Members skier4467 Posted February 23, 2005 Members Share Posted February 23, 2005 Which is best and why for live gigs: Novation X-Station 25 $500Alesis Micron $400Korg MS2000B $500 I want analog synth sounds that I can tweak for techno jamband music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tai Mai Shus Posted February 23, 2005 Members Share Posted February 23, 2005 micron is the most analog sounding of the bunch if that is really waht your after. Though each have thier own strengths. X25 a better controller, ms a better vocoder and more knobs for live tweakage. ect ect. Can you be more specific in what your looking to get out of it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members skier4467 Posted March 3, 2005 Author Members Share Posted March 3, 2005 bump. Now we know the MS2000 price was a MF misprint! So it's between the Micron and the X-Station. I'm only interested in the onboard sounds because obviously the X-station is a better controller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Umbra Posted March 3, 2005 Members Share Posted March 3, 2005 You could probably pick up an ms2000 off ebay for around $450, probably get the rack for around $250-$300. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members acoustictones Posted March 3, 2005 Members Share Posted March 3, 2005 That TOTALLY depends on what you want it for. I've got the x-station and LOVE it, but that's because I use just about every feature on it (Sound card, built in synth, controller, monitor built in effects for tracking,etc.). None of the others have this much flexability and/or these type of features, but that still doesn't make it the right product for you. You've just need to know how you plan on using it. But if I had it to do all over again, I'd still go with the x-station. It soot my needs perfectly!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mike51 Posted March 3, 2005 Members Share Posted March 3, 2005 These days, I don't see how you pass on the Xstation. It has a sweet sounding onboard synth, tons of knobs, built in soundcard, etc. Match it with a p4 laptop and you dont have to worry about a soundcard, instantly giving you a remote studio or live setup for your softsynths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pighood Posted March 3, 2005 Members Share Posted March 3, 2005 +2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members acoustictones Posted March 3, 2005 Members Share Posted March 3, 2005 Originally posted by Mike51 These days, I don't see how you pass on the Xstation. It has a sweet sounding onboard synth, tons of knobs, built in soundcard, etc. Match it with a p4 laptop and you dont have to worry about a soundcard, instantly giving you a remote studio or live setup for your softsynths. It still depends on what you're looking for (some may not need or want, say a sound card feature, and wouldn't want to be forced to pay for such an extra), BUT I agree and couldn't have said it any better!!!! The X-Sation Rocks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pighood Posted March 3, 2005 Members Share Posted March 3, 2005 X-Station = baby Indigo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nckeyz Posted March 3, 2005 Members Share Posted March 3, 2005 So what kind of sounds could I get out of the X-station? It would be my first synth... can you program different synth arpeggios/loops and such? What types of sounds is it capable of making? I'm a newb wanting to learn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members acoustictones Posted March 3, 2005 Members Share Posted March 3, 2005 I'm a newb wanting to learn. I can't think of a better synth for someone to LEARN on than the x-station. The manual has a pretty good synth tutorial and the lay out is petty straight forward. It comes with 200 presets, and you could learn a lot from just playing around with these and creating your own tones while using the presets as a starting point. The presets include a number of decent synth tones, but also some of the basics that a lot of us use such as a number of Electric Piano, Organ, and some decent bass patches. I assumed that the synth part of the x-station was a gimick, and I was buying it more for its controller and sound card aspects (along with a laptop it makes a great mobile recording unit), but I was VERY surprised as to how nice the synth really was. I use that part as much as any now. So I also will highly recomend the x-station. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pighood Posted March 3, 2005 Members Share Posted March 3, 2005 I got the X mainly to control my Doepfer: The fact that it has a synth engine is merely icing on the cake. Scrumptious icing, at that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nckeyz Posted March 3, 2005 Members Share Posted March 3, 2005 Cool. Thanks for the reply. How does it handle pads and arpeggios? Could I easily synch it with my Motif ES7 through midi? I thought I heard something about doing that.. I figured it looks like it would be a great synth to learn on. Looks fun.. all those knobs and sliders.. hehe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nckeyz Posted March 4, 2005 Members Share Posted March 4, 2005 Originally posted by nckeyz Cool. Thanks for the reply. How does it handle pads and arpeggios? Could I easily synch it with my Motif ES7 through midi? I thought I heard something about doing that.. I figured it looks like it would be a great synth to learn on. Looks fun.. all those knobs and sliders.. hehe. Hey, can anyone help me out here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mike51 Posted March 4, 2005 Members Share Posted March 4, 2005 "How does it handle pads and arpeggios? Could I easily synch it with my Motif ES7 through midi? I thought I heard something about doing that.. I figured it looks like it would be a great synth to learn on. Looks fun.. all those knobs and sliders.. hehe. " If it's anything like the A/K station, it handles pads and arps very well. Don't expect super swirly Korg pads but it does do solid pads. Yes you could easily synch it with your MotifES7 which would layer up some very nice sounds. Befor eI bought my K it was sitting right next to a A6 at Guitar Center. In terms of pads , leads and bases it comapred pretty well. The a6 has a certain "electricity", buyt the K wasn't far off at all. If thatis in fact the a/K engine o nthe Xstation, it should sound real good. Here is the demo for those synths: http://www.novationmusic.com/userarea.asp?trackid=16&view=FAQs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Volcan Posted March 4, 2005 Members Share Posted March 4, 2005 "How does it handle pads and arpeggios? Could I easily synch it with my Motif ES7 through midi? I thought I heard something about doing that.. I figured it looks like it would be a great synth to learn on. Looks fun.. all those knobs and sliders.. hehe" The x-station includes quite a nice variety of pad presets and of course you can tweak or build your own. Check out the manual at the Novation site to get an idea of how many preset pads there are and to invetigate the control that you can have over the arpeggiator - it is quite powerful. I have been synching my S90 and X-station, not directly as master - slave, but with the SQ01 sequencer program that came with my S90. I have recorded midi and/or used a midi file and in SQ01 and used the s90 as the multi-timbral tone genrator while using the X-station as a controller. One complaint that some people had with the x-station was that you could not use it as a sythn while also using it as a controller. With the OS upgrade there are actually a couple of work arounds that allow you to do this. Someone also asked about using the X-station as a learning tool. I had posted awhile back about how it has been ideal for me in that regard. I have really been exploring the use of the oscilators and filters - and varying the effects with the LFO - it is so easy to get into this this with the handy controls and good manual. Which brings up another point. I love my S90 but the manual is not always helpful and interface is not real intuitive. Since gaining insight with my x-station I have gone back into the S90 with much more understanding and I am getting into some new territory that I had not even consdiered before. For me there were many good reasons to pick up an x-station. It has exceeded my expectations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nckeyz Posted March 4, 2005 Members Share Posted March 4, 2005 Thanks. Where can I find the manual? I tried looking for it on the novation site but couldn't find it for the x-station? Does anyone have a link? EDIT: nevermind I found it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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