This is my favorite synth I own. Unique and easy to create patches. My only gripe is that it can be kind of glitchy, I've had it sporadically freeze during performances, forcing me to restart it. Other than that it is the greatest synth EVER!!!
Rating: 4 out of 5
posted Tuesday-Nov-06-07 at 17:55
Dj Calyx
a part-time user
from SLO
writes:
The Elektron Sidstation is a remarkable piece of equipment. These guys made a quality synth out of old-stock chips! It's sound is so fat and extremely dirty; a real brain-infiltrator! It's arpeggiators do exactly the type of C64 sounds I was looking for. Even better than the arpeggiators is the "tables" function. This is the first synth I have owned with this type of control. It's like you can make mini sequences for each oscilator with lots of options. There is stepping with the control knobs, but I guess that's because it IS digital? The stepping only adds to the early-computer flavor of this synth. This is the first digital synth I've bought, but I got it to use the beloved sounds of the C64. Using a real C64 is such a pain in the ass that I decided to just get one of these, and I'm glad I did. The sound variety is so amazing compared to my analog synths. So many different waveforms, syncing options, and full MIDI. It's going to take me a long time to fully explore this box; if it can EVER be fully explored! The noise "problem" is cool in my opinion. Don't even think about getting this synth if you can't handle some dirt and grit in the sound. I just turn it down manualy on the mixer when I dont want to hear it breathe. The latest OS (R34) hasn't given me any problems yet. This thing gets a 5/5 for sure! Get one if you can. ......Now, who's gonna make a synth out of Nintendo's 2A03......??? ;)
Rating: 5 out of 5
posted Saturday-Jul-31-04 at 13:48
Herr Sadist
a hobbyist user
from Sverige
writes:
Hittade en begagnad SID-station på musikbörsen för 2500skr. Naturligtvis beställde jag den direkt : ) (De är världens sämsta på att sätta begagnatpriser! 2500 för SIDstation, men nästan 9000 för en Nord Lead1!?!) Efter ett par dagars nervös väntan så kom den äntligen med posten. Som andra redan beskrivit så väger den oväntat lite. Den hade den senaste Giraya-ljudbanken installerad, som tydligen skall vara framtagen för dom sim gillar lite mer techno och dance-orienterad musik. Dessa presets innehöll inte ett enda dataspelsljud, så det var bara att börja programmera direkt. Som tur är så är det ett väldigt lätthanterligt OS, så det var inte krångligare än vilken synth som helst. Tre oscillatorer att leka med som har individuella inställningar och vågformer som en gammal analogsynth. Typ amp envelope, filter envelope pitch, tune, sync osv.. Filtret är skitigt som f**! Provade att köra lite trummor genom external in och trummorna blev som jag trodde rejält smutsiga. Gott om LFOer att leka med. En rolig finess är att man kan låta LFOerna påverka varandra. Det ger en del oväntade effekter. Lätt att skruva till enkla 80-tals basar och paddar, men det blev riktigt kul när jag började leka med wavetable-funktionerna. Korg Wavestation på syra! Ingen mjäkig morffunktion utan bara pang på rödbetan. Att låta några LFOer snurra på högvarv samt stega igenom en wavesekvens i warp 4 ger dom där klassiska spel-ljuden som jag lärde mej älska som barn. Enda smolken i bägaren är det småirriterande bakgrundsljudet från amplitudenvelopen som inte stänger ordentligt. Visst, den går att få bort med en gate, men det känns som en nödlösning. Fy skäms Electron! Trots det en fullkomligt makalös manick, som micke tretow skulle ha sagt. // Herr Sadist
Rating: 3 out of 5
posted Tuesday-Jul-20-04 at 14:38
zeroslug
a hobbyist user
from USA
writes:
finally got my own sidstation about a month ago, and i must say it's worth the $500. It is a bit pricey, but hey it's the only actual hardware synth with an actual SID chip built in it. Now i'll be realistic, this is more for the type of niche sounds, nothing fancy, just the gritty commodore sounds that we oh so love, so anyone out there who's expecting amazing "new" DSP effects this not gonna suit ur tastes. However u can buy a VST form, the QuadraSID which is decent, but ya know u just can't beat an actual SIDchip. Everyhthing in it works flawlessly and the help staff over at Elektron is amazing.Also this is an actual SIDchip, it does produce a bit of background noise, nothing horrible but it's just there, now some may complain about this noise, which there's a Gate for this but it takes out the ADSR, but the noise is sumthing of the sid's sound, so don't be afraid of it, it actually helps out. The only problem is minor, it happens to a lot of synths, if you control the Sidstation via let's say a KorgMs2000, if you go above the maximum patch# on the sid it'll cause the OS to crash, and u'll gotta re-install it, but it's not a big deal. Besides you'll be happy to finally be able to faithfully recreate some of the ol' c64! All in all the sidstation provides ya with the tools of the great gamer-sounds of days past, and throws in MIDI and 4 controll knobs in the mix. Very unique sound and character that can't be matched, also maybe even a collector's item.
Rating: 5 out of 5
posted Sunday-Apr-18-04 at 04:55
zeroslug
a hobbyist user
from USA
writes:
just got done trying out the Sidstation over at a friend's studio, and i must say this machine is very handy. Heh it faithfully recreates those querky 8bit sounds that i so much miss these days. Isn't perfect, but then again wut synth is? Just wish i could my hands on one, they stop making them in 2003. Hmm anyone out there know of a good place to find a used one?
Rating: 5 out of 5
posted Monday-Feb-23-04 at 22:01
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