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 recent -must have- v2.5 firmware update, the Bass Station II now has paraphonic capabilities, as well as filter tracking, envelope retriggering, adjustable random detune, microtuning and new preset Soundpacks.
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 I would and will 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!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/UptownOscillators
This page is a living document, subject to update and expansion. Last edited – 1/6/2019
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