- Look around online, in your local hi-tech music shop or even through the technology reviews of this very website and you'll soon see that many of the tools on which we're reliant in the studio exist virtually, as plug-ins. Whether you consider large sample libraries, behemoth synths or effects plug-ins for reverb, EQ or compression, what's clear is that we love having tools in the box. That said, many of us have recently chosen to regress. For all of the wonderful, "infinite possibility" nature of such plug-ins, it's too easy for us to become slaves to their capabilities, easily distracted by endless banks of presets or effects settings which sound perfect without too much involvement on our parts. Part of the joy of being presented with a deliberately limited toolset is that you are forced to try out any and all things to create interesting noises and the crucial thing is that those choices are yours from start to finish.
The current appetite for analogue synths is a case in point—Moog and Dave Smith Instruments are two manufacturers whose control sets can't possibly match the depths of plug-in digital synths and they don't try; instead they provide a warm signal path and classic synthesiser control sets and they're selling by the bucket-load as a result. Perhaps less well known but true to the same analogue spirit are UK based company Analogue Solutions.
The Station X is what Analogue Solutions refer to as a mini-modular synthesiser, providing a more limited range of functions than fully appointed modular synthesiser but still offering sufficient flexibility to create a wide range of sounds. It can also be considered as a junior version of Analogue Solutions' more fully spec'd Red Square modular—anyone familiar with that synth will no doubt be pleased to know that both Stations X and Y continue the tradition of using modules from the Concussor series. The first key feature is that Station X features a MIDI patchbay which will handle MIDI-CV conversion for you without need for an external unit to handle this task—a huge tick already. Also on the patchbay on the left is a regular pitch CV input which converts voltages into pitches, a CV2 port which would ordinarily be patched into the filter to allow velocity to control filter cutoff and a gate connector which would typically control the envelope stage.
Thereafter, you're straight into the oscillator section, the first control within which is a tuning dial which, incidentally, can be used as a great performance tool once a patch is constructed. The oscillator has variable pulse width which can be controlled via a dial or, if you patch in the LFO to this stage, can produce thick chorus effects which give the impression that the sound is much bigger than one typically associated with a single oscillator synth. The waveform itself can toggle between square and sawtooth waveforms and both have their own output ports so that they can be patched, individually, into different inputs elsewhere. The filter stage features a 24dB per octave Moog ladder style low-pass filter with cutoff and resonance controls. As well as the input stage, you'll find two CV ports allowing control of the filter twice, from the envelope and LFO stages, for example. Also in this module is the VCA CV port to allow envelope or LFO control of the amplifier stage and the main audio output which will channel the Station X's output to your mixer, or direct to your DAW. The envelope stage features attack and decay/release knobs whereby the function of the latter depends if you have the Sustain In or Out activated. With sustain on, the knob controls release, whilst it'll control decay if sustain is off. The Trigger port in this section is ordinarily where you'd feed the gate input.
The next module is the LFO, which features speed and shape dials to allow you to interrupt the function of other modules in a variety of ways. Saw, inverted saw, triangle and square waves are available as control shapes here, so your options aren't at all limited and this extends to output, with each shape featuring its own port for patching elsewhere. The final module combines sample and hold functionality with that of noise generation. The sample and hold options are great for creating stepped effects within the filter, for instance, whilst the noise can be combined with the tuned oscillator to great effect, giving sounds more bite. Analogue Solutions provide patching cables and usefully, many of these are splitters so that a single control source can be patched to two destinations simultaneously.
Most importantly, though, how does the unit sound? Well, put simply, warm and rich. Like all modulars, the Station X positively demands you get involved with the fundamentals of sound design and even novices will be delighted by what they can achieve in a short space of time. Whether you want warm bases, bubbly analogue style sequence sounds or true analogue leads, it's pleasing that even the single-oscillator nature of this instrument produces sounds which really cut through even the most stacked mixes.
That said, there'll always be those of us who want yet more control, more options and even bigger sounds and the Station Y anticipates this demand by providing expansion modules to complement those offered by the Station X. Y provides two additional VCOs (allowing for three-oscillator, monster patches), a second envelope generator, an LFO2 module to provide a second low-frequency modulation source and both Mixer and Splitter patchbays. The LFO2 module is different from LFO1 in that it provides triangle and square waveform options only, while the Mixer is flexible enough to act as either an audio or a CV patchbay, though do note that it'll hand one or other rather than both simultaneously. The Splitter section allows you to multiply routings by splitting single input sources into multiple output ones while, finally, there's a Ring Modulation module which takes the sound possibilities into a new realm altogether, providing the metallic and bell-like sounds we associate with ring modulation, or mayhem if you prefer.
To compare instruments of this kind to the other sound-making tools of most modern studios is like comparing chalk with cheese, as the results are so wildly different. The only reason it's relevant is that there's a good chance you might be looking to enhance your existing toolset with an instrument with the richness and wonder of a true analogue signal path and whilst contemporary options are available from household names such as Moog and DSI, the Station X, particularly when coupled with the Station Y, deserves your attention if you're shopping in this field. They're fun, intuitive to use, ready to slot into your setup via MIDI immediately and, most importantly, sound great. They're also small and portable enough to take from the studio to the stage offering yet more flexibility over most modular systems.
Ratings:
COST: 4.5/5
BUILD: 4/5
SOUND: 4.5/5
EASE OF USE: 4/5