Novation UltraNova!!!!

[Ingonator]

As a user of a Waldorf Blofeld i have to say that the synth is nice but doesn't impress me, .

So now it impresses you? What changed?

Actually i have to admit i never played an UltraNova myself until recently (while i tested the BassStation 2 at the Musikmesse...). I guess this is a failure that many here at KVR are doing. Simply trusting what others say about a synth and watching some YouTube videos simply doesn't work at the end to get a real impression about a certain synth.

Before i checked it myself i also had a look at the specs agaon and a few things there looked quite interesting.

Note myself: Do not judge synths if you have not played with it yourself...

[rob_lee]

As a user of a Waldorf Blofeld i have to say that the synth is nice but doesn't impress me, .

So now it impresses you? What changed?

Actually i have to admit i never played an UltraNova myself until recently (while i tested the BassStation 2 at the Musikmesse...). I guess this is a failure that many here at KVR are doing. Simply trusting what others say about a synth and watching some YouTube videos simply doesn't work at the end to get a real impression about a certain synth.

Before i checked it myself i also had a look at the specs agaon and a few things there looked quite interesting.

Note myself: Do not judge synths if you have not played with it yourself...

read this topic i posted ages ago, this was my issue with the ultra novas i owned 2 of them and sold both although now i may get another soon

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 2&t=374406

[Ingonator]

How do you compare the sound of Ultranova vs blofeld?

I sold my Virus TI desktop this year and compared to both Blofeld and the UltraNova i would call the TIs sound more on the "muddy" side while the other two seem to be more clear and/or "bright".

I do not really want to compare the UltraNova and Blofeld sound wise. Overall the sound seems to be different and both synth do include feature the other one does not have. Due to that it seems to be good to have both or at least the UltraNova and the Largo plugin if you do not want a Blofeld.
While the UltraNova also includes wavetables (36 of them) those seem to be quite "simple" (while still useful) compared to those in the Blofeld (and the Blofeld contains more) and in the Blofeld you could also import custom wavetables and load samples (with the SL expansion).

One good thing with the UltraNova is that all 3 Oscs are idemntical while in the Blofeld teh 3rd Osc "only" contains standard VA waveforms.

I do not really want to compare all features directly as it would also not make much sense IMO.

Additionally for real anlog sounds i also got a Waldorf Pulse 2 which is a nice addition to the Blofeld and UltraNova.

Besides the usual VA stuff both the UltraNova and Blofeld seem to be perfect for "hybrid" and also "typical digital" sounds. For pad sounds both the UltraNova and Blofeld seem to be perfect anyway. The UltraNova could do some quite "fat" pads when using the "Density" feature which is somehow close to a "Hypersaw" but works with all waveforms including the digital ones.


I will have to see what i could really get out of the UltraNova but it looks quite promising IMO.

[rob_lee]

I do however remember that the vst plug-in editor for the UltraNova was the best one I'd ever seen. It does lovely pads and bass sounds too.

[Ingonator]

I do however remember that the vst plug-in editor for the UltraNova was the best one I'd ever seen. It does lovely pads and bass sounds too.

I got the synth since yesteday so a "final conclusion" would be a bit early i guess. Anyway i like both the sopund and the features so far, including the editor.
Anyway editing the synth from teh hardware actually seems to be more simple than i expected at the beginning.

With the Automap feature, Mod/Pitch wheels (i do not really like those mod/pitch "joysticks") , velocity and aftertouch it also seems to work nicely as a controller.
A bunch of more expensive synths and controllers do not seem to contain aftertouch (e.g. NordLead A1 and KingKorg) which is a kind of "no go" for me in most cases except for certain vintage synths (while it would have been nice to aftrertouch there too).

BTW i have not really checked the Unison in the UltraNova much yet. Somehow i was quite impressed by the "Density" feature in the oscillators which works with all waveforms, not just with the Sawtooth. Possible to get some quite "fat" sounds with this.

[rod_zero]

I want either for polyphonic sounds, keys, pads, arpegios, atmospheres and so on. For basses and leads I have Diva and a Minitaur.

From blofeld I like it's filter and wave tables, the hardware not so much, and the desktop only has midi IN which makes it hard to integrate with more hardware (no midi thru to chain to other synths down).

From ultranova I like the keys, vocoder, UI interface a bit more, can be used as audio interface so I don't need to carry my studio interface all the time but also seems a little more vanilla soundwise.

I really want a new poly synth on my set up so far all stuff released recently haven't match my expectation and IMHo doesn't supass the UN or the Blo (roland system 1 and the new boutique stuff, king korg, NL4), I have a nord lead 3 and while I like it a lot on paper and love it's UI I really don't like the sound that much, I haven't been able to stablish a conection as with Diva or my minitaur that are my favorite instruments.

I would use diva all the time, but when jammin with friends I really miss a hardware polyphonic synth to avoid looking at the computer all the time and having to open/close the GUI, as I am using Live to do other stuff.

[Ingonator]

After i just got the UlltraNova my current hardware synths are those (got the Motif and Wavestation EX since 2005 now):

- Yamaha Motif ES 7 (with 512 MB RAM)
- Waldorf Blofeld white desktop (with SL expansion)
- Waldorf Pulse 2
- Waldorf Streichfett
- Novation UltraNova
- Korg Wavestation EX

Not really many but enough to have some fun without plugins or in combination with plugins (even after selling a bunch of plugins recently i still got too many IMO...).

2 hardware synths that i sold this year were a Virus TI Mk I desktop (that i had since around 2006) and a moog Slim Phatty (that i had since 2011).

[Ingonator]

while playing with my new Ultranova i was a bit irritaed that it did not save the last patch used and also changes to the global settings when switching it off.

I then found that this is possible when opening the "Global" menu and then press the "Write" button.
This will save the current global settings and the last patch you used in the unit and those are available after you re-power the unit.

Also found that Novation got 7 free UltraNova soundsets/soundpacks at their website:
http://us.novationmusic.com/soundpacks

Will check them soon. I am close to finish checking the factory presets which seem to be better than some comments i found in the web. Also started doing a few of own patches already.


By the first impression the UltraNova seems to be a quite simple synth but the synth engine if you dig deeper into it is very complex, actually more complex than most soft synths out there.
As alraedy mentioned while they also have features the other synth does not have both the UltaNova and Blofeld seem to be on a comparable level of complexity of their synth engines. If you add a Virus TI then you maybe have the 3 most complex VA hardware synths and all 3 capable of doing wavetable synthesis (while for that the Blofeld is maybe the best IMO while the UltraNova sounds great too when using it'S wavetables).

[werp]

Sold my arturia origin keyboard earlier this year along with my korg kronos 61 and virus ti 1 desktop module.
Kept the Ultranova because...it's cool

[werp]

Sold my arturia origin keyboard earlier this year along with my korg kronos 61 and virus ti 1 desktop module.
Kept the Ultranova because...it's cool

[zerocrossing]

Just quoted myself from some years ago as yesterday i finally purchased a Novation UltraNova.

The sounds i could get from this are awesome and it indeed has TONS of features (in parts even more than my Blofelöd, e.g. UltraNova has up to 6 envelopes with adjustable slopes and trigger modes). Also love the "Density" feature in the oscillators that more or less create a kind of "Hypersaw" sound. Additionally the also seem to be some dedictaed Multi-waveform waveshapes and it also has 36 more or less "simple" (compared to the Waldorf synths) wavetables but with adjustable interpolation amount.

Overall it's a great addition to my Blofeld and my Pulse 2 and it was quite cheap for what it could do.

As far as i could see so far there is a hardly a plugin that could fully replace all features of the UltraNova. Maybe Electra 2.1 and Synthmaster 2.7 are somehow close and Largo somehow too but a direct comparison seems to be difficult.

What made you take the plunge? I've always admired the Ultranova from afar, but every demo I've heard from it makes me think, "Oh, nice sounds, but I can already get that from ________. (insert the name of a wavetable plug in of your choice)

[chk071]

If the signal path is completely mono, and you can't change unison stereo spread, then that's pretty meh for me though. Wasn't aware of that. Just strenghtens my opinion that soft synths are light years ahead of hardware VA's these days. Might have to do with the need of cost reduction in hardware of course, but they should at least be able to compete.

[shadowdancerbnr]

I went for the mininova earlier this year (as I kind of felt compelled to master its editing matrix), and I'd have to say that people who judge it (and the Ultranova) from the frankly appalling youtube demos and factory presets are really missing out.

I wouldn't say it beats other wavetable plugins, etc (it doesn't, simply because its wavetable selection is pretty limited and there's no option for user waves), but it certainly has a sound of its own that I like. I find its weakest area, by far, is the analog modelling aspect. Which is a shame, as that's the side Novation pushed. It's far to cold and digital for that, a bit like the Monomachine. As a digital synth - and provided you've mastered the delicate internal gain structure - it's a keeper for me.

[Ingonator]

If the signal path is completely mono, and you can't change unison stereo spread, then that's pretty meh for me though. Wasn't aware of that. Just strenghtens my opinion that soft synths are light years ahead of hardware VA's these days. Might have to do with the need of cost reduction in hardware of course, but they should at least be able to compete.

This is one of the synths where it is really necessary to check it yourself concerning if you like it or not.
I am quite sure i would not have bought one just from comments in the web (including KVR).

The Unison indeed does not have a stereo width setting.

Besides that as i already mentioned the "Density" feature" in the Oscillators is more important to me than the Unison. That feature is like a kind of "Hyperdsaw" (up to 8 detuned waveforms, depending on the "Density" and "Density Detune" parameters that are available for each oscillator) but for ALL waveforms (including the wavetables) and you could get some really fat pads from that. For even fatter sounds you could use 3 detuned Oscs, the Unison and/or a Chorus effect.

The included effects are not bad too and with the Delay and/or Reverb you could get nice stereo sounds.

For my ears the UltraNova has a pleasing basic sound (while i would not call it a perfect analog emulation...), has tons of features (a complex engine comparable to Blofeld), a nice included VST editor and some more.

The layout of the controls is also not that bad and prgramming the synth from the hardware is more simple than it looks at the beginning (while you could also use the VST editor of course).
Depending on which function/menu you use the 8 knobs are assigned to different parameters which are displayed at the dsiplay below the knobs. If you got more than 8 parrameters there are "Back" and "Net" buttons on the left of the display which are highlighted if there are more than 8 parameters.
The "select" buttons are used to switch between multiple oscs, enveloepes etc. (as there are up to 6 envelopes the selction goes up to 6 while for the Oscs you only need the first 3).