Value priced analog mono synth. There are a lot to pick from and I picked this one for a couple of reasons. VALUE, Full Size Keys, Aftertouch, Nice Compact Size, User Interface (no menu diving), Large Filter Knob, USB/Wart Powered, Midi Controller, Pretty Red Lights, Great Sound. This is not a toy, usable right out of the box, a great learning synth to sculpture your own sound.

This synth is changing everything for me. It's my first "real" synth. I've been using software / vst synths for a while now and what really blows me away is how much better this sounds. I try to make my own unique sounds for each new track, normally I spend DAYS searching for and tweaking my bass tone... the very first thought thru my head when I listened to the first few patches was "Oh, this is going to be easy!"

This is an analog synth, says it right on the front (lol that was a joke) but there's a lot of 'people' who want to say it's not. Just do your own research, you can start by reading about oscillators, then read about NCOs and DCOs (numerically and digitally controlled oscillators), when I did this I thought I'd actually rather have DCOs anyhow.

There were some cool little things I didn't expect too, they took the black and blue theme all the way, the underneath of the BS2 is completely blue and it comes with a blue USB cord, this is actually kinda handy when you have a bazillion cables connected to your computer. It even comes with a full size (8.5x11 inch) manual with a cover printed in color. I felt like I was buying music gear from the 80's.

All the knobs feel great with a nice amount of drag and the switches don't stick when you want to slide them (if you know what I mean). You can see the threaded nuts under the pots. The Pitch and Modulation wheels are rubberized and have good action.

I love this synth so much I'll probably buy the carrying bag that I don't need for it.

Not a total fan, there's some things I wish were different. The keys are pretty cheap, my M-Audio Axiom controllers have much better action (they are also synth weighted). The case of the keyboard is at the same level height as the keys, what makes this bad is that if you have long fingernails, and you play the keys (I use my Push2 to play it) you are bound to break them on the case like I did.

I really (really) wish there were a desktop version of this, I would snap that up in an heartbeat!

This came out a few years ago, I'm late to the game, but I did a lot of reading and shopping, I can tell that a lot of the reviews are from before the firmware update. Novation really provided some awesome support on this update, here's some info:

- Implemented new patch format (version 2) with support for patch name
- Improved output jitter, jittery pots/faders, phantom data
- Improved tempo detection and lock on
- Fixed MIDI DIN SysEx output issue
- Arp Rhythm, Arp Pattern and Arp Octaves/Seq now light "value changed" arrows
- Added text for Arp Pattern modes
- Added new mode for Arp->MIDI ("Out"), MIDI->Arp ("In ") using Function+Arp Latch button
- Added ability to send MIDI CLOCK/START/STOP using Function+Arp On button

One last thing if you have Ableton/Max for Live, be sure to check out the Max for Live Library, there's some good devices there for controlling and automating your BS2.

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If you want a good cheap analog synth, this is the one I would recommend. Now, the mini/microbrute is also a good cheap analog synth but I prefer the BS2, the reason is simple.... the FILTER. I can get some gnarly sounds out of the BS2 filter, and most of the time, it is very musical, that is the reason we buy these things right? I know this is not a very good descriptor, but anyone who has played one will know what I am talking about, the filter sounds very smudgy. If the BS2 filter is smudgy, the word I would describe the mini/microbrute filter would be brittle/metallic.

This is a nice little analog synth, a good value for the money. The only reason I didn't give it five stars: It has a great arpeggiator, but the arpeggiator can only be triggered by the actual keys - it cannot be triggered by incoming Midi notes. I use it as an expansion module in my synth rig, and so that means that the arpeggiator is essentially useless to me.

I bought this for bass duties, but it quickly became my goto synth for creating all sorts of sounds. Very, very well designed both in terms of the interface and the sound. Saving presets is great, the sequencer is great, it feels super solid and well constructed for the price, and really no complaints at all. Capable of being powered by USB is another big win. Novation knocked it out of the park with this one.