Synthesizers

Novation seem to be on a roll. Scarcely had the monotimbral A-Station made the cover of our December 2001 issue, when news broke of a £500 keyboard version. We look at one of the first UK production models.

Novation's new A-Station seeks to combine the compact styling of their BassStation Rack synths with some of the spec of the prestigious Supernova and Nova - and all for £399! Is it an inspired bit of cross-breeding, or a misbegotten mongrel?

In these days of flash-upgradeable operating systems, it's easy to forget that a free OS tweak can give your synth completely new features.

The Supernova modelling workstation earned a pile of accolades for its excellent 'analogue' sounds, superb multitimbral effects, and its user-friendly, knobular interface. But Novation have now withdrawn the original and replaced it with the Supernova II. Can something so good get better still?

Novation's latest synth is a more affordable 'laptop' version of their powerful Supernova, which capitalises on its user-friendly front panel while adding the ability to process external audio signals. Simon Trask discovers new life in the synth universe...

Long awaited and much anticipated, Novation's digitally-modelled analogue synth module is the company's most ambitionus offering yet.

Simon Trask previews the Supernova, Novation's most ambitious synthesizer module to date.

Novation are championing affordable analogue synthesis again, this time with even more bells and whistles. Christopher Holder fills up with Super.

British company Novation made their name with the BassStation synth, which offered dance music producers instantly tweakable, analogue-style synth sounds in a MIDI-controllable package. The new DrumStation applies the same formula to the de rigueur dance sounds of Roland TR 808 and TR809 drum machines. Paul Nagle moves from station to station...

Novation have squeezed the innards of their successful BassStation analogue bass synth into a 1U rackmount model, throwing in some handy new features along the way. Jonathan Miller gets lost in bass...

Given the scarcity and high prices of Roland's seriously trendy TB303 Bassline, the field has been wide open for enterprising manufacturers to fill the demand for a cheap and funky bass synth. Novation's BassStation is but the first of three contenders.