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Novation XioSynth 49 49-Key Synth/USB Interface
4-octave synthesizer and audio USB MIDI controller keyboard.
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Description
Never before has synthesis been so accessible! In this stylish, compact and highly affordable format, the XioSynth offers a staggering amount of classic and cutting edge sounds, many from internationally acclaimed artists, along with a brand new X-Gator patch programmer and optional filter distortion. Furthermore, the XioSynth provides everything required for producing on the move, through its audio interfacing and MIDI controlling capabilities.
Novation-Class Synthesizer with New Features
The XioSynth features a mono-timbral Novation synth engine with 10-voice polyphony. In addition to 3 oscillators (17 waveforms each), 1 Filter (varying types), 2 LFOs (32 waveforms each), an arpeggiator and multi-effects board, this subtractive synth also boasts some brand new facilities such as the X-Gator patch programmer. The X-Gator can be made to gate each patch to create unique 16-32 step rhythmic patterns for every onboard sound, all automatically synchronised to MIDI clock from a sequencer; just press and hold one key to groove along to a track with style.
Novation Sound Old and New -- High Profile User Patches
The XioSynth features 200 hard-hitting onboard patches, utilising a new optional filter distortion to produce an even greater range of sounds than on previous synths; from the distinctive clean British sound to the filthiest and grittiest of sonic characters. Furthermore, 60 of the onboard sounds come from internationally acclaimed artists and producers from a variety of musical genres, namely James Zabiela, Ferry Corsten, Rennie Pilgrem, Roots Manuva, Shimon and Skeewiff. As such, every one of the patches on the XioSynth is eminently and instantly usable for creating synthesized music of any kind.
High Quality Audio Interface
The XioSynth includes an ultra-low latency 2 In/2 Out audio interface for high quality recording and playback. This allows you to record a microphone with phantom power, as well as simultaneously stream the onboard synth audio directly to the sequencer via the USB cable. Equally though, a guitar can be plugged straight into the Jack input for DI recording, as well as simultaneously mic'd, and recorded with outstanding results. Check the demo XioSynth guitar track in the Novation online player to be blown away by the quality.
Flexible MIDI Controller -- OF Software or Hardware
If wanting a compact controller keyboard for studio or live use, the XioSynth is the most flexible and powerful tool on the market. In addition to synthesizing and audio/MIDI interfacing, the keyboard is also a comprehensive control surface with 11 knobs and buttons (doubled to 22 by a Group A/B switch), plus a freely assignable Touchpad and joystick. All of these controls are pre-programmed in 16 onboard Templates, so that the XioSynth can instantly control many software applications straight out the box. Add to this many more Templates online, a free Template Editor software application and hybrid modes for simultaneous synthesizing and MIDI controlling, and you have an extremely versatile package for producing or performing.
Highly Portable
Simply connecting the keyboard over USB is all that's required to start recording, synthesizing and MIDI controlling. As the device is class compliant, no drivers are required for Windows XP or Mac OSX (although some are provided to improve latency and stability in some apps). Furthermore, if wanting to excape the confines of the studio for a while, the USB cable can be unplugged and the XioSynth can be powered by batteries, functioning as a standalone synth completely separately from the computer.
1 part, 10-voice polyphonic
3 Oscillators, 17 Waveforms
2 LFOs, 32 Waveforms
Multimode resonant filter section with various filter options
Extensive modulation capabilities
Arpeggiator with latch
X-GATOR with latch
Direct streaming of synth into computer via USB
Keyboard
Keys: 25 or 49
Type: Semi-weighted
Velocity curves: 7
Pitch and mod wheel mechanism
Pitch wheel lever: Rubberised -- centre return spring loaded left to right motion
Mod/control lever: Rubberised -- spring loaded front to back motion
X/Y touchpad
Touchpad: 1 x touch sensitive 45x60mm
Parameters: 2 assignable in X direction
2 assignable in Y direction
LCD display
LCD: 2 x 16 character silver
Blue LED backlit
MIDI interfacing
MIDI: 1 MIDI Out
USB MIDI: 1 In/1 Out
Audio Interfacing
Inputs: 1 XLR (with phantom power)
1 TS Jack
Outputs: 2 TS Jack (L/R)
1 stereo Headphones Jack
Other interfacing
Data ports: 1 x USB 1.1
Sustain pedal: 1 x 1/4 in. Jack Input
Controls
Rotary potentiometers: 11, 0-270 degree rotation
Rotary encoders: 1, 360 degree continuous DATA wheel
Buttons: 11 function switches
Group B switch
General operation: 4 Mode and Menu select buttons
Keyboard Octave Up and Down buttons
Synth Menus/Audio mode select button
Effect Select buttons (Synth Mode)
Template/Bank/Page Up/Down buttons
Line/Phones Volume pots
General
Battery operation: 6 x standard 'AA' Size
External power supply: Standard 'centre positive' 9V DC 600mA (Novation PSU6)
Size (25): 468 x 68 x 190 (mm) w x h x d
Size (49): 798 x 68 x 190 (mm) w x h x d
Weight (25/49): 1.4/1.6kg
System requirements
Operating system: Mac OSX 10.2.4 or greater or Windows XP
Computer spec: Apple G3/400 GHz or Pentium 600 MHz or better
Interfacing: USB 1.1 compatible USB connector
Novation-Class Synthesizer with New Features
The XioSynth features a mono-timbral Novation synth engine with 10-voice polyphony. In addition to 3 oscillators (17 waveforms each), 1 Filter (varying types), 2 LFOs (32 waveforms each), an arpeggiator and multi-effects board, this subtractive synth also boasts some brand new facilities such as the X-Gator patch programmer. The X-Gator can be made to gate each patch to create unique 16-32 step rhythmic patterns for every onboard sound, all automatically synchronised to MIDI clock from a sequencer; just press and hold one key to groove along to a track with style.
Novation Sound Old and New -- High Profile User Patches
The XioSynth features 200 hard-hitting onboard patches, utilising a new optional filter distortion to produce an even greater range of sounds than on previous synths; from the distinctive clean British sound to the filthiest and grittiest of sonic characters. Furthermore, 60 of the onboard sounds come from internationally acclaimed artists and producers from a variety of musical genres, namely James Zabiela, Ferry Corsten, Rennie Pilgrem, Roots Manuva, Shimon and Skeewiff. As such, every one of the patches on the XioSynth is eminently and instantly usable for creating synthesized music of any kind.
High Quality Audio Interface
The XioSynth includes an ultra-low latency 2 In/2 Out audio interface for high quality recording and playback. This allows you to record a microphone with phantom power, as well as simultaneously stream the onboard synth audio directly to the sequencer via the USB cable. Equally though, a guitar can be plugged straight into the Jack input for DI recording, as well as simultaneously mic'd, and recorded with outstanding results. Check the demo XioSynth guitar track in the Novation online player to be blown away by the quality.
Flexible MIDI Controller -- OF Software or Hardware
If wanting a compact controller keyboard for studio or live use, the XioSynth is the most flexible and powerful tool on the market. In addition to synthesizing and audio/MIDI interfacing, the keyboard is also a comprehensive control surface with 11 knobs and buttons (doubled to 22 by a Group A/B switch), plus a freely assignable Touchpad and joystick. All of these controls are pre-programmed in 16 onboard Templates, so that the XioSynth can instantly control many software applications straight out the box. Add to this many more Templates online, a free Template Editor software application and hybrid modes for simultaneous synthesizing and MIDI controlling, and you have an extremely versatile package for producing or performing.
Highly Portable
Simply connecting the keyboard over USB is all that's required to start recording, synthesizing and MIDI controlling. As the device is class compliant, no drivers are required for Windows XP or Mac OSX (although some are provided to improve latency and stability in some apps). Furthermore, if wanting to excape the confines of the studio for a while, the USB cable can be unplugged and the XioSynth can be powered by batteries, functioning as a standalone synth completely separately from the computer.
Technical Info
Synthesizer1 part, 10-voice polyphonic
3 Oscillators, 17 Waveforms
2 LFOs, 32 Waveforms
Multimode resonant filter section with various filter options
Extensive modulation capabilities
Arpeggiator with latch
X-GATOR with latch
Direct streaming of synth into computer via USB
Keyboard
Keys: 25 or 49
Type: Semi-weighted
Velocity curves: 7
Pitch and mod wheel mechanism
Pitch wheel lever: Rubberised -- centre return spring loaded left to right motion
Mod/control lever: Rubberised -- spring loaded front to back motion
X/Y touchpad
Touchpad: 1 x touch sensitive 45x60mm
Parameters: 2 assignable in X direction
2 assignable in Y direction
LCD display
LCD: 2 x 16 character silver
Blue LED backlit
MIDI interfacing
MIDI: 1 MIDI Out
USB MIDI: 1 In/1 Out
Audio Interfacing
Inputs: 1 XLR (with phantom power)
1 TS Jack
Outputs: 2 TS Jack (L/R)
1 stereo Headphones Jack
Other interfacing
Data ports: 1 x USB 1.1
Sustain pedal: 1 x 1/4 in. Jack Input
Controls
Rotary potentiometers: 11, 0-270 degree rotation
Rotary encoders: 1, 360 degree continuous DATA wheel
Buttons: 11 function switches
Group B switch
General operation: 4 Mode and Menu select buttons
Keyboard Octave Up and Down buttons
Synth Menus/Audio mode select button
Effect Select buttons (Synth Mode)
Template/Bank/Page Up/Down buttons
Line/Phones Volume pots
General
Battery operation: 6 x standard 'AA' Size
External power supply: Standard 'centre positive' 9V DC 600mA (Novation PSU6)
Size (25): 468 x 68 x 190 (mm) w x h x d
Size (49): 798 x 68 x 190 (mm) w x h x d
Weight (25/49): 1.4/1.6kg
System requirements
Operating system: Mac OSX 10.2.4 or greater or Windows XP
Computer spec: Apple G3/400 GHz or Pentium 600 MHz or better
Interfacing: USB 1.1 compatible USB connector
What Our Customers Say About zZounds
"The price for the product we purchased was very competitive, and we honestly would recommend this seller to everyone! Well done, zZounds! You've earned our endorsement!" - customer on November 20, 2009
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Item: NOVXIO49
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Novation XioSynth 49 49-Key Synth/USB Interface Reviews
10 out of 10
zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.
"The most expressive,unique synth,with the most incredible tactile aspect-along with additional features that are unheard of at t"
Feature:
Product comes with all the necessary accessories.The most useful feature-at least one of which,is the over-sized ribbon controller..woah! Just the synth part alone,is worth the price,so how could I wish for anymore features that it already has for the price?!!
Quality:
For the very modest price of this board,I can safely say,that this is the most solid & well made keyboard on the market for it's price point...no exaggeration folks! The keys have a nice weight to them & they are spring loaded...great action & very comfortable for such a compact synth!! The joystick is incredibly strong & smooth...unprecedented action on this control!! This synth has to be felt to be believed...you really need to experience this board for yourself,to know what I am talking about....I believe this synth will last for 20 years...hopefully!
Value:
There simply is know other synth like this for the money...an incredible value.
Desirability:
For a keyboard that's made out of plastic,it's very tasty!!
Sound:
Tasty ambient,rave & electronica programs...sound quality is surprisingly good!The most expressive synth on the market for the price! Some sounds are pretty bland,but at least you have the option of tweaking them...but I have no complaints for the price. I have the Korg Triton Extreme & the Alesis Ion and the XioSynth is a welcome addition.
Ease of Use:
At least 30% of the programs,you can very easily get wonderful sounds...some of the other ones will take quite a bit of tweaking to be useful. It's plug & play to a certain extent,but I have yet to delve deeply into it's other functions,as I don't have a dvd rom player to view the manual-so needless to say,I cannot comment on the manual either.
Support:
Can't comment on this yet.
Overall:
This product is a collector's item for me and yes,I would replace it if I had to.
Product comes with all the necessary accessories.The most useful feature-at least one of which,is the over-sized ribbon controller..woah! Just the synth part alone,is worth the price,so how could I wish for anymore features that it already has for the price?!!
Quality:
For the very modest price of this board,I can safely say,that this is the most solid & well made keyboard on the market for it's price point...no exaggeration folks! The keys have a nice weight to them & they are spring loaded...great action & very comfortable for such a compact synth!! The joystick is incredibly strong & smooth...unprecedented action on this control!! This synth has to be felt to be believed...you really need to experience this board for yourself,to know what I am talking about....I believe this synth will last for 20 years...hopefully!
Value:
There simply is know other synth like this for the money...an incredible value.
Desirability:
For a keyboard that's made out of plastic,it's very tasty!!
Sound:
Tasty ambient,rave & electronica programs...sound quality is surprisingly good!The most expressive synth on the market for the price! Some sounds are pretty bland,but at least you have the option of tweaking them...but I have no complaints for the price. I have the Korg Triton Extreme & the Alesis Ion and the XioSynth is a welcome addition.
Ease of Use:
At least 30% of the programs,you can very easily get wonderful sounds...some of the other ones will take quite a bit of tweaking to be useful. It's plug & play to a certain extent,but I have yet to delve deeply into it's other functions,as I don't have a dvd rom player to view the manual-so needless to say,I cannot comment on the manual either.
Support:
Can't comment on this yet.
Overall:
This product is a collector's item for me and yes,I would replace it if I had to.
Submitted: 05/07/2008
Style of Music: Rock,jazz,ambient,downtempo,pop,blues..too many to mention
1 out of 10
zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.
"Let the Buyer Beware."
Feature:
Basically it came with a drivers/help DVD, power supply and USB cable... pretty much all you need to make music with it right out of the box. It works as a MIDI controller. The USB interface part had a lot of time lag, that was dissapointing.
Quality:
This is why I rated it so low - I think Novation really screwed up in trying to make a very low cost synth/interface/controller; they must've farmed out the manufacturing to the lowest bidder. The keys SUCKED, they are wobbly and something was wrong with the velocity sensitivity on mine (you had to strike the white keys really hard to get a moderately loud note, and even that didn't work sometimes). In addition the X-Y pad, which is the coolest synth interface ever, was misaligned or something and would BEND in to the unit when I pressed hard on it. I know this is not part of the design, because I exchanged the Xio for an X-station, and the X-Y pad on the X-station is rock solid.
Value:
It's cheap, but it's built cheaply - you get what you pay for. Or maybe not.
Desirability:
I really liked the design of the Xio. The grey body with a blue display, and the black controls looked really cool. If only it had worked as well as it looked...
Sound:
I bought a 49-key Xio because I wanted lots of basses and FX sounding patches... the endorsement by Roots Manuva was also a factor, I respect his music. He was right to say it's really loud, and to me the sounds in it are very good, as good as the Yamaha AN-200 modeling synth I used to have. You can tell the sounds in the Xio are not in the same league as something like a Korg Poly-Six, but only just.
Ease of Use:
I've had experience with a few old Yamaha FM-synths, which were all programmed through menus like the Xio. Even so, this machine takes a lot of getting used to, to figure out what setting or sub-menu has been chosen. Frankly, something might have been wrong with the Xio I had because sometimes it seemed I didn't have access to the settings I was trying to change. If you get one, use the DVD tutorials, it's probably the only way you'll figure out how to program it.
Support:
I contacted Novation about the quality issues and they were very quick to get back to me. They did however basically tell me to talk to the retailer if I thought the Xio had a hardware issue (translation: it's cheap, so if you think it was built badly work it out with whoever sold it to you).
Overall:
I had to exchange it for an X-station. I'm not a full-time gigging musician, and if I was I think I would've been even more unhappy with this synth. You've got to be able to use the gear you buy, no matter how you're using it in your music.
Basically it came with a drivers/help DVD, power supply and USB cable... pretty much all you need to make music with it right out of the box. It works as a MIDI controller. The USB interface part had a lot of time lag, that was dissapointing.
Quality:
This is why I rated it so low - I think Novation really screwed up in trying to make a very low cost synth/interface/controller; they must've farmed out the manufacturing to the lowest bidder. The keys SUCKED, they are wobbly and something was wrong with the velocity sensitivity on mine (you had to strike the white keys really hard to get a moderately loud note, and even that didn't work sometimes). In addition the X-Y pad, which is the coolest synth interface ever, was misaligned or something and would BEND in to the unit when I pressed hard on it. I know this is not part of the design, because I exchanged the Xio for an X-station, and the X-Y pad on the X-station is rock solid.
Value:
It's cheap, but it's built cheaply - you get what you pay for. Or maybe not.
Desirability:
I really liked the design of the Xio. The grey body with a blue display, and the black controls looked really cool. If only it had worked as well as it looked...
Sound:
I bought a 49-key Xio because I wanted lots of basses and FX sounding patches... the endorsement by Roots Manuva was also a factor, I respect his music. He was right to say it's really loud, and to me the sounds in it are very good, as good as the Yamaha AN-200 modeling synth I used to have. You can tell the sounds in the Xio are not in the same league as something like a Korg Poly-Six, but only just.
Ease of Use:
I've had experience with a few old Yamaha FM-synths, which were all programmed through menus like the Xio. Even so, this machine takes a lot of getting used to, to figure out what setting or sub-menu has been chosen. Frankly, something might have been wrong with the Xio I had because sometimes it seemed I didn't have access to the settings I was trying to change. If you get one, use the DVD tutorials, it's probably the only way you'll figure out how to program it.
Support:
I contacted Novation about the quality issues and they were very quick to get back to me. They did however basically tell me to talk to the retailer if I thought the Xio had a hardware issue (translation: it's cheap, so if you think it was built badly work it out with whoever sold it to you).
Overall:
I had to exchange it for an X-station. I'm not a full-time gigging musician, and if I was I think I would've been even more unhappy with this synth. You've got to be able to use the gear you buy, no matter how you're using it in your music.
Submitted: 09/26/2008
Style of Music: Experimental
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