Hey what’s good fam! Just having some fun here with some Novation synthesizers.
You may have heard me talk about how I’ve used Novation synths for a while, ever since the Supernova…which I sold…like a dummy…
But anyway!
Today I’m just comparing their V-Station plugin to the K-Station synthesizer which is it supposed to be based off of…it even looks just like it.
They also can share patches, I can make patches in the V-Station and load them in the K-Station
So I thought it would be fun to do some random testing between the preset patches to see how similar they sound.
Let me know what you think, does one sound better than the other to you? Do you think they sound the same? Do you think they both suck?
Let me know!
Wow there both pretty similar. In most cases the V-station is a bit brighter but has the overall sound. With a little tweaking you could get some of those patches a little more closer. Not mad at the v-station seeing as its all software based, they did a good job with it. If you dont have money to drop for the hardware, v-station would be the next best thing.
Thanks for the vid saint joe
Yeah I agree, very close, some slight differences, v station overall has a brighter more “whispy” sound, more “excited” where the k station is more round and warm in most cases. But it’s definitely cool to know that they captured the general sound of their hardware.
I honestly suspect the differences might come down to the different hardware between the synths and recording. At a guess, with a little bit of eq and at worst a bit of filtering you might get pretty close to an identical sound.
The V-Station plugins been around a while ( I purchased it right back when I was still on a PC, god like 4-5 years ago? ) and honestly its one of my favorite sound sources for a totally in your face synth that requires no work at all to get a great sound.
For its relatively low price, its honestly a bargain in my view
Yes, it’s a great synth, as I said I’m a Novation fanatic, ever since the Supernova. But I will say, that even with tweaking fx and such, v-station still doesn’t sound identical. Does it sound different enough that it requires one to go get the hardware…no, not unless you prefer it 🙂
I agree hardware and it’s components have their own sound, so of course there’s something to be said about the outputs of the synth and such, but…it’s not a drastic difference. There are just subtleties that come with hardware that aren’t fully reproduced in the software, but that doesn’t discredit the software. I think they did a great job in recreating their synth engine in the digital domain.
I’ve had V-Station for a quite a while, it was my source of “the novation sound” since I had sold my Supernova. It was close but not quite as I remembered even with tweaking, then I got an UltraNova, it really has a different sound compared to the supernova/kstation/vstation sereis, not what I was looking for exactly. When I got the a station I heard what I had remembered even with the fx and tweaking sounding different in software vs the hardware. The k station I wanted for the layout, it sounds the same as the a station but I prefer it’s layout more.
But again…V-Station is definitely a great plugin if you like the Novation sound, it’s definitely in there, and that’s one of the reasons why I wanted to share this little experiment 🙂
i been wanting to get a new hardware synth, i love the hand on approach plus the sound of the hardware vs vsts.
If you had to choose between the V-station, Ultra-Nova, or the virus Ti snow… which one would you pick. I know there all are different and have there weak and strong points. Id like to get them all but can only afford 1.
Out of those 3 I would choose the Virus, now if you throw the K-Station in there I’d probably choose it because of the layout of the knobs and sliders, it would probably be different if I had the full desktop version of the virus with more knobs, it’s just quicker to edit that way, but the virus is a more powerful synth, however in the snow form factor, the kstation is more fun to work with in my opinion.
I’ve heard that dubstep producer the joker just runs his virtual synths through preamps and no one can tell the difference between analog. In this particular example it doesn’t mean putting it through the right preamp will have it sound the same as the hardware since there is the issue of emulation, but what matters in the end is if it sound good!
I so agree.
Yes I agree, i’m not here to argue one over the other, in the end it’s preference and which sound you prefer. Running software through fx definitely changes the dynamic, and most of the time people can’t tell the difference between the two even without fx. I thought it would be interesting since I had both, to compare, they are really close with some slight differences in different sounds, while some of them sound exactly the same.
The K Station sounds much warmer on the sounds that has a difference which is what I like for R&B and HipHop flavor but the V Station I can use for a more crossover pop sound if you will. Of course they can both go to any platform with tweaking. I’m going to go with the KS because I like warm sounds better, it seems to present more soul than the VS. this was great! Thank you!
Cool yeah again, it’s all preference and which sound you prefer, they aren’t vastly different but there are some subtle differences in sound that push me towards the k-station or a-station over v station. But I wouldn’t be upset with the v station either, it’s a nice job by Novation to capture the sound of their classic synth engine.
I like the plugin better but as you said when you have hardware it gives you hands on option.
Indeed, it’s personal preference as to which sound you prefer. I think the plugin has a more “current” sound that’s in line with a lot of what people are using now, more bright/open.
SJ: Novation has definitely delivered the sounds with this plugin. Thank you for the review,& the presentation to the various sounds was “Excellent”. Kudos on this…
Cool man, thanks for watching!
One of the best hardware videos I’ve seen ever. Thanks for it! I’ve just missed K-station ebay auction, I was close to tears – but hey! – V-station is very close to it!
Yeah I like to have fun doing stuff like this, just to show what’s there. Sure there are some differences so it really depends on what you’re looking for, but it’s not drastic on each sound at all.
Hi I was just wondering if you make any music with real instruments specifically non computer non electronic or sampled music. Also I am interested if you would be willing to look at writing music with nothing but a pen and paper and nothing else.
Yep I use instruments in addition to synthesizers. I don’t feel an electronic instrument is any less of an instrument either. I love hardware synthesizers as well as rhodes, percussion, etc, all are instruments to me. As for the pen/paper question, no, I have no desire to write music that way.