Sometimes the best things do come in small sizes. The compact Novation X-Station is quite about this. It combines a keyboard, synthesizer, audio interface, a multi-effects unit and a separate section with unique control. A little later XioSynth 25 was released taking the most important features from its "cousin".
Physically, XioSynth 25 somewhat reminds us of the original Bass Station, but is even more similar to ReMOTE LE. A 2-octave velocity sensitive keyboard can move the pitch up and down within an octave, and 11 control knobs/buttons can be tweaked and switched to perform a number of different manipulations with the controls on the front panel.
XioSynth is easily configurable: it can be connected via USB or powered with a power supply unit, or with AA batteries. It's worth noting that XioSynth lacks some of the functionality of X-Station. The synthesizer has fewer controls, the keyboard does not have aftertouch, and there’s only 1 microphone input. However, surprisingly, Novation actually added some extra features that can’t be found in X-Station. The built-in synthesizer has an improved filter and a shaping parameter, and this extends the limits of the audio capabilities considerably.
It should also be noted that XioSynth is compatible with the presets of all K-series synthesizers (A/K/X/V-Station, KS4/5/R), so that users could access a huge library of patches. While X-Station can be used in a synthesizer mode or in a controller mode, XioSynth can function in both simultaneously thanks to the hybrid mode. One of the limitations is that the built-in effects can’t be applied to the input sound. However, the internal routing of the audio is actually quite flexible.
The most curious feature of XioSynth is the X-Gator, which you can use to add gates effect in trance genre to any of the patches. Besides, gating patterns can get programmed visually thanks to the installed LCD. By default, the front panel with knobs is used in the "pickup" mode. This implies the knob “on” position so that it matches the running value you observe on the screen before the value gets changed.