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Posted by DJ Twenty on Jan-27-2005 18:00:

Novation : K-Station

I'm in the market for purchasing my first 'hardware' synth and at the same time need a new midi controller keyboard, so i thought why not kill two birds with one stone and get a Novation K-Station.

Has anyone had or used one of these?
I'm not expecting it to be brilliant because of its price but just wanna know if its any good.

Posted by krivi on Jan-27-2005 18:14:

just use search button i think you will find answer

Posted by DJ Twenty on Jan-27-2005 18:16:

Posted by sonic_akb on Jan-27-2005 18:46:

I don't know if the K-Station is a really good MIDI controller or if it has aftertouch! You could find out cool info about it on Vintagesynth, Harmony Central and Sound On Sound sites (I always go there when I want some info about hard synths...)
I have a Supernova II rack and I really love this synth, because it has sonic possibilities in the VCO section (such as virtual sync, VCO drift, hardness/sync skew etc. parameters, 2 ring mod, FM synthesis with 3 operators and so on). Although I prefer the Virus's filter, its filter sounds great and have a cool overdrive/normalization knob.
I find out the Supernova II can make amazing PSY-TRANCE sounds (the psy producers uses a lot of FM/sync/HPF till death - Clavia Nord Lead is abused here) and hard house/trance sounds as well. However, you should know, Novation (K-Station, Supernova etc.) was very abused by euro-trance producers and then, it was famous from a lot of euro-trance producers and Orbital (oh yes, they love this machine). The bottom line is: Supernova II is a complete and incredible synth, BUT the K-Station doesn't have HPF filter (neither BPF), so you have a simple LPF exactly like the V-Station. You get exactly the same specifications found on V-Station (an AD envelope generator for FM, 1 ring mod, without hardness/sync skew etc.).

alex keller.

Posted by DickieThijssen on Jan-27-2005 18:50:

so u cant use each synth with keys as a midi keyboard??? thats odd...

Posted by alanzo on Jan-27-2005 20:15:

quote:
Originally posted by DickieThijssen
so u cant use each synth with keys as a midi keyboard??? thats odd...

Yes, you can. A Roland JP-8000 makes a really good controller.

I don't recommend buying a k-station, though. In a word, it sounds like crap

Around that price range, you can get a ROland JP-8000 or an original Nord Lead keyboard.

Posted by sonic_akb on Jan-28-2005 20:11:

quote:
Originally posted by alanzo
I don't recommend buying a k-station, though. In a word, it sounds like crap

Dude, I respect you, but frankly, I think you was very strong here. But it's just your opinion, I know that. I really like the Novation's sound (I mean very smooth, liquid - do you know?). So, I prefer a JP80x0 than a K-Station - I really love the plucked and strings from JP80x0 (forget the supersaw leads - very very abused for that - JP80x0 is much more than a supersaw maker). JP8000 is a good MIDI controller, but it hasn't aftertouch - forget that if it isn't important for you). But I prefer the SN II than the JP80x0 (it has much more sonic possibilities).
Nord Lead 1 (or 2) is good for leads and basses (amazing for that, I should point out), as well as FX's noises (abused in Psy-trance).

alex keller.

Posted by Limit on Jan-28-2005 22:25:

I have a K-Station and I think it sounds awsome dude..it sound is so different from any of my other synths..I also love the filters on it..they are truely liquid...the filters are very smooth and the synth can pump out some extremely harsh sounds as well. One of my fav things to do it pass my NL2 through the K's filter and add some of that amazing distortion. I thinik that the K is one of my favorite synths in my arsenal for quick and easy programing. honestely I can't stress enough of how good it sounds.
Just to shut up the "you probably have shitty synths, so you don't know shit" people...heres what I got...

Waldorf Q kb
Waldorf Microwave XT
Mam MB33 markII
Yamaha TX81Z
Nord Lead 2
Novation K-Station
...and a few more.

Posted by DJ Twenty on Jan-28-2005 23:02:

Thanks for the advice people....

Posted by sonic_akb on Jan-29-2005 21:56:

quote:
Originally posted by Limit
One of my fav things to do it pass my NL2 through the K's filter and add some of that amazing distortion.

Hey Limit, I use to send my Waldorf XT and MKS80 Super Jupiter through the Supernova2's filter and effects and they sounds amazing! Really, the filter's overdrive and distortion effect from SN2 are a must-have for hard trance producers. The sounds are very aggressive and harsh! IMHO, the Supernova 2 is fine for any kind of music, of course, it's great for eletronic music (everybody knows Orbital know that). And so the K-A-V-Station! And don`t forget, the Novation's sound has a lot of bottom end, much more than Access's sound (it's just my opinion - I have already had a Virus B).

alex keller.

Posted by Limit on Jan-29-2005 23:27:

quote:
Originally posted by sonic_akb
Hey Limit, I use to send my Waldorf XT and MKS80 Super Jupiter through the Supernova2's filter and effects and they sounds amazing! Really, the filter's overdrive and distortion effect from SN2 are a must-have for hard trance producers. The sounds are very aggressive and harsh! IMHO, the Supernova 2 is fine for any kind of music, of course, it's great for eletronic music (everybody knows Orbital know that). And so the K-A-V-Station! And don`t forget, the Novation's sound has a lot of bottom end, much more than Access's sound (it's just my opinion - I have already had a Virus B).

alex keller.

Nuff Said!

Posted by COSMIC CITIZEN on Jan-30-2005 23:28:

well at the moment i have around 16-17 synths and samplers at the studio and also had a ks5 from novation...well its nothing really extrordinary but it does the job and of course its nice to get a decent synth than just an empty controller if you can stretch your budget a bit...hardware nowdays is pretty cheap so give it a go...