ozonic vs. x-station

mrfart · Post by **mrfart** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 11:53 am

I'm using a UC-33e at the moment with an old korg synth that I use as a midikeyboard.
But since I need a new soundcard I would like one of those "all in one" things. Card, midikeyboard and controller.
The 2 pieces of kit that seems best fitted to me are the novation x-station and the M-audio Ozonic (maybe there are others?).
Now I was wondering if somebody has both of them and could tell me witch is best for me.
I will be using it mostly in a dj set-up.
things that are most important to me are:
latency
capable of recording-playing audio while using controller and/or effects(probably obvious, sorry, don't have any experience with these things)

Also, maybe one of them has something the other one hasn't and that I'm not seeing right now?

Many thanks

gazbats · Post by **gazbats** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 11:59 am

Xstation rocks.. has built in synth based on the Novation K-station and you can get some wicked sounds out of it..

the onboard fx are way cool too..

do it.

hambone1 · Post by **hambone1** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 12:00 pm

http://www.createdigitalmusic.com/index ... &Itemid=44

I went for the Ozonic as I wanted the four audio ins and outs to replace an outboard mixer and to allow a cue mix in Live. I don't need the hardware stuff in the X-Station, either.. I use soft synths & FX.

musician · Post by **musician** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 1:07 pm

If you really play then Novation is better choice, the good keys ( M audio keys are OK for triggering but not for real playing) and the built in synth.

musician · Post by **musician** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 1:08 pm

If you really play then Novation is better choice, the good keys ( M audio keys are OK for triggering but not for real playing) and the built in synth. Alesis have nice keys too.

headquest · Post by **headquest** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 1:14 pm

musician wrote:If you really play then Novation is better choice, the good keys ( M audio keys are OK for triggering but not for real playing) and the built in synth. Alesis have nice keys too.

I disagree

The Novation only has two octaves, while Ozonic has three. As a pro keyboard player and teacher, that alone sells Ozonic to me.

Also though, the keyboard on the Ozonic is in a different league to the old Ozone one. The aftertouch in particular is very good, and the Ozonic feels just like any hardware synth.

In terms of your overall needs, it's worth noting too that because Ozonic is a firewire interface, you should expect much lower latency than you would with the Novation, which is USB1.

I tried the Novation in a music store at the same time, and much prefered the keyboard action of Ozonic. But I agree that the Novation is anyway a very nice bit of kit.

Lowride · Post by **Lowride** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 1:35 pm

headquest,

X Station comes in sevral flavours - 24 key - 49, and 61 (I think).
You're obviously talking about the 24 key version. Other than the number of keys, I think all the x stations are the same otherwise...

Lowride

headquest · Post by **headquest** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 1:38 pm

Are they? Ooops - didn't know that. I only saw the 24-key version. I find 24 keys simply not enought (which is one of the reasons I went for Ozonic).

I guess that a larger version of X-Station would be pretty cool, but presumably cost a lot more?

Lowride · Post by **Lowride** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 2:05 pm

Yeah it does cost a bit more, understandably. I kind of think that one of these would be really cool though, if used in conjunction with say a UC33e...
Ie using the x station to trigger samples already assigned in the simpler.

That would be a quality set up...

Lowride

Sales Dude McBoob · Post by **Sales Dude McBoob** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 2:20 pm

As far as quality goes I think the x-station is a much, much better product.

I mean, it's a synth. The Ozonic is a box.

As far as it being the end all be all for an Ableton Live user, the X-station falls short. Its biggest faults are that it's USB, and there are only 2 outputs. In Ableton Liveland you always want devices with at least 4 outs, for all the DJ McBoobs out there.

But, that said, I think the x-station rocks. When they first came in I busted one out and played with it, and that little devil on my shoulder was like, "Yesss. One of these will do nicely on my desk next to my mixer. Yesss. Very nicely indeed..."

mrfart · Post by **mrfart** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 4:31 pm

Thanks for all the replies so far.
It seems there's no clear winner (as I suspected).
At the moment the x-station looks a bit more interesting to me (the extra effects, arpegiator,etc...).

hambone1 · Post by **hambone1** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 6:39 pm

Live 5 has more arpeggiators, FX, synths than you could ever use.

Ozonic has 4 audio outputs. That was the clincher for me. I didn't want to be tied to just two outs. Those extra audio outs come in mighty handy - premix cue, or I use it to send another stereo pair of dropped-in percussion/FX to the rear of the room.

headquest · Post by **headquest** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 7:02 pm

I'm not a DJ, but I would definitely recommend Ozonic as a better option for DJs for the reason that mrfart gives.

mrfart · Post by **mrfart** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 2:48 pm

hambone1 wrote:Live 5 has more arpeggiators, FX, synths than you could ever use.

That’s true. But you can't let 1 laptop do all the work.

The extra ins and outs are indeed the best thing about the ozonic if you ask me.

Oh, the agony of doubt

Lowride · Post by **Lowride** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 3:24 pm

yeah it's a tough one, and I would say entirely dependant on whether you need the outs.

That said though, I'm pretty sure I've read on here something about being able to use your onboard soundcard in your laptop to act as a prelisten output, and you can use the soundcard in the x station for the house.

Not sure - someone might be able to shed some light on that one - somthing to do with using ASIO4ALL drivers...

Lowride