I just purchased this synth yesterday. I didnt really even know much about it (which is not how I normally buy things). I went in to get a Dave Smith Mopho, but I was so compelled by the look/feel/sound of this synth, that I jumped ship and grabbed this one instead. Your tutorial video was excellent! Very clear and super concise! Glad I know I made such a good choice... I can't to dig into this bad boy and sync it up with my current setup! Thanks again!
The software alone sold me on this synth. As soon as I saw it I knew that I had to own an UltraNova. I am very happy with this instrument. It is a terrific value!
Not really... don't want to be a Debbie Downer, but, the old Nova and Supernova smoke this thing in terms of sound. Bit of a shame, as I think the format has potential.
@@chakko007 well, i had the Nova desktop and the Supernova II keyversion, none of these ever inspired me soundwise and sounded harsch and cold. Now i have two Ultranovas and love them to bits, sound so much warmer :-))
So let me get this straight: 1) I get a decent small-form keybed midi controller 2) Knobs & buttons with Automapping support to use with DAWs/VSTs 3) Built in A/D converter with a decent sound quality (Focusrite) 4) Impressive synth engine with tons of waves, oscs, lfos and envs 5) Run as a VST/editor in your DAW 6) Mic/Vocoder for those nice rainy days :) And all for $699?! That sounds amazing to me.
If you get this, make sure you have lots of time on your hands. It is a mindblowing monster! If you gave this to a 5 year-old and told him to change one parameter every second, when he reached 100 years old, he still wouldn't have got to the end. Some great presets but you will need to work hard to get to the end of your possibilities. There is no way you will get to the limits of the machine.
Omnisphere is great but it's very much an expenditure that can only depreciate as time goes by. Plus, expensive software updates may be necessary every few years raising its cost even more. I recently sold my classic 10 year old Korg Triton for more than half of what I paid for it new. The Ultranova is an investment that should maintain its value for decades to come. What will the resale value of Omnisphere, or better yet, any VSTi be worth in 5 years? 10 years? See where I'm going with this?
I doubt anyone will come to this video after all of these years. I was thinking of getting one of these but I remember all of the people that said that had a problem with the touch sensitive knobs not working right after one of the updates. Seems like Novation was unwilling to address the issue. Does anyone know if that issue was ever resolved?
@synapticflow Likely too late for you but in case anyone else has a similar question . . . My Ultranova has the most recent firmware (v1.4) and the touch sensitive knobs all work, though the LED for #6 (above the AutoMap 'Mixer' control) no longer lights up.
MicroKorg only has 4 notes polyphony and a fraction of the modulation possibilities of this. MIcron is more on the same level as Ultranova - but no editor included, although a GREAT one exists. Micron is 4 parts multitimbra. On the other hand, Ultranova is a very capable midicontroller to boot (with aftertouch!)
Been programming my band's setlist patches into an Ultranova. We use Junos in studio but wanted something more reliable for the road. Has anyone experienced this phenomena with this synth that if you don't have a chorus in the effect chain, it just sounds tiny and bland? When a Juno has no chorus on, the oscilators still sound so warm. Is there a trick somewhere in the software editor that I am missing? or is it just a fact that this synth sounds tiny and quiet without chorus on?
I think it sounds bland and thin. Really would like to like it, but, every single sound demo i've heard of it is a bit disappointing. I have soft synths which sound much fatter, warmer, and more pleasant. So, yep, it's probably not just you.
UPDATE: I persevered with it, and managed to get my patches to a point of satisfaction. The key was to pay attention to the gain stages (there is one pre effects and post effects I think). I was editing on headphones and realized that the INIT gain stages of the oscillators are very low compared to their sudden jump in volume when you put chorus in the chain. Once I added gain to the clean effects-free patch, I was then vibing more on the programming process. Tip: pay attention to the Q Normalise parameter in the filter section. It helps get rid of those weird unwanted high pitched sounds when you open the filter right up. I think thats called Aliasing. You dont get that problem with analog. But ah well Ive made it work for my needs, and it will be much more reliable on the road than vintage equipment. Thanks again for the great review Nick!
On the subject of the wobbly knobs, I belive it was desingned that way. Because, if you watch the intro video on their website. The direction that you move the knobs in touch mode changes the parameter ever so slightly. So Im sure you dont wanna bang the heck out of it but, I do belive that was part of the design rather than shotty build. :) Peace and God Bless!
@A2326T Can you use the Ultranova with the RemoteSL and control parameters across both the Ultranova and Remote SL at the same time for soft synths with lots of paramters?
Kind of funny that all the time while the Ultranova is in the picture, I keep staring at the Jupiter-6 in the background instead, wishing to get a review of that in the same manner.
God I should just stop wasting my time with searching around for "demo's" of synths and just come here like I always end up doing in the end. 10/10 would bang again. But srsly always a solid review, thanks, you really helped me decide on my first synth. It was a tie between the re release of the korg ms-20 or this and well... the ultranova won..... for now! BU-BU-BUUUU!
Nick Batt is the best. Quite a capable synth. Now it can be had used for really low price, provided everything works, it would be a good investment for someone that doesn't want to spend too much. Its good for running soft synth VST's too. It looks like a fun little synth.
.... and if i were to break it down: 1) MPK49 midi controller is about $399'sh 2) A half decent soft synth VST would be around $149/199 3) Any half decent A/D would be about $200 And i'm already way past the $699 mark before we even get to the nice extras like the vocoder etc. Sure, I know it's not a direct apples/oranges comparison, but damn, me likeee....
sounds very interesting this machine, but I think I will go for the blofeld (also seems to have the deeper synth engine) what do you think? (and yes I already have an audio interface, as most of us do, don't we?)
@francaisemusique other option for me, is a akai miniak, this have alesis ion engine, but not looking good, and the interface is very complicated, comparated with a ultranova.
@A2326T hey buddy, just wanted to ask how the "remote sl mk2" compares or adds up like you say, to the ultranova?! Because i want to buy one of those...i thought the remote sl mk2 is just something like a midi controller, but the ultranova is a synth and furthermore also got this feature to act as a midi controller...Am I correct?! so does the "remote sl mk2" offers anything that the ultranova doesnt???
So my question is; Which one is worth the money Venom or Ultranova? (say if they cost the same) And which one sounds more original/newish? (kind of sick of 80's sounding synths...)
6 years later you can buy Venoms at 120-150 euro, I had 2 of them and sold them. The Ultranova keeps his value round 300-350 euro and blows the Venom away. I "m not readdy to sell it soon :-))
Okay, so I could use this and the slim phatty (moog synth which requires a midi keyboard) to control the slim phatty when I need to? I want to get this and the slim phatty, and I'm wondering if this will work using the midi out on it.
Thanks for v. helpful review. But what does it exactly mean that its monotimbral? Does it mean that in a DAW it cant generate 2 diffrent sounds for example some pads and stabs simultanously?
which, is not to be confused with polyphony. which means multiple notes. monophony= one note at a time. monotimbral = one patch ( sound) at a time. this confused me for a very long time.
Iv got an issue, would appreciate if someone could help. I have an ultranova hooked up to my laptop, running cubase 5. I also have a virus b rack. I have connected it to the ultranova via midi out from the ultranova and into the midi in on the virus. when I hit the keys on the ultranova it does trigger the virus which is fine. the problem is, when I record midi notes into cubase and play it back, it doesn't trigger the virus and there's no midi in signal showing on the virus. Iv tried everything and even rang the guys at novation but still no joy. any Ideas anyone
+housebrigade I don't own either synth and I don't use Cubase, but from my experience my guess would be that cubase is sending Midi to the ultranova, which is actually interacting with the sound module inside the synth, not the keyboard. So, in essence it's only triggering sounds without passing the midi data to the virus. Also, it's worth noting that usb midi can both send and receive on the same cable, but if you're using the traditional 5-pin din MIDI cable, it can only transmit in one direction. Depending on how the Ultranova is programmed, it may or not be able to transmit midi data through usb to a din cable. If it can, then configure this option and simply run usb between the nova and your computer and go Midi Thru from the nova to Midi In on the virus (make sure Midi channels are correct obviously), though at this price range I kinda doubt that being an option. The configuration you're wanting to have is where a MIDI interface makes a lot more sense. In this scenario, which is the more traditional way of using sound modules, your main keyboard (the nova) has both midi in and out running to the midi interface (traditional cables, that is). Then depending on how you want the virus to be played you could do a few things: 1) play the nova and virus simultaneously from the nova's keyboard... Midi Thru from nova to midi in on virus (all same midi channel) 2) play them separately from Cubase or any other sequencer... Midi Thru from nova to midi in on the virus (DIFFERENT midi channels, just make sure everything is the correct channel from the sequencer to the virus) OR just go directly out of another output on the interface to the virus and bypass the nova altogether, making them parallel in the signal flow. 2 midi chains instead of one, if that makes sense. 3) Have the option to simultaneously do both 1) and 2)... Most Midi-capable instruments can send data not just on any 1 of the 16 available midi channels in a single signal chain, but all 16 at once. Assuming this is true of the nova, send midi on all 16 channels to midi thru on the virus but still set the virus to receive on a different channel than whatever the nova is set to receive on. Then, when you send notes from Cubase to the virus's channel, it will pass through the nova to the virus without triggering the nova's notes; yet at the same time allowing you to send midi notes to the virus as you play the nova's keyboard. As far as switching midi channels and stuff like that, it depends on what gear you have, and I don't have any of your stuff, but I hope that helps, at least conceptually lol. Midi can get really confusing, you might want to draw some diagrams. Check out your user manuals. Especially for the virus, it's probably got a lot of info on this because Midi would be the only way to really play it in the first place. If you don't really know about Midi Thru, I just found this diagram really quick that makes it pretty easy. This is describing scenario 3) btw. Let me know how you fare! www.homerecordinghub.com/midi-thru.html
Do you think it would work nicely in a non dance/trance genre? How do you think it would stand up against something like the Waldorf Blofeld, and are you going to do a review for it?
Hello how are you? Superb review, really good. However I have a question: Can I use a Midi Controller, like the Novation ZeRO SL MkII to control some parameters of the SuperNova? Connecting the Synth and the Controller to the computer, Will I be able to control parameters of the UltraNova in the Controller Knobs and faders? Thank you so much.
Lars van Koningsveld I always think that! Haha from the hail to the thief album....intro to song 2 I believe? Either way I gotta go listen to it now! Haha great album and song
@francaisemusique Thanks, Made my choice already. I'm going to sell my M-Audio Midiboard and buy this synth. The Ultranova is also a very good midicontroller with a great synth engine. And the thing that Venom really needs the software for editing the patches made me want to buy the Ultranova.
Hi, very nice review. Im about to buy this amazing piece of sound today but before that. When you send audio to any DAW, can you automate any parameter with the plugin that is included with it? Let say, Im recording a song but while Im playing Im not able to change the Cutoff parameter as both hands are busy. Can I automate that later with the software? Thanks in advance!
synapticflow Biased opinion about digital synthesizers, I guess. Surely it doesn't sound nearly as fat as, say, a Minilogue (almost in the same price range) but this one has lots of features, and things you won't find in analog synths (eg. Wavetables)
you are by far my favorite reviewer for synthesizer's you know how to play them and you know what is mpst important to include. what would you considder to be the best synthesizer for less then $800 usd. i live in norway and everything is more expensive here so $ is the most i will pay800
Does the Ultra's vocoder also have this feature that transposes your voice to the notes played, even with the arpeggiator as shown in the Mini's review?
Ok so I have a noob question - I have a basic set up at home using just a simple NI Audio2DJ USB audio interface. This has no inputs, literally 2 outs. I only use one of the outs that goes to my Rokit 5's which incidently are used for pretty much everything, hence this question. Is it possible to use this synth without having to use its built in soundcard? The reason I ask is that when using the synth i have to disconnect the jack from my AUDIO2DJ interface and then plug in to the back of the Ultranova and then select to use its interface every time. Basically I want to be able to use only AUDIO2DJ interface for everything. Sorry if this has been covered in the past but it has been confusing me slightly. Thanks for your advice.
+TheBinaryFunction Mac or PC? OSX has the ability to aggregate audio drivers iirc natively. Although I've heard this might not be ideal. On Windows I believe you can do something similar with ASIO4All. Keep in mind either way, if your equipment is running at different audio rates or one has a super high lag, you may not find a workable solution. The best solution is to replace your current inteface with one that can actually record.
@enginufuk The Venom sounds dirtier and harder. Most of the patches are made for Electro, but it has loads of sampled retro waveforms, so 80's analog-like sounds are possible. But the Ultranova has also a lot of ways to create newish sounds. Those touch-controls are probably made for Dubstep producers to create those wobble basses. The Venom has dropped here from €500 to €300. The Ultranova is here still €550-€650. If you buy the Venom you HAVE to use the editor. Feels like a VST plugin, meh!
6 years later you can buy Venoms at 120-150 euro, I had 2 of them and sold them. The Ultranova keeps his value round 300-350 euro and blows the Venom away. I "m not readdy to sell it soon :-))
And that's fine... But I need pads and weird cross modulated shit with effects routed to the envelopes. Wavetables being modulated by LFO's and so on. Not feasible in an analog synth of any kind.
Sonic state is the best. The presets suck. The are the worst presets of any synth I have ever played or owned. They are Edm crap with a digital sheen, but if you spend the time making your own sounds it's a awesome synth. The 5 effects really help. There are so many parameters you can change that you can easily remove the digital sheen. The Gaia has better presets but has fewer parameters and sounds worse. The microkorg has great presets but terrible keys and nothing near the flexibility or parameters. A virus just sounds better. (Note the period) The minilog has 4 voice polyphony and weird skinny keys. The micro and minibrutes are monophonic monsters that are fun but limited. As an audio technician for 3 years I've played and fixed alesis to Yamaha synths (don't want to list them all but we even fixed old oberheims, junos, Rhodes, and even crappy plastic Farfisas) and if you want presets run away fast but if you want to craft your own sounds buy one of these on eBay, they are cheap right now.
I bought a Gaia just for the interface, worst sounding synth I have ever owner. The Ultranova/ Gaia comparison should never be on sound because it's not even close
For the price of a Virus I can buy a Blofeld and the Ultranova.. do you guys think that between the two would cover the same sonic territory of the Virus?
I'd rather get the Arturia Minibrute. Obviously it has less features than the Ultranova (it's monophonic), but definitely enough features for me (especially for the price).
Sweet little trance machine! I only wish they'd put a little more controllers on it, so I could justify getting this rather than a Remote SLmk2... Oh well, guess you can't have everything. Again, nice one Novation!
With respect, for a complete novice new to the language of synthesizers, I found this tutorial hard to get my head around. The manual is not that easy either so, learning how to engage the vocoder again aside from instructions on the net, not very informative. I will keep searching for someone who actually makes this unit make sense. Maybe it is only for seasoned keyboard players who know synthesizers back wards. cheers.
At first I thought you were someone actually looking for legitimate instruction... But halfway through your comment I realized that it was just a misguided complaint... How you got the idea that this was in any way or form a tutorial is beyond me... This is a quick review/overview of features... And a rushed one at that as I believe this is from an era when TH-cam videos had to be no longer than a dozen minutes or you would get buried by the algorithm from people not finishing your video. I guess I do understand now with guys like loopop, bobeats, basically making their reviews 30 to 45min tutorials
As always. The best reviews from Nick.
I just purchased this synth yesterday. I didnt really even know much about it (which is not how I normally buy things). I went in to get a Dave Smith Mopho, but I was so compelled by the look/feel/sound of this synth, that I jumped ship and grabbed this one instead. Your tutorial video was excellent! Very clear and super concise! Glad I know I made such a good choice... I can't to dig into this bad boy and sync it up with my current setup! Thanks again!
Yeah this is a very fascinating unit. It's got a sound I haven't heard in any other synth. The presents are very intriguing
Love your synth reviews man, you really get into the nitty gritty of the synths and show off what they can do
If ever you need to see how good a synth is look no further than a Sonicstate review. I actually think this little synth sounds great
The software alone sold me on this synth. As soon as I saw it I knew that I had to own an UltraNova. I am very happy with this instrument. It is a terrific value!
@ChristopheKey Yes absolutley. I didnt have a chance to get this in to the review due to the large number of synthesis features.
seriously, youre reviews are always the best.
Excellent review as always! The only review of the ultranova so far that goes beyond reading product sheets over a single finger arp preset!
A Superb synth, massively overlooked.. a future classic
Not really... don't want to be a Debbie Downer, but, the old Nova and Supernova smoke this thing in terms of sound. Bit of a shame, as I think the format has potential.
@@chakko007 well, i had the Nova desktop and the Supernova II keyversion, none of these ever inspired me soundwise and sounded harsch and cold. Now i have two Ultranovas and love them to bits, sound so much warmer :-))
Just brought one just emense ...blown away by it
I sometimes come back to these old videos just to find out Nick hasn't changed at all.
@krrsss Yes thats is what it means, only one sound at a time.
So let me get this straight:
1) I get a decent small-form keybed midi controller
2) Knobs & buttons with Automapping support to use with DAWs/VSTs
3) Built in A/D converter with a decent sound quality (Focusrite)
4) Impressive synth engine with tons of waves, oscs, lfos and envs
5) Run as a VST/editor in your DAW
6) Mic/Vocoder for those nice rainy days :)
And all for $699?!
That sounds amazing to me.
Heckin based right???
If you get this, make sure you have lots of time on your hands. It is a mindblowing monster! If you gave this to a 5 year-old and told him to change one parameter every second, when he reached 100 years old, he still wouldn't have got to the end. Some great presets but you will need to work hard to get to the end of your possibilities. There is no way you will get to the limits of the machine.
Omnisphere is great but it's very much an expenditure that can only depreciate as time goes by. Plus, expensive software updates may be necessary every few years raising its cost even more. I recently sold my classic 10 year old Korg Triton for more than half of what I paid for it new. The Ultranova is an investment that should maintain its value for decades to come. What will the resale value of Omnisphere, or better yet, any VSTi be worth in 5 years? 10 years? See where I'm going with this?
Excellent explanations, very clear and follow. well demonstrated.Great tutorial really.
I doubt anyone will come to this video after all of these years. I was thinking of getting one of these but I remember all of the people that said that had a problem with the touch sensitive knobs not working right after one of the updates. Seems like Novation was unwilling to address the issue. Does anyone know if that issue was ever resolved?
@synapticflow
Likely too late for you but in case anyone else has a similar question . . .
My Ultranova has the most recent firmware (v1.4) and the touch sensitive knobs all work, though the LED for #6 (above the AutoMap 'Mixer' control) no longer lights up.
better than korg microkorg?
Kills it
microkorg would be the ultranova's chew toy.
MicroKorg only has 4 notes polyphony and a fraction of the modulation possibilities of this.
MIcron is more on the same level as Ultranova - but no editor included, although a GREAT one exists. Micron is 4 parts multitimbra.
On the other hand, Ultranova is a very capable midicontroller to boot (with aftertouch!)
Awesome review!! It seems very unique in the way you interact and use the instrument. I can see it being really popular in the dubstep scene.
Been programming my band's setlist patches into an Ultranova. We use Junos in studio but wanted something more reliable for the road. Has anyone experienced this phenomena with this synth that if you don't have a chorus in the effect chain, it just sounds tiny and bland? When a Juno has no chorus on, the oscilators still sound so warm. Is there a trick somewhere in the software editor that I am missing? or is it just a fact that this synth sounds tiny and quiet without chorus on?
I think it sounds bland and thin. Really would like to like it, but, every single sound demo i've heard of it is a bit disappointing. I have soft synths which sound much fatter, warmer, and more pleasant. So, yep, it's probably not just you.
UPDATE: I persevered with it, and managed to get my patches to a point of satisfaction. The key was to pay attention to the gain stages (there is one pre effects and post effects I think). I was editing on headphones and realized that the INIT gain stages of the oscillators are very low compared to their sudden jump in volume when you put chorus in the chain. Once I added gain to the clean effects-free patch, I was then vibing more on the programming process. Tip: pay attention to the Q Normalise parameter in the filter section. It helps get rid of those weird unwanted high pitched sounds when you open the filter right up. I think thats called Aliasing. You dont get that problem with analog. But ah well Ive made it work for my needs, and it will be much more reliable on the road than vintage equipment.
Thanks again for the great review Nick!
that's really good to know. thanks for posting
Love your reviews - thank you, I want this!
I think the ultra nova can be as "analog" and "dirty" as the Venom. This keyboard seems to have more options for building your own out there sounds..
Hi I'm from the future I bought this nos for 350.00.. this synth is back in style again!!!!
just bought one! lovely damn synth!
On the subject of the wobbly knobs, I belive it was desingned that way. Because, if you watch the intro video on their website. The direction that you move the knobs in touch mode changes the parameter ever so slightly. So Im sure you dont wanna bang the heck out of it but, I do belive that was part of the design rather than shotty build. :)
Peace and God Bless!
@A2326T Can you use the Ultranova with the RemoteSL and control parameters across both the Ultranova and Remote SL at the same time for soft synths with lots of paramters?
Kind of funny that all the time while the Ultranova is in the picture, I keep staring at the Jupiter-6 in the background instead, wishing to get a review of that in the same manner.
novation is one of the most underrated machines.)
Juss saying, I only work with one sound at a time....I had the supernova 2 and this is way more capable of WAY MORE SOUNDS!
God I should just stop wasting my time with searching around for "demo's" of synths and just come here like I always end up doing in the end. 10/10 would bang again. But srsly always a solid review, thanks, you really helped me decide on my first synth. It was a tie between the re release of the korg ms-20 or this and well... the ultranova won..... for now! BU-BU-BUUUU!
No panning on the OSC ???? woO !
Yes, you forgot to mention the patch librarian that comes as part of the editor software plugin.
Nick Batt is the best. Quite a capable synth. Now it can be had used for really low price, provided everything works, it would be a good investment for someone that doesn't want to spend too much. Its good for running soft synth VST's too. It looks like a fun little synth.
.... and if i were to break it down:
1) MPK49 midi controller is about $399'sh
2) A half decent soft synth VST would be around $149/199
3) Any half decent A/D would be about $200
And i'm already way past the $699 mark before we even get to the nice extras like the vocoder etc.
Sure, I know it's not a direct apples/oranges comparison, but damn, me likeee....
sounds very interesting this machine, but I think I will go for the blofeld (also seems to have the deeper synth engine)
what do you think?
(and yes I already have an audio interface, as most of us do, don't we?)
@francaisemusique other option for me, is a akai miniak, this have alesis ion engine, but not looking good, and the interface is very complicated, comparated with a ultranova.
So what does this have that the mininova doesn't, besides the touch buttons and external buttons for menus?
This synth in rack please.
@A2326T
hey buddy, just wanted to ask how the "remote sl mk2" compares or adds up like you say, to the ultranova?! Because i want to buy one of those...i thought the remote sl mk2 is just something like a midi controller, but the ultranova is a synth and furthermore also got this feature to act as a midi controller...Am I correct?! so does the "remote sl mk2" offers anything that the ultranova doesnt???
@francaisemusique The MicroKorg is also a very nice synth. Korg makes really nice instruments.
Also love your reviews. Thanks to you went out and bought one of these little blue beasts but 8 X 3 = 24 oscillators not 18 don't it?
ultranova or m-audio venom or korg r3?what is better?
You sir have the greatest reviews!
Ultranova, Mininova or Bass Station 2?
So my question is; Which one is worth the money Venom or Ultranova? (say if they cost the same) And which one sounds more original/newish? (kind of sick of 80's sounding synths...)
6 years later you can buy Venoms at 120-150 euro, I had 2 of them and sold them. The Ultranova keeps his value round 300-350 euro and blows the Venom away. I "m not readdy to sell it soon :-))
Okay, so I could use this and the slim phatty (moog synth which requires a midi keyboard) to control the slim phatty when I need to? I want to get this and the slim phatty, and I'm wondering if this will work using the midi out on it.
Thanks for v. helpful review. But what does it exactly mean that its monotimbral? Does it mean that in a DAW it cant generate 2 diffrent sounds for example some pads and stabs simultanously?
I wish you reviewed everything. Love your videos.
which, is not to be confused with polyphony. which means multiple notes. monophony= one note at a time. monotimbral = one patch ( sound) at a time. this confused me for a very long time.
Also worth noting that most synths in this price range are monophonic and have no aftertouch..
As for the downside: the monotimbrality... i added a second Ultranova so now i can layer or split (each hand on 1 keyboard) :-))
Would you recommend this one or the microkorg, cause they seem very similar.
Just want it for universal synth stuff, and vocoders
Iv got an issue, would appreciate if someone could help. I have an ultranova hooked up to my laptop, running cubase 5. I also have a virus b rack. I have connected it to the ultranova via midi out from the ultranova and into the midi in on the virus. when I hit the keys on the ultranova it does trigger the virus which is fine. the problem is, when I record midi notes into cubase and play it back, it doesn't trigger the virus and there's no midi in signal showing on the virus. Iv tried everything and even rang the guys at novation but still no joy. any Ideas anyone
+housebrigade I don't own either synth and I don't use Cubase, but from my experience my guess would be that cubase is sending Midi to the ultranova, which is actually interacting with the sound module inside the synth, not the keyboard. So, in essence it's only triggering sounds without passing the midi data to the virus. Also, it's worth noting that usb midi can both send and receive on the same cable, but if you're using the traditional 5-pin din MIDI cable, it can only transmit in one direction. Depending on how the Ultranova is programmed, it may or not be able to transmit midi data through usb to a din cable. If it can, then configure this option and simply run usb between the nova and your computer and go Midi Thru from the nova to Midi In on the virus (make sure Midi channels are correct obviously), though at this price range I kinda doubt that being an option. The configuration you're wanting to have is where a MIDI interface makes a lot more sense. In this scenario, which is the more traditional way of using sound modules, your main keyboard (the nova) has both midi in and out running to the midi interface (traditional cables, that is). Then depending on how you want the virus to be played you could do a few things:
1) play the nova and virus simultaneously from the nova's keyboard...
Midi Thru from nova to midi in on virus (all same midi channel)
2) play them separately from Cubase or any other sequencer...
Midi Thru from nova to midi in on the virus (DIFFERENT midi channels, just make sure everything is the correct channel from the sequencer to the virus) OR just go directly out of another output on the interface to the virus and bypass the nova altogether, making them parallel in the signal flow. 2 midi chains instead of one, if that makes sense.
3) Have the option to simultaneously do both 1) and 2)...
Most Midi-capable instruments can send data not just on any 1 of the 16 available midi channels in a single signal chain, but all 16 at once. Assuming this is true of the nova, send midi on all 16 channels to midi thru on the virus but still set the virus to receive on a different channel than whatever the nova is set to receive on. Then, when you send notes from Cubase to the virus's channel, it will pass through the nova to the virus without triggering the nova's notes; yet at the same time allowing you to send midi notes to the virus as you play the nova's keyboard.
As far as switching midi channels and stuff like that, it depends on what gear you have, and I don't have any of your stuff, but I hope that helps, at least conceptually lol. Midi can get really confusing, you might want to draw some diagrams. Check out your user manuals. Especially for the virus, it's probably got a lot of info on this because Midi would be the only way to really play it in the first place. If you don't really know about Midi Thru, I just found this diagram really quick that makes it pretty easy. This is describing scenario 3) btw. Let me know how you fare!
www.homerecordinghub.com/midi-thru.html
make sure the midi channels are set correct on both devices so they don't have troubles communicating with Cubase.
Does this have the vocal tune feature that the Mininova has?
Fantastic computer editor, at least they made a nice looking one for those that want to dig in and tweak sounds.
@francaisemusique
...im pretty sure that MANY people have to decide between this trio
Do you think it would work nicely in a non dance/trance genre? How do you think it would stand up against something like the Waldorf Blofeld, and are you going to do a review for it?
can it run audio and midi into your daw at the same time like the mox8?
does the audio interface accept guitars?
Hello how are you? Superb review, really good. However I have a question: Can I use a Midi Controller, like the Novation ZeRO SL MkII to control some parameters of the SuperNova? Connecting the Synth and the Controller to the computer, Will I be able to control parameters of the UltraNova in the Controller Knobs and faders? Thank you so much.
ULTRA NOVA OR MININOVA ???
yea i agree, your reviews are clear easy to understand and have pushed me to buy 3 korg products!
Sold!
What should I get? This or the M-audio Venom?
how many instances of this can i have in my daw ???
The UltraNova is monotimbral. So it's sensless to open more than one instance of the editor.
so technically ud have to bounce out ur sound to start a new one, hmmm, very restrictive
riskybusiness80 Just freeze and flatten it If you're using ableton. Or Bounce it in place with logic.
I was hoping sonic state would do this. Thank You!
How would this be for a somewhat beginner, and as an all around synth?
Dude i heard some Thom Yorke in the beginning
Lars van Koningsveld I always think that! Haha from the hail to the thief album....intro to song 2 I believe? Either way I gotta go listen to it now! Haha great album and song
Lars van Koningsveld backdrifts
@francaisemusique Thanks, Made my choice already. I'm going to sell my M-Audio Midiboard and buy this synth. The Ultranova is also a very good midicontroller with a great synth engine. And the thing that Venom really needs the software for editing the patches made me want to buy the Ultranova.
Hi, very nice review. Im about to buy this amazing piece of sound today but before that. When you send audio to any DAW, can you automate any parameter with the plugin that is included with it? Let say, Im recording a song but while Im playing Im not able to change the Cutoff parameter as both hands are busy. Can I automate that later with the software? Thanks in advance!
I have seen people saying this sound "thin"
Any way around that?
synapticflow Biased opinion about digital synthesizers, I guess.
Surely it doesn't sound nearly as fat as, say, a Minilogue (almost in the same price range) but this one has lots of features, and things you won't find in analog synths (eg. Wavetables)
18x3=???? let me think ,is it 18 mmmm I think it was 24 last time I looked
you are by far my favorite reviewer for synthesizer's you know how to play them and you know what is mpst important to include. what would you considder to be the best synthesizer for less then $800 usd. i live in norway and everything is more expensive here so $ is the most i will pay800
I hardly even dare to think what sort of battle station they could come up with a product that costed 1499€ - 1999€.
Thanks for a brilliant rewiev. Ultranova is tempting but I think I'll wait for a rack version to show up.
Never happened but the mininova is not much bigger then a rack :-)
Does the Ultra's vocoder also have this feature that transposes your voice to the notes played, even with the arpeggiator as shown in the Mini's review?
yes that is literally what a vocoder does. It interprets your voice as a filter that you play the synth through
I did'nt think it sounded that bad what softsynth are you comparing it to?
the best reviewer on the planet!
Compared to Deepmind12?
Better, deepmind is too noisy
Ok so I have a noob question - I have a basic set up at home using just a simple NI Audio2DJ USB audio interface. This has no inputs, literally 2 outs. I only use one of the outs that goes to my Rokit 5's which incidently are used for pretty much everything, hence this question. Is it possible to use this synth without having to use its built in soundcard? The reason I ask is that when using the synth i have to disconnect the jack from my AUDIO2DJ interface and then plug in to the back of the Ultranova and then select to use its interface every time. Basically I want to be able to use only AUDIO2DJ interface for everything. Sorry if this has been covered in the past but it has been confusing me slightly. Thanks for your advice.
+TheBinaryFunction Mac or PC? OSX has the ability to aggregate audio drivers iirc natively. Although I've heard this might not be ideal. On Windows I believe you can do something similar with ASIO4All. Keep in mind either way, if your equipment is running at different audio rates or one has a super high lag, you may not find a workable solution. The best solution is to replace your current inteface with one that can actually record.
Thank you datapark710
datapark710 Thank you datapark710
bump. Worth $500 AU in 2024?
Just picked one up :)
@enginufuk The Venom sounds dirtier and harder. Most of the patches are made for Electro, but it has loads of sampled retro waveforms, so 80's analog-like sounds are possible. But the Ultranova has also a lot of ways to create newish sounds. Those touch-controls are probably made for Dubstep producers to create those wobble basses. The Venom has dropped here from €500 to €300. The Ultranova is here still €550-€650.
If you buy the Venom you HAVE to use the editor. Feels like a VST plugin, meh!
6 years later you can buy Venoms at 120-150 euro, I had 2 of them and sold them. The Ultranova keeps his value round 300-350 euro and blows the Venom away. I "m not readdy to sell it soon :-))
And that's fine... But I need pads and weird cross modulated shit with effects routed to the envelopes. Wavetables being modulated by LFO's and so on. Not feasible in an analog synth of any kind.
Sonic state is the best. The presets suck. The are the worst presets of any synth I have ever played or owned. They are Edm crap with a digital sheen, but if you spend the time making your own sounds it's a awesome synth. The 5 effects really help. There are so many parameters you can change that you can easily remove the digital sheen. The Gaia has better presets but has fewer parameters and sounds worse. The microkorg has great presets but terrible keys and nothing near the flexibility or parameters. A virus just sounds better. (Note the period) The minilog has 4 voice polyphony and weird skinny keys. The micro and minibrutes are monophonic monsters that are fun but limited. As an audio technician for 3 years I've played and fixed alesis to Yamaha synths (don't want to list them all but we even fixed old oberheims, junos, Rhodes, and even crappy plastic Farfisas) and if you want presets run away fast but if you want to craft your own sounds buy one of these on eBay, they are cheap right now.
It is shame it doesn't has more knobs.
I bought a Gaia just for the interface, worst sounding synth I have ever owner. The Ultranova/ Gaia comparison should never be on sound because it's not even close
For the price of a Virus I can buy a Blofeld and the Ultranova.. do you guys think that between the two would cover the same sonic territory of the Virus?
@@mrburns366 Get the Novation Peak instead, You wont need the Blofeld or the Virus.
You changed your logo to be a rainbow?
i think this does not have enough buttons!
Fantastic review -- I WANT THIS BAD! =D
I'd rather get the Arturia Minibrute. Obviously it has less features than the Ultranova (it's monophonic), but definitely enough features for me (especially for the price).
Shall I buy this or Microkorg xl
I own an X-Station and think Novation makes good products. Alas the blue reminds me of my Roland EG-101 - a real winner that synth lol :)
Integration-wise ahead of it's time wasn't it
sounds good, but will keep my supernova 2!
Sweet little trance machine! I only wish they'd put a little more controllers on it, so I could justify getting this rather than a Remote SLmk2... Oh well, guess you can't have everything. Again, nice one Novation!
If this was analog and had all of these features with a mod matrix and 18 voice polyphony it would cost thousands of fucking dollars....
@enginufuk just get the ultranova, you won't regret it.
That's a completely different synth!
With respect, for a complete novice new to the language of synthesizers, I found this tutorial hard to get my head around. The manual is not that easy either so, learning how to engage the vocoder again aside from instructions on the net, not very informative. I will keep searching for someone who actually makes this unit make sense. Maybe it is only for seasoned keyboard players who know synthesizers back wards. cheers.
At first I thought you were someone actually looking for legitimate instruction... But halfway through your comment I realized that it was just a misguided complaint...
How you got the idea that this was in any way or form a tutorial is beyond me... This is a quick review/overview of features... And a rushed one at that as I believe this is from an era when TH-cam videos had to be no longer than a dozen minutes or you would get buried by the algorithm from people not finishing your video.
I guess I do understand now with guys like loopop, bobeats, basically making their reviews 30 to 45min tutorials
SONIC LAD