Novation & Aphex Twin Intro Limited Edition AFX Station

Novation today officially introduced the AFX Station, a limited edition version of their Bass Station II monosynth, designed in collaboration with electronic music legend Aphex Twin (Richard D James).

Novation previously worked with James to create the AFX Mode firmware for the Bass Station II. AFX Mode lets you have a discrete set of synthesis parameters assigned to each individual note of the Bass Station II. These can be tweaked variations of a patch or completely different sounds – like a synthesized drum kit.

Here’s the official intro video:

The update also opened up some new synthesis capabilities:

  • Fixed duration envelopes
  • Extended sub-oscillator control
  • Oscillator glide diverge
  • Envelope retrigger count

Novation calls the AFX Station “a sound designer’s dream”. The AFX Station has AFX Mode pre-installed, so each key on the instrument can become a new patch, letting you use it as an analog drum module, a flexible sound design tool, or a powerful bass or lead machine.

Pricing and Availability:

The AFX Station is available now, priced at $439.99 / €378.14 / Exc. VAT: £333.33.

63 thoughts on “Novation & Aphex Twin Intro Limited Edition AFX Station”

    1. yeah I mean I don’t have a bass station but I have a mono station and other than the look this doesn’t have anything that would inspire me to get it

      1. I thought the same thing. I don’t know why anyone wouldn’t have that option in a modern machine. maybe there was a reason?

    3. THPS1+2 players found in the wild… not that you didn’t already like PE, but still… I know why this is at the top of your mind.

  7. I like the look and I like that they aren’t giving this a ‘premium price’.

    The Bass Station 2 is criminally underrated. It’s a better monosynth than anything under $500.

      1. The APHX version imho is a makeover, but it’s also a nice evolution of the BS2 design.

        Compare the bass station to any of the Behringer clones, or the Korg monostation, or the Arturia brutes and you’re getting way more synth for your money with the BS2. Great sound, deep editing, full size keys – a great little mono.

  9. 100% pure marketing department shlock. So obviously lazy and cynical. They literally just switched out the knobs for crappier looking knobs.

    1. …if I might add also single-color screen printing versus two-color on the Bass Station II. And the artwork is atrocious, the section titles aren’t even aligned properly.. justified way too far left and some text is aligned higher than others.. just a mess.
      It’s actually a cost-reduced Bass Station II

  10. I’ve been a ‘WAY BIG FAN’ of Aphex Twin…..for years….brilliant musician….talking about some of what makes up the Generative and Ambient Genres….his big foot is in all of it….ok so I pre-ordered one ……I’ve taken risks b4…..Laughing Out Loud….my wife thinks I’m cray cray…..this AFX beast will marry well with my eclectic Eurorack setups….I can hear it now baby!!!

  11. Well… bit anticlimaxial… When Arturia re-releases their old synths with a new dress code they at least don’t make a big fuss about it beforehand.

    1. They did with other things, like their stupid audio interface that took 2 years to ship after they said it will be the best ever. i don’t like Novation much but Arturia are one of the worst examples you could choose for transparency, service and just being decent.

  15. Gosh I hear Morton Subotnick’s ‘Wild Bull’ and ‘Silver Apples’ weaving in and out of this crazy capability…..Crazy Almighty Crazy…. excuse me for bringing some of our fore fathers of electronic music into this conversation…..

    Some of what the AFX can do will merge well with my ideas…..

  17. this is becoming what brands are doing this year… black elektron, black moog, now black novation, stop hyping up new paint jobs like they’re new products… we get it, you cant afford to do anything else, but chill and stop letting us down damn it!

    1. For me what you describing it’s like a dream come true, I usually prefer black and very small improvement for already amazing machines (like elektron did).
      I’m a little let down by this since i was thinking it will be more (and i also like blue:) ) but to be honest i was shore i will not buy it even before they reveal it.

  19. it has patch memory. how many sub $500 monosynths can say that? it has pretty much the same features of a sub37 at 1/3 the price plus patch per note.

    1. If you use any tools by someone to copy someone sounds the fault is on you.
      Anyway, Good taste or talent is not included in this update.

  21. Very cool! This release – not about new AFX Station. It must be about new Firmware Update – 4.15!!!
    Its very big improvemnt of working with synth under AFX Overlays.
    BSII – have also update 4.15.
    New Overlays editor help to drag n drop 25 patches in realtime to the 25 keys.
    Now possible to export from synth own overlays to Components.
    4.14 is was nice, but with 4.14 – been very hard to create own overlays.
    Now with 4.15, creating AFX Overlays is very easy.

    1. I was curious about getting one of those a while back, and they’re going for about twice their original price on eBay & Reverb. I did not get one.

  23. synth companies are taking some inspiration form the sneaker-head world, the same shoes over and over, just different colors and collabs with famous people. what this does do effectively though which i think is actually worthy, it reminds people of a product they may have forgotten and it introduces new people that never knew about it. this is great because instead of just cranking out new stuff they’re saying hey this is still a great product, don’t forget about it. honestly i never thought once about this synth, now i am checking into it, so mission accomplished.

    1. I feel a little cheated because of the teasing but on the other hand check all the great updates and love they give to this synth lately.

  25. 2 octaves? Oh, the horror! It has a great sound, although its small size makes it more of a module than a player’s synth. I like at least a little more panel size and a few more controls. I’m sure some people will lean in and like it. I think I’d prefer to go whole-hog with a MiniNova and its editor. If I’m going to go small, I want some inner power I can pull from it. Apples n’ oranges.

    1. 2 octaves is literally the range of what is considered ‘bass’, C4- C2.

      So having a 2 octave keyboard range on a bass synth makes complete sense to me.

      The Moog Taurus had just an octave range!

    1. Yes! Just run Components for BS2, and update your OS to v 4.15.
      And you have after this into Components new Overlay Editor!
      With presets and AFX overlay sound banks

  30. The black body is lovely but black indicators on black knobs… not so much. Korg monologue is similar and it’s no fun for old eyes.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *