Novation X-Station Synth

[jenderfazz]

My keyboardist and I went to a local store today and went to check out the keyboard section when we landed upon this:

http://www.novationmusic.com/product...bArchive=False

We played around with it and were very impressed by the things you could do with it. The various sounds seemed very clear and realistic, and, most importantly, usable. Even with the tons of modulation effects available it seemed like an easy synth to use with many effects that could be used in a band environment.

Has anyone had any experience with these, or with Novation in general? My keyboardist has never heard of them (mind you, he's not a huge gear freak). Thanks.

[brianrost]

Novation is a UK company that started out making battery powered MIDI controller keyboards. They later got into some hardware synths targeted at the dance music crowd but have all but abandoned that for software synths.

The X-Station is actually a USB MIDI/audio interface with a built in digital synth. It performs multiple functions:

1, Use it as a standalone synth for live performance

2. Use as a standalone MIDI controller

3. Use as an audio interface for computer recording

4. Use as a MIDI interface for computer sequencing

5. Use as a control surface for synth, sequencer and recording software (i.e. use the knobs and sliders rather than a mouse)

If you want to use it ONLY as a synthesizer there are better choices out there. If you want to use it as a synthesizer AND a computer audio/MIDI interface then it's a good buy.