ASM’s new wind synth combines sampled sounds with the Hydrasynth’s wavescan oscillators
The Hydrasynth from Ashun Sound Machines (ASM) is one of the great synth success stories of recent years. First launched in 2019, the original model was a digital polysynth that put a fresh spin on wavetable synthesis. It won over numerous fans – including us – and spawned both compact and expanded siblings.
Until now, these various iterations have been the only products in the ASM line-up, but now the company has returned with its first non-Hydrasynth product – and it’s probably not what you were expecting.
Diosynth is a wind synthesizer that combines sample and synthesis engines in order to produce a variety of acoustic and electronic tones. It comes with 384 onboard patches that cover traditional wind instruments like various saxes, flutes and trumpets, along with synthesiser tones plus rare instruments including, according to ASM, “contrabass flute, Eb Tubax and Peruvian llama whistle”.
Wind synths themselves are nothing new, having been around since the late ‘80s, but what makes ASM’s interesting is the fact that its sound engine is, in part, based on the excellent sound generation tools of the Hydrasynth.
This means that users can combine four of the Hydrasynth’s wavescan oscillators with two sample playback oscillators, all feeding through a 16-mode filter. These multiple oscillators can be used to create layered and split sounds.
For advanced sound design, the Diosynth can make use of a companion app that runs on desktop as well as Android and iOS.
The hardware itself is, according to ASM, “designed with wind players in mind”, making use of mechanical keys that replicate the feel of real wind instruments, along with breath and bite sensors for expression, an internal gyro, X/Y joystick, two pressure pads and three programmable switches.
Along with a main audio output and headphone output, the Diosynth has DIN MIDI connections, USB MIDI and Bluetooth MIDI capabilities. It also features Bluetooth audio in and a built-in speaker.