some are logarithmic / exponential (can't remember which).
I notice in this post you've gone back to the remedial basics of digital audio. I'm asking you to please treat me like the engineer I've been for the past 20 years. I am familiar with both digital and analog circuits as well as theory, practice, and implementation in both software and hardware. The area where I am not familiar is CODING software, so if you've got something to impart there, I'm all ears. As far as my sampling goes, you are correct, they're artifacts. They are "problems" with the A/D and D/A phases of the process, transposition artifacts, aliasing, etc. Regarding my EPS 16+ and the Decimort 2 preset emulating it, I'm not talking about not being able to match the sound of my hardware with a preset. I'm saying that despite attempting many times, with many tools in various stages of sampling (input of every note to emulate the "oscillators", on the back end to replicate the D/A portion....both, to attempt to recreate the "system", etc) I've been unable to replicate the sound that ***I*** am after.


***When recording everything passes through an anti-aliasing filter prior to the ADC. To cut costs while still achieving a steep filter cutoff, some ADC's would use a cheaper anti-aliasing filter, sample at a higher sample rate, and then apply a steep digital filter. There may be other effects at play when signals pass a threshold above line level (or just general clipping ;) )*** The "cheaper anti-aliasing filter, sample at a higher sample rate" is often obtained using a 1-bit converter in the MHz range, (you'll notice specs like "24 bit 128x oversampling). In the late 80's, steep (9th-order in my Eventide H3000) analog filters were often used, and those had their own trade-offs....severe phase distortion, analog clipping of the opamp circuits involved, overshoot and ringing inside the filter, and more)


"Samplers reproduce the exact sound by design and desire" Correct. In my music, I specifically utilize samplers that do not function perfectly. They are some of the earliest attempts at creating carbon-copy sounds so that you COULD recreate strings or horns or fly in vocals to tape. I don't like clean samplers....simply because I feel that if I want a perfect sound, I've spent good money on converters that can provide that for me. I know exactly what sound I'm chasing after. Check out my newest soundcloud tracks...You can hear the artifacts I speak of, you'll probably notice the aliasing on the drums that makes them pop through, and hear how the synths are not shiny and new, but have a dark and mid-forward sound. THAT is why I use the equipment that I use....I get my sounds the way I want them in the analog domain (mostly my synths) using EQ, compression, DIs, Preamps, and other processors, sample them using only one long note, and use the sampler to transpose up and down the keyboard. That's how I get the sound that my music has.

My older music, you can hear has a clearer, more digital sound. I also enjoy that, and have left the music up because it's decent music....but it's no longer the genre or the sound that I'm after. As "Seramik" I write completely different music than "J0K3R"....lots of artist work under different names to differentiate their projects and sounds.

Hopefully this clears up why I don't like the idea of the Hydronexius Workstation ROM. It isn't appealing to me because I would be stuck with whatever sound the developers baked-in....and I like to be able to control everything in my music. If I use NN-XT or NN-19, it's not with samples in the library....in fact, I wish I could remove it, as it's taking up 7 GB on my SSD that I'd rather have back!
DAW: Reason 12

SAMPLERS: Akai MPC 2000, E-mu SP1200, E-Mu e5000Ultra, Ensoniq EPS 16+, Akai S950, Maschine

SYNTHS: Mostly classic Polysynths and more modern Monosynths. All are mostly food for my samplers!

www.soundcloud.com/jimmyklane

avasopht
Competition Winner
Posts: 3931
Joined: 16 Jan 2015

28 May 2018

Ah, that clears it up.

I've been trying something similar myself on and off. Not necessarily to emulate an existing sound, but to create a sound with a similar grade of character.

If you can only produce your desired sound by recording from your sampler, I'd do just that.

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miscend
Posts: 1955
Joined: 09 Feb 2015

15 Jun 2018

Has anyone got the 2.0 update?

strangers
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Location: NJ

20 Aug 2018

miscend wrote:
15 Jun 2018
Has anyone got the 2.0 update?
Not yet. Been waiting to hear some input, too. 2.0 is currently on sale with a whopping $60 price drop making it $19 while the upgrade for current owners saw a mega $4 price drop down to $15. :?

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moneykube
Posts: 3447
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20 Aug 2018

miscend wrote:
15 Jun 2018
Has anyone got the 2.0 update?
yes... but had no time to check it yet... bought a bunch of refills from dna as well... i will report my findings... looking forward to mucking around with it :thumbs_up:
https://soundcloud.com/moneykube-qube/s ... d-playlist
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