KVR Audio

Diego_C · Post by **Diego_C** » Sat Oct 29, 2016 2:07 am

I have the V-station vst, an old hardware Novation XioSynth which has exactly the same audio engine of an X-station,
but with less knobs and more menu fiddling.
Now it's some weeks I'm not on it (though it's always plugged here on my right side in my home studio) but time ago I tried to make some *non scientific* comparison and I can say they can be quite similar, surely depending on try to use the same options available on a same patch done on both, but the hardware tend to be a bit more fat and warm, effects a bit more breathing/alive and surely that touchpad and all the knobs make things more fun and interactive than the V-station (if not assigned to a masterkeyboard with knobs..) and this even though it's a digital synth and not an analogue one.
Enough similar, but not exactly the same (just my experience). I prefer the hardware, but the vst is 80% similar. Greets

XpanderDude · Post by **XpanderDude** » Sat Oct 29, 2016 2:09 am

planetearth wrote:How close is this to any of Novation's hardware? I know it wasn't really meant to be an exact replica, but just out of curiosity, I was wondering how close it is. I'm not that familiar with Novation's hardware sounds.

Steve

It captures the essence of the distinctive novation sound - glassy and liquid. But, as with early VA and early soft synths, the filter is its weak point and there is some aliasing.

lolilol1975 · Post by **lolilol1975** » Sat Oct 29, 2016 2:18 am

nIGhT-SoN wrote:
Ingonator wrote:Got both the Bass Station and V-Station plugins here (got V-Station as freeware last year).
Sorry for the offtopic but how did you get it for free? Is it still possible cause I would love to have it!

Let's set this straight. None of the Novation soft synths are worth buying as they don't sound better than free synths. If you can't get them for free, don't bother.

planetearth · Post by **planetearth** » Sat Oct 29, 2016 3:25 am

Diego_C wrote:I have the V-station vst, an old hardware Novation XioSynth which has exactly the same audio engine of an X-station,
but with less knobs and more menu fiddling.
Now it's some weeks I'm not on it (though it's always plugged here on my right side in my home studio) but time ago I tried to make some *non scientific* comparison and I can say they can be quite similar, surely depending on try to use the same options available on a same patch done on both, but the hardware tend to be a bit more fat and warm, effects a bit more breathing/alive and surely that touchpad and all the knobs make things more fun and interactive than the V-station (if not assigned to a masterkeyboard with knobs..) and this even though it's a digital synth and not an analogue one.
Enough similar, but not exactly the same (just my experience). I prefer the hardware, but the vst is 80% similar. Greets

XpanderDude wrote:
planetearth wrote:How close is this to any of Novation's hardware? I know it wasn't really meant to be an exact replica, but just out of curiosity, I was wondering how close it is. I'm not that familiar with Novation's hardware sounds.

Steve
It captures the essence of the distinctive novation sound - glassy and liquid. But, as with early VA and early soft synths, the filter is its weak point and there is some aliasing.

Thanks, guys! That's what I wanted to know.

Steve

D N A · Post by **D N A** » Sat Oct 29, 2016 7:35 am

Still use it and still love it. Sure, it's limitating, it has that "specific" sound but I love programming it

izonin · Post by **izonin** » Sat Oct 29, 2016 7:47 am

Someone here mentioned Komplexer. V-Station sounds quite similar. Maybe those two share the same tech? Personally, I don't find the sounds very inspiring, especially compared to more recent synths.

starflakeprj · Post by **starflakeprj** » Sat Oct 29, 2016 8:22 am

lolilol1975 wrote:Let's set this straight. None of the Novation soft synths are worth buying as they don't sound better than free synths. If you can't get them for free, don't bother.

I don't know if I agree fully. Coming to the sound quality itself, sure, but V-Station, to me, has a pretty unique sound you can't get elsewhere. Same with the A/K/X-Stations as well as the Nova/Supernovas. I can't really put my finger on in, but they all have a special character into the sound, that no other synth has.

nIGhT-SoN · Post by **nIGhT-SoN** » Sat Oct 29, 2016 12:07 pm

lolilol1975 wrote:Let's set this straight. None of the Novation soft synths are worth buying as they don't sound better than free synths. If you can't get them for free, don't bother.

I tend to disagree with you here. I've used it in studio and I really liked it, that's why I want to buy it for my own. Of course I wouldn't pay the full price, but for 10euros it's pretty good deal. Also someone said Bass Station is included too which is a decent synth too, plus some samples and loops.
With a little processing you can make it sound amazing, lots of people used it on EDM tracks and I'm sure there are some that still use it because it has pretty straight forward interface, quite logical and makes it easy to program.

I never judge a synth by it's presets. I like to make my own sounds, after all that's why I get a synth and not a rompler or sampler.

yul · Post by **yul** » Thu Mar 09, 2017 6:05 pm

Call me silly but I just bought V-Station after all these years with the promo!

Tried it a loooong time ago I always loved the Novation sound (now own the BSII) and decided it would totally fit my bill in terms of features, quality and simplicity..plus added an extra vintage digital feel and vibe.

Aliasing? Not that much really unless you put it under extreme conditions...anyways it's musical and adds flavor (try and get that on a Prophet or Juno hehe). It's like a 90's VA in your pocket. MS/MK and JP8xxx are still being used afaik..

I also got Hybrid 3 on promo although it's a bit more shiny.

There's no shame in digital (may I say again..vintage digital for the V) if you know what you are doing.

Cheers!!!

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Thu Mar 09, 2017 6:11 pm

izonin wrote:Someone here mentioned Komplexer. V-Station sounds quite similar. Maybe those two share the same tech? Personally, I don't find the sounds very inspiring, especially compared to more recent synths.

Komplexer sounds way better IMO. As has been mentioned, the filter of the V-Station is a bit on the weak side, and, what is a big issue for ,em there's something weird with the attack phase, when you dial in some filter envelope. In lack of a better description, it sort of "quacks like a duck". Like as if you always have dialed in some attack. Pretty weird.

Anyway, all in all, not a bad synth, but every time i try it again after some time, i realize that i have much better options now, which are not limited to 8 voices of polyphony too. Shame that Novation decided to drop soft synths, i'd like to see a VST version of the Ultranova. If they sold that for, like 99 to 129 €, i'm sure they'd sell pretty well.

idfpower · Post by **idfpower** » Thu Mar 09, 2017 6:12 pm

For the record: V-Station is the VST version of the K-Station, not X-Station. Presets are (almost) the same, but the vst version sounds thinner & lifeless compared to the hardware version.

And to answer the question: nope, I've ditched it a while ago (for the above mentioned reasons).

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Thu Mar 09, 2017 6:16 pm

idfpower wrote:For the record: V-Station is the VST version of the K-Station, not X-Station. Presets are (almost) the same, but the vst version sounds thinner & lifeless compared to the hardware version.

Mh... not sure if can agree with that. Check this out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqDNXiaYlRE&t=1s

As far as i know, the algorithms and all that is the same in the V-, K-, and A-Station. Should just be the D/A converters, if then.

yul · Post by **yul** » Thu Mar 09, 2017 6:17 pm

Another reason why I got it is for some reason I am less likely to dial in some ear piercing tones out of it. I have experimented waaay too much over the years and I really am trying to stick with anything that can be kept within safe hearing ranges. Not to say the V can't piece my ears but I got to go look for it a bit harder here.

idfpower · Post by **idfpower** » Thu Mar 09, 2017 6:21 pm

chk071 wrote: Mh... not sure if can agree with that.

Do they sound the same to you?

Anyway, I've played both. And let me tell you something: the K-Station can shake the room with those basses. At the time it was paired with an Indigo 2 and the K's basses were clearly more powerful

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Thu Mar 09, 2017 6:24 pm

I can compare from the video, and other sound demos. AFAIC, the guy didn't match the levels very well, and, it also seems like the parameters are a bit off, or the mod wheel is set differently. Sometimes it also seems that the FX is applied differently. Anyway, if you say they sound different, fair enough. Just wonder why though, because Novation stated that they're exactly the same.

So, anyone still using Novation V-Station?