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This is a stock photo of a Novation Xio 25. Not mine, that's missing three dials and has a small dent on the front left (yes, you can dent plastic). Finding retro/interesting gear in Istanbul is difficult-to-impossible. Likewise, finding reasonably priced gear. Finding the Xio was pure chance (it was the first time ever I visited this shop), and I just happened to have enough money with me. Circumstances dictated that I buy this synth immediately. I have not been disappointed. 

The Novation Xio Forum is a dead zone, so this blog. And, to start, a revised version of the review I wrote for  I Have Synth.

Novation XioSynth 25

Bought second-hand for $275

If you have Googled, you know that the Xio (pronounced zy'-oh) has received mostly positive reviews (see emusician or SOS). Who am I to disagree? Basically, the Xio is an analogue modelling synth that can also function as a midi controller, or be used in a hybrid-mode. In the midi controller mode, it has templates for about a dozen major soft synths, meaning that you can quickly turn your Xio into a Bass Station if you wish. However, as I have a midi keyboard, I don’t bother with these functions, so I won’t comment on them. Instead, I will just focus on the Xio as a synth. 

The Xio comes with 2 banks of 100 presets, with another 2 banks containing an additional 150 sounds freely available from Novation (only the first 50 patches of the “Jamiroquai” soundbank are new, the rest are copies from one of the factory soundbanks; the second bank, “RDyt's Xio patches,” can be found in the forum, and there are some individual patches available in the library. The Korg Polysix patches never worked for me, but maybe you’ll have better luck). 

Working with the patch editor (also freely available from Novation) is fairly easy, though not particularly quick. While slightly time consuming – 2 separate evenings – I went through all 350+ sounds, selected what I liked, grouped the patches and created two new banks – if you are going to spend any time with this synth, I suggest you do the same.The existing patches do a great job of demonstrating what the Xio can do (which is, after all, what presets are supposed to do), but the real joy comes later.

While creating my banks, I left many patches blank, inserting the Init. Patch (a single sawtooth) from the factory bank instead: when you write your own patch, you have to over-write an existing one, so you might as well over-write something useless. You might want to create your own Init, especially if you like sine or triangle waves.

The Pros:

- It is a Novation. As in technical director Chris_Huggett, who designed the Wasp and the OSCar. As in the company that brought us the Bass Station. Sure, it is not one of the big three Japanese, nor is it American, but this UK firm its own place in synthesizer history.

- Yes, this synth is quite capable of both contemporary and retro sounds. No mistake, quite capable.

- It is easy to use: anyone who still complains about sub-menus shouldn’t be allowed near any kind of modern electrical device.

- There are many choices (maybe too many), both for the oscillators (sine, triangle, sawtooth, square/pulse, plus NINE “digitally sampled waveforms to help construct more traditional instruments or percussive sounds”) and the LFOs (over 30 waveforms). 

The Cons:

- More than a few words have been written about Novation’s poor choice of colours on the front panel. Yes, it is difficult to read, even in good light. But, after owning the Xio for only a month, I can tweak in the dark. You get used to it, or you don’t.

- The On-Board Effects do nothing for me at all. They completely lack warmth. Started using some of my old Boss pedals (including the DM-3, the last analogue delay pedal made by Boss.) Much better.

- Build quality, especially a few clacky keys and knobs that come off too easily. Made in China, not the UK. However, if you contact Novation, they will send replacement knobs.

Okay, so the Xio won’t be replacing your MiniMoog any time soon. Or maybe it will, but that is a subject for another blog. On the other hand, not many of us can afford a MiniMoog, or indeed, any Moog. Considering the other synths in this price range, you really can’t go wrong. And, if you don’t feel like being part of the herd (hello, MicroKorg users), the Xio makes an excellent alternative. And, before the MicroKorgies form a lynch mob, let me clarify several things.

1. On the same day that I bought the Xio, I also played a MicroKorg for about half an hour. Allow me to make two observations. Subjectively, I found the Xio to be a more intuitive synth - I was tweaking within minutes. Objectively, while the Xio has fewer keys, it has full size, semi-weighted keys. Yes, Micro folks, read it and weep, full size, semi-weighted keys. And before anyone thinks I have something against Korg, let me state that a) I would probably not buy an Alesis Micron and b) I love my Monotron.

2. Still, there is something about the MicroKorg that just screams "newbie" to me. Evidence that many people quickly tire of / outgrow their MicroKorg can be easily found on eBay. Admit it, you want something bigger & better.

3. In no way did I mean to imply that MicroKorg users are sheep. Indeed, it is well documented that sheep are piss-poor synth players, while all of you are amazing musicians who make Keith Emerson sound like a troll.

Peace

TJ