Novation A-Station

I'm using OS version 1.06. The factory programs sound great: fat basses and plenty of tech-pop sounds. Patch editing isn't bad if you are familiar with analog synths - an editor would help though. The manual is pretty straightforward.

The built-in effects are fairly comprehensive including overdrive for hot distortion lead solos. Arpegiator is handy I guess if you can midi sync it to drummer/sequencer during performance.

I'm using the A-Station for synth bass in dance music, it excels at that. Response to keyboard commands is smooth and remote control of front panel controls via midi is handy. The onboard effects sound good to my ear.

Well I guess we had to get to this part. My A-Station locked up a couple of times in the 6 weeks I've had it but power-on reset corrected that. Unfortunately the unit died altogether on last nights gig and no amount of resetting or reloading of sounds or operating system has helped.

Email is pending a response.

It takes a while to get your mind into the 2 x LED display , once you start to remeber what DU . DR , Ar etc.. stand for you will be fine and this is mostly for the effects and Arp section of the synth. Other than this there is a POT for all the standard dial's on this type of 3 osc synth and switches for all the rest. All of the pots send MIDI information so you can sequence your dial moves to your hearts content.

8 Voices of Polyphony , the effects on the whole are sweet (I am in love with the way the reverb sits so perfect in any mix) and they consist of Delay , Reverb , Distortion , Phaser , Vocoder (theres a few hundred bucks normally by itsself) and Chorus. MIDI upgradable Firmware (see notes in Reliability). The ARP is usefull has 6 diffrernt direction settings including Random (see Expresiveness / Sounds). All well worth the money

This is where this unit really shines and also has a slight flaw (atleast for me) . The A-Station can sound like most of the classics . Rolands, Obi's , Sequential due to its very versatile Filers. Its great , especially if your after the sounds without the hastle or issues that come with Vintage Synths. You can set cut-off's and Effects to the Wheels on your controller keyboard for a bit more handy real time control. GREAT! ;-) . I have found 2 issues with this unit though :(. 1) the Delay and other effects create LOTS of clicking noises when you use it with the ARP in Clock Sync to a sequencer this sounds horrible in the mix and makes the effects section useage limiting. 2) the Firmware upgrade to take the unit to OS 1.6 currently is in WINDOWS ONLY format (hu ? go figure) even though its just SYSEX information in a MIDI file it refuses to update the unit from my Macintosh (Cubase 4.x). This is really painfull because I know other Novation Synths in the past have had 'click' problems like I have discribed and this has been cleared up in OS upgrades. So maybe this problem is no longer happening in latest units (try in the shop first maybe ?)

I have had this unit freeze once in 2 weeks of almost constant useage . Not bad at all . you have to wonder what the unit would be like with the new OS ? I would use the A-Station Live without a backup. Only issue i would have would be that the unit has no ON-OFF switch so a quick reset if something went wrong is out of the question (unless you get your local synth Tech to make you a solution)

have not used the customer support yet. If the OS 1.6 upgrade that is Mac compatable is not relased soon I expect to be calling because the effects clicking in sync ARP mode is really starting to peeve me!.

If this unit was lost or stolen i would buy it again for sure. I am actually considering getting a second unit over the comming months. This unit fits in so well with the 'vintage' gear in my rig (sh 101 , MKS 50 , Juno 106, DX 7) the sound's are great and for the price you can afford 2 for the same price as 1 Virus. Lots of inspiration in this unit and easy as all hell to roll your own sounds :)

I wish there was some way to get a little more than mono timbral , but eh , you pay for a Poly synth don't expect multi-timbral. ohh by the way .. All spelling errors are (c) me :)

Once you get the hang of the menu system its really pretty easy, however, the manual is a bit harder to dycypher. Don't get me wrong, its not like the "Roland must be an engineer to understand this" manual. It spends more time explaining terms and pricipals of analouge than how to navigate the piece. In regards to over all controlability of sound generation, its great, lot's-o-knobs for a one space rack. The presets are spectacular, and it is overly easy to tweak them.

The one thing I have to say outright, it's monotimbral. That is the one thing that really pulls this piece down, otherwise the fx are wonderful, and they even provide a distortion compensator to keep your distorted patched form tearing your montiors to peices. The arpegiator is easy to use, but on the same token somewhat difficult to program due to the two digit LED. Overall, for it's price, it's wonderful in the feature department, blows everything else at that price range clear out of the water.

Even though Novation has gotten dumped into the "Dance music" genre, this synth proves that it can do whatever you want that requires an analouge sound. It can be agressive enough for industrial, and poppy enough for your more run-of-the-mill techno dance music. The bass sounds are really great, and are even placed at predicable places, every tenth sound. The sounds on this thing are why I bought it.

I really like it. I am currently using a Virus, and two Waldorfs, and this piece adds something none of them can, which I feel is really important. I love the sounds and controlability of the sounds, I don't have to menu dive, and it only takes one rack space. The biggest complaint, and really the only one, is the fact that it's monotimbral, which makes mixing down a bit more difficult, and if you want to use it on more than one track of a given song you have to mix down the audio of one before writng the next so you can hear what you are doing, thats a pain. Otherwise, top to bottom its a great piece and worth every penny.