Hey, in my opinion it is awesome to use, there are even some shortcuts to set up the mod matrix even faster. I have no complains and sometimes I wish I had two ;) Regarding the learning curve, this was done during my first days with the Hydra:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmjVUqF75lY

HYDRASYNTH - GALLERY OF SONIC BRUTALITY
YouTubeAnalog Four, Syntakt, Digitakt, Hydrasynth and Opsix are my main boxes for brutal noise and mad sound design ;) I’m still curious about the Machinedrum and have the Anyma Omega on the way.
I have some other stuff, but that is more food for sampling than part of this setup.