Hey people , people!

I am having trouble with the Mininova editor and Ableton.
Everytime I hoot it up it glutches, doesn't respond well to changes made on the keyboard, takes a lot of time and in general it's a great pain in the ass...

Any suggestions if anybody around is still using it with the VST / Editor ?
Thanks!

It's no longer supported. You'll need an older OS. Check the requirements, I can't remember what the last supported OS is. I sold an UltraNova because this was just too awkward to resolve in Catalina with Parallels. I think it was El Cap.

Darn it, I hadn't realised this; I hadn't tried opening the plugin since updating to Catalina.

https://support.novationmusic.com/hc...atalina-10-15-

I just now tried installing the 'beta' plugs linked from this page. They show 'connected' to the Ultranova, but all the graphics on the plug are heavily messed up, far beyond the point of usability.

It indicated there that the Mininova is supported on Catalina. I really liked that the UN has an SPDIF out, but I guess I could switch to an MN and then utilise a stereo A/D SPDIF interface in the same input. Hmm.

That's a pain.

Interested to hear now if other people have the Mininova plug working on Catalina, as the webpage suggests is possible.

@OP which OS are you using?

Thanks for the tip. The thing is that I am using Windows.
On the page that Nickel Irno Core posted it says that they know about the issiues since Windows 10, but I guess they just left it that way...

I've recently found that using the keys on second keyboard / controller solves the problem of hanging notes. I use Reaper with no standard settings i.e. receive all channels from all devices, put the mininova to the side and use an MPK Mini 3 to play keys while using the editor.

Novation/Focusrite cannot be trusted.
They are still selling the Mininova new, but ceased supporting it about 6 years ago.

We need someone to create a third party editor for the Mini/Ultranovas.

IMO they are the best sounding synth that Novation ever produced.

Hard disagree. Very trustowrthy company, provided support for two outdated devices I own. I don't think the Mini/ Ultra sounds so great. Well they do, but they're not the best thing they've done. Excellent presets alright. They're very very nice but my old KS Rack also sounds great and I preferred the UI over the UltraNova.

Here is a good third party MiniNova editor. Here is a free web based one.

Thanks for these tips!
I have an Ultranova, so cannot use the browser based option.
$250 is more than I'm prepared to spend for the other option (though it does work for the UN as well as the MN!

Well sound is subjective and taste will of course vary depending on what type of music we make.
But I believe the KS and UN have very, very closely related engines.
I think the UN (and MN) added some features (possibly wavetable synthesis, IIRC(?))... But I have read many folks saying they prefer the older iterations such as the Supernova (I think the KS is closer to that SN).
.... But ultimately they are all have strong similarities.
I love that engine.
I believe people disliked it because it didn't sound anything like real analogue. But if you get past that factor, the sound is beautiful.

Less subjective, however, is the question about support.
The Mininova is literally still on sale in shops right now. But Novation stopped supporting it in 2018, so six years ago. If they don't even support current products, I don't see how anyone could claim they offer good product support longevity.
Likewise, Focusrite seem super happy to drop support for interfaces after a short while, not because the hardware cannot possibly run on newer machines, but just because they refuse to allocate resources to updating their drivers. The Saffire line cannot work on Monterey, even though the OS still natively supports FireWire. Compare that to RME, who will update drivers for as long as technically possible.
NB I own a Focusrite 8PreX that's extended over ADAT to 2x Saffire Pro 40, so I'm not a total hater by any means. But, objectively, they clearly don't make as much effort as other companies.
Refusing to support products they currently still sell is ridiculous, IMO. I only know of Novation and Access who do that. Are there any others?

So two examples of support being dropped, out of hundreds of products. Let's just get some perspective here. One is a synth that you can still use as intended and program from the front panel if you like. The other is an audio interface that would be 18 years old now. Make of that what you will.

Novation Peak is an absolute joy of a synth BTW.

Again, MN is a *current* synth. Can you think of any other companies, besides Access, who refuse to support their current products? (Not a rhetorical question).

The Saffire Pro 40 was discontinued in 2017. Focusrite stopped supporting it in 2019... So only *2* years after some folks bought it.
It's disingenuous to suggest that's "18 years", as you wrote. I assume you've calculated from the date the product was launched, up until (arbitrarily) today (5 years after support ended), which is meaningless.
The context we are discussing is >>how long Focusrite continue to support a product after its discontinued.<<
With the Saffire it's 2 years, not 18. With the Mininova it's MINUS 6 years (and counting).

For comparison, RME Fireface 800 was discontinued in 2014. RME still support that on Windows. They only stopped Mac support when it became technically impossible (very end of 2022, when Apple launched Ventura).

Again, I'm not a hater. I own a Novation UN and 3x Focusrite interfaces.

Years of support after discontinuation:

Minus 6 years = Mininova (product still on sale, support ended 2018)

Minus 1 year = Ultranova (discontinued 2019, support ended 2018)

2 years = Saffire Pro 40

2 years Saffire Pro 14
.
2 years Saffire Pro 26

2 years Saffire Pro 24

2 years Saffire Pro 24 DSP

RME FF 800 is now working on modern M1 back again! Which is incredible support time.

I like my Mininova. I guess you can do following on Mac:
1. install Novation Midi driver
2. use free web editor

Focusrite support is shitty. I'm sad I can't use my Saffire Pro 40 :(

Most places have it heavily discounted and it's out of stock at many

It's a hardware synth with a very editable control panel when I owned mine I never used the editor as why would I

The issue was the FW chip not the box itself, old tech. You deliberately misread what I said about the synth and took it all out of context of all their other products. Quite an unreasonable response from you, twisting my words, so I’m done here. My post stands for other more reasonable people to see reason.

That's simply not true. Focusrite stopped supporting those devices in 2018, with Mojave.
FireWire was supported by Apple up until Monteray and was only removed at the end of 2022, four years later.
This is exactly what we are discussing.
See the post from Redioheb which also clarified this.
Also see his signature notes there. It's a widely known issue that Focusrite does this.

I honestly have no idea what you're referring to.

Frankly, your tone has turned pis$y.
It was you who rocked up and started arguing. I was only ever backing up my points which you came along and challenged. I haven't deliberately misunderstood anything whatsoever. It was you who was being disingenuous with the 18 years claim.
Not sure why you are acting all butthurt now.

Yes that is clear. I don't know how I can put it more simply. It's all right there. I'm not gonna get into it because you're clearly hitting me with the same outrage as Focusrite themselves.

This is a useful tip. Perhaps I need to flip my Ultranova and grab a Mininova. I really like that the UN has an SPDIF digital out, full sized keys and is USB powered. But it's not much fun to edit using the hardware.

Though the main reason I like to have a plugin editor is for programming automation. I assume that's not possible with a web editor. Probably that can still be done with MIDI CC.

FireWire stack is still working on Sonoma

"Owners of Fireface 800 reported success using their unit with the two thunderbolt adapters on Sonoma."

https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic...208443#p208443

That's wild. RME going absolutely beyond expectations.

But basically FW is not generic. Some chips require specific driver, this happened with other manufacturers before Focusrite. It’s just unfortunate.

We've just released MiniNova 1.7 which features a new version of the Editor and Librarian alongside the latest driver for the relevant platform.

More details can be found here -
https://support.novationmusic.com/hc...iniNova-editor

John // Novation UK 🇬🇧

@ tapvand

and 1.7 is standalone - one no longer has to use the VST in a DAW - the layout is a little flatter and less cluttered than the old one without making major changes - editing seems to be a bit faster

it certainly seems like an improvement to me

I guess anything is better than nothing.

Personally, I prefer a DAW plugin as that's easier to do automation with (I appreciate CC are probably still possible without a plugin) and it also keeps the settings nice and tight inside the project itself (ie if you open the DAW project a year later, with a standalone it requires you to remember which patch you'd been using, external to the editor).

Cool.

Any chance you could please fix the Ultranova editor?
It's the same engine and so I assume not vastly more work, now you already came this far?

Cheers.

Also, the Mininova already had that third party web editor. Does this Novation standalone app add any functionality we didn't already have from that web editor?

Perhap the resources might be better spent on fixing things we don't already have (plugins and Ultranova).

He said one no longer HAS to use the VST in the DAW, this surely implies their is still a VST version.

You can follow the Novation link and read it for yourself.

10.15 and earlier have the preexisting VST.

Later OS can use the new standalone, but not the VST. At least that's what it says.

I cannot test it as I don't own an MN. I only have a UN.

The other poster didn't word it well then, I sold my UN, the VST worked well at the time, I tend to avoid hardware now that is reliant on software for these reasons, leaned about that with Plugiator.