Novation Bass Station II 5-stars Reviews

A great analog synth with it's own character

Very happy that i have purchased Novation Bass Station II.

Pros:

1. Has unique characteristic sounds.

2. Great analog and warm sound as you would expect.

3. Easy to learn , the knobs are very well situated and organised.

4.Great value for money.

Cons:

1. The only con that i can find is the built of the synth itself feels a bit cheap and plasticky and it seems that i have lost some of the friction from some knobs and they turn easier that they used to.

Overall great synth , necessary for your analog synth arsenal

Versatile Monosynth!

I've been using this for the past year on a home studio as a staple for any kind of synth bass and lead.

One thing that becomes apparent right from the start is it's ability to always cut through a mix.

You can get a great array of sounds, from harsh cold and super agressive like you're used to seeing in demos on YouTube but also warm, soft, almost lush sounds. Of course you can't do anything other than monophonic, but it's much more than you can see on Demos. If you want a sound you can make it.

The only thing I'd love to have different is the pickup mode of faders and knobs when you switch between patches.

Other than that USB connection to the PC provides a very stable link, and if you have Max for Ableton Live you can control and modulate parameters of the synth that aren't modulatable by default (eg. LFO Rate). Everything on the synth is controllable by MIDI CC though.

Best in it's price range

I have owned the BSII for a couple of years now without any complaints. The build quality feels good and the sound is spectacular. This synth offers many features that other more expensive synths do not such as ring modulation,7 filter types,on board sequencing and arpeggiator which sends MIDI information out, 2 LFOs, aftertouch, pre and post filter distortion and much more.It is an absolute joy to use. The majority of features are knob per function and those which are not are easily accessible through the use of the function key and pressing the corresponding key on the keyboard. I would recommend this synth to anyone who is starting out in electronic music and also those who are more experienced. I am consistently amazed with this synth, the more time I put into it the more it gives back.

Good Synth

Brilliant synth, good for aggressive lead lines. It also adds a nice bulk to metal guitar riffs.

Bass Station II is great synth!

In that price range it is greatest synth ever. Very good bass sounds and can be updated.

Novation Bass Station II

I wanted something analogue for my small studio and I certainly got it with this. Powerful sounding and very intuitive to use with lots of neat features. You can quickly come up with something interesting to use in any musical situation. It really stands out from anything else. It beats me why anyone would pay £1000+ for a 30 year old SH-101 when this is much superior. The only downside I can see is the keyboard could do with an extra octave. Apart from that it's perfect.

A great analog synth for beginners

This synth features high build and sound quality. The knobs all feel durable and are not shaky. The variable sliders have rubber coats under the sliders to prevent dust from gathering inside the apparatus.

The keys themselves are a bit too large and feel like cheap plastic. But since I'm using a midi controller anyway, then it does not really matter for me.

The only problem I have with mine is that the 0-position on some knobs are shifted. In order to zero out an LFO, I have to set it to -5.

100% worth purchasing, especially if this is your first analogue synth.

My usage:

For home recording, also have Korg Electribe Sampler and Volca Sample, Volca Keys, Mixing board.

Summary:

Very good analogue synth. Great sounds, tweaking options and patches. Great synth for learning about how analogue synths work and sound patch creation. Arpeggiator is fun. Latch is useful for sound creation (latch simply makes the key continue to play even when you remove your finger from the key). Midi works well, but I must point out better as a slave device than as a master. It goes out of sync if I set it as master with Volca devices (which only can act as a slave device if not Korg branding), but is flawless as slave for any other midi out device.

Hardware:

Knobs and keys are all of good quality and become familiar like "old friends" after a period of usage. This, to me, symbolizes a quality instrument created for human interaction and experimentation.

Synth can be a little intimidating at first if you have never had an analogue synth, but you will learn analogue from using it and grow to love it. Price is great for what you get!

Recommendation:

Send audio thru sound effects like rooms or halls to really make it fun to tweak and come to life. You can use the provided effects in Ableton Live Lite or a mixing desk with built in effects.

Outstanding synth

Outstanding synth for the price! Great sound, very intuitive operation. When recorded it sits in the mix just right without too much tweaking - that's the best part for me.

Brilliant synth

This synth sounds great, there are endless options to modify the sound, but the presets are very handy and many sound really good. It's fantastic to have access to this analogue sound for reasonable money. I will be using it for special effects and soundtracks for short videos and films. I tried the Arturia Minibrute and the Korg Ms20 mini in a music shop in Dublin but find the Bass Station more useful (even though the others were good fun). It doesn't feel rock solid in build quality but for my uses I'd say it's fine.

The best Analog Synth under 1000?

What can i say , this is actually my 2nd BassStation II i own. I had to sell mine only as my car needed fixing. As soon as i had the money i bought it back.

This synth has all the features you would expect from a mono synth. It is extremely well built. Knobs are very sturdy and the whole synth albeit being made of plastic is very stiff ( the plastic is of good quality).

One of the great things many synths lack that the Bass Station II has is the ability to be powered from USB. Imagine hooking this to a laptop without the need to use any additional Power supplies !

Speaking of sound , it has it all , 2 oscillators + Sub, 4 Filters with 12/24db switch.

2 Lfos that can be synced in any possible way.

It can sound warm and rubbery or hard and harsh if you so desire due to the 2 Overdrive and Distortion effects.

Fm Synthesis is also possible with some tweaking , and the Synth has Velocity and after-touch !

All this for less than 500? ! It's competitors have only 1 oscillator and can't do half of the sounds this baby can. Grab one !

Great little machine!

Great arpeggiator, well conceived, always on time as you change keys (transpose). The keybed itself is very comfortable to use. You need a little knowledge to begin creating sounds with an "analog" type synth like this one, so don't give up. Despite not being able yet to create sounds with it, it is the kind of instrument that I would never trade or sell. Never! Congratulations Novation!

Sturdy and Feature-full

The Bass station II is a very sturdy keyboard with some really solid modern presets.

It is quite simple to use as all controls are intuitive and it is easy to get an awesome sound out of it.

Bass Station II is a very fast-to-use synth. Sonically it is quite versatile, although you can't get too far away with it, as modulation cabilities are quite limited. But where it shines, is quickly creating a bassline or a sketch of a sound (perhaps for further processing). Also tweaking a sound is a very satisfying process, as there is no menu's - everything's there right in front of you.

The built-in arpeggiator with its rhythm variations is very useful, and there is even a very simple step sequencer (no chords). This said you can also you use the Bass Station as a midi controller. (You should know, that BSII does not send midi clock, nor does it pass it through through its midi out - there is no midi thru.)

The basic character of the sound is a bit coldish, imo. (Not that everything should be warm.)

Great piece of kit for producing bass!!!!!

I mostly produce techno and have found this synth to be my go to synth for bass! The keyboard is well built but light enough to carry around should you need to, the console is well laid out and the switches and knobs feel positive, no slack and cheaply made. Would recommend this to anyone producing electronic dance music