Novation XioSynth

There is no written manual to speak of, but the synth is relatively simple to use once you get the hang of it. The few presets that I was able to test before the unit went haywire seemed ok, although there seems to be quite a lot of silly sfx-type patches.

The keyboard action is just horrible, and the unit feels overall very plastic and cheap. The keys have a completely different feel depending on the position on the keyboard. The pitch bend doesnt center correctly and is imprecise. The general build quality is awful.

I had to have mine replaced already once because of faulty assembly, and the second one went haywire after only about 15 minutes of playing. I really would recommend people to stay away from this piece of crap.

The few sounds that I was able to test seemed nice for the price.

Absolutely not. Reliability of this unit is zero.

I got the first xiosynth replaced without problems, the jury's still out on the second one.

I deeply regret that I bought this synth, it really has to be the worst piece of garbage I have ever used. I really would recommend people to stay away from this piece of crap.

The Xio offers 14 knobs and 22 buttons for patch editing and tweaking goodness. It's fast and easy to program, and the menu system offers other editing possibilities, which are quick and easy to access.

They keyboard feel is semi-weighted, a rarity among modern synthesizers with a nice feel.

Good news is that it has 10 voice polyphony, not 8 as many reviews have stated. Novation has verified this and any Xio owner can prove it by playing 10 notes before cutoff occurs.

The built in tweakable effects are of the same quality as most Lexicon effects - very high. The chorus is fat and sweet, the verb is spacious and warm, etc.

Arpeggiator has many options and really helps this keyboard to shine, including random, the standard up, down, up/down, as well as chord. Nice!

What sets the Xio apart from the competition is the sound quality. Although it has excellent programming capability similar to many modern synths, the sound is much more warm, lush, sparkling and punchy than every analog modelling synth I've tried/heard, including the Alesis Ion, all Rolands, all Korgs, Virus, and even the analog Prophet '08 (which I bought, tried and returned, as the Xio had superior sound editing and less harsh sound quality) although the Yamaha AN1X is in the same high quality league as the Xio. There are sound snippets here to prove the point: http://www.synthmania.com/xiosynth_25.htm

This is the best sounding synth I've heard in the last 20 years - similar in timbre to a mid-80s DCO based analog synth. Clean, sweet, warm and punchy. This is a synth similar to the greats of the 70s and early-mid 80s.

Very reliable, I even dropped it and the knobs are designed to pop off rather than break off, and can be popped back on and are secure. Nice touch.

For any price, this synth has the sweetest/punchiest sound I've heard of all the analog-modelling synths. If you like the sound of warm, punchy analogs with sweet highs (such as Roland mid-80s synths), this one is similar, but with much more programmability options to create modern and future sounds. The fact that I got it for under $300 is amazing - I would have paid $2000 for it as it sounds better than other synths in that price range.

i wont say that the xio is "easy" to use because of the fact that most of the features are hidden deep in a menu which causes a lot of frustration when trying to program patches, after about a year of fiddling with knobs and buttons to reach simple paramaters i gave up and reverted back to software as this was my first hardware synth that i bought. and it fact it kind of put me off the idea of hardware synthesizers for a while, however as a midi controller and an audio interface the xio has served its purpose in this side quite well although after a few months i started noticing a large amount of noise when i turned the main volume knob, i got myself a protools mbox system soon after and the xiosynth ended up simply bieng a midi controller. i cant stand to try and program this synth and programming patches from scratch has always been my thing, its painful to use as a synth, easy to set up as a midi and audio device via usb.

ive never had issues with polyphony running out but mainy because as i said i gave up with the actual synthesizer, it has built in effects that can all run at the same time, including delay, reverb,distortion, phaser/chorus and some limited panning modulation and a 2 3 band equalizer, all the effects are realy limited and sound rather useless to me.

the arpeggiator is up to scratch actually in my opinion and the x-gator feature is useful but a pain to program,

no midi in but there is a single midi out which dosnt bother me,

the pitch stick and mod stick bores me
and the x-y pad is the most irritating thing ive ever had to deal with i remember programming patches and the brushing against the pad with my arm and id have to go and reset the filter and resonance amount to what i had it to before.



when it comes to the actual synthesizer all the features are there, its got 3 oscillators, the simple waveforms,1 filter,2 lfo's, a modulation and amp envelope, nothing special but nothing missing, its all there deep in a menu.

ive gotten better sound out of my washing machine, im the type of person who hates presets simply because i didnt program them, not that theres any preset on the xio that makes my hair stand up and makes me envious but i find the unison dosnt seem to fatten things up enough, the way the filter sounds, theres no warmth. that kind of depth that you expect from hardware just isnt there. as i said the oboard effects arent realy good, and seem to just drown everyhing away. low marks here!

ive never realy had any issues technically with xiosynth its kind of always done what its meant to even if it dosnt do it to well.

ive never had to deal with them

if it were stolen my consciouns would be clear of the fact that its sitting around bieng neglected, and simply no i would never buy it again. its worth what i paid i guess, i wasnt realy expecting this synth to amaze me considering the price, however i was dissapointed with the sound. i dont own other gear but as i said i get better sound of my washing machine.

i guess i enjoyed its neat small compact appearance however using the thing is a different story.

it never helped me make music i ended up sticking to software synths.

ive done a lot of research for my second synth and ive planned on getting a clavia nord rack 2x simply because theres no built in effects i realy find that they get in the way. and also because of the simple laid out interface.

its a budget synth...does pretty much everything however dosnt do it well. i dont reccomend this for someone thats just getting into synthesizer, however i also dont reccomend it for the experienced user...so i guesss i simply dont reccomend it.

The Xio is a very easy synth to learn to use and is perfect for beginners. There are 200 presets, though I wouldn't recommend using them for editing beyond the basics such as filtering, waveform and effects, as many of them have very fancy combinations of the synth's various features. This being a VA synth, however, means editing presets is very simple and easy - all you have to do is turn a knob, and you've edited the preset. There is an "init" patch (found at patch 199) which I would recommend for creating sounds from scratch.

The synth has a row of knobs at the top for tweaking parameters, with each knob controlling two different parameters, easily switchable by pressing a button which lights up an LED on either row of parameters. This can be a bit annoying as you will often have to keep pressing the button to edit different parameters.

The manual is very complete in terms of the features of the synth; however, it is very lacking in synth basics, which can make it very difficult for a beginner to learn the different features.

The synth's features are very complete considering its affordability, including 3 oscillators, a filter, two LFOs, three envelope generators, an arpeggiator, gate sequencer, and six different effects. I have never had any problems with polyphony; indeed, in some cases where you are using very thick and fat sounds, you will be better off setting the synth to monophonic mode to prevent the modulation on different notes from clashing with each other.

The analog modelling oscillator waveforms include the basic saw, square/variable pulse, triangle, sine, various types of noise, and various other waveforms such as an organ, a harpsichord, electric piano and Rhodes piano. They can be set to unison, synced to each other and used for frequency modulation (FM) and ring modulation. Of course, they can also be individually fine-tuned by up to +-50 cents and coarse-tuned by up to +-12 semitones (1 octave).

The single resonant filter can be set to either low-pass, high-pass or band-pass mode with keyboard tracking and modulation from either the modulation envelope or the LFO.

The Xio has two LFO's, one of which is set by default to modulating oscillator pitch, and the other of which is set to modulating filter frequency. However, they can also be set to modulate other parts of the synth, such as pulse-width modulation amount, FM amount and the pitches of each individual oscillator. The LFO waveforms include sine, triangle, saw, square, random/stepped sample and hold, crossfades, scales (major, mode, chromatic) and various others.

The Xio has three envelopes, one of which controls amplitude, with another controlling modulation to oscillator pitch, PWM and filter frequency, and the third controlling FM amount among others.

The six effects comprise delay, reverb, chorus, distortion, EQ and panning modulation. Delay, reverb, chorus and panning in particular may be synced to the MIDI clock.

The Xio can be connected to a computer using USB, which also acts as a power source. This is very convenient as it eliminates the need for a MIDI interface. It also has an external audio input and a mic input which allows it to act as a basic audio interface. However, it lacks MIDI-in and MIDI-thru jacks. It can be powered by either USB, an external power source (via power supply) or an internal battery.

The Xio is an analog modelling synth, and it is therefore most useful for creating analog-style sounds, although it also has an FM feature which gives it significantly more flexibility than a genuine analog synth. However, despite having three oscillators, the Xio often requires large amounts of chorus and delay to produce a full, warm sound, which its oscillator unison feature often fails to thicken. It can, however, produce anything from very warm and atmospheric analog pad sounds to punchy basslines and aggressive leads, and therefore is highly versatile in these terms.

As I've never used a genuine analog synth, I can't exactly compare the two; however, the filter on the Xio is relatively weak and lacks the warmth of genuine analog filters, which is perhaps its biggest shortfall.

The onboard effects are very complete, in particular the delay, chorus and pan, and I often use them to thicken the Xio's sound, which the oscillators don't exactly accomplish.

As I'm not a keyboard player, velocity and aftertouch aren't exactly important to me; however the keys respond very well to my playing and has a variety of different velocity curves. I tend to play softly, and the default velocity curve suits me very well.

I've had some technical problems with the Xio, in particularly concerning its compatibility with the Intel chip on my laptop. This doesn't seem to be a problem with the Xio or its driver, however.

The other major technical problem I had was with the synth's tuning, which surprisingly fluctuated noticeably (by around 50 cents, I late figured by playing around with the fine-tuning) as I played on the keyboard. This problem gradually disappeared; to date I still have no idea what caused it or how it miraculously managed to fix itself. This being a digital synth, I wasn't very impressed by its unstable tuning.

I've had to contact customer support numerous times due to the technical problems I've had. Fortunately, their support is friendly, helpful and quick to reply, although they did have a few problems themselves with solving the technical problems I had.

The Xio is a huge bargain for the number of features it has. At its price tag of just over US$300, it's self-contained with more features than I could ask for, can produce an immense variety of sounds for various genres of electronic music, and is more than useful for my music project, being the only commercial synth I use. It is a great value for money and a great synth to use when on a budget.

Not reliable. Had some difficulty maintaining in key.

Plan on having a back-up

Totally non-responsive! Their 'server crashed' three times in two weeks. Had a complete power failure - likely a short inside the device. Novation tried to force me to send the synth back through the vendor for what is clearly a warranty issue.

Would buy something else if given the opportunity

It has a little bit of a learning curve to it. The layout isn't exactly the most intuitive. But as far as on the spot tweaks go, everything you could want to do or need is accessible.

As with all of these keyboards, the presets are always lame and gimmicky. They're not ever useful so much as they are really just there to show off all of the bells and whistles you'll never use.

Editing patches is easy once you learn. And the manual isn't so bad.

It's got 10 note polyphony in it's modeling. That's pretty freakin' sweet for a keyboard of it's size.

It has some built in effects, such as reverb and delays... But the parameters to customize these effects are pretty weak, and they don't sound all that great to begin with either.

It also functions as a two input recording interface...So when you're given the option to get a usb recording interface for $149, or a usb recording interface with a midi keyboard with analog synth modeling on it for $100 more, you shouldn't have to think about it too long. BTW, it also has phantom power on it for condenser mics. Not the greatest mic pre-amps in the world, but perfect for demoing.

It has midi out, but not a standard midi in unfortunately. However, you can send midi in through the USB interface on it (which it can also be powered by). So not that big a deal.

As far as the sounds are concerned.... Here is where everyone bumps heads. Let me explain:

Having built some of my own analog synth gear (modular components), I can speak knowledgeably and truthfully as to the differences between analog and digital wave generators. They are EXACTLY THE SAME!!!! An oscilloscope doesn't lie. Tests of both modular gear and this xiosynth proved to be indistinguishable to both the scope and more importantly, my ears. There weren't really any major artifacts in either, other than some noise floor.

Where the two worlds collide is the analog vs. digital FILTER!!! This is where the magic happens in my opinion. A DCO going to an analog VCF will sound identical to a VCO going to a VCF. However, the same cannot be said about the opposite. A VCO to a DCF sounds just as bad as a DCO to a DCF.

Just about every DCF I have ever heard sounds unnatural, with the exception of the Virus stuff. This is because of whatever algorithm they're using to sweep through the frequency range and the number of ticks in the rotary encoder. It is never a smooth sweep, and it never sounds right to my ears. However, it isn't all that terrible. It just still doesn't touch the real deal.

This keyboard does lack aftertouch that it's big brother, the x-station has. If I had to do it again, I would have bought the x-station instead.

Hasn't quit on me yet. But it is made of plastic. Seems like it could be prone to damage if not babied. However, my bandmate has an x-station he's used with bass foot pedals for a few years now with no issues at all.

I love this thing for all of it's functions. It's small, useful, and sounds good as a modeling synth. I can't complain in the least. The number of functions it has for the price was fantastic.

I'm running the latest OS for this unit--or at least the latest from what I can tell :) The presets on this synth are quite good. I was honestly pretty shocked when I ran through them. Good sonic quality, and this synth does a great job at emulating that analogue sound. All I can say about the sounds is they're PHAT PHAT PHAT! Editing patches is so easy on this unit. There are 11 knobs on the little panel of this synth and they all have mulitple functions. There are also 11 buttons with numerous functions under those knobs as well. What I really like is that that if you turn a knob it doesn't JUMP to the setting like some other synths. If you have a knob set at 64 and switched functions to use the same knob for another controller function.., if the knob was set at 127 for that controller and you went back to the previous controller the sound won't be affected until the knob reaches the original position of 64. GREAT FEATURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The manual I can't really comment on yet. It's a PDF on disc. There's a Quick Start Guide, but I haven't even used it. This synth is not hard to figure out. I think it has a logical layout.

Poly on this unit IS NOT 8! That's a misprint because the poly is really 10 notes. WOW 10 freakin notes on this little thing! That really make for some THICK patches. The keyboard action isn't too bad. It's supposed to be semi-weighted, and I have to say it does feel like a semi-weighted keybed. Not the best one I've used, but it's got a little weighted action to it. Upon return the keys have a litte buzz to them, but nothing to be alarmed about at all. The keys are touch sensitive, but do not have aftertouch. There are also several velocity settings to tailer them to your style of playing. It has several effects and what's really crazy is they ALL can be used at the same time and adjusted separately for each OSC. The effects also have parameters you can adjust as well. Midi is VERY GOOD. After all this isn't just a synth, but also a full blown midi controller. Midi options are very good. There are numerous temps to use and you can make your own. There is no sequencer, but it does have the XGator function that allows you to program some cool rhythmic movements for the patches. This Xio is also an audio interface! How cool is that :) There is even a mic jack with Phantom Power. Oh I almost forgot.., there was one HUGE feature left off on this synth. I consider it huge because it's a double featured unit as it functions as a synth and midi controller. There is only ONE midi jack on the synth. It only has MIDI OUT, and does not have a MIDI IN jack. It would be nice to have the option of using a larger keyboard to control the sounds of the Xio. This thing also ships with some software to get you started too.

If you're looking for acoustic emulation DO NOT BUY THIS SYNTH! This IS NOT for those types of instruments. This keyboard is designed to simulate the sound of an analouge synth. This unit will work well for many styles. Especially in the electronica genre. This will also work for rock and metal as there are some killer synth leads you can program. The effects are pretty good. Nothing stellar, but they get the job done. It reacts to my playing very well. The velocity settings are easy to adjust too.

I'm sitting on the middle of the fence on this subject at the moment. The keys are great, body is plastic, but it's a small synth, sockets and connections feel secure, BUT the knobs raise some serious concerns for me. Those knobs can pop of with very little pressue. I've read reviews about this and tested it out, and with the lightest upward pressure on a knob POP! The SOB came right off in my fingers. THAT IS A PROBLEM FOR ME! These knobs don't sit deep on the posts, rather they sit shallow which is why they pop off so easily. I have every intention of using this in my set up, but I'm going to contact Novation and order a pack of replacement knobs. With regular gig use one is bound to pop off.

Haven't tried customer support yet, but I will be contacting them to order some spare knobs.

Overall I'm very pleased with this little synth. I'm blown away at how many features Novation packed into this synth! People were complaining about wanting more knobs ect..., but I say what the hell are they crying about. This is a 25 key synth. How much room do some of you think Novation is working with here. On the panel this little synth has 23 buttons 14 knobs, pressure pad, joystick, and an LCD screen. They squeezed all of that on a 25 keys unit!!!!! I think they did very well working with a VERY LIMITED SPACE. I love the sounds on this unit. The presest are great, but you don't buy this puppy soley for the presets. It's a synth and those little knobs and buttons are there for you to create your own patches. I compared this to the MicroKorg and the Ion. I personally think this little synth is better than both the Korg and Alesis. The only thing it doesn't have compared to the others is a vocoder. My only wishes were that the knobs were more secure and that it had a MIDI IN jack.

Ok, I've had the Xiosynth 25 for about 4 weeks now, I have to say, I absolutely love this thing!!!
I'll say, downright honestly, that this isn't the easiest piece of equipment to use. There are alot of parameters amongst a lot of sub-menues, but once you figure out the few tricks to pull them up, editing a patch becomes a breeze.
Some of the pre-sets on here are quite usable right out of the box, some need a little personal editing, but doing so isn't a problem.
One thing i would suggest, Novation may wish to include a hardcopy manual (they only include a CD-ROM tutorial, and my computer is in bad condition) but it is easily available for download from the Novation website.

The features on this thing are immense! Just take a look at whats listed on MusiciansFriend.com! There are multiple built in effects, an 8 key polyphony (which can be set to monophonic) 3 different oscillators, 2 LFOs, an Arpregiator, AND a sequencer! It can be used as a MIDI controller, a Synth, or BOTH!

There are multiple controls allowing you to adjust velocity, aftertouch, breath, release, decay, sustain etc.
I use my XioSynth in an experimental rock band, in various ways. I can see the Xio being used in practically any genre.
The sounds are great, and even greater when you control them to your liking!

Hasn't failed me so far! I do plan on gigging with this in the near future, and I would definitely replace it if lost or Stolen.

Haven't dealt with them yet, so far so good!

I love this thing, it's like my new baby! I'm using it as much as possible in my band. I've been playing bass for 7 years, now adding the synth, and i love it! For a long while I had a major interest in buying the MicroKorg, then about 2 months before I bought this it was shown to me by our producer in the studio and I was instantly convinced that this is what I needed!

I use mine with a macbook running Logic Studio. Plugged it in, selected xiosynth in the prefrences - sorted. Truely plug in and play.

As for the synth - What a pain in the ass! I hate having to trawl through menus and this is the worst interface I've encountered on a synth. For me it's laid out very illogically. If it was my primary sound source I guess i would have spent some more time with it but I luckily have a number of other synths to turn to.

Other reviews here sum this up pretty spot on. I'm using it as a midi controller on stage and as an audio interface + controller at home.

Normally I would have to lug my live rack up to my studio, patch everything in - nightmare. with the xiosynth I can just set up my macbook powering it off usb and plug straight into my monitors - It's a godsend. Truely portable.

I have been recommending Xiosynth to all my friends looking to get a setup together. Awesomely flexible

Not the best keyboard in the world , and the knobs are a bit too bunched and fiddly for my liking - but considering what you get for the price this is to be expected.

The onboard sounds vary - some are excellent but I feel it has a very "shiney" feel to it. It seems very good for Nu skool breaks and ubermodern dance genres.

I gig regularly with it and have had no problems. It is a bit flimsy though - certainly not built for stage.

When I first bought it middle B didn't work. Novation sent me a replacement straight away.

If it were lost or stolen I'd probably buy the xiosynth 25 model for use at home and get an Akai MPK49 for stage use. It's really not good for regular live use but then Im only using it as a replacement cos my old edirol controller got trashed. but it's certainly worth the ??169 I paid for it - bargain of the week.

I've been writing music for 8 years and gigging regularly for the last 4 years. Between me and other band members we use: Macbook + PCs running Logic studio, Reason 4, NI Komplete, Sonar 6
Roland Jupiter 8, Jen sx1000, Yamaha RMX1, EMU E5000 Ultra, Korg Ms2000, Edirol FA101 Audio Interfaces.

Ok, honestly you need to get used to it - but, that's the way it is with any new synth. Just considering of what they packed into this little box it's definatly no wonder that you have to step through the sub-meues. But, exacactly thats what makes this machine so incredible. It looks so innocent, but actually it's a rocket.
I gave it a 6 because yes, if you want to get to the details it needs some getting used to, but if you just want to use the presets, recording and controllers it's as easy as apple pie.

All the way up there!!! Come on, is there anything else out there that has all these features in one little keyboard and that for THAT price??? Ofcourse, the keys aren't the best, but hey, it's not a digital piano. Some wrote you can not play more than 8 notes at a time. Well, I only got ten fingers and anyway there are only 25 keys. And with sounds that fat I don't think you need more than 2.
It has a MIDI out and what for should it have a MIDI in. It's fully controllable via music software over USB.
The patches are preset to most DAWs, but you can also set your own.
The arpegiator and the x-gator are just the cherries on top.

It was not built to sound like any acoustic instrument. Probably its use is more for Industrial, Trance, Experimental and such sorts. It does remind me of some older analog synths, yet surprises with absolutly new sounds too. Sharp like a razor and smooth and warm like warm milk with honey.
The built in effects are useable.
One thing for sure, this synth is NOT static. It's versatile depending on the user.

Have not had it long enough. Though I am pretty sure it's gonna be around for a long time.
The reliability to power it up via USB (even using a USB to power outlet transformer - which I've tried), or the supplied pcu, or using batteries makes sure this baby stays on.

Quick customer support. Used it twice and within a day I got answers.

I would definatly buy this one again if it were lost, stolen or even if it would break down on me. (Unless something better comes out - which I doubt for now).
I've benn playing keys for 30 years now (OH MY GOSH, time passes by f***ing quick) and have a small collection of synths over this time period. Just since about a year now I invested into "modernising" my setup from an old ATARI running on cubase to an IBM laptop running LIVE 7 - and I must say it looks like I can throw my old synths away now (just joking). But honestly, all I need now to make, record and produce music is in reach of my finger tips: XIOSYNTH and a good computer with an awsome sofware.
This synth (or whatever you may call it) is an all-in-one box and even more.

Mine came with an owner's manual on CD Rom, and a "user guide" on hard copy. Editing patches is about as easy as it gets for a synth with a full pallette of editing parameters. Most everything pertinent to the tweaking of a sound is found in knobs on the front panel which even makes tweaking very easy on the fly.

Polyphony is 10 voices on the 49 key version and 8 on the 25 key version. They both have very useful effects if not spectacular. You'll find delay, reverb, chorus, distortion, eq, panning among others. You can download new patches from novation's website, but you must backup your custom patches or lose them. Feel of the keyboard is surprisingly nice for a synth in this price range, but no aftertouch (you can't have it all i guess). Their is a sequencer of sorts onboard, and it's called X-Gator which allows you to gate up to 32 notes in sequence for creating your own arp rhythms. I haven't used X-gator, and may never have a need for it, so i cannot give you a play by play on this feature.

IMHO, there aren't alot of useful preset patches for 70's or 80's pop, but more for techno, rave, trsnce etc, however, that's not to say that this synth isn't capable of creating moog-like leads/pads/brass, because if you take just a little time to tweak, you can come up with some uncanny replicas of a Moog/ARP type sounds, and they can be as phat as you need them to be with the 3 oscillators at your disposal. There are 17 different waveforms to go with the 3 oscillators, so you can come up with any synthesized sound you need.

The build quality is just Ok, which is probabky why you can get this synth so cheap. My biggest beef with this synth are the labelings above and underneath the various buttons. You can barely make out what they say, so yo9u must memorize what each function each button performs, because on a dark stage...forget it, yu'll never be able to read what the functions are. Novation could have chosen a much better contrasting color to label their function buttons with.

Novation's website seems good.

OS 1.0.7

The presets are great - Out of the 200 there are only 30-50 that I'd even consider overwriting (which is a bit of a dilemma but, more on that later).

Overall the ease of use is not too bad but anytime there is so much crammed under such a small surface the ease of use won't be as good as it could be.

This is pretty well covered in the other reviews but I don't think there can be much argument against the fact that there are a lot of features in a very small footprint here. I would have like a MIDI In port but that's not a deal-breaker.

The X/Y touch pad is a very nice extra that I use a lot and the X-Gator gives instant motion to sounds (If a classic synth from the 80's would have had the X-Gator feature it probably would have been an automatic ticket to classic/cult status today!)

The casing is plastic (and, frankly, not very sturdy feeling) and has with a finish that looks metallic. If I were gigging with it then I would have definitely preferred metal but the plastic does keep the weight down and the thought of putting th Xio in a backpack for when I travel makes me like it even more. The key-action is better than that of most of my other synths but the lowest "C" key on mine has noticeably more resistance than the other keys and it doesn't always spring all the way back up. If I tap/hit the key 2 or 3 times with fairly high velocity when I first start a playing session then it solves that issue but then after it has sat idle for a while the problem returns. I'm sure it's just an issue with mine and, again, not a deal-breaker nor enough of an annoyance to bother sending it in for repair.

I know the Xio traces its lineage back to the A-station/K-Station and
I'm sure it's probably more similar to the KS4/KS5 (which I've never
used) but sound-wise, I think it sounds a lot different than the
A-Station. E.g. When oscillators are detuned on the Xiosynth the
beating is far more pronounced. The Xiosynth seems to be able to get
not only grittier but also smoother as well E.g. there's a pad called
"The Mellow One" that is the basic 80's warm pad sound done very well.
I tried and tried but could never quite get a similar pad to sound
just right on my A-Station. That might be partially due to my
programming deficiencies but I can also tell there can be a soft/floaty/chorusy sound quality on the Xio that just doesn't seem to be there on the A-Station.

The presets include great sounds in all categories: Leads, basses, pads, and SFX. Thanks to some of the odd-ball LFO shapes and one-shot mode there are SFX that the Xiosynth can make that you'd normally think came from a synth with more of a modular architecture.

Some other standout presets (off the top of my head) are floaty pad, Roots Manueva's two string patches, and...the list could go on and on.

The Xiosynth's sound is punchy and that's why I think the Xio compliments the Ion/Micron very well. I think a 2 VA + 1 ROMpler set-up of a Xiosynth, Ion, and Roland JV/XP or Kurzweil ROMpler would cover nearly any sound I'd ever need. (Other VAs I own are: Waldorf Micro-Q, Yamaha AN200, Nord Micro Modular, Roland SH32, RedSound DarkStar XP, Alesis Ion, Alesis Micron, Novation Nova, Novation A-Station. I also own the following analogs/digilogs: Ensoniq ESQ-M, Roland Juno 60 and JX3P, Dave Smith Instruments Evolver)

It seems reliable - I haven't noticed anything yet that would make me hesitant to use it live but then again I've only had it for a few weeks and it has led a nice safe life just sitting in my room - I don't gig and it has not been taken on the road. I'll give it the benefit of the doubt with a 9 because I've never had a bit of trouble with my A-Station in 5+ years of use.

Oli and the crew at Novation/Focusrite have always been responsive to my emails and friendly.

I know there are people out there that will not like any synth that's not analog (and some that take it a step further and won't even like a synth unless all of its analog components have discreet circuitry) and there are also people that won't look at any VA other than something like a Virus TI but personally I'd be very satisfied to use the Xiosynth as one of my main sources for synth based music.


...and so, back in April of 2002 I got a pretty good deal on my A-Station for $515 new; now, just a little over 5 years later, to get a new Xiosynth for $299 sure seems like progress to me - It's a great time to be into the synth hobby!

Today I went out to my favourite music shop in a mission to buy a Xiosynth 25. I was really looking forward to it and finally in the shop I spent quite a bit of time for a final test of the Xiosynth.
This is what I found out:
Yes it's easy to use and you have all those control knobs and an expression pad to shape the sounds, It's all there. Editing patches though turned out not to be as convenient as I had expected. First most of the interesting parameters for sound shaping are hidden deeply somewhere inside the menus. All buttons and knobs have multiple functions. Second your left hand spends most of the time on tha data encoder knob. Doing so and probing what you are doing with your right hand on the keys you find the display hidden underneath your left hand most of the time. Summing up I can't say that I experienced perfectly intuitive handling. Finding out which parameters really affect the sound and tweeking them to the desired values takes much longer than the attractive layout would suggest. The Manual could also be more detailed.
The rest is straight forward - nothing to complain.

You have three things in a compact package.
1. A versatile midi controller which is not controllable itself by another midi controller due to the lack of a midi in. It offers 11 freely assignable control knobs which is absolutely okay.
2. A usb audio interface that offers mono input only and which is routed perfectly into you computer with minimal latency - very good. Synth output works in stereo.
3. The synth deserves to be dealt with in detail.
Besides that you have perfect mobility and the XGator which is really cool . The Xio also looks beautiful.

The synth was the main reason for me to go for the Xio and I am a bit disappointed with it.
First of all I'd like to point out that you can set a big variety of parameters to shape your sound and there are all waveforms you need - even a handful of digitally sampled instruments. Three OSCs, two LFOs, ring mod, noise generator and six effects suggest that everything should be possible with this synth. And indeed you can even hear from the presets that the Xio does definately not belong to the crap category. But when compared to a VA synth with a real good DSP engine you will find that there is a big difference.
Novation advertise that some of the presets result from the work of top producers. Still my opinion is that many of these sound too edgy and similar to one another. Half of the presets suck big time.
I owned a Korg EA-1 MK2 Groovebox before and I got rid of it because its sound capabilities are so limited. The Xio sounds much better of course but not good enough to play it for keeps. It simply lacks warmth and that certain something. Ever heard a Virus? Or even the Alesis Ion or Micron? Then you know what I'm talking about.

Finally I decided to leave the Xio in the shop as I discovered the Alesis Micron which until that day nobody advertised to me. The price is the same. And believe me, the Xio does not compare to that one in terms of sound and DSP power - it doesn't even come close.
All in all the Xio is a fresh, feature-rich, cool and versatile synth which one must like. Nevertheless in terms of VA synthesis and in-depth sound richness there are better choices.

Very easy to use. You take it out of the parcel, you put batteries into it, (AA Size, Mignon, 6x) you switch it on, there comes life into the display and several leds, you tap on: play/synth, you choose a preset (with poti "program/data" and you begin to play. When I did that for the first time, I was using headphones, a pair of good ones. And I can tell you: The Sounds are mostly good ones. You will recognize that suddenly.
On the touch pad you can change the sound from the beginning in a fascinating way. This Board is easy to use. Really.

8 Tones Polyphony. Absolutely enough for my needs. Delay, reverb, chorus, distortion, EQ, Vol, panning. Pressure sensitive keys. Feel is OK. It has an arpeggiator and an x-gator, which you can both set on and off with one fingertip. I still did not use the keyboard with my PC. I use it als a stand alone synth.

This is where this little keyboard shines: Wonderful synthesizer sounds.
You can change Modulation and Pitch with kinda joy stick, and in addition you have a touch pad for other parameters. I enjoy it very much to change sounds and give them a special character. Effects are not top, but absolutely useful. This Board is so small (I have the 25 Keys Version!) you can easily take it everywhere. And you can play, play, play. And the sounds are professional quality. Don't believe it, when someboy says, they are cheesy. The sounds are mostly very impressiv.
Very much "synthesizer kind" of sounds. Good dynamic. They have a character of their own. I own also the Korg TR61, which is a very fine synthesizer, but this little beast Xiosynth is really challeging me,
to create sounds.

No problem.

Bought it over ebay from a professional dealer with guarantee. Should be no problems.

This is a fine, a characterful little synthesizer. Makes you wanna play all the time and fiddle with the potentiometers and create sounds. I was studying tests and reviews for a long time, and the decided for the Xio.
Its not multitimbral thats right. But it has fresh an energetic sounds, wonderful pads, etc. You can play up to 8 Tones same time. It is small, it has character, it has normal keys with a good feeling, (made me decide against the microkorg) it sounds very, very good, and the price is a steal. Only two octaves? You can switch between the octaves in a moment! Really easy. I would buy it again. I enjoy it very much. You can put batteries into it, you can take it with you everywhere, you can play sitting in your bed, its a piece af transportable modern music. Best bang for the buck! Without any doubt.

The Xio is quite simple to use... with one caveat: If you have a webcam installed you may encounter conflicts, including BSOD's when installing the drivers. Try disabling or uninstalling any webcams on your system if you have issues...
Beyond that, it interfaces great with Cubase, it's easy to tweak up the sounds, and it combines three useful devices in one...
I personally find the internal sounds too 'edgy'; perhaps I'm comparing too much with my real analog synths... I find myself turning down the filter frequency on a lot of sounds to make them fit into a mix... Abrasive leads sell synths, but a good mix do not make!
The manual is pretty good, and Novation is publishing more resources by the day on their website.

8 note poly, monotimbral
The built in effects are good, except for the reverb which I find rather nasty...
The fact that all LFO's and FX will sync to MIDI is amazing, and works great.
The Xgator is another great addition, and makes it simple to create complex rythmic gating... cool.

As mentioned earlier, I think the sounds are all too bright and edgy.
Maybe I'm just old. I'd say it's targeted at trance/electro type music more than anything else, but it's a good excuse for me to reprogram, so no complaints.
The keyboard, joystick, and X/Y pad are all good controllers, quite responsive... and fun.
The keyboard is a bit 'clacky' and light... so we'll have to see how it stands up to time.

Well, I'll let you know in a while, it's my hotel rig so will be travelling lots... if it fails I'll post comments, but I suspect it's going to be pretty reliable (my other Novation gear has never failed...)

Hmmm.... sent a couple emails to Novation about driver issues (webcam conflict, BSOD), no reply after a week. Not good.
Other than that, no opinion...

Does just what I need, and assuming it holds up, I'd replace it if I lost it... but it stays pretty close to me these days so that's unlikely.

Some of the presets are amazing and will definitely find their way into my music. Most of them are unusable for the genre of music I am into (industrial), but most of them I can see being used in other genres.
Editing patches is great. I love it. I can make an amazing sounding patch in no time and I'm amazed at how simple it was when I'm done. I can even name them, too! That gives my sounds more personality than a bank and a number. You can create any sound for any electronic music genre on this keyboard. The interface is slightly cramped up (a lot of the parameters were shoved into sub-menus, which isn't that much a problem once you get the hang of it).
There is no physical manual included. The XioSynth is intended to work along with a computer, so the manual is a PDF file on the included DVD. The DVD contains video tuitorials and tons of other stuff. It is possible to use the XioSynth without a computer, though, a computer just makes things easier. The manual itself is pretty straightforward, it has many lists and tells you what each parameter does and how to access sub-menus.

Even though it's monotimbral (only one layer, it is NOT monophonic), 3 independent oscillators with 17 waveforms each is more than enough to create complex sounds such as leads, pads, and basses. It has eight voices of polyphony, and in unison mode, you can choose how many voices of unison there are (2-8). There's also a VCO drift option to emulate a pitch drift old analogs used to have when they got really hot. The XioSynth also has ring and sync modulation for oscillators 1 and 2, frequency modulation for oscillators 2 and 3, and an extensive pulse width modulation sub-menu. There are 2 LFO's, each with 32 waveforms each.
The keyboard action is far better than some keyboards I've played *cough* MicroKorg *cough*, but the keys aren't weighted.
The effects are awesome. You can run them all at once, and I love that feature. The effects are Delay, Reverb, Chorus/ Phaser, Distortion, EQ, and Panning. There are many parameters for these effects in their respective sub-menus. Chorus and Phaser are molded into the same effect and you choose which one you want in the "effect type." You can also pull off a Flagner effect by increasing the chorus feedback. All the effects are wonderful and useful, but the Phaser is kind of weak. It's good for a background swirly effect, but if you want a very deep strong phaser sound I suggest using a plug-in or an effects pedal. I love how you can adjust the level of distortion (the level of distortion on the microkorg is dependent on the oscillator levels, there was no independent adjusting).
There's also two new features for the filter; the filter shape and the filter overdrive. Both of these can be used to create beefed up sounds. I use them religiously.
There are no expansion capabilities that I know of. You can upgrade the OS from the Novation website with the included USB cable.
This keyboard was meant for MIDI. It does not require any drivers. It is truly plug and play. You can also split the keyboard in Hybrid mode so you can use the onboard synth and MIDI for an external device at the same time.
There is no onboard sequencer in the traditional sense. The only sequencer is the new "X-Gator" feature, which acts as a 32 step sequencer for gating your sound. It is completely independent from the arpeggiator, but it is still slaved to the tempo. You can choose the level each step is gated and the order in which the bars are played.
The arpeggiator itself is flexible, offering many patterns. You have your 6 traditional ones (up, down, up-down 1, up-down 2, random, played), along with many others (such as chord). There are also 32 seperate patterns independent from the traditional ones.

There is no aftertouch on the actual keyboard itself. You can program it to react to velocity. I like the filter velocity the best, you can radically change your sound by the level of the force you hit the keys with.
You can create semi-realistic instruments. It is possible to create realistic distorted guitar sounds, organ sounds, electric piano sounds, and bass sounds.
This keyboard is a synthesizer. It is meant for electronic music or for music incorporating an electronic sound. It is not intended to have realistic or sampled instruments, though it is possible to create somewhat realistic sounds. It works great for what I got it for. If you want a keyboard with truly realistic sounds you will have to spend a tad more money.
The X-Y pad helps out a whole lot with expressiveness. You can program the X and Y axis to do different things, such as cutoff and resonance. The joystick (a fusion of the pitch and mod wheels) can also be programmed too. You can even assign effects to the joystick (up and down), to add or subtract any of the onboard effects if you wish.

I have only had this keyboard for 2 weeks (first shipment). So far it has been good to me, but I have not taken it anywhere. I bought a carrying case for it, in case I decide to. But right now it is my main studio keyboard. I use it for everything - its onboard synth, its MIDI capabilities, and its ability as an audio interface for XLR and 1/4" cables. I rely on it for virtually everything I do. The USB cable just hooks right up to my computer and I don't have to worry about drivers or anything. That's what I love the most. I sure hope I can rely on this product.

Novation has a lot of stuff on their website (upgrades, programs, manuals, etc.), but I have not contacted them directly. I cannot comment on customer support.

If this were lost or stolen I would definitely get a new one. I love this keyboard a whole lot. It is actually worth more than its retail price, in my opinion.
I have been playing keyboards for about a year and a half now. I own a microKorg and I would choose this keyboard over the microKorg any day. The microKorg is a good compliment to the XioSynth, and has a better phaser, but that's about it.
There are two things I wish the XioSynth had.
1.) Pitch and mod wheels. I like the old fashioned pitch and mod wheels a lot more than the contemporary joysticks. Sometimes joysticks can mess up what you're trying to do, and I just seem to have less of a problem with pitch and mod wheels than joysticks.
2.) More patch memory. You can only save 200 programs on the XioSynth (same with the X-Station). Still more than the microKorg (128), but at the same time I would rather have more room. You can do a sysex data dump and store programs on your computer, but I would still much prefer more than 200 spaces of memory.
This keyboard definitely does not get in the way of my music making. It helps me out a lot. I would've bought it just for the synth engine, since I don't use MIDI a whole lot. But the fact that it doubles as an audio interface for other instruments (guitars or other keyboards) and for microphones is what got me to buy it.
This 25 key version of this keyboard is currently $70 less than the microKorg and the Alesis Micron, and can do so much more. The 49 key version is currently $400 on the nose. Trust me, this keyboard is a hidden jewel and a step above the rest.
Email me if you have any questions that my review did not answer. I know information on this board is very sparse right now and I'll be happy to help you.