We can explore and inspect Ultranova’s architecture as long as much we have time for it and aspiration, of course. It’s not that infinite but surely draws attention of the most curious ones – those who understand Novation and consider Ultranova a special instrument. And those who’re not going to compare it. To anything.

The year 2016 was marked with Minimoog Model D comeback; most powerful digital Japanese synth hitting the market; Uli Behringer making analog go down in value; modular systems popularity growth (including one famous Greek brand); DJ-controller and sampler rethinking; another Japanese company claiming back its place in the sun - read about 13 most valuable instruments of 2016.

Analog generator waveform is far from being perfect – it’s unstable and suffers from inevitable voltage-brought deformation. Many of the analog filters are unsteady – you might hear some noises, phase shift or self-oscillation. But these very drawbacks make the signal so brisk, lively – well, actually, alive indeed. Digital developments helped to tame analog sound, cut it into samples, increase polyphony, give you a synthesizer equipped with the functions which were simply unobtainable in analog instruments. In 1990s instrument manufacturing companies got highly interested in analog modeling technologies development – they were eager to re-create those smallest details of electric musical instrument circuit behavior.

Should we buy a new one or a second hand unit will serve us well? Here we’ll talk about a never-ending dilemma, designs and pricing, the reasons of purchasing an old instrument or a new one straight after being assembled. We’ll analyze it while having a close up on the Japanese synthesizers (and an English one).