Vintage Synth Explorer

Novation • SuperNova

An excellent polyphonic super synth based on the classic Bass Station. Let's start with 16 voices of polyphony (20 with the new OS), add three VCO's using sound modeling to re-create those classic analog sounds with digital clarity and reliability. Amazingly this synth has seven effects per voice! That adds up to 56 effects all programmable and simultaneously available on all voices at all times!!! A macho filter section with hi, low, band pass filtering at 12, 18, 24 dB/oct ranges, resonant and self oscillating, with overdrive and key tracking. There are two extremely flexible LFO sections, two ring modulators, eight audio outputs, complete MIDI parameter control and it is cased in a cool blue 3-space rack unit.

Overall its sounds are awesome! It cleanly and nicely emulates and even transcends many classic synths like the Minimoog, Jupiter 8, Juno 106, and 2600! A 61-note professional keyboard version, seen below, doubles the polyphony to 32 voices and the memory to 1,024 patches.

There is an upgraded model, the SuperNova II which greatly increases the polyphony, sonic possibilities and offers many more new knobs and functions.

It also comes in a keyboard version which combines elegance, beauty, hands on control and a great 61 note velocity and aftertouch sensitive keyboard.

Added features include new FM synthesis, ring-mod algorithms, two analog inputs and a 42-band vocoder effect. These are available in 24-, 36- or 48-voice models. The SuperNova is already in use by Orbital, ATB, The Faint, Jean-Michel Jarre and A Guy Called Gerald.

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Posting Rules: Please keep your comments relevant! Do not post requests for help, do not use for sales, do not post unless you have something interesting to say about this instrument, or we may delete your post.

 

Guru J

Posted 292 days ago

This synth broke my heart. I bought one second hand for 400 euro and spent about 3 months trying to get into it. In the end I sold it at a loss. Why do people hype this crap up so much? A below average synth. Doesnt come close to Albino or Sylenth.

nphoria63

Posted 302 days ago

I had both versions (the I rack version, and the II keyboard one) I didnt like either of them, they sound thin and they alias pretty bad. The virus and jp-8080 are way better

mal

Posted 364 days ago

The supernova (rack version) is the workhorse of my studio, it's an amazing bit of kit, so versatile, a button or dial for almost every parameter and an immense range of sounds, once you get a little deeper into this synth you won't be able to give it up.
especially excellent at lush rich sounding sounds.
Hell I can spend hours just playing with this for the fun of it, I find something new with every session. Very powerful.

shaft9000

Posted 459 days ago

for more extended demos of the Supernova 2 check out these links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCO 3iQnT5p8
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=iY_PEy3pq4k

i love it to death, especially the keyboard SN2, which i recommend highly over the racks for programming it yourself. perhaps the most full-featured and elegant Performance-VA ever made, with rich FM to boot. the filter is very smooth, powerful and can be overdriven. the oscillators lack true analog beef, but with some practice they can be mutated in extraordinary ways. effects are quite good (except reverb, of course) and the chorus/phaser is stellar - coming from a Juno6 user, too.
while it can replicate Juno/JX/MKS/OB-Xa/Synthex admirably, after 2 years with it i think of it more like a super-JD800 or DX-deluxe(FM is craaazy) than an analog modeller. a superb digital performance synth!

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