Martin Cote

09-Jan-99

Nice sounding synth. Close(but not perfect) 303 emulation. In 24dB filter mode the thing can REALLY screech out

the CRAZIEST acid noises! (Can you say Josh Wink???)... Only complaint is that the thing is really...FLIMSY!

The action on the keys sucks, and the thing is reminiscent of a childs toy... But if you are looking for crazy acid, this

is the synth for you. And the price is excellent too. Picked ours up for $400 canadian, new...

Paul Bae

09-Jan-99

My basstation rack is broken!!!! The filter section does not work at all. A repair guy I know could not fix it.

Anybody else have the same problem? please advise. Thanx.

Thomas Leib

09-Jan-99

This thing is a real cool bassmachine. The basses I got out off it are so deep and exploding!!! And when you search

for screaming experimental sounds, it�s your choice. But a problem I got is, that it is sometimes not in pefect tune

(without touching a knob!!). The 303 emulation is shit(I think it�s because the lack of the 18dB-filter;try it out:

switch between 12dB and 24dB,12 is not heavy enough and 24 is to screamy) But all in all in germany we would say:

geile kiste!! (wich means that this is a cool little thing)

Mr Alex Gould

09-Jan-99

It's wicked for trance as you can record the sysex messages on the lfo's

kilo

09-Jan-99

yeah...also, you can send the sysex patch data as a save to your sequencer, then the sysex can be saved and loaded

with each track...excellent....also, you can get the novation to sitch sounds in the middle of a bar....I did a track

where the bassline plays for a 2 bar cycle repeating, at the end of the second bar of the loop, the novation changes

sound to almost a drum roll type sound....makes an excellent effect.

marc day

09-Jan-99

mmmmm basstation, well i've owned two and both went wrong, everyone i know can't seem to get a really good rounded fat bass sound with no top end in it like you can a 101. Everyone i know ends up getting rid of them, but i suppose for the money theyre not awful, they just seem unreliable and disappointing !!! Like your site though.....

Intervention

09-Jan-99

The Basstation is a classic it has it's own unique

character, from bass lines to lead it sounds great,

trouble is I don't really know how to program it,

but then again - it doesn't really matter!!!

Steve Freeman

09-Jan-99

Nice to see a novation site that insn't all sell,

sell, sell. Very informative.

One critisism on the Bassstation I have is that the

filter knobs produce an almost step like cange in the

sound, Rather than the smooth change you would expect

from a rotary knob. Is this typical of all Bassstations

or have I got a bad machine?

Steve Freeman

09-Jan-99

Nice to see a novation site that insn't all sell,

sell, sell. Very informative.

One critisism on the Bassstation I have is that the

filter knobs produce an almost step like cange in the

sound, Rather than the smooth change you would expect

from a rotary knob. Is this typical of all Bassstations

or have I got a bad machine?

kilo

09-Jan-99

Is this when you send the control data to a sequencer & playback ??....maybe the resolution of the sequencer is not set high enuff.......otherwise, it maybe has a shagged pot !

Steve Freeman

09-Jan-99

Re-Kilo. I have not yet connected it up to my studio set up as it is else where. The stepping syndrome only seems to occur on some sounds.

Still a good machine. I have a copy of the MIDI Implementation chart at http://members.aol.com/surfurd/novation for anyone that may be intersted.

Steve

09-Jan-99

The above address should read http://members.aol.com/surfurd/novation.html

Sven Magnus

09-Jan-99

Everyone keeps telling me Bassstations are so great, but how do they compare to Rubberduck in combination with a sampler?

kilo

09-Jan-99

well, they are two completely differentr beasts.....if you have a basstation, you can play a continuous midi piece over the length of a track,....if you use the Rubberduck & sampler, you are limited to audio pieces being the length available in your sampler memory.......you can also use the method you talk about with a basstation.... if rubberduxck is setup and played live, controlled from a hardware unit, then it can be viable... in that case it or rebirth will sound more like a real 303 if that is what you want.... otherwise the basstation is a million more times versatile

dan

09-Jan-99

For the money, its the best pure analog synth that you can buy

new. Second, nothing can touch its midi implementation. So if

your using a computer sequencer or even a hardware sequencer, you

can do some truely great stuff. Mind Blowing

ben

09-Jan-99

Just picked up the keyboard version 2nd hand and i must say I am very impressed. 303 emulation is OK but the 24db filter really screams. Much more versatile than I expected. Currently having fun drawing filter cut-offs in cakewalk. I've also noticed that some of the knobs (eg. filter cutoff) seem to change the sound in a step fashion (Steve noticed this above...) however when controlled using a software sequencer to draw the changes this doesn't happen... Anyway nice little synth

Evan Wilson

09-Jan-99

i want a basstation really bad. However, i'm curious about the price difference in the U.S. could you e-mail me the price and any other information that you have. i.e.(shipping handling charges, list of competitive bass modules). Thank you

MJ

09-Jan-99

Great piece of gear, I never wanted to buy one because of some of the inherent drawbacks but now I can live without it.

I have the BassStation Rack and there are some really special things you can do with the thing that include the ability

to apply the filter to any audio device. Did you ever want to rhythmically stutter a held note or a long sweep? Play the

audio back from a cd or a sampler, turn the OSC1 MIX knob all the way down (EXT) and use a keyboard or sequenced pattern to

open the envelope and POOF! a great effect! Want to add some warmth? Send the audio out to an effects processor with a wee

bit of plate or room verb or chorus (trust me it kicks)

Great Sound, Great Tools, and a Great Price.

For those like myself that love to tweak while they play,

You can get a small road rack case 3-4U and mount it on a

stand near or behind your keys.

virusmindz

09-Jan-99

can the novation b.s. proceed with various sampled

sounds? I mean can I play not only 2 wave forms but

work with any sound playing it from some recource and

connecting it in some input on the bassstation...

I mean is`int better to choose SYNTECNO teebee with 3

waveforms and input jack... (but with out any keyboard)

zedEx

09-Jan-99

Had the BS rack for 2 years - love the sounds, hate the unreliability.

Mine has NEVER responded properly to ProgChange (from Cubase on AtariST), sometimes it works,

but other times it goes to a random prog. I get noisy 'clicks' at the start of some sounds, and sometimes

the 'SAVE' light just flashes really fasat and the BS won't respond for hours...

Oh, and the rubber keys are REALLY wearing out now...

Yet I just can't bare the thought of selling it.

zedEx

Kilo

19-Jan-99

This review will be updated soon to include a RA3 audio file of the Basstation doing it's stuff

Chris Papas

19-Jan-99

I'm into producing hard-house stuff, and I would not trade my b?station rack for any of the analog-synth/303 emulator racks on the market. With a bit of patience and creativity you can come up with AMAZING!! patches...

Thanks novation!!

Chris Papas

19-Jan-99

I created a totaly wicked kick drum ov the rack.It kicks ass.Will provide settings soon...Don't miss this if you want a trully banging kick!!

If anyone else has created prcussion/drum sounds on the b/station please provide info here, or E-mail...

xoxos to you lot

19-Jan-99

bassstation is AWESOME. found it a little limited in the range of sounds it can produce, but it's a great starter. if you work those two oscs, you can learn a LOT about sound and stay happy for a long time. also, i prefer the 'acid' transient type of sounds analogue synths are used for, and this will let you really WORK your sounds.

will also say that the sounds are luvvely; intense filter, resonance! get one. use it. mine is second hand and true the filter assign switch doesn't like to toggle much anymore (but you can override this with LFO delay. also switches are replacable. if you're going to do this stuff, you should learn how) but the thing's been knocking around for a while, so this is forgiveable. do i have to stop?

djcooch@webtv.net

19-Jan-99

Ive been djing for 7yrs now an finally i want to make tracks....

I have a novation basstation (keybord) but to tell u the truth i dont know how 2 use I just got it at a good price from someone....but I would relly want to learn how to use it ... I dont even know how to load up sounds... please help

niklas

19-Jan-99

I would like som support about a basstation. When i bought it I did,nt get any book with info.

Just an easy question, how do I change the sending and recieving midi channel on a basstation?

Alan Wislon

19-Jan-99

I've have a Bass Station to sell. Mint condition; hardly used. Best offer please.

Alan (Liverpool)

sphere

19-Jan-99

The BassStation review offered a quite splitted point of view concerning the 303-ish sounds. But this synth can do a lot more! It's excellent for leads,pads,Moog-

basses.....kinda like a SH-101 with MIDI and a lot of other goodies.

Simply love it!!!

brett barnes

19-Jan-99

I'm in love w/ 303 bass lines. I bought my bass station back in 94 when it was brand new. Unfortunately I was new to music prodution, and my ear could not realy tell certian synths apart. It took me months just to get my bass station to sound like a 303. With a few years under my belt, and never actually touching a 303, Rebirth 338 finaly showed me how the 303 was controled. the range of the 303 is Phenominal .Today, I can make some identicalty sounding impersonations w/my rack module bass station, but with very limited range through the filter section. To date the best sounding clone is Rebith 338 . Unfortunately it's architecture limits it to studio use because of the lack of note on note responsiveness.

There is a new contender in this arena. the "next!" spacebass 3.3 ,and superbass 4.4. I've never heard them,but from the specs i've seen,they seem to be built more to the original; single osc., ect.: if you could, I would like to see these in the comparrison section of your site sometime soon.The 3.3 sells for a mere $300.00 U.S.

low

28-Apr-99

Weblink: link

it's okay - there are better mono synths at around the same price...try Waldorf Pulse (analogue)

Stephan K�mpel

30-Oct-99

Weblink: link

Everybody check out my BassStation Manager, I wrote some years ago. Its Public Domain. Fell free to send comments ...
Think this machine should never have been called BASS-Station.
Have fun,
Stephan

jojo the dog faced boy

07-Mar-00

Do the knobs transmit midi data, cause not only would it be quite good as a stand alone, but as a controller ?

suba

07-Mar-00

This machineeeeeeeeeee
isssssssssssss
greeeeeaaaaaaaaaattttttttttttt

YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Ellipsis

07-Mar-00

Weblink: link

The bass stations nobs do transmit midi, but only on the midi out, not the thru...(ie: the out and thru are not merged, they are kept seperate)

Jasper

08-Mar-00

On the keyboard, filter/resonance/mod depth/env1 att/env1 dec/env2 att/env2 dec all transmit midi plus the controler and pitch.

I use mine to control the a3000 sampler (my write button is trashed so it's only good for controling now).

chumpleman

08-Mar-00

This site is the biggest rip-off of sonicstate.com I've ever seen...

dancetech sux eggs

Swift

08-Mar-00

Chumpleman you are talking complete shite mate!
This site is full of very knowledgeable who actuall know a bit about the music being discussed and the user reveiws are actually reviews.
Sonic State is v poor in comparison for example the user reviews on SS are either written by people who have played with a synth for 10 mins in their local store or go along the lines of"this is great" or "this is shit".
The forums are no better with stupid questions like what car do you own?,who here is gay? etc etc.
So stop talking out fo your arse and don`t come here if you don`t like it!

DJ Danny J

08-Mar-00

Anyone who claims Dancetech Sucks is a complete utter moron. The people who reply here give you more then "5 stars" or "thumbs up". If they say it isn't good, the tell you why. If it's the raddest thing on the market, they tell why again. "They" are the people who know what they are talking about because they have owned one or used one. Also I have came here with many questions (some being stupid too) but i have had atleast 5 different answers to every one and reasons behind each one and how each one would help me out. Your an asshole if you say dancetech sucks and dosent have anything to offer. Ok, i am gonna leave this back to people with info on the Bass Station now.

Jasper

02-May-00

besides, dancetech has been around longer than sonic-state.

pascal

03-May-00

he chumpleman,..did your mom said you are allow to go on the internet !!!!duh
Dancetech rulezzz,..helped me a lot with stuff

Paul Michaelson

03-May-00

Dancetech kicks ass. Its my home page.

Please don't feed the trolls.

04-May-00

Weblink: link

People - don't feed the trolls. If someone makes a stupid, inflammatory remark like that, ignore it.

See the link I put in instead of my website for the definition of "troll".

Head Noise

27-May-00

I have this wierd thing happening w/ the LFO speed knob. I works fine at far right (fastest) down to middle position. Go left of middle, though, and the LFO jumps to nothing or slowest speed. Anyone have similar probs or know whats up here?

giotto

15-Apr-01

I use a basstation rack as one of two modules I run off my mpc60. I love it. It fills in the hole musically between my mpc and my lead module. One thing that really suprised me was how well it sounded as a lead synth. So I have been using it for some really anthemic breakdowns and the like. It sounds great on its own, but man, get a simple $150 multi-fx, and all of a sudden this thing will start taking over the world, bass or lead. As for the "rounded basses" people can't seem to find, pick your patch, and just turn resonance all the way down. Turn the filter down quite a ways too, and you'll have your fat RnB/ Pop/ House bass from heaven. turn the filter up a touch and you can dial up a little extra high end character as you need it. As for comparisons with a 303, I hate to be inflamatory, but I think that whole quest should be left behind with the Summer of Love. If you need pound for pound one of the most satisfying and fierce pieces of gear ever created, drop your change on a basstation.

Peter M�ller

22-Aug-01

I don�t know how the thing works, if it�s good or if it completely sucks, but I�m about to bye my Novation(rack) today for 250$!!!!!

jorge cortez

02-Oct-02

Hi:
I just love it, for portability it can be beat, but forget the 303, man I usi it for moog leads, taurus drones.

What's the ext.cont.in i/8 inch jack in the back for?, is it to plug a CV pedal, volume, external signals?, if you guys know, please pass the info.
Thanks

Wakka

15-Oct-02

I know the Bass Station can make some excellent 303 type sounds. Cosmosis used one on their album cosmology and the thing squeals.

Have almost got mine sounding right, but just cant hit the top end.. Anyone got any suggestions?

I know it can be done!

C738

16-Oct-02

Weblink: link

I need to boost the resonance to make it scream when I open the cutoff.
Maybe an external distortion?

pwhaley

28-Jun-03

Weblink: link

Er, my first analogue synth. After four years tweaking I get some splendid noises. It probably won't take you that long. Got a sysex editor with loads of ace sounds. Sounds meant for the rack work too, with the odd weird result.

Mark Duff

12-Oct-04

I had a very long play with one of these once . in the music store i worked in

and i cant say it caught my ear really..

yes it can do all the same sounds as say a roland sh101 or closer sounding to a roland juno 106 .. but really .. for the money this was asking at the time
you could buy one of the above synths and in the 106 case have 6 voice polyphony

if you can find one cheap then yeh .. but the build quality was so so
and we had a few units come back .. with key contacts and knob failures..

but if its cheap .. they yeh its not bad .. has midi .. but i think any software synth with similar spec will out perform it these days,.

Bastiaan van de Werk

13-Oct-04

I remember lusting for this baby years ago when all I had was a crappy Pentium
PC with a SB AWE32....I can't remember the number of times I drooled over this
and other webpages and thinking of having that sexy little mini keyboard on my
lap. I bought mine two years ago (finally) and I am so happy that I did.

It can do the most excellent squelchy, bubbly sounds....I find it to be excellent in
the mid-range sounds not particularly in the bass-region though.

Last added comment

Bastiaan van de Werk

13-Oct-04

I remember lusting for this baby years ago when all I had was a crappy Pentium
PC with a SB AWE32....I can't remember the number of times I drooled over this
and other webpages and thinking of having that sexy little mini keyboard on my
lap. I bought mine two years ago (finally) and I am so happy that I did.

It can do the most excellent squelchy, bubbly sounds....I find it to be excellent in
the mid-range sounds not particularly in the bass-region though.

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Added: 13 December 1998New price: 249S/H price: UP TO 200 ukCompany: Novation

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Your browsing history (edit)

novation basss...

Comments

Martin Cote

09-Jan-99

Paul Bae

09-Jan-99

Thomas Leib

09-Jan-99

Mr Alex Gould

09-Jan-99

kilo

09-Jan-99

marc day

09-Jan-99

Intervention

09-Jan-99

Steve Freeman

09-Jan-99

Steve Freeman

09-Jan-99

kilo

09-Jan-99

Steve Freeman

09-Jan-99

Steve

09-Jan-99

Sven Magnus

09-Jan-99

kilo

09-Jan-99

dan

09-Jan-99

ben

09-Jan-99

Evan Wilson

09-Jan-99

MJ

09-Jan-99

virusmindz

09-Jan-99

zedEx

09-Jan-99

Kilo

19-Jan-99

Chris Papas

19-Jan-99

Chris Papas

19-Jan-99

xoxos to you lot

19-Jan-99

djcooch@webtv.net

Currently: 74%
Total Stars: 196
Total Votes: 53

Added: 13 December 1998
New price: 249
S/H price: UP TO 200 uk
Company: Novation