Novation MiniNova Synthesizer

MiniNova packs the sort of specs you'd expect to find in an instrument twice the size, and sounds like one double the price. Whether you're a music production novice taking your first steps in synthesis, the keyboard player in a band looking for a sturdy, road-worthy instrument, or an experienced sound designer after a pro-quality portable addition to your existing arsenal, Novation's backpack-sized beast more than delivers.

This larger-than-life USB bus-powered, 18-voice polyphonic micro synth features three oscillators and one noise generator per voice; 14 filter types; 12-band vocoder with VocalTune; 6 envelope generators; 3 LFOs; 20 modulation assignment slots; 5 simultaneous effects; with Mac/PC Editor Plug-in and Patch Librarian.

Big Sound, small synth

Built on the UltraNova sound engine, MiniNova has more polyphony, more filter types, more effects and more modulation than any other synth in its class. And being USB bus-powered, you can easily hook it into your computer-based setup without a mess of cables getting in the way.
Every one of MiniNova's sounds is mix-ready straight out of the box, but each can be subtly tweaked or warped beyond recognition via the 24 synth parameters immediately accessible from the front panel.

Each of the three oscillators (per voice) draws on 14 analogue waveforms, 20 digital waveforms and 36 wavetables, and features density/detune (for fattening), virtual sync (for punchy attacks) and 'hardness' (an additional low-pass filter). Two filters are available per patch, offering a choice of 14 low-/high-/band-pass types at roll-off slopes from 6-24dB/octave; and up to five effects can be applied simultaneously, including distortion, reverb, chorus/phase, delay, compressor, EQ and Novation's unique Gator effect.

From dirty-fat basses and soaring leads to lush pads, spiky arps and vintage analogue-style tones, MiniNova brings all the character, power and versatility you'd expect from a full-size synth in a tough, compact 37 mini-key instrument.

Find Your Sound Fast

MiniNova comes with 256 killer sounds onboard, space to save another 128 of your own, and an easy-to-use Patch Librarian for storing and loading any number of patches to and from your computer.

Sounds can be searched by style and type, making short work of finding that perfect hip-hop bass or electro lead.

New, free soundpacks for MiniNova are regularly released by Novation, created in collaboration with renowned artists and sound designers including Daniel Fisher, Chuckie and Dino Soldo.

Create Unique Vocals

Not content with blazing a trail as the world's most formidable micro synth, MiniNova has a microphone and vocoder built in, too – and no ordinary vocoder at that. In VocalTune mode, it automatically tunes your voice to the notes played on the keyboard.

The lyrical fireworks don't end there, as you can also run the mic signal through the effects engine. Add reverb, distortion, chorus/phaser, Gator, compression or EQ to produce truly attention-grabbing vox, or recreate iconic vocal lines.

Naturally, MiniNova's sound-sculpting toolbox isn't limited to microphone input: any external instrument can be hooked up and turned into something else altogether using the vocoder – including VocalTune mode – filters and effects.

Animate and Arpeggiate

With MiniNova in Animate mode, pressing one or more of its eight purple backlit buttons kicks in a range of sound variations, bringing even more colour options to each patch and providing a wealth of instant transformations for live performers to raise the roof with. Each button adjusts multiple parameters in real-time under the hood – just the thing for injecting pads with life and movement, and serving up crazy EDM-style bass and lead lines on demand.

Switch to Arpeggiator mode and the same eight buttons are used for pattern programming, enabling you to build a rhythmic dimension directly into your MiniNova patches.

• Make Huge Sounds - Create dirty-fat bass, soaring leads, lush pads and vintage sounds with up to 18 voices and powerful effects.
• Built By a Legend - MiniNova’s synth engine was conceived, shaped and refined by British synth legend Chris Huggett and his five decades of passion, experience and expertise.
• Gently Tweak or Instantly Warp - Subtly tweak your sounds with the knobs, or totally warp them with the Animate buttons, and pitch and modulation wheels.
• Create Unique Vocals - Talk or sing into the mic and run your voice through the keyboard and effects engine.
• Find Your Sound Fast - Instantly search through 256 sounds by type or musical genre, and save 128 more sounds of your own.
• Layer Your Effects - Each voice can be processed with up to five effects, including distortion, reverb, chorus, phase, delay, compressor, EQ and Gator.
• Store All Your Sounds - Use the Editor Plug-in and Patch Librarian to fully edit your synth and effects, and store as many sounds as you can fit onto your Mac or PC.
• Take It Anywhere - Tough, compact and bus-powered via USB, so you can easily take it wherever you go. 
• Get Free Sounds - Download regular free soundpacks created by eminent artists and sound designers.

Warranty

Enjoy three years of warranty - Wherever you happen to be in the world, you can rely on a three-year warranty if any Novation hardware needs repairing or replacing due to a manufacturing fault.

Included Software

• 4GB of Loopmaster samples

Utility, display and patch select controls

• 16 character custom LCD
• 1x large detented patch select encoder
• 1x patch sort switch
• 1x volume dial
• 1x detented data encoder
• 5x navigation/utility buttons
• 2x patch navigation buttons

Keyboard/performance controls

• Pitch wheel (LED lit)
• Modulation wheel (LED lit)
• 37 note keyboard with velocity
• 4x smooth edit/performance pots
• 1x large smooth filter pot
• 1x six position parameter selector switch
• 6x parameter indicator LEDs
• 8x three-colour, back-lit animate/arpeggiator/favourite patch-select buttons
• 2x animate/arpeggiate LED indicators
• 1x back-lit 'hold' button
• 1x animate/arpeggiator/favourite patch toggle switch
• 1x 'favourite' patch select button
• 1x arpeggiator tempo control pot
• 1x arpeggiator tempo indicator LED
• 2x back-lit arpeggiator control encoders
• 2x back-lit octave select buttons

Inputs, Outputs, rear panel

• XLR dynamic mic input
• 1x ¼” jack inputs
• 2x ¼” jack outputs
• 1x ¼” jack headphone output
• Sustain pedal on ¼” jack input
• MIDI in/out
• 12 volt power input
• USB/DC/off power switch
• USB port (MiniNova can be powered via USB)
• Kensington security slot

Synth Engine

• Up to 18 note polyphony (dynamic voicing)
• Mono-Timbral

Per patch

• 3x oscillators
• 1x noise generator
• 2x ring modulators

Waveforms include:

• Square, sine, tri, sawtooth, pulse, 9x saw:pulse combinations
• 20x digital waveforms
• 36x wavetables

Filter types

• 2x filters per patch
• low pass no resonance 6dB per octave
• low pass 12dB
• low pass 18dB
• low pass 24dB
• band pass 6:6
• band pass 6:12
• band pass 12:6
• band pass 6:18
• band pass 18:6
• band pass 12:12
• high pass no resonance 6dB per octave
• high pass 12dB
• high pass 18dB
• high pass 24dB

Modulation sources

• 20 modulation slots per patch
• 6x envelope generators
• 3x LFOs
• Aftertouch (Supported in the engine. Note, keyboard does not generate aftertouch)
• Velocity
• Key scaling/track
• Mod wheel
• Expression pedal

Total of 66 Destinations including

• Oscillator pitch, pulse width, wavetable index, level and sync
• Filter cutoff, resonance, envelope settings
• Effects parameters and send levels
• Recursive modulation (modulating modulation sources themselves)

5 effects slots per patch

• Distortion – up to 2 instances
• Compressor – up to 2 instances
• Chorus/Phase – up to 4 instances
• Delay – up to 2 instances
• Reverb – up to 2 instances
• Gator
• EQ

Misc

• VocalTune
• 12 band vocoder
• Arpeggiator – 33 patterns
• Realtime Arp rhythm editing function
• Chord function – lock up to 10 notes
• Patch storage - up to 384 on hardware (ships with 256 factory patches)