|
This is an incredibly well designed board, to begin with the bottom line. The control surfaces have been designed nearly flawlessly, offering the lucky owner the absolute most control they could possibly have given the small, highly portable size of the board. The appearance and layout scream of the analog days of old, and while this is simply a digital keyboard modelling analog sounds, the amount of parameter control offered here is something that never should have died with the analog keyboard in the first place. I made what I consider to be a bit of a mistake in waiting to purchase this board used after I bought an Alesis Micron instead. Now please understand that I'm not bashing the Micron here; it's sounds are fantastic and it stands up to the Novation in almost every area EXCEPT for parameter control! Being a professional bassist in a frequently gigging rock band, naturally I need the easiest, most tweakable synthesizer I can find for live playing. The Micron, although it has controls that I consider to be intuitive (once you've learned them), just didn't deliver the control I needed of ADSR, effects, ocillators, portamento, and etc. that I need at my fingertips while playing. (You can take a wild guess: I'm doin' the Geddy Lee jig up there, juggling two keyboards, midi bass pedals, and my bass, all at once. I have to be able to stay on top of things!) I had originally planned to buy a Novation K, but when they stopped carrying them at my local keyboard dealers, I decided to hop on the ion/micron bandwagon instead. Now I've finally got the board I wanted to begin with! I will say that the preset sounds on the K are a bit weak, and definitely are aimed at the techno/trance etc. crowd, but with a little effort of your own, you can harness the power of its 3 ocillators to produce some significantly fat and phat sounds, from basses to leads and back again. This board is a tad harsh when it comes to pads, but I actually like the edgy feel that every sound on here seems to have. Also: The arpeggiator is a million times better than the one included as an afterthought on the Micron (the ion didn't have one). Let me restate that. The arpeggiator is much, much, much better. As far as complaints are concerned, my only gripes seem to be the preset sounds (decent, I'm just being a real perfectionist).... ...and... the dumb wall-wart plug. I'd prefer a good old power cord, because these wall-wart plugs are huge and seem flimsy. There also could have been battery operation, but I wouldn't have used it anyway, so I'm just stating that if you want a board that functions on batteries, this one does not have that feature. Finally, the keys are a bit cheap. They aren't MicroKorg little-plastic-toy keys (although the action on those I actually find quite pleasing), but they're not exactly the most quality keys in the world either. In fact, I've already had to replace one that I broke in half. But that's all beside the point.
The point, in conclusion, is that for those of you with gigs to play, and a pocket that contains more lint than loose change, the Novation K-Station is the ideal buy. The keys feel decent, the controls are amazing, and the sounds are just about as good as you're currently going to be able to get from a board in this price range. I paid 225$ used for mine, and that could be compared to stealing the mona lisa. This one's worth every penny of the 800$ list price, take my word for it! If you can't, then go find one and try it for yourself. You'll see what I mean.
|
listings
