You’ve got a classic filter, which can be set up just how most of us like it: 4-pole 24dB low pass. One touch we really dug in our hands-on test was the filter section. In all seriousness, though, the Bass Station II provides a lot of unique features, considering many units at this price point try their best to be Moog clones or one-trick ponies. Why? Simple – you can choose between one octave below or TWO octaves below, resulting in bass lines so deep you would swear Deadmau5 just showed up at your home studio to put on a private show. While we loved the Moog Sub Phatty for its beefy sound, we went absolutely bananas for the sub-oscillator on the Bass Station II.
The real meat, though, is in the oscillator section. Controls are simply laid out, which is great, and the preset bank is thankfully not only usable, but also easy to program. While we dug the old black and blue box back in the day, we love this one even more. To start, what’s not to love about an analog synth under 400 bucks? The Novation Bass Station II is the spiritual successor to the original Bass Station that came out in the ’90s. BEST BOTTOM END SYNTH UNDER $1000: Novation Bass Station II
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Mod Destinations: Pitch, Osc 2 Pitch Only, Filter, WaveshapeĬV/Gate Inputs: Filter CV, Pitch CV, Volume CV, KB Gate Mod Sources: Triangle, Square, Saw, Ramp, SH, Filter Envelope
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Sound Sources: 2 Variable Waveshape Oscillators, 1 Square Wave Sub Oscillator, 1 Noise Generator Have you grabbed your copy of our special synth issue yet? #moog4life #moogĪ photo posted by Performer Magazine on at 12:54pm PDTĮvery single thing about it is amazing. Toss in a sub-oscillator an octave below oscillator one, and you find out pretty quickly where the “sub” in Sub Phatty comes from. And it’s smooth as butter, allowing you to accurately dial in the exact waveform(s) you desire, detuning them ever so slightly using the frequency knob, and then adjusting the amazing 4-pole ladder filter Moog is so famous for to make the final sound mega-beefy. For starters, the variable wave form selector on both oscillators is fantastic, allowing you to continuously sweep from triangle all the way to pulse width, and everything in between. Here are a few things we love, after testing out the Moog Sub Phatty for several weeks. How’s that? Hands down, when you put everything together and add it up (sound, features, feel, usability, flexibility, price) we can’t find another synth, especially an analog synth, that can touch it in this price range. Well, to be blunt, we think the Moog Sub Phatty is the best damn synth you can buy for under a thousand bucks.
The granular synth app Borderlands 2.0 took the second spot in our reader’s poll, followed by Ableton Link – which is not a conventional app, per se, but a new technology that makes it easier to jam with multiple mobile and desktop devices.Moog Sub Phatty Editor’s Pick For Best Overall Synth Under $1000 Patterning could be the poster child using mobile devices for music, pairing polyrhythmic + polymetric power with a great UI and an surprisingly modest price tag (US $7.99). Synthtopia readers picked Olympia Noise Co’s Patterning Drum Machine as the best new mobile music app of 2015.
Best of 2015: We asked and you voted on the Best New Mobile Music Apps of 2015.