The cutoff knob should win an award for perfect, silky, tension.

Bass Station 2 users should really update to firmware version 2.5. The BS2 changes from monophonic to paraphonic synth and has some other new functions which really add some cool features!!!

Nicks' reviews are always the best . He covers all bases ( no pun intended lol ) and addresses questions about MIDI, sequencing and other tech stuff that lesser reviews forget to mention. Concise and always well presented. Thank you.

By far, this is the best (ie: my favorite) mono synth I've ever owned/played. Every time I use it, I'm just completely inspired.

Thanks, Nick for providing us with the best gear reviews online. Pretty sure you just helped me secure my purchase decision.

Novation is the underdog of the major synth manufacturers. Both Bass Stations, the Nova and K series’s, the circuit, and now the PEAK, and yet they still get left out of the conversation when people talk about the “big names.”

Important! Some functionalities you gain with the firmware updates, the latest version is 4.14: 1. Adjustable filter keytracking. Many settings from zero to the default 100% keytracking 2. Duophonic (paraphonic) mode 3. The sub oscillator can be tuned independently. You now have a real 3 oscillator synthesizer 4. You can loop both of the envelopes. They can loop all the time or you can set how many times they loop. It's like you suddenly got two additional customizable LFOs. 5. You can now enter an "AFX mode" and program a different sound for every 25 keys of the keyboard and then save those settings. Some preset ones that mostly work as drum kits are included 6. You can set a different portamento time for each oscillator 7. You now have tuning tables. There are many preset ones but you could make your own as well 8. "Oscillator error" settings. You can set the oscillators to drift out of tune. There might have been even more new functionalities but these were the ones off the top of my head.

Loads of wicked features. Great review Nick

Thanks Nick for all your reviews, I am learning a lot.

Thank you! Just picked up one of these used and haven't really delved into it. This was a great prep!

Best demo of this on KZfaq. I did *not* need to hear this one, as it sounds a lot better than I had expected, and my cave is already full of 2 octave synths. There are a lot more possibilities than I had expected from this little guy. That PWM is huge and the FM is pretty nice. Great detailed look.

I got my Bass Station new for $325. It is capable of sounding like a Moog or TB303. I love it. The feel of the keyboard is awesome with aftertouch. I am able to emulate everything from Aphex to Boards of Canada. Can't say enough about my love of it and I can't wait for a polyponic version. I will be all over that.

Close to ordering one this week

Holding myself for days but it's enough! Ordering one right now!

Great review as always Nick! Three things that REALLY stood out to me were the OSC2 Filter Modulation, the 64 values per 128 step scaling and the SPEED of the programme changes - wow! Novation really should push these features - I didnt know about them until Nick mentioned them and they pushed me over the edge of want to must have! I know what Im buying myself for Christmas! Thanks Nick!

I just got mine today. At first the lightness of the case had me concerned, but once I plugged it in I was blown away by the sound. This is my first analog synth, and I'm very happy with the sound, the keys and the aftertouch is just the right feel.

Just got the AFX edition! This is my first synth and I could not be happier with my purchase! 😍

I never paid much attention to this synth. But this is the second time I'm watching this review and it hit me this time that this synth has massive drone/ambience capabilities. (E.g. when Nick is showing off one of the effects at 10:30)

2020 and these monsters are still in production! No number of accolades is enough to do this synth justice. Let's just leave it at: "No studio, keyboard player, synthesist or marriage is complete without the Novation Bass Station 2" . (Amens are welcome :D )

BS2 is my work horse. I bring it to the gigs always. It is great for leads, versatile, great UI, it is small but not mini if you know what I mean. Great demo.

wow the drum pattern changing demo was really cool! snappy program changes!

The part from 10:30 to 10:50 made me buy this little beast last month. Terrific review, as always :)

Very well done , nice to see someone that knows what they are talking about and doesnt annoy the listener

Nick - I've been watching your videos from the very start, I loved how you still kept it professional after the pitch shift on your voice with the vocoder I was waiting for you to start laughing, you probably did lol then cut the video as it sounds hilarious :)

thx nick, great review!

16:52 and that ladies and gentlemen is how you make a chemical Brothers track. LOL dude that sounds awesome. love the demo and definitely sold on the bass station 2. Mine arrives tomorrow.

Yes you can use the MIDI over USB to play notes into your DAW, then either play back and tweak, or record the sound into your DAW too you would need some kind of audio interface though

Awesome, thanks guys

Love the SID style intro!

Finally a review of this unit that actually shows off the lower frequencies.

Good review, thanks!

Another great review. Long live Sonic State!

Speaking to the build quality, I think it would be very interesting to know how much more it would have costed for them to have built it into a steel body. Personally, if we were only talking about a difference of like 30-50 bucks or so, I'd be more than happy to have paid the difference. One thing is for sure, the sound is great and Nick is the man to review such a little beast of a synth! Thanks Nick!

was really happy when I saw this come up

This is a very good overview of the synth. While it is obviously competing with the Minibrute and Microbrute as far as price, but it is a totally different approach, and they are actually hard to compare to each other. In many respects it is more similar to the Pulse 2, but about half the price. This synth has a lot of nice features for such a small foot print and is worth serious consideration.

this sounds good

THIS IS every synth review must be like )) thank you!

First decent BSII review out there......before this video it was almost impossible to get a good idea on what this little machine can do and how it sounds.

Enjoyed the Mantronix reference.

Nice review. It sounds like a good synth at a good price.

This this is beastly lol. cheers for the review

Depending on complexity, metal folding and punching can be a significant increase over injection molding, and then you still have to injection mold the sides/end-caps. It's cost of source materials, cost of labor/time (molding is fast) and cost of shipping something weighing 2x as much. Also, performers I've spoken to (presumably producers/djs are target market for this) want light and backpack-sized, not heavy and huge. All the novation keyboards are plastic (some with thin metal panels).

I can't decide whether to get this or save up a bit more for the Waldorf Pulse 2. Is it actually worth buying one, then the other, or would they be redundant (considering they're both DCO synths)?

Hmm I quite like the sound. Thanks for this great review! :)

played one of these today - blew me away with how intuitive it was to use - the large filter knob top right should be a mandatory design on all synths - i would of bought it there an then if it were not for the arturia mini brute 2 sitting next to it that i did not have time to listen to as the shop was closing...

I demoed one the other day, and I'd have to say I liked it better than the minibrute. Not that it sounded so much better, but it pulled me in somehow, more than the mini...I don't what that "something" is, but I wanted to play with it more than the minibrute.

Can always count on Nick to do a good review. Check out - Novation Bass Station II - UOVI Space Station to hear the other side of the BS2.

Same here. The MiniBrute is my clear favorite among the new analogue synths. That said, i'm quite intriqued by the hybrid designs, like the DSI Evolvers. And atm. i have a Waldorf Rocket home for testing, which i find sounds excellent even with a digital oscillator. Despite prefering the sound of true pure analogue, i think there's alot to be said for the stability, low cost and convinience of digital technology, in the places where it's done well enough to not take too much away from the sound.

great demo/review. I really want one but will wait until I have some money in the bank.

Thank you for this great review! One question: does this have an active panel mode where it reverts to all of the settings currently on the knobs?

I would say it def has its own sound, it is quite compressed sounding which makes it sit in a mix really easy I have found. It really bites.

I thought he said he was making sounds from the PlayStation 2

Great review, thanks. The nasty / aggressive side of the BSII is highlighted here, but actually it can do subtle and warm too when the overdrive is turned down and the filter is turned down a bit. Great synth..

15:51 that’s afx mode right there!

Old video but I hope I get an answer. I'm planning to buy my first analog synth. As a beginner who can afford an Arturia MiniBrute 2S, is there any reason to buy the Bass Station 2 or MicroBrute instead of the larger models? I have been using VSTis for too long, now I want the real deal and I think I will outgrow the budget versions fast.

I really wish they would release a editor for it.great synth,especially for the money.

I've had the opportunity to test both and yes the MiniBrute housing feels more solid but just about everything else feels less solid compared to the BSII. Both are nice synths for the money but i didn't even consider getting the Minibrute while I did get a BSII. It's an immense amount of fun (can't recall having this much fun with a synth in a long time) and to my taste it sounds very good and has a very wide possible sound palette. In the end it's a matter of personal preference (as always).

16:52 I know the loop is getting processed by filter, but are the oscillators being triggered by that loop somehow ?

Hi Nick, i have a specific question, i know that the sequencer/arp can send it's notes out of the midi out, but can you sync other devices to it, with the BS2 acting as a master? I'd like to run the sequencer on the BS2 and then sync a volca beats (which has midi sync) to it, i don't want the BS sequencer's notes going to the volca beats, i just want it to transmit midi clock data, any idea if this is possible? Do you still have the BS2 and Volca? Might be interesting to check.

A DCO is just a VCO with the pitch controlled digitally, which doesn't effect the sound. A VCO modified to be a DCO would sound exactly the same, except it might be more stable.

Can't believe I still haven't pick one of these up yet.

Great vid man!! I am an inspiring musician.. That device may help me for fill my music needs.

Sonic State is my go to

MIDI out of the inteface into the MIDI IN of the synth, then use the audio outputs of the synth plugged into the 1/4" inputs of the interface to record it.

I don't even know anymore. This seems like the perfect synth for me as I love heavy bass design like reeses and plucky arp saw basslines. Stuck between this and the Korg Minilogue which has 4 voices for those nice long release pluck sequences but really the sound isn't that great (too thin). This just sounds a LOT more versatile in terms of bass sounds and is 150€ cheaper to boot. Might just get this.

It would be cool to see this as a polysynth, maybe like DSI did with the Mopho/Tetra/Prophet.

would the mininova or the bass station 2 be best as a synth to learn on.

I'm pretty sure this does not have Audio over USB

This unit has a USB port to host computer which will not only power this synth but send and receive both audio and controller information. It comes with Ableton Live Lite and a USB cable in the box. Hope this helps.

Could I use USB to record notes into FL Studio piano roll & have it loop, then use the BSII to play a pattern from Sylenth1 on another FL Studio track? The RME UFX would be my audio interface.

I know I asked this before, which should be my first to buy the novation mininova or the bass station 2 to learn on and learn the play the piano?

You can modulate PWM by LFO AND Env not OR. I missed this at first but both mos sources can my used a simulatiously.

i know what im getting for my birthday!

In the US they're both $499 new from most places. I've also seen two years interest free financing at Sweetwater Sound on the BS but not the Brute.

At 7:12, it sounds like the self-oscillating filter is being played by the keyboard. Based on the user guide, I thought the filter does not track the KB.

Many Thanks for your Walk-Through-Style Review, I am really thankfull not to have to drive the 100 miles to the next store :-)

The analog interface of the MS20-mini appeals to me in a big way though... What makes the Bass Station better in your eyes?

if you have to choose between BS 2 or minilouge which would you pick as for your first analog synth?

You get more with the BSII aswell? (in terms of features and flexibility). Also, I use my SubPhatty for gigging and I can definitely see the appeal of the plastic when it comes to ease of portability.

I'm thinking of buying a new one. It's dco? But that edit switch? So you can have both dco live editing at the same time? 😖

I've enjoyed 2013 for the great budget selection of new analogue's, i've even tried a couple (The ms20 mini & the volca beats) It's really good to have access to these units & there's a lot of sound for the money to be had. This one is pretty damn versatile i'd say.I like it but i've developed an appetite for better build quality I'd like this better in a more solid case with less plastic.2014 i think will be a year of upgrading for me.Enough is enough...But then i hear this thing & woh ! NICE !

Oh I see. If you have osc sync on then you can edit both osc. At the same time. 👍

Maybe in the good tradition of novation ! We can hope for a rack version.

Wobbly knobs is often due to the use of circuit-board mounted controls. I agree they're a little disconcerting, but thanks for calling attention to them. At least they don't seem to be rotary encoders, which are notoriously flaky...

Looks great, sounds fantastic, and great value but I got the Minibrute for it's CV/Gate connectivity to my Eurorack system and it's Steiner-Parker filter. No doubt I'll won't be able to resist the inevitable G.A.S and end up buying it anyway in the end! Oh shit, i forgot the Pulse 2! Damn you analog synth gods!

Also: if Moog would have put those same types of labels above the keyboard instead of completely hiding them, the Sub Phatty would be much nicer.

How do I select and use the internal sounds that built within unit and not the midi sounds from my DAW.

first demo that didnt sound like 90s techno. Good Job as always Nic! all of these cheap analogs are making it hard for me to start my modular addiction though lol

17:45 You jus answered my question I was about to type in... lol. Ive been considering picking this up just to have it as an option, but I don't play keys or anything, so I was gonna ask for your thoughts on this thing for a beginner. ;)

Hi there, I see you don't have the latch function on when you route an external input in the unit, that is different than my unit since I have to press a key or in that case use the latch function to hear the external input signal. I honestly thought from the beginning the external input function would work independently without the need of pressing any key, but it turned to be not that way, which was a bit of a let down...

Hi Elmo, not sure - I have tried doing something similar with my Keys with a Minibrute via MIDI and was unsuccessful.

ummm...I like, now... bass station 2 + Push OR KingKorg or SubPhatty + launchpad S all options around the same price, so, which would you pick? (ps. my DAW of choice is Ableton)

I can't make my mind up, I'm purchasing my first synth this weekend, but cannot decide wether to go Bass station? Minilogue? or Aira System 1. Does anyone who may have used all 3 have any advice or recommendations? Any Positives and Negative between the 3? I have a Volca Beats for the drums in the meantime, so I know that a Korg synth I can just plig the minijack in, but I love the sounds of the aira, and the basses available on the basstation? This is to be my 1st synth besides the 3 original Volcas, so what are people thinking?

Great review!! I am thinking of getting the Bass Station as my first synth after having a go on one today. I am new to this field of expertise and am wondering, can't the BS 2 quantize with the tempo of additional instruments, namely Maschine through Ableton Live? When I had a go on the BS 2 earlier today with the Korg Volca series, I realised early on that the tempo was not synced causing some issue. It would be nice to be able to just lock the synth to a drum machine and change the tempo as i see fit with the other instruments becoming slave to the synth. Thanks

I'm pretty sure the MiniBrute is about 20% more expensive though no?

Very interesting, the hidden features put me off a little but it sounds interesting and flexible. The question now for me is this or the MS20-mini hmm

And aftertouch! :)

Can you download all features of the afx station to this?

this or the minibrute?

i dont understand how to make the program changes via midi. i know this isn't a tutorial but i am lost.