Wasn’t it Ensoniq who first shipped a poly-aftertouch keyboard, on either the SQ-80 or the EPS?
I just wanted to give a shout-out to the Oberheim Matrix-6 and Matrix-6R when it comes to “old hardware synths for playing with [pseudo-]MPE” (specifically LinnStrument in my case).
Later M6/M6R OS revisions have MIDI MONO mode, which was designed for MIDI guitars. This gives 6 independent channels (“CH PER NOTE” mode on LinnStrument) with independent pitch bend / modulation etc. The M6/R have strong support for Aftertouch as well, since the M6 keyboard has aftertouch. Additional dimensions can be connected to breath controller, LEVER 1/2, arbitrary CCs, whatever.
PLUS, the bi-timbrality allows 2 channels to be assigned to one patch (say, a bass patch, maybe even in UNISON KB mode) and sequenced/arped using one ‘split’ of LinnStrument, while the upper 4 channels (a 2nd patch) can be controlled via the other split.
(Sorry, I’ve posted dreck like this elsewhere on this forum.)
Also want to give a shoutout to the venerable Roland JV-880, which has long been cited on the KVR Audio forum as a good hardware synth for use with the LinnStrument. I concur. It’s very expressive and sounds great.
The synths/samplers which haven’t worked for me have been those which seem to feed incoming CC / PB to the voice or patch rather than the channel. So: if I carefully set up the same patch on channels 1-6, and send PB across those channels, the synth/sampler seems to feed the PB to the same ‘synth voices’ because they’re on this patch, rather than splitting them out across channels as intended.
I’m sometimes sad I no longer have my Roland MKS-50 (rackmount Alpha Juno), because it too had a “MIDI Guitar” mode which might have been fun with MPE/LinnStrument.
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CS-80 would have been the first, I think?
No MIDI though.
DX1, Prophet T8…
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This looks like a pretty good punt for low budget MPE. I’m a bit concerned about the colour variety being the top selling point product page though 
I don’t understand why the hydra synth is being described as an Mpe controller. It’s a normal synth with poly aftertouch. There were keyboards in the 90s with this before Mpe existed.
MPE, both for the synth and controller, were added to the Hydrasynth as of January 2020, with firmware 1.3. The Hydrasynth can do either Poly-aftertouch or MPE, you select between them, in system setup. A nice feature with the Hydrasynth is that MPE inputs are part of the Modulation Matrix inputs, so the control is very flexible.
Check the Hydrasynth manual, or google to read the January 2020 announcement on firmware 1.3.
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What about all the re-releases that ROLLI is doing? Rise 2, the new LUMI.
I wouldn’t trust them until they can actually prove the “restructure” and renaming changed the company…
I mean in the current generation, sorry.
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The Exquis. It’s a hexagonal isomorphic MPE controller, and also a software based instrument on Kickstarter.
It’s at a good price on Kickstarter, but my reaction is very cautious, i see risk. The delivery is scheduled for June 2023.
I added the Exquis from Intuitive Instruments to the controller master list.
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What does MPE mean in this context? Is there some form of x/y input possible per key?
I have the Erae Touch and I like it quite a bit. Very versatile and it can be used as a sequencer if you want it. I like that I can control multiple devices from the same “screen.”
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For the Exquis : Hard to be sure what is delivered with the final product. They say 2 dimensions of aftertouch, pressure and one dimension of rocking motion.
In this direction it is worth considering the Keith McMillen K-Board Pro 4 for this. While the keys on it don’t have vertical motion ( similarly with the Linnstrument ) it does have 5 dimensions of sensing on a conventionally shaped keybed. So that includes both the X and Y dimension motion. It also has the four assignable slider controls right above the keys and a fairly reasonable price at $600 USD.
This should pair up fairly well with the Iridium Desktop as well.
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Hydrasynth is in no way an MPE controller. It does respond to MPE however.
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HS is indeed an MPE controller because with it you can indeed control another MPE capable synth engine. The controller may not have all the physical polyphonic dimensions that you’d expect but that’s matter of definition.
How? If it’s not sending information that is fundamentally MPE, then how is it an MPE controller? How is it any different than Polyphonic Aftertouch?
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MPE is a protocol that is agnostic of any particular controller and many do not utiize all the dimensions laid out in the protocol.
The Protocol though requires particular stuff to be sent on individual midi channels and global sends to go on a particular channel.
So what are the hydrasynths controlling with MPE besides polyphonic aftertouch?
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polyphonic pitch bend (MPE-X): slide notes in theremin mode on the ribbon while playing other unbent notes on the keybed - yes, the theremin is monophonic but all in all it is polyphonic pitch bend because not all notes bend at the same time …
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control one note per channel
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A proper MPE controller is one that can facilitate all dimensions of touch, therefore making full use of the MPE protocol.
Transmitting channel-per-note data alone, while certainly taking advantage of the MPE protocol, does not constitute an MPE controller.
Cheers!
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