Novation Bass Station II

Novation's historic analog mono synth revisited for a new generation of electronic musicians! The Bass Station II improves on the original in every area. With two oscillators (plus a sub-oscillator and noise generator), a multi-mode filter, amp and filter modulation, a step sequencer and an arpeggiator, the Bass Station II offers everything you need to Easily generate state-of-the-art basses, leads, pads and special effects. The 64 factory presets, 64 user locations and downloadable ones created by recognized artists provide a wealth of inspiration. Adding to this intuitive controls and a keyboard with 25 large semi-weighted keys, the musical experience promises to be memorable.
The Bass Station II is a mono analog synth that specializes in bass sounds, but it's versatile enough to generate generous leads and crackling arpeggios. It takes the best of the original Bass Station in a completely new design with reworked modulations, effects and filters. The design is pure analog (including the effects section). However, it is possible to store and recall patches on the Bass Station II. It comes with 64 high-end factory presets including 64 user patches available, but you can store more on your computer.

The keyboard has 25 large, velocity-sensitive keys (with programmable aftertouch). Each key is individually operated, so it's light to the touch and very responsive to the synth. The Bass Station II is a fully MIDI compatible device with 5 pin din I/O and can “interface” with a computer via USB.

Oscillators: The Bass Station II relies on 3 analog oscillators and a noise generator. There are 2 completely independent oscillators, in addition to a "sub-oscillator" (which is the essential element in creating bass and rich analog sounds). Oscillators 1 and 2 are switchable to “sine”, “sawtooth”, “square”, variable pulse width (PWM) and oscillator 3 — the “sub-oscillator” can be set to 1 or 2 octaves in below oscillator 1. It can be "sawtooth", "square", narrow pulse width (PWM), producing the characteristic fat bass sound.

Filters: You can choose between 2 discreet filters, “Acid” or “Classic”, each with its own overdrive allowing you to go from light to warm, to downright nasty?! The “Classic” filter can be switched to low pass, high pass and band pass (12 or 24 dB slopes). The 'Classic' filter is based on a diode ladder filter design that delivers a characteristic '303' sound that crushes everything in its path...

Effects: The Bass Station II has 2 effects (excluding overdrive). An analog distortion that saturates the circuit, thereby adding new frequencies to the sound. This distortion can add warmth, grittiness, and everything in between. The second effect is 'Osc Filter Mod', which creates an FM-like sound using oscillator 2 by modulating the filter frequency. The result is very crunchy and brings density to the bass and leads.

Modulation: There are 2 envelope generators and 2 low frequency oscillators (LFOs). The first envelope is an ADSR amplification envelope and the second is a modulation envelope which can be used to modulate the filter frequency, height and pulse width of the ‘OSC’ oscillator. LFO 1 is dedicated to modulation height while LFO 2 is used to modulate pulse width and filter frequency. Although there are 4 LFO waveforms, the 'LFO slew' function can be used freely to sculpt the LFOs into smoother waveforms.

Arpeggiator/step sequencer: These are extremely powerful production tools. The Arpeggiator can cycle through 32 different rhythm patterns, in different directions with a wide switchable octave range. It really starts to get fun when the Step Sequencer is activated. Up to 4 sequences can be played in — with legato and rests — and assigned to one of 32 rhythm patterns.