Impressive mono/paraphonic synth at any price
Everyone should have one of these, even if you have multiple high-end synths. Keep your eyes open and you will notice many a synth pro has one of these sitting in their gear mix.
The Bass Station II also makes a great first hardware synth purchase recommendation. In my mind, it’s an equal toss up between the Bass Station II and the Korg Minilogue. The latter does have 4 note chord polyphony if that is important to you or you don’t know.
With the v2.5 firmware update, the Bass Station II added paraphonic capabilities, as well as filter tracking, envelope retriggering, adjustable random detune, microtuning and new preset Soundpacks.
The newest -must have- v4.14 firmware update added AFX Mode, fixed duration envelopes, extended sub-oscillator control, oscillator glide diverge, and envelope retrigger count. In a nutshell AFX mode can put a different patch on each key and was designed by Aphex Twin. Ordinarily the sub oscillator is locked 1 or 2 octaves below oscillator 1, and now with extended sub-oscillator control you can independently tune it allowing 3 notes, which is pretty cool.
There are a lot of things to like about this synth. This is big for me: Full sized keys (with aftertouch), most other keyboard synths near its price range have mini-keys. Pitch and mod wheels, too. Octave up/down buttons, 64 factory and 64 user preset slots.
The BS2 has 2 analog oscillators with sine, triangle, sawtooth, square/variable pulse width waveforms, and a sub-oscillator with sine, square, and narrow pulse waveforms. If you wanted fat sound, you got it. Also has noise, ring mod, paraphonic, arpeggiator, sequencer, portamento, and 2 filters. The first is a classic multi-mode filter with low, band and high pass and 12db/24db slopes. The second one is an ‘acid’ diode ladder filter. There are 2 ADSR envelopes, 2 LFOs, distortion and FM effects. Whew! There is a lot on the BS2, and much of it is knob/slider accessible.
In summation. I put my money where my mouth is, and would do it again.
Thanks!
-Yehuda
Manufacturer’s website
https://novationmusic.com/synths/bass-station-ii
Product support, downloads
https://novationmusic.com/get-started
https://customer.novationmusic.com/support/downloads
Strongly recommended that you download the newest OS, unless you hate bug fixes, stability and new features
Facebook user groups
Bass Station II
https://www.facebook.com/groups/bstation2
Videos
Useful Links
Bass Station 2 Web editor
https://sysex.io/bass-station-2-web-editor.html
Be sure to join the
Uptown Oscillators Facebook Group
This page is a living document, subject to update and expansion.
Last edited – 1/12/2020
If you have any content you think should be added, or would like to help author gear pages/posts, please leave a comment here or on our Facebook group.
Manufacturer Specifications: click to open/close or jump to comments
Product Hardware Specifications
Hardware & controller assignment
- 25 note synth-action keyboard
- Aftertouch can be assigned to modulate:
- Filter frequency
- LFO 1to Osc pitch
- Osc 2 speed
- Pitch wheel
- Modulation wheel can be assigned to:
- LFO 2 to filter frequency
- LFO 1 to Osc pitch
- Osc 2 pitch
- Octave up/ down buttons
- 64 factory presets
- 64 slots for user patches (and patch dump facility for storing more)
- Master volume dial
Inputs and Outputs
- USB MIDI (for connecting & powering Bass Station II via host computer)
- Mono output on 1/4″ TRS jack
- Headphone output on 1/4″ TRS jack
- External input on 1/4″ TRS jack
- Sustain pedal input on 1/4″ TS jack
- MIDI IN / MIDI OUT ports on 5 pin din
- DC power input
- Switch between power off / DC powered / bus powered
Synth Engine
Oscillators
- Osc 1
- Osc 2
- Sub Osc (3)
- Noise generator
Osc 1 & 2
Select between waveforms:
- Sine
- Triangle
- Sawtooth
- Square/variable pulse width
Features
- Sync 1 & 2
- Detune
- Octave range
- Pitch bend
- Pitch modulation from Mod Envelope and/or LFO 1
- Pulse width modulation from Mod Envelope and/or LFO 2
Sub Osc (3) which is tracked to Osc 1
Select independently between waveforms:
- Sine
- Square
- Narrow pulse
Features
- All modulation and tuning tracked to Osc 1
- Independent octave select
Mixer
- Osc 1 level
- Osc 2 level
- Sub Osc level
- Noise generator level
- Ring modulation depth
- External signal level
Filter
Two filter types
- Acid type (diode ladder filter design)
- Classic type (derived from original Bass Station)
Features
- Cutoff
- Resonance
- Overdrive
- Filter frequency to Mod Envelope depth
- Filter frequency to LFO 2 depth
Select ‘Classic’ filter between:
- Low pass
- Band pass
- High pass
- 12dB slope
- 24dB slope
Envelopes
Two ADSR Envelopes (Attack/Decay/Sustain/Release)
- Amp Envelope
- Mod Envelope
- Combined control of both Envelopes
Select triggering mode between:
- Single trigger (holds envelope state when new note is played)
- Multi trigger (re-triggers with every new note played)
- Autoglide (engages portamento)
There is also a VCA limiter
LFO
Two LFOs each selectable between:
- Triangle
- Sawtooth
- Square
- Sample and hold
- Both LFOs independently adjustable between rate and delay time
- Key sync LFO 1 & 2
- LFO slew on LFO 1& 2 (low pass filter on the LFO waveform)
Effects
- Distortion send
- Oscillator filter mod amount (FM effect created by Oscillator 2 modulating filter freq)
Step Sequencer/Arpeggiator
Arpeggiator
- Up to 32 different patterns
- Select between 1-4 octave range
- Swing function
- Select direction:
- up
- down
- up / down 1
- up / down 2
- As played
- Random
- Latch (hold the arpeggiator)
Step Sequencer
- Up to four sequences
- Assign one of 32 preset rhythms or create your own
- insert rests or legato (slide)
- Sequencer re-trigger function
Portamento
- Adjust glide time
- Single trigger or re-trigger modes
- Integrate into step sequencer and arpeggiator
Power Requirements
- USB bus powered
- 9V DC power supply included
- Maximum power consumption 9V DC 300mA
Product Dimensions
- 457mm (18”) width x 273mm (10.75”) depth x 76mm (3”) height
OS Compatibility
- Mac OSX 10.12 Sierra, 10.11, 10.10, 10.9
- Windows 10, Windows 8