Novation Ultranova

Back in 2010, this synth packed the legendary Supernova II engine into a compact, gig-ready package that made wavetable synthesis and touch-controlled madness accessible to everyone from bedroom producers to stage performers.

At its heart, three powerful oscillators deliver classic analog waveforms like sine, triangle, saw, and pulse, plus 20 digital waves and 36 wavetables for everything from gritty basses to shimmering pads—up to 18-voice polyphony keeps it lush. Dual filters per patch from 14 types (low-pass 6-24dB, high-pass, bandpass) pair with a deep mod matrix featuring 20 slots, 6 envelopes, 3 LFOs, aftertouch, and velocity for endless sound design. Hands-on control shines with 37 full-size keys, 8 touch-sensitive encoders that trigger envelopes or FX on touch, a huge smooth master encoder, and a 12-band vocoder complete with gooseneck mic. Five simultaneous effects—distortion, chorus/phaser, delay, reverb, EQ, compression, Gator—plus density for supersaw-style thickening and hardness to dial in harmonics make patches huge and versatile; it even includes a 2-in/4-out USB interface.

Players love its intuitive live tweaking and vocal effects, though some note the single-part design limits multilayered work compared to bigger siblings—still, with 256 RAM and 128 ROM patches, it's a creative powerhouse that holds up beautifully today.