megafish
Member
Just wanted to ask you guys before i pressed the button and ordered one. It'll be my first propper synthesiser, (got a few soft synths but i want something "real") anyway, is there any reason "not" to buy one?
Novation K Station
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jsainsbury
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warm, deep, full sounding... nice and heavy
i'm not the biggest fan though, its not amazingly flexible and lacks the pure grit of a nord/virus
as a first synth, reccomended, it can do all the noises, nice interface, yeah, good.
i'm not the biggest fan though, its not amazingly flexible and lacks the pure grit of a nord/virus
as a first synth, reccomended, it can do all the noises, nice interface, yeah, good.
^^^ good summary
not much to add really..... really good basic quality to the sound - fat/warm/rich/silky/tearing etc - but not the most versatile in the world (owing to lack of various things... multimode filters (or did they add them now?), some of the modulation-related things are a little limited, etc)
overall i really like it , especially for basslines [especially round subby ones], leads [especially vaguely 303-style ones] and trancey squelchy bleepy noises. Dont use it for pads and sequences and stuff tho.
i dont think there's any reason NOT to buy one.... there only might be reason to buy smething else instead (korg ms2k, alesis ion, etc)
basically just bear in mind its never going to be a nord/virus, its half the price for a reason
ps. have to ask... why not buy the v-station? Having used both I can vouch for the fact it sounds exactly the same, and the vsti one is a lot cheaper. If your only reason is that hardware is more "real" and "pro" and cooler, then dont waste your money, because you only think that until you own the stuff.
Then you realise it has many hassles and drawbacks which software does not, which balances it out overall imho. Unless you specifically need one of hardware's advantages (tactility, portability / suitability for live use, resale value) dont bother, get the v-station.
not much to add really..... really good basic quality to the sound - fat/warm/rich/silky/tearing etc - but not the most versatile in the world (owing to lack of various things... multimode filters (or did they add them now?), some of the modulation-related things are a little limited, etc)
overall i really like it , especially for basslines [especially round subby ones], leads [especially vaguely 303-style ones] and trancey squelchy bleepy noises. Dont use it for pads and sequences and stuff tho.
i dont think there's any reason NOT to buy one.... there only might be reason to buy smething else instead (korg ms2k, alesis ion, etc)
basically just bear in mind its never going to be a nord/virus, its half the price for a reason
ps. have to ask... why not buy the v-station? Having used both I can vouch for the fact it sounds exactly the same, and the vsti one is a lot cheaper. If your only reason is that hardware is more "real" and "pro" and cooler, then dont waste your money, because you only think that until you own the stuff.
Then you realise it has many hassles and drawbacks which software does not, which balances it out overall imho. Unless you specifically need one of hardware's advantages (tactility, portability / suitability for live use, resale value) dont bother, get the v-station.
Continuum
Throb Farmer
Humm...I had a Nova and I thought it sounded rubbish - really weedy and crap for bass. However I've got VStation which I think is a software version of the KStation. Like Sol said it really is a basic 3-osc poly without many clever tricks, but it does sound lovely. Very phat, excellent deep bottom. Much like me.
Warwick Bassmonkey
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Re: build quality...
My Remote 25 feels very solid and the keyboard feels real nice and has aftertouch and the knobs all feel like they'll last.
It *did* have to go back to the menders 'cos a couple of buttons were sticking, but now that's fixed its fine. Apparently it was due to swarf.. eeek!
Dunno if you can still get 'em, but if you can find a Remote 25 audio with the Xtreme upgrade bundle (now discontinued & superceded by the X Station), you'll get a V-station for free, plus a download which turns the thing into a K-station minus the vocoder. And even more knobs plus a handy X-Y touchpad thingy.
My Remote 25 feels very solid and the keyboard feels real nice and has aftertouch and the knobs all feel like they'll last.
It *did* have to go back to the menders 'cos a couple of buttons were sticking, but now that's fixed its fine. Apparently it was due to swarf.. eeek!
Dunno if you can still get 'em, but if you can find a Remote 25 audio with the Xtreme upgrade bundle (now discontinued & superceded by the X Station), you'll get a V-station for free, plus a download which turns the thing into a K-station minus the vocoder. And even more knobs plus a handy X-Y touchpad thingy.
Warwick Bassmonkey
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tweaka said:
Well, mine did have to go back to get some swarf removed, so there's still room for improvement.
And btw, you were totally correct about the Remote 25 (non-audio) with free V-station - that is yet another available combination, though not standalone obviously.
The X-Station got a pretty good write-up in the last SOS mag.
If you are thinking down the Novation path - make sure you check out a demo version first, and make sure the pickup mode issue isn't gonna make you pull out all of your hair when you start knob twiddling. :sob:
A fix has been promised, but there's no sign of it yet
A fix has been promised, but there's no sign of it yet
tweaka said:whats all that about rezn8?RezN8 said:If you are thinking down the Novation path - make sure you check out a demo version first, and make sure the pickup mode issue isn't gonna make you pull out all of your hair when you start knob twiddling. :sob:
A fix has been promised, but there's no sign of it yet
due to get a new controller kboard soon, sounds a bit ominous :unsure:
My (limited) understanding of pick-up:
Short version.....
It is all your memory settings for your different templates.
Long Version.....
The Pick-up feature is one of the most important features of a Midi controller. Midi Controllers are for the sole purpose of controlling other devices hardware or software. People who use Midi controllers are usually controlling multiple devices (in software). Templates are part of controllers for this reason so you can switch control from device to device by simply changing the template. As musicians you control 1 device, make adjustments then move on to the next device and the next. throughout the course of working on your project you will inevitably come back to each track and each device numerous times making adjustments before you are done. A controller remembers the settings for each template so when it's time to come back to that 'sampler or synth' to make adjustments the knobs don't jump out of wack as soon as you touch something. As a matter of fact the knobs that you are controlling (in software) should not move until the knob on the controller is in alignment, then they will move together in unison.
Example:
You are working on a mix in Cubase and there is a distorted bass (distorted on purpose) so you keep the volume low on that track. Now you change template to adjust a soft high-hat in Reason to bring it up in the mix.....The two templates use the same track for the 2 instruments so now the level on the controller is a lot higher than it was when controlling the bass. Without pickup, as soon as you touch that knob or fader the volume jumps to that sky high level and in worse case scenario blows your monitors and possibly your hearing for the next month, or in the less serious case, completely screws up your mix level. But with pick up that level of the Bass would not budge until you are in proper alignment.
Hope that helped.
Warwick Bassmonkey
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I'm checking in my Novation manual now....
Sounds like the defaults are not want you'd want then, but are editable at least (bit of a a pain in the arse though). I'm gonna give it a whirl and see if it works as we'd hope.
Sounds like the defaults are not want you'd want then, but are editable at least (bit of a a pain in the arse though). I'm gonna give it a whirl and see if it works as we'd hope.
your mum
Member
Had a Supernova 2 for a while and I found it as one of the most boring sounding synths ever.
Dunno if the KS Rack is using different algos, but the ones on SN2 are only good for thin-toy sounding pads, leads with no bite, and boring basslines with lumps of sub, but no character in the low mid range, filter sound, what so ever.
I am not trying to put you down for buying the KS as your first synth... I am guilty of having the SN2 my self.
But next time, if you are going to buy a hardware synth, buy a real one.
Peace out.
Dunno if the KS Rack is using different algos, but the ones on SN2 are only good for thin-toy sounding pads, leads with no bite, and boring basslines with lumps of sub, but no character in the low mid range, filter sound, what so ever.
I am not trying to put you down for buying the KS as your first synth... I am guilty of having the SN2 my self.
But next time, if you are going to buy a hardware synth, buy a real one.
Peace out.
megafish
Member
Cheers for all the feedback guys, looks like ishall go ahead with the purchasement.
Thought about doing the software option, but given that i already have lots of audiounits i couldn't be bothered to buy another one, absynth 2 has more satisfied my desire for softsynths. I've wanted to get my hands on a "real" synth for a while now, not just for sequencing but for jamming/band purposes + i like the idea of taking it round someones house and pluggin into the stereo and having a right propper mash up+ it'll force me to expand my keyboard skills
cheers guys, i hope to have some demo material for you all sometime soon :bananada:
soliptic said:ps. have to ask... why not buy the v-station? Having used both I can vouch for the fact it sounds exactly the same, and the vsti one is a lot cheaper. If your only reason is that hardware is more "real" and "pro" and cooler, then dont waste your money, because you only think that until you own the stuff.
Thought about doing the software option, but given that i already have lots of audiounits i couldn't be bothered to buy another one, absynth 2 has more satisfied my desire for softsynths. I've wanted to get my hands on a "real" synth for a while now, not just for sequencing but for jamming/band purposes + i like the idea of taking it round someones house and pluggin into the stereo and having a right propper mash up+ it'll force me to expand my keyboard skills
cheers guys, i hope to have some demo material for you all sometime soon :bananada:
megafish said:
are you just going for the basic k-station? i whole-heartedly recommend it - used a friends for years and am constantly inspired by the sounds it makes, but, i've got a ks-5 and it's much nicer! cost £350 on ebay, pretty much brand new, and it's got some essential features the kstation doesn't have:
1. HP and BP filters to go with the LP
2. 4 part multi-timbral
3. decent sized keyboard
its got a few other advantages, (filter distort is nice), but those 3 are really worth paying more for, if you're got money and space to put it in.
basically though, the ks sounds phaT, i love the noises it makes... fair enough the comments above saying it's not _totally_ flexible, but the noises it does make are very nice and varied - from organs and pianos and strings through huge round bass to nasty leads and fx. the HP filter on the KSrack/KS4/KS5 removes a lot of the limitations of the k-sation in my opinion...