Novation Bass Station 2

[williamh]

I received it a couple days ago -- I'm going to put up a YouTube review within a week or so.

As far as filter tracking -- it definitely has it, fixed at 100% on the classic filter. It's pretty easy to tell: just zero out the oscillator volumes, max resonance, and you'll see that the filter tracks across.

Since the acid filter doesn't self oscillate, it's harder to tell how it tracks the filter. I don't think a 303 tracked, and it doesn't sound like it's tracking at 100% to my ears, but I'll have to test to make sure.

One thing that has blown me away is how great the drum sounds can be. I can easily get kicks that sound exactly like the Drum Station, and the ring modulator and filter modulation make it easy to create metallic hihats and rides. Snares have been a bit trickier (I make better on the MS20 mini), but they're pretty good. I'm definitely going to sample the hell out of it.

[FreqStatus]

So how does the brute compare to ms20?

The MiniBrute is the most hardcore analog sounding one out of all of the cheap monosynths. It's the most legit, if you will. It's also an excellent CV/Gate controller and has a lot of tricks up it's sleeve. Some people say it's harsh, but they don't know how to use it. The mixer overdrives, so if you just put the faders up to the middle instead of cranking all the waveforms, you don't get the harshness. It's actually a quite useful design.

The MS-20 Mini sounds pretty thin in comparison to the vintage ones. But, still sounds great and I enjoy mine. If I had to choose one, it would be the Brute for several reasons.

I actually did a video comparison of the Mini and a Vintage unit. People are whining and complaining in the comments, but that's just Youtube. The point of the video was to show how different they are on a basic level, not scientifically matching frequencies or scrutinizing components. You will be able to hear how thin and soft the Mini sounds, especially with the contrast of a nice vintage unit. The Bass Station has that same "issue", like I said before. I personally like both of them for that, but I definitely would not go to them if I wanted a real, big analog sound.

On another note, I had a Pro-One in the studio for the weekend and all of my mono-synths now sound like toys, lol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH0ueVof ... pQGg9_z8fA

[thecontrolcentre]

I had a Pro-One in the studio for the weekend and all of my mono-synths now sound like toys, lol.

I miss the Pro-One ... had a loan of one for a while. Wish I could afford to buy one.

[williamh]

I purchased a Pro One that had been sitting in its original box for 25 years. Essentially "New Old Stock". It may not have the smoothness of a Moog, but the fullness of just two oscillators running saws is bigger, brassier, and richer than some synths in unison.

The Novation Bass Station II won't give you that, but neither will a MiniBrute or any of the modern Moog line. The best modern synth for that is (unsurprisingly) the Mopho.

Back to the Novation -- I think it nails the Yamaha CS 5/10/15 sound, as well as part of the Roland monosynth range. It can get a bit Arp and Korg monosynth, but never really Moog or Sequential.

[zerocrossing]

I purchased a Pro One that had been sitting in its original box for 25 years. Essentially "New Old Stock". It may not have the smoothness of a Moog, but the fullness of just two oscillators running saws is bigger, brassier, and richer than some synths in unison.

The Novation Bass Station II won't give you that, but neither will a MiniBrute or any of the modern Moog line. The best modern synth for that is (unsurprisingly) the Mopho.

Back to the Novation -- I think it nails the Yamaha CS 5/10/15 sound, as well as part of the Roland monosynth range. It can get a bit Arp and Korg monosynth, but never really Moog or Sequential.

Interesting to hear your thoughts. I've got the Minibrute, Sub Phatty, MoPho and an ATC-x QFX and I'm kind of thinking that I could sell off the ATC off because though I like it's 4 filters, preset memory and it's got great sounding oscs, it's single knob interface isn't the best and it's envelope a bit on the slow side. I like having a bunch of different monosynths with their different characters, but now I've got enough variety with the ATC mostly doing 303 and SEM duties (the ARP filter is nice but not so amazingly far from the Moog that it matters IMO)

Anyway, how's the Bass Station's envelopes? Fast like Minibrute? That would be excellent.

[iDesignSound]

I ordered the BS2 today, should be here tomorrow! I'll post my thoughts when I've had chance to play

[faun2500]

So how does the brute compare to ms20?

The MiniBrute is the most hardcore analog sounding one out of all of the cheap monosynths. It's the most legit, if you will. It's also an excellent CV/Gate controller and has a lot of tricks up it's sleeve. Some people say it's harsh, but they don't know how to use it. The mixer overdrives, so if you just put the faders up to the middle instead of cranking all the waveforms, you don't get the harshness. It's actually a quite useful design.

The MS-20 Mini sounds pretty thin in comparison to the vintage ones. But, still sounds great and I enjoy mine. If I had to choose one, it would be the Brute for several reasons.

I actually did a video comparison of the Mini and a Vintage unit. People are whining and complaining in the comments, but that's just Youtube. The point of the video was to show how different they are on a basic level, not scientifically matching frequencies or scrutinizing components. You will be able to hear how thin and soft the Mini sounds, especially with the contrast of a nice vintage unit. The Bass Station has that same "issue", like I said before. I personally like both of them for that, but I definitely would not go to them if I wanted a real, big analog sound.

On another note, I had a Pro-One in the studio for the weekend and all of my mono-synths now sound like toys, lol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH0ueVof ... pQGg9_z8fA

Thanks very much for the detailed reply!

Good video. I can hear a difference between the 2 but I think this is because you matched the panel and not the sound. If you were going by ear I think they could of been much closer. I actually liked the sound of the mini in this video.

[faun2500]

I ordered the BS2 today, should be here tomorrow! I'll post my thoughts when I've had chance to play

Excellent!

[bmanic]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH0ueVof ... pQGg9_z8fA

I liked the sound of the mini quite a bit more in this video. Sure, it's not as "characterful" as the original one but it's more defined and more predictable. In these examples that's working better for me. In the first example the old synth sounds almost ear piercing (yet the video mentions the adjective "warm" ).

Cheers!
bManic

[williamh]

Here's a quick demo I made, just 8 tracks of the Bass Station with no FX.

https://soundcloud.com/inside-synthesis ... station-ii

[iDesignSound]

Here's a quick demo I made, just 8 tracks of the Bass Station with no FX.

https://soundcloud.com/inside-synthesis ... station-ii

Nice!

[whitecloud]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwK4ySkwf6A

I love this guys demos.

I wish I didn't see this. I have owned Waldorf gear in the past
(MicrowaveXT and uQ) Really miss the XT but got to admit really got tired
of Waldorf's term "SOON" . Cool to see I have the same midi controller
as the guy in this Vid, The Yamaha KX which integrates very well in
Cubase. Seems like some of Yamaha's product don't have a very long shelf life.
I don't know why. Ok I'll shut up I have a couple more of BS2 example to audition.

[Uncle E]

On another note, I had a Pro-One in the studio for the weekend and all of my mono-synths now sound like toys, lol.

I've got two Pro-One's, I personally think the Moog Sub Phatty, the Moog Minitaur, and the original Waldorf Pulse are on the same level. The Rocket is quite cool, too, though for completely different reasons.

[Oden]

I purchased a Pro One that had been sitting in its original box for 25 years. Essentially "New Old Stock". It may not have the smoothness of a Moog, but the fullness of just two oscillators running saws is bigger, brassier, and richer than some synths in unison.

The Novation Bass Station II won't give you that, but neither will a MiniBrute or any of the modern Moog line. The best modern synth for that is (unsurprisingly) the Mopho.

Back to the Novation -- I think it nails the Yamaha CS 5/10/15 sound, as well as part of the Roland monosynth range. It can get a bit Arp and Korg monosynth, but never really Moog or Sequential.

Interesting to hear your thoughts. I've got the Minibrute, Sub Phatty, MoPho and an ATC-x QFX and I'm kind of thinking that I could sell off the ATC off because though I like it's 4 filters, preset memory and it's got great sounding oscs, it's single knob interface isn't the best and it's envelope a bit on the slow side. I like having a bunch of different monosynths with their different characters, but now I've got enough variety with the ATC mostly doing 303 and SEM duties (the ARP filter is nice but not so amazingly far from the Moog that it matters IMO)

Anyway, how's the Bass Station's envelopes? Fast like Minibrute? That would be excellent.

Envelopes of Bass station 2 go down to 1ms range I have read. I don't know about the shape of them. How quick are the minibrute envelopes?

Bummer that you can't assign the different envelopes to Filter AND pitch though...

[whitecloud]

On another note, I had a Pro-One in the studio for the weekend and all of my mono-synths now sound like toys, lol.

I've got two Pro-One's, I personally think the Moog Sub Phatty, the Moog Minitaur, and the original Waldorf Pulse are on the same level. The Rocket is quite cool, too, though for completely different reasons.

How so/elaborate re: Rocket although the I have the BS2 in my sights and thanks to those who have shared some nice examples here at KVR and some recent clips and vids
On another forum. Such a great price for the BS2.