Novation K-Station

I have one very big problem with this unit. I am a bass player andI love the bass synth sounds. The problem is that on live gigs, it reboots right in the middle of the sets. It seems to happen less at particular catering halls or clubs but I go to each gig just praying that I make it through an entire song before it defaults to the start-up setting. I have returned it to the company and they have said that it was fixed but it still happens. In a nutshell, it seems to be sensitive to the slightest change in voltage. At home, in my studio, it's fine. Someone has recommended that I try much higher amp adapters(exact voltage) so that maybe the keyboard will function better. I don't want to use any other than the one recommended for the unit but if I have to try it, I will. If anyone has had this same problem or was able to fix it please help me. I'm just about ready to scrap this thing.

Well this were the first Synthesizer I'd ever bought and within a few weeks I had it mastered. I find the manual is also very helpful for those parts you don't understand or know how to use as it explains everything.

Considering how much the Novation K Station costs and the size of it, then yeah, it has many great features. I'll save writting a list as you can find a list of the specs almost anywhere.

I've managed to create many great sounds using the K Station alone. Some of the presets are pretty cool too... A few presets are useless though, but don't hesitate to tweak 'em!

I've had no problems with the K Station to date... It's been great since the day I bought it. I'd say it's quite reliable and I'd consider using it for a gig sometime, although it's very lightweight and may not take too much knocking.

Never needed to contact the Customer Support (yet?).

Yeah, I'd buy it again if anything were to happen to mine. Its certainly worth checking out if you ain't already had a shot on one... And price wise you can't complain! The Novation K Station gets two thumbs up from me.

Just an addition to an earlier review...

Something to think about: After getting some more pro gear I've found that this keyboard is simply the noisiest piece of equipment in my studio. If you are doing pro-quality stuff where your noise floor needs to be about nothing...you won't be happy with this. If you compress any of the sounds recorded at the highest output, any silence is instantly filled with noise heard by even amateurs. Oh well.

Very easy to use. Using OS version 2.0.0.2
Presets sound good although they don't stick around for too long as i usually use them as a base and edit them 'till i get what i want, since it's so easy. Otherwise there's a wide range from light keyboard things (a bit too quiet sometimes) to really strong saw sounds to cool basses, to wierd effects, and the vocoders sound good aswell.
It's sooooo easy to edit patches, or make your own sounds from scratch. everything's right there in front of you set out really easily, except a few things, such as wheel assignments, global settings, type of arpeggiator etc. but these can be found by entering the menus at a touch of a button.
The manual deserves a special mention, very helpful about the synth, very helpful midi tutorial, using my controller keyboard (edirol PCRM-50) i can control it (for when i want a larger keyboard) and really easy to set up a sequencer to use it.

I've been using lots of software synths and i wanted some hardware so i could tweak everything right in front of me, and this is so great for that (and learning about synths too - the signal flow is so clear, and everything DOES something, so if you don't know much about synths this is really helpful to learn about them on).
Polyphony seems good, it hasn't so far been a problem (had it a couple of months) i play fat monosynth stuff, wierd effect stuff and some pads too and it all seems too handle it fine. keyboard's ok, a bit small at two octaves, but then again i wanted a small synth and i hate those mini keys you get sometimes, anyway it's easily connected too a better controller keyboard with extra features such as aftertouch.
Has 400 editable patches which seems to be enough, although if you run out they can be easily backed up into a sequencer.
It can only play one sound at a time but i don't see this as much of a problem, you couldn't use ONLY this in a set up, but if treated as a standalone instrument, like a guitar or something, it's fine.
Only problem is not being able to name patches, i often forget which ones are empty and engd up overwriting something i'd made earlier

Sounds are generally good from the presets, but after editing you should be able to get what you want, although i found that most sounds were very strong, it's less easy to get a lighter sound, but then again i usually get carried away, maybe not using all three oscillators for example, would be lighter.
It's very expressive i love just jamming away with it, and i often end up with sounds completely different to what i started with.
Slight problems reacting to velocity, you really have to smash it to get it too go to high velocities, although there may be something to change the velocity curve, i haven't looked.
Main problem is the arpeggiator, or rather how it reacts too an external clock, it doesn't sync very well (although it's vastly improved with the new OS), this may be something to do with the clock though rather than the synth which is transmitted from a sequencer.

I've only had it a couple of months, but nothing's gone wrong it feels very sturdy, i bought it second hand and the previous person said he'd had it for a few years, it's all in perfect working order so i'd say it's pretty reliable.

Updated to the new OS, which was a very helpful update, due to the improved midi clock sync.

It's certainly worth what i paid i think i got a bargain, but then i think that's the sort of price you pay second hand on ebay at the moment.
I've been playing with software synths for about a year (reason, and what came with my two sequencers traktion and cubase), this is my first hardware synth, but i thing it sounds much better than any of those software things i've been using, and it can be used practially the same way too, you can make it do anything you want from the midi input.
I wish the clock sync was a bit better for the arpeggiator, and that you could change the rate in multiples of the clock input, but otherwise everything's great, LOVE IT!

Easiest analog synth to use on the market. I've used a NORD and it was hard as hell to understand what was going on, but the KS is so SO easy. Presets are awesome and editing is easier than I thought possible. Manual is in depth and easily understood

Has a lot of features, a lot more than you'd expect for the price. Sure I'd like some additions (more polyphony, etc) but you can't complain. The on-board effects are STUPENDOUS! It's hard to find a REAL delay that has tempo input; this keyboard has it! (Thank God, I love that!) All other effects are great sounding. No expansions, I wish it did though, for polyphony or maybe just more presets. MIDI implementation is great, you can use it as a tactile MIDI controller to your computer, which is great but sometimes a hassle since the knobs obviously aren't motorized. No sequencer, but you don't need it!

SOUNDS...what can I say? Seriously AMAZING presets, and it's SO SO SO easy to make new, awesome sounds I can't believe it, really. Usefull for any genre, seriously. Has great response on everything.

I don't gig; this is used in a studio. I have to say though, after about 6 months of heavy use (since I loved it so much!) the power supply started going on the fritz. Sometimes I would turn it on and the screen would blink on and off, over and over. I think it was overheating (the power). But after a couple of days it was fine. After reading of similar problems, I am probably going to buy a new power supply at the 'ol Radioshack and see if it does it anymore. Other than that, the unit was fine.

I tried to call, both the European number and the American number on the manual. No luck, I NEVER heard from them. Didn't try to email them. As other reviewers have said, they seem to not really have any costumer support. It's a shame, because everything on this keyboard is amazing, I wish it was a Yamaha or Korg, etc product so I could get help with it. Also, I've not seen one in a Guitar Center or anything in forever, I think they don't produce them anymore, which is AWFUL and makes me very sad :(

If lost/stolen, I would be running to the insurance agent RIGHT THEN and getting a check to find one used or new, because (especially for the price point) this synth is simply amazing. This was an impulse buy from me and I couldn't have been happier. It's simply the best analog synth I've ever had the pleasure to work with, and a LOT cheaper. I've played it for over 2 years now, I think, and it's stimulated my creativity so often. Great unit, great price, but crappy support. I hope to God it never breaks, cuz I'll be using it till the day I die! Minus ONE point for the costumer support, but in my eyes this is truly a 10!

This is very easy to use .....i mean really easy if you think of roland synths and so on

the first thing about this thing is that you might aswell buy the v-station if your planning on using it in a studio and not for giging,
because the persets are the same ????? that sucks man !! i mean sure it does sound better because of the analog outputs...and the filter sounds alot better in the high end, but if you have a good comp with a good soundcard that can run 96Hz 24bit then you would almost get the same sound out of it

Reverb - sucks !!
Delay - standard
Chorus - not really that good
Distortion - sounds good / but you could get alot better than this
EQ - well ( you know )
panning - same as above
Vocoder - sounds ok i guess ....never use it tho!! i get a much better sound out of plug-ins

Good sound !!! no doudt but not even close to being analog sounding..
if your looking for something that sounds analog buy a nord lead 2x (KICKS ASS)

MORE PRESETS YOU BASTARDS

note you can do sysex dumps but still this shouldn`t be my job..it should come with like 800 presets and not 200 ???

this thing has almost no Reliability....the power sup sucks soooo much
if you use this thing on stage ( heheh ) you wont get though 30min before the power sup overheats ! i mean i have problems at home ????
so until novation fix this prob ! i will only give it ( 1 ) because of this NOOB like misstake from novation

They dont have any ?????????????????????? what the F&#%?"!!#!"#!"# Bitc"#!!"!#!"#!"#

i paid 350 for it so i dont really care that much about the again NOOB like misstakes from novation, but if i should give a overall rating

well i would give it a ( 7 ) because of the power sup
but other than that i kinda like it tho ....you can play around with this thing a hell of a lot more than other synths...i love tweeking the hell out of this thing thats for sure....

it could be nice if they put alot more presets into it ...

but in the end if you are thinking of using this in a studio for making techno/other then i would just go with the v-station if your comp can handle 96Hz 24bit..

bought this unit new about a year ago so i guess the newest.easy to edit sounds, pretty straight foward analog like controls. Manual is straight foward and easy to get the overall idea.

First off the keyboard action is crappy but the same for most synths under $1000. It has good effects, all are BPM syncable, along with the LFO's. The vocoder is pretty crappy for being 12-band, the vocoder on the Micro-Korg is only 8-band aand is about 100 times more better if you want a good robot-like voice effect. No expansions, the arppegiator is decent, but not as extensive as its competitors (ROLAND, KORG and NORD, etc)

Overall good virtual analog like sounds, Id definately would say that this is made for those who want to do trance/dance/techno type crowd.
If you are looking for say like synth-pop, kraftwerk, early eighties sound I'd look to KORG or ROLAND. the pads and leads are its strengths, the basses to my ear are definately lacking. But its pretty much been par for the course for novation, as the Bass-station suffered the same problem.

RELIABILITY IS THE BIGGEST PROBLEM WITH THIS UNIT!!!!!
The first unit I bought lastest for exactly 10 days before the OS completely crashed and I went to get a new one from guitar center.
The second unit which I got I had for almost a month when the mother board died. SO I figured 3rd times a charm and got the unit I have now
and with 3 months i had to replace the power supply myself as the one that came with my unit fried itself, (the same thing happened with my Drum-station) IF YOU HAVE ANY NOVATION PRODUCT I RECCOMEND THAT YOU GO AND REPLACE YOU POWER SUPPLY WITH ONE FROM RADIO SHACK OR ELSEWHERE THE UNITS I'VE OWNED HAVE (DRUM-STATION, K-STATION) HAVE WORKED SO MUCH BETTER WITH A THE NEW POWER SUPPLY)
I will no longer gig this unit after having it freeze up on me about three times during live shows

NOVATION DOES NOT HAVE CUSTOMER SUPPORT

IT TOOK THEM OVER TEN E-MAILS and 6 PHONE CALLS TO ENGLAND TO GET BACK TO ME FOR THE MOTHER BOARD PROBLEM I HAD

THEY WOULD NOT REPLACE MY FRIED POWER SUPPLY

THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY THE WORST MUSIC COMPANY I HAVE EVER DEALT WITH

I'm actually probably going to sell this unit because I now have the V-station software. If you like the sound of this unit I'd tell you to but the software and skip the hardware keyboard version because its not reliable. If you do Trance/electronica type of genre this unit is great for that. But after recently buying a Roland SH-32 and a Micro-KORG togther for the same price as one of these. I 'd never pay $600 again

This bad-boy is a snap to use. Plug it in, turn some knobs, get fat... and i mean PHAT sounds. Nice back-lit LCD screen, so you can always see what you're doing.

My one beef is that the only software patch editor for this i'm aware of is the Novation V-Station, which is too pricey for my liking. But the menus are easy enough to navigate through, so its not a huge issue.

For the price, I amazed by all this little gem can do. There's all the standard VA options along with a couple of unique little filter settings and lfo options. The vocoder is nice, although don't be expecting huge results as it's only 10-band. You can vocode any synth sound it produces though. This enables you do run your voice through the appegiator which can create some wacked sounds.

The appegiator is a little limited, but it's not a big issue as i seldom use it anyway.

The two octave keyboard was a big factor in chosing this over the MicroKorg. The keys on the Korg were too small for my stubby fingers, and felt far too plasticy. This keyboard is more natural. Shame about the lack of aftertouch, but i drive it through a controller so its no biggy.

This synth is P.H.A.T...... I went out and bought this almost immediatly after listening to the demo's on the Novation site.

The rhodes sounds are so smooth, the basses are tight, and those distorted 303-style sounds are so crisp. I can't stop playing with the distorted popcorn-style sound. So dirty, i love it. I was amazed that a synth this price could sound so good.

The effects aren't anything special. They compliment the sounds nicely, but i wouldn't say they were mind-blowing. The reverb can sometimes sound a little over-bearing, so be gentle.

PHAT PHAT PHAT.....................

Seems pretty sturdy. Nice metal casing, and robust knobs/mod wheels/ etc...

Im taking it on the road with me next week, so we'll see how it stands up.

Clicks when changing sounds, which can be a bit annoying.... but the sounds make up for it.

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This is a tight synth. Great sounds, easy access to menus/features... a highly reccomended buy. Spend a little extra and get this instead of the MicroKorg, its well worth it. Not only does it sound better, its more of a synth instead of a toy.

PHAT PHAT PHAT

Simple to use. Knobs are set out nicely. I want to purhase one.

Anyone know where I can get the best deal on one? The bloke before me says he paid only USD $599 for one new.

The effects seem a bit weak, but it's wonderful to be able to punch-up seven simultaneous effects! Nice to have the effects when playing stand-alone. Better quality effects could be added later in the studio / when recording.

Sounds fabulous. It's the best VA for the price I've ever heard. Used to own an Access Virus "A" but the sounds never "wowed" me. It all comes down to what sounds best to your ears and there's no substitute for demo'ing various machines you're interested in.

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Seems to be great value. I may take the plunge. Anyone know what I should pay for one new or used? $750 new is too much; surely one can bargain one's way down to a better price with a good dealer.

The software version on my K-Station is unknown. However it was purchased brand new in May of 2003 if that's any indication. The presets give you a decent place to start creating new sounds from. I personally feel that the effects are overused on most presets, but turning them off is simple enough. The K-Station is a piece of cake to edit, with all controls / menu options labled with industry-standard terms. (no proprietary jargon to figure out!) I don't believe i've even consulted the manual yet, except to find out the controller channel numbers. I did this because there were a few features I couldn't access on the front panel, namely the FM Amount.
No patch naming. Oh, well!

For the size & price, the features are outstanding. Three oscillators is great, beats most other VA synths. The keyboard is a typical synth keyboard, with no weighted keys, which is what I prefer. The filter has two cutoff slopes available (12 & 24db), and sounds great. Unlike the KS-5, the K-station has the filter tracking knob right on the front panel, where it belongs! (not buried in menus!) The Effects are good quality if used tastefully. The only complaint I have with the effects is that delay time cannot be adjusted in real time. But I have an external delay, so it's not that big of a deal. No expansion options are available to my knowlege. Novation makes a 4 & 5 key version of this synth, but I owned a KS-5 and it was a horrible pile of junk. I returned three of them before I gave up and bought the K-station. There are seperate MIDI in/out/thru sockets. (yay!) No sequencer.

The sounds are killer. I bought it because not only did it have 3 oscillators, but also FM.. The FM is easy to use, and can produce much more unconventional sounds. Programming isn't as flexible, say, as a Yamaha DX-7, but this keyboard is much more fun to use. Also, ring modulation, oscillator sync, etc.. You can only imagine the variety of different timbres easily patched! You could buy one of these to imitate moogs, and 303's, but it would be a waste of the K-Station's potential. Vocoder sounds much better than the MS-2000 / Microkorg vocoder, which is another reason I bought the K-Station. Again, very easy to use. Love it!

It hasn't been any trouble yet, but I use several other synths on stage. A backup is always available, it's just stupid not to have a backup! I trust that if anything happens to my K-Station, it will be fixed and life will go on.

When I had a KS-5, novation didn't return my e-mails. I'm guessing their customer service lacks due to a small staff.. So i'll wait a while for a response before I say anything bad about novation. I know a good factory-authorized Novation service facility. So I'm not terribly worried about problems with the unit.

I would replace the K-Station if some ill fate befell it. But I'm very protective of my synths, so I expect nothing of the sort to happen. I would find & slay the theif foolish enough to covet my beloved synths. I also use a Roland JP-8000, RedSound Darkstar, and Yamaha DX-200. It's a great setup, and lots of fun! I've played in a rock band for 3 years, now and this is by far the best setup I've had. (and I've had many!!) My wish list for the K-Station: Internal power supply, FM Amount Knob, FM Envelope Knob, Smoother Pitch Bending, Osc 1/2 Sync switch on panel instead of in menu, and XLR input for microphone. But i can easily live without these things. Only other comparable synth would be a Virus Indigo, at triple the price! The Alesis ION may be a contender when it comes out next month.