Ultranova 37 key synth

[breakmixer]

Here's my two.. i colour matched them to my setup.. blue didn't quite fit the room





Rob

How on earth did you do that to them, must of took ages?

[rob_lee]

I bought this and resold it - the vst editor/hardware/Daw intergration was flawless, I however didn't like it's sound personally after a while!

Hehe, i stopped using my Virus TI in favour of the Novation.. i can't however get the vst editor to run in either Cubase 7 or Studio One.. trying to select waveforms freezes the plugin so i dont' use it now.
These synths can sound great IMO.. can sound as big as anything out there.

Rob

[rob_lee]

Here's my two.. i colour matched them to my setup.. blue didn't quite fit the room





Rob

How on earth did you do that to them, must of took ages?

I didn't do them mate. I haven't even touched the White one yet. I had it sent straight off after purchase in a sealed box. It's coming back monday. I'm gonna be having a lot of my stuff done over the coming months/years.

Here is a link to Jeff's work at Custom Synth UK.. some great gear including my own.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/customsynth/sets/

Rob

[rob_lee]

Personally i like this Ultra Nova.. maybe if i have room i'll buy a third one for the stand..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/customsynt ... 930390410/

Rob

[breakmixer]

I bought this and resold it - the vst editor/hardware/Daw intergration was flawless, I however didn't like it's sound personally after a while!

Hehe, i stopped using my Virus TI in favour of the Novation.. i can't however get the vst editor to run in either Cubase 7 or Studio One.. trying to select waveforms freezes the plugin so i dont' use it now.
These synths can sound great IMO.. can sound as big as anything out there.

Rob

Never had a single issue, Cubase 5.1 32 bit! Worked fine the VST.

[rob_lee]

Never had a single issue, Cubase 5.1 32 bit! Worked fine the VST.

No dice in C7 or Studio One x64.. instant freeze
Will email Novation support on monday and see what's up.

Rob

[breakmixer]

Personally i like this Ultra Nova.. maybe if i have room i'll buy a third one for the stand..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/customsynt ... 930390410/

Rob

What does he charge, surely as much as the synths themselves?

My secondhand Alpha Juno could do with some TLC!

[rob_lee]

Personally i like this Ultra Nova.. maybe if i have room i'll buy a third one for the stand..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/customsynt ... 930390410/

Rob

What does he charge, surely as much as the synths themselves?

My secondhand Alpha Juno could do with some TLC!

Just depends mate.. Ultra Nova's cost just under half the the retail price..about £235 each.. worth it though for me
About £345 for a JP8000 etc depends on how many keys.

Rob

[Vectorman]

Those look lovely, Rob. Must be a lot of work...I mean, repainting them and then having to re-do the silk screening for all the control markings and logos and such. Wow.

I've been kind of fascinated by the Ultranova and almost bought one two or three times. Opinions on the sound sure are divided. Some seem to think the Supernovas sounded better, whereas one of the more senior members on GS was very much in favor of the Ultra's sound (I seem to recall he said the Ultra's saw waveform was a vast improvement over the Supernova's). I do think it sounds rather nice in demos, especially the ones from Sweetwater Sound's Dan Fisher.

Contentious sound aside, the Ultranova does sort of demonstrate the price point at which a VA/wavescanning synth with a fairly deep architecture, a good keybed with aftertouch, and a VST editor can be offered. It may not be multitimbral, but given how cheap DSP is, I wouldn't be surprised if Novation could have made it 4-part multitimbral and still kept the street price from exceeding $1G.

[rob_lee]

Those look lovely, Rob. Must be a lot of work...I mean, repainting them and then having to re-do the silk screening for all the control markings and logos and such. Wow.

I've been kind of fascinated by the Ultranova and almost bought one two or three times. Opinions on the sound sure are divided. Some seem to think the Supernovas sounded better, whereas one of the more senior members on GS was very much in favor of the Ultra's sound (I seem to recall he said the Ultra's saw waveform was a vast improvement over the Supernova's). I do think it sounds rather nice in demos, especially the ones from Sweetwater Sound's Dan Fisher.

Contentious sound aside, the Ultranova does sort of demonstrate the price point at which a VA/wavescanning synth with a fairly deep architecture, a good keybed with aftertouch, and a VST editor can be offered. It may not be multitimbral, but given how cheap DSP is, I wouldn't be surprised if Novation could have made it 4-part multitimbral and still kept the street price from exceeding $1G.

Thanks mate. What i did was purchase the synths and send them straight off boxed to Custom Synth UK. I had not even used them hehe. I have the Black one back here and rigged up but i won't get the White on Back till tomorrow. The job takes around 3-4 weeks. It's well worth it for me i'm just in to that kind of stuff i.e having gear different colors to the original.

Yeah it's a bit of a downer not being multitimbral indeed that's why i wanted 2 of the same synth. I really hope that Novation do come out with another version of this with more parts. A sure winner IMO..
The sound of these are great (to my ears)i'd definatley pay £1000+ for a multitimbral version of this.. Hint Hint @Novation

Rob

[royaldeadman]

How do I start using this ultranova? I got it all hooked up and it works with all my vsts, but in the editor how do I use itself, its own sounds?

Thanks.

[Sequent]

Rob, I like your white version much better than the blue! Though I understand the legacy of blue with Novation. I have a Nova II keyboard and love it. The sound fits perfectly with my other synths and it has its own sonic footprint that's different than the other guys.

I was looking at one of these the other day and was very tempted, though I have to say I really like the look and feel of the mini! I believe the sounds are compatible between the two, aren't they? Isn't it basically the same sound engine? And I thought that maybe the editors are the same as well? Anyway, I'm still on the fence but heavily leaning towards the mini... it's calling to me.

[breakmixer]

How do I start using this ultranova? I got it all hooked up and it works with all my vsts, but in the editor how do I use itself, its own sounds?

Thanks.

Like any other vst, the audio has to be streamed into your soundcard to record it into your daw like any other external hardware would.

[rob_lee]

Rob, I like your white version much better than the blue! Though I understand the legacy of blue with Novation. I have a Nova II keyboard and love it. The sound fits perfectly with my other synths and it has its own sonic footprint that's different than the other guys.

I was looking at one of these the other day and was very tempted, though I have to say I really like the look and feel of the mini! I believe the sounds are compatible between the two, aren't they? Isn't it basically the same sound engine? And I thought that maybe the editors are the same as well? Anyway, I'm still on the fence but heavily leaning towards the mini... it's calling to me.

Yeah i'm getting the Mini in 2 weeks it's just a scaled down Ultra Nova apparently BUT they reckon the vocoder on the Mini sounds or has better functions. And yeah i have a Nova II XL Keyboard and the Blue suits that one
I just wanted to try something different and color match some other gear and the White Ultra Nova looks really stunning. The Black/Silver one does too. I'm happy with mine anyways and the Mini Nova is next

Rob

[Sequent]

Cool, Rob! I'll be curious to hear your impressions of the Mini, especially since you have the Ultra as a basis of comparison as well as the Nova II.

I'm so glad that I kept that keyboard because the subsequent synths from Novation have a different flavor for sure. Not that the others were bad. I also had a KStation at one point and I think they have that one very well covered with the plugin. In other words, I think the plugin is 1:1 with the hardware version and I wasn't using the KStation nearly as much as I use the NovaII so I sold it. But for certain sounds it still has a particular sweet spot that is unique so I'm glad to have it on hand as a vst.

As for the Nova II, you're right, the blue color DOES suit that particular keyboard very well! Just like I think the blue color scheme and the fake wood ends suit the Mini pretty nicely.

Yeah, I heard that the vocoder on the Mini is a little different. If I get one of these I'm going to limit myself to only one, which is why I'm leaning towards the Mini. The bottom line for me also is that both are ultimately deeply programmable via the editor(s).

The Ultra and the Mini both have that Novation vibe that I was used to with the Nova II and the Supernova. So, good job Novation!