Novation Remote-25 / X-station 2.0, X-station - Its just a bit Crap. Options

[Richard Trier]

Finally Novation have released X-Station 2.0 software for REmote Audio Extreme. This OS upgrade converts the humble midi controller into a single part KS Engine.... whatever that is when its at home.

For people who already bought the Remote 25 you will know just how long novation have taken to release this software.. their excuse at the time was "we're just trying to get it right"... OK so this is an acceptable excuse, we'd rather a bit of kit that works than a half baked mess. Unfortunatly it seams is exactly what novation have made. The Synth sounds awesome with excellent patches (well they come from the KS synth - so Im chuffed)

It seems the problem is useability. YOU CANT PLAY IT! you can press a few keys and twiddle the occasional knob but anything more than this makes the keyboard crash. Which them requires a swift on and off manouver (do this to often and OS X will crash too).

The update is available at www.novationmusic.com/xkstation
if you need it.... dont expect too much though.

P.S. AudioUnit version of V-Station still hasnt been updated to a version that actually works either.. but thats a story for another day.

[Richard Trier]

The Remote 25 seemed like the best option for me when i bought it - I am running a powerbook and needed an i/o and a keyboard so I decided to take out 2 birds with one stone.
It a great keyboard and sound card - does everything that you could want and more.
It is USB 2.0 and so can power itself from your laptop (although your battery might not last very long doing this).
The synth is fantistic and does work without crashing with various apps such as ableton live. however if you just fancy playing along with itunes it kinda goes funny! I dont know why it would do this.. but hey! I prefer jamming with Live anyway.
the other disapointing thing about it is that the synth does not make itself available as an input. so using it with somthing like Ableton Live means that you cannot sample what you play on the synth.
Additonally the V-station software STILL doesnt work as and audiounit!
I would highly recommend the remote 25 - it does everything and more. Well worth the money. Novation hit on a great idea here and made it work. For me the disspointing side of it is that with just a few tweaks here and there it could hit perfection.