Novation Bass Station II Analog Synthesizer

Novation Bass Station II

The Novation Bass Station II is a 25-key monophonic analog synthesizer designed primarily for creating powerful bass sounds, but it’s also capable of producing leads, arpeggiations, and a wide range of other effects. Here are some of its key features:

Oscillators:

The Bass Station II is equipped with two main oscillators that can be hard-synced for tight and punchy bass tones. Additionally, it has a sub-oscillator with square, sine, and narrow pulse-width waveforms, which adds rich and full low-end frequencies to your sounds.

Filters:

It features two distinct filter designs: the “Classic” filter, which is based on the original Bass Station synth and offers LPF (Low-Pass Filter), HPF (High-Pass Filter), and BPF (Band-Pass Filter) modes, and the “Acid” filter, a diode ladder design known for its squelchy and resonant characteristics.

Controls:

The synthesizer comes with dedicated knobs, faders, and aftertouch support, allowing for expressive and dynamic performances.

Arpeggiator and Step Sequencer:

It has a built-in arpeggiator with 32 different rhythmic patterns and octave range control. You can also create and play up to four of your own patterns using the step sequencer, which records legato and rests for expressive sequencing.

AFX Mode:

With firmware v4.14 update, you can access AFX Mode, which expands the synthesizer’s capabilities.

Patch-per-Key:

This functionality allows you to assign unique patches to each key on the keyboard, enhancing sound design possibilities.

Paraphonic Mode:

The synthesizer supports paraphonic play, enabling users to play two notes simultaneously.

Fine-tuning:

You can fine-tune drum patches with fixed-duration envelope and retrigger counts, and even tune the sub-oscillator to non-octave-tracking intervals.

Glide:

The oscillator glide feature adds distinct portamento characteristics to your sound.

Presets:

It comes with 64 factory presets and 64 user slots for saving your own custom patches.

LFO Slew:

The LFO (Low-Frequency Oscillator) Slew feature lets you manipulate LFO waveforms for more modulation possibilities.

External Input:

There’s an external input for processing line-level audio signals through the synthesizer.

Power:

You can power the Bass Station II via AC or USB bus power, providing flexibility in various setup scenarios.

Overall, the Novation Bass Station II is a versatile and expressive analog synthesizer, suitable for bass-heavy music as well as a wide range of electronic music genres. Its combination of analog warmth and modern features makes it a popular choice among synthesizer enthusiasts and electronic music producers.