Blackstar

The Bass Station II Monophonic Analog Synthesizer from Novation is a 25-key synthesizer with assignable aftertouch that, while designed for bass synth sounds, is also capable of leads and arpeggiated performance. It features two analog oscillators and a third sub-octave oscillator. The tones its oscillators produce can be modulated, shaped, and altered by the Bass Station II's Classic and Acid filters, dual ADSR envelope generators, 2 LFOs, and analog distortion.

The synth has a built-in arpeggiators with 32 different patterns and a 1 to 4 octave range. The step sequencer provides another playing style with up to 4 different sequences. The Bass Station II's front-panel controls give you hands on access to all of the synth's editable parameters. Your edits and self-created patches can be saved to the 64 user patches for fast recall.

You can easily turn your Bass Station II into an AFX Station with the v4.14 firmware update (free download available separately). Developed in collaboration with electronic music legend Aphex Twin (Richard James), the AFX mode enables you to assign a discrete set of synthesis parameters to each note on Bass Station II's keyboard. Use it to introduce subtle changes to a sound as you play up and down the keyboard, divide the keyboard into multiple zones—one per key if you like—each playing its own sound, or create entire drum kits in a single preset for triggering manually or via the arpeggiator. This inspiring mode opens up a whole new world of sound design and performance possibilities.

Electronic and dance music producers looking for a powerful, all-in-one groove box will be thrilled with the Novation Circuit Tracks, a compact and portable groove box that builds upon the success of the original Circuit and is designed to be used in the studio or on the go for professional producers and DJs. The machine offers two polyphonic digital synth engines, four sample-based drum tracks, and two MIDI tracks for sequencing and controlling external instruments.

Circuit Tracks uses Components, a standalone software editor, which provides deep access to the instrument's synthesizer engines, sample organization, macro controls, and more. You can load up to 600 samples, plus thousands of synth patches and projects form the included SD card. Circuit Tracks is USB class compliant and will work with any modern Mac or Windows computer.

A 4x8 grid of velocity-sensitive (RGB) sequencer pads are used to program the advanced, built-in 32-step sequencer, which offers real-time and step-input recording, as well as time and key lock to ensure all your sounds lock to tempo and blend harmonically. The 8 synth macro encoders allow you to record and playback multiple synth parameter tweaks in real time. Combine up to 256 steps of synth and drum patterns to complete full songs. The onboard reverb and delay add space and dimension to your creations, while the integrated master compressor with side-chain capabilities allows your sonic creations to pump and breathe.

Impulse 49 from Novation is a USB MIDI keyboard controller featuring 49 semi-weighted keys with assignable aftertouch. It was designed to feel like an instrument rather than a computer peripheral, and responds more accurately and in a musical manner when triggering a synthesizer or software instrument.

In addition to the keys, the controller features eight rotary controls, nine faders, and eight backlit drum pads, along with the obligatory pitch and modulation wheels. The controls allow for hands-on manipulation of DAW functions, virtual instruments, and plug-ins. The included Automap control software takes the hassle out of assigning the controllers with its instant mapping feature.

The Automap software edit page looks just like the Impulse control surface. This labels what each knob, fader, and button is controlling, and once assignment is finished, the window can be hidden. Control is available over the mixer, transport, and plug-ins of all major DAWs, as well as plug-in instruments and effects that don't come with a DAW, like products from Native Instruments, Waves, or FXpansion.

Impulse 61 from Novation is a USB-MIDI keyboard controller featuring 61 semi-weighted keys with assignable aftertouch. It was designed to feel like an instrument rather than a computer peripheral, and responds more accurately and in a musical manner when triggering a synthesizer or software instrument.

In addition to the keys, the controller features eight rotary controls, nine faders, and eight backlit drum pads, along with the obligatory pitch and modulation wheels. The controls allow for hands on manipulation of DAW functions, virtual instruments and plug-ins. The included Automap control software takes the hassle out of assigning the controllers with its instant mapping feature.

The Automap software edit page looks just like the Impulse control surface. This labels what each knob, fader, and button is controlling, and once assignment is finished, the window can be hidden. Control is available over the mixer, transport, and plug-ins of all major DAWs, as well as plug-in instruments and effects that don't come with a DAW, like products from Native Instruments, Waves, or FXpansion.

The 8 drum pads are velocity-sensitive and respond to aftertouch. They are also backlit with 3-color LEDs to indicate the status of the associated clip. A built-in arpeggiator takes advantage of the pads by enabling the performer to warp arpeggios. By switching the 8 pads in or out, the rhythm of the arpeggio can be changed in real-time. The shape, syncopation, and gate time of the arpeggio can also be changed.

Building upon the success of the Novation Peak synthesizer, the flagship Novation Summit is a two-part multitimbral, 16-voice polyphonic synthesizer with a premium five-octave, semi-weighted keyboard (with velocity and aftertouch); it is well suited for musicians, sound designers, and synthesizer enthusiasts.

Summit effectively puts the power of two Peaks at your fingertips, enabling two completely independent patches to be split or layered across the keyboard, or switched between on the fly. It also expands on Peak's layout, with many hidden controls and functions made accessible on the front panel including FM routing, LFOs 3 & 4, all arpeggiator parameters, and dedicated pitch and mod wheels. What's more, the Summit features numerous new filter options, and an audio input for processing external sources with its reverb, chorus, and delay effects.

The instrument features analog-sounding NCOs (numerically controlled oscillators), which include 3 new Oxford oscillators per voice, as well as a flexible digital domain with 43 digital wavetables of 5 waveforms per row. The instrument also features an analog, multimode, state-variable OTA filter with high-pass, band-pass, low-pass, and dual-filter selections with 12/24 dB slopes. The dual filter offers several routing configurations including LP to HP, LP to  BP, HP to BP, LP + HP, LP + BP, HP + BP, LP + LP, BP + BP, and HP + HP. Summit's sound engine is rounded out by analog distortion, overdrive, and digital effects including chorus, delay, and reverb per part.