Novation Innovation

Recently I talked about the MicroKorg, now today I have something that is comparable to that board. The Novation UltraNova is a Nova series analogue modeling synthesizer with a powerful effects processor. It is a single-part synth taking the legendary Supernova II synth engine as a starting point and packing it with some premium technology. It now has features including wavetable synthesis, even more powerful filters, a software editor and a revolutionary touch-sense performance mode. The Novation Nova family was born in 1998 with the Supernova, which was the first of a series of powerful synthesizers. These quickly became industry standard big-synths which are still used by countless artists and sound designers.

Some key features are:

- Nova-series synth engine based on Supernova II
- Touch-sense controls enable powerful sound-shaping and performance
- Totally gig-able with 37 full sized keys, a vocoder, and loads of controls
- Software plug-in editor and Patch Librarian for full visual editing
- Built-in 2 in 4 out USB audio interface and it can be bus powered

I know some people that bought the MicroKorg first and was a little disappointed with it, but I like it still. The sounds are out of this world, this is easily pro level in my book. Ultranova sounds amazing, of course that's subjective, but I like it. It has a great low end and effects with many options. You can add all kinds of panning to your sounds with it. You can get beautiful pads, thick basses or anything else. I have used the MicroKorg and think it may be just a bit phatter than Nova personally, but the Nova holds its own and actually those two make a great combination. MicroKorg for the analog, and the Nova for the digital. I think Nova sounds better in terms of it being less artficially bright and flashy than the MK. The Nova does have some character.