Novation Xiosynth 10 minute demo

This is a demo of the Novation Xiosynth. It was made using a series of videos at the Gearwire site, and the shots of presets and sounds that appear were edited by me.

It is a brief demonstration of some (SOME, not all) of the patches available. I have included some of the most interesting ones in this video.

Unfortunately, the demo guy himself (in the usual Gearwire tradition) is doing a bad job at giving a good impression of what this amazing value-for-money MIDI controller and synth is capable of. (Note: go for the 49 key one, not its tiny little brother).

In this video, you will mostly see it go "blink, blieeeank, woouuuuieaaaaw", but once you sit down and work properly with it, you'll be amazed at the options available, which are impressive for such a cheap virtual analog synth which also has great templates for controlling tens of parameters of Cubase, Ableton, Atmosphere, Reason, Reaktor etc...

It is also true that its layout is a bit complicated, and the controls too thrown together in a tiny space. If one could step up a little in price, I would STRONGLY suggest the Novation X Station instead, which has a far better layout and is also a truly excellent MIDI interface & 2 mic preamp soundcard with a very interesting virtual analog synth side (and a very nice keyboard feel).

A small secret: the X Station accepts the Xiosynth's nice artist created presets... ;-)

I didn't note that the Xiosynth has 10 voices instead of the X Station's 8, as well as the X Gator arpeggiator, but even these wouldn't make me want to change my original choice (which makes a little difference because both are monotimbral anyway).

The keyboard feel, the layout and the connectivity of the X Station are far superior (not to mention that the Xiosynth doesn't have aftertouch, which the X Station does).


Tip: the best thing is to put a pair of headphones on and minimise the YouTube window (so that you're not looking at the video). It really helps concentrating on the sounds themselves.

It is true that some of the synth preset patches are not terrific, but that's where your imagination comes in... ;-)

An answer to a recent question: The K Station has a lot in common with the X Station... The Ion is very good but minimalistic in the controls that it has, which means you'll have to go deep in menus. The really nice keyboard feel and the excellent layout of the X Station are its main benefits over this,but it remains a bit complicated for the beginner. However, I was also a beginner when I got it, but I knew the basics behind sound synthesis. The manual also gives a nice introduction.

It is this layout that helps tremendously to learn how synthesis works. If you don't want to go into it, you could try simpler beginner synths that still sound really nice like the Korg Micro X.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• novation
• xiosynth
• xio
• station
• demo
• synthesizer
• midi
• controller
• synth
• electronic
• trance
• virtual
• analog
• keyboard
• ableton
• interface

[KrisAdamatzky]

Hey man, my Dad's friend gave this to us as he no longer wanted it along with a Behringer B-5 microphone. Could you possibly explain to me how to make my microphone simply work.

I plug it into the Input 1 slot and even turn the input 1 level up a bit, but the green light doesn't light up and I can't hear any noise.

The synth works fine though.

[bloodySunday77]

@KrisAdamatzky I believe the pdf manual is available on the web page of Novation... I can't remember how to do that. I don't own one, I've only tried it, but I own a Novation X Station instead.

[trunks2861]

@bloodySunday77 Hi I am looking for a compact synth to use just for basses. Do you recommend this? thanks.

[bloodySunday77]

@trunks2861 Yes, certainly, although you can also find a cheap 2nd hand Microkorg for that.

[evilsnakes1]

thx for the review.

xiosynth has no midi in? huh?

can you control the synth from a computer sequencer through usb?

[bloodySunday77]

@evilsnakes1 Yes, you can control it through USB. The PC recognizes it as an interface, and the mic ins work through that as well.

[bloodySunday77]

@AdamSewell No, I don't think so.

[AdamSewell]

Is it possible to process an input signal through the LFOs etc.?

[cjsinister6]

@bloodySunday77 appreciate it, and yes I am familiar with the terms.

[bloodySunday77]

@cjsinister6 The X Station! But make sure you have the manual as well. I think you can also find it as a pdf on the Novation site. The engine of both synths is almost identical, with the Xio having an extra arpeggiator and two more voices of polyphony. But the layout of the X Station is truly excellent, as well as the feel of the keys that include both aftertouch and velocity sensitivity (the Xio doesn't have aftertouch). If you don't know what these terms are, you will appreciate them later...