Oh, I think you’re right, my 101 is currently disfunct and I couldn’t do a standoff between the two yet.
And yes, the benefit of the acid-filter is, that it’s always in a sweet range without killing ears and speakers due to uncontrolled resonance. “Intoxication mode” so to say, so it really deserves that name anyway. 
Recently I’ve had the opportunity to play around with a Sub Phatty, Mopho keys and Minibrute for a period of two weeks.
Let me point out that the BS2 wasn’t available at that time so I haven’t been able to check that one out yet.
The Sub Phatty just shines when it comes to the basic oscillator sound. It’s rich, full and has a lot of energy. Nothing compared to what I’ve heard from de Mopho or Minibrute (or BS2 for that matter).
Feature wise it’s a different type of synth off course. You get less modulation options than for instance a Mopho or BS2 but the sound itself is very very solid.
The Mopho can sound very good as well when you start using modulation and tweaks and I’m guessing the BS2 is the same. Also, nothing comes close to the Moogs filter. Not even near!
When that leaked movie of the Pulse 2 was available on youtube for a short period I heard the same quality as I’ve encountered with the Moog. Rich and lush basic sound without even touching modulation.
Having said that. I obviously need to demo a BS2 soon to be able to judge it for myself.
The thing the Bass Station 2 has over the the Pulse 2 is usability. Everything is laid out in front of you so you can visualise the patch. It’s really nice to work with. I swore I’d never buy another matrix synth when I sold my DSI Evolver.
Plus the problem with all these new Waldorf synths is, not only do you have a matrix to battle with, they also have a lot of menu diving to get to stuff like modulations etc. often things are buried a few layers down in the menu’s. it sound great (from the one video that I’ve seen) but personally I’d prefer something a bit more knobby and even with no menu to deal with at all![/quote]
You got some solid points there. The matrix is pretty straight forward however (and don’t we have a matrix on all Elektron machine in essense?).
The Pulse 2 has a huge screen that draws things like the full envelope curve and filter curve which visualizes what’s going on synthesis wise more than a BS2 will be able to. Modulation is always a thing with Waldorf but in return you do get a very extensive modulation matrix which just isn’t available with the BS2.
The BS2 does have more hands on controls but I think a few designs flaws are obvious (like the sliders for envelopes and shared oscillator controls).
But again its al down to sound…and as I said…i will probably need to check the BS2 out myself since the demo’s don’t impress me so far…
The Pulse 2 sound impressed me in the first video available which to me implies its a stronger synth soundwise…
Based on responses here I will definately go and check out the BS2 for myself.
I also agree with the comment on the A4 sound. With the A4 it is quite hard to get a warm and phat result. It’s in there but you need to work it to get it out.
The a4 is more of a feature synth and I really need (want) a bread 'n butter synth to team it with.
Well, the nice thing about the BSII that you do not get with the other recent $500 dollar synth releases is ALOT of midi control input and output capability. It blows both the Mini Brute and MS20 away in this category. None other on the market has that. There are a lot of modulation options, the biggest one for me being filter modulation by OSC 2…you know not a single flipping synth app that I have performs this kind of modulation. Well except for Jasuto Pro…but that is one quirky app to use in concert with other things. I would think that the Sub Phatty and the and BSII, but I am not sure if the SP will do audio rate filter modulation. I did not look too closely at the SP simply because I have a Minitaur and I am good with that.
If you need to sequence the synth that you pair with A4 via the A4…the BSII is not a good pairing.
someone just did a SH-101 vs. BassStation2 direct comparison:
shit, i’m selling my 101… (maybe the 101 still superior in sound - although that’s just a matter of personal taste - the BS2 well beats it in terms of functionality, features and it’s got midi ;))
And it also has a plastic enclosure, even on the bottom! 
Seriously think twice. I didn’t sell my sh101 for the Minibrute when everybody said so and I won’t for the BS2.
Ok…yesterday I had the opportunity to do a 30 minute session with a BS2.
Must say…I’m am way more impressed with it than I could have predicted from the demos I had heard.
I still think the upper octaves are definitely it’s weak point but as said, it’s called a bass station for a reason. The lower octaves impressed me a lot. This thing has BASS! Pushing, full bass sounds with a lot of pressure behind it, made my ears pop!
I also found that a lot of Pulse 2 demos are becoming available and that thing impressed me a lot as well.
Going to have a hard time deciding which one to get (hopefully I won’t end up getting both). 
Explain your curious earth ways, I command it 
[/quote]
A few secrets at the moment I’m afraid, hopefully all will be revealed soon
as if the 101 wasn’t all plastic…
only two thing stopping me right now is the fact I already have the 101 (so there’s no hassle with selling thru ebay) and an A4 so I can control it quite easily.
I’ve had the go ahead to make this public. It isn’t complete yet, so will slowly be updated, but here’s a:
Wow futureimage, great work! Looking forward to more details about the specific patch points.
Yes it is possible. The LFO goes into high audio range, plus the envelopes are loopable! Great for SID like sounds. I have now both and i am happy with it.
Yeah, but does is key follow?
Opposed to my initial thought on this synth based on the demo’s I caved as well. 99% of the demo’s I have seen about this synth are complete crap
(Sonic state recently did a good one).
After I checked the synth out in real life my opinion completed changed.
I like it a lot. It’s not a Moog and not pretending to be one. I have been looking at the Sub Phatty but I don’t have a particular preference to the “Moog sound” at all.
Having bought the Pulse 2 a few weeks before I had to decide what to do: Send the Pulse 2 back and get a Sub Phatty or get a BS2 to put next to the Pulse 2.
Decided to go for the latter. My reason is very simple…I like complex sounds with a lot of modulation and both the BS2 and Pulse 2 are better equiped in this region. Also…the BS2 can sound very forward in the lower regions and I like this particular sound a lot. As people mentioned it can sound very Roland-ish and for the genre I like (techno) this works very well.
Lot’s of fun!
there is a place near my house, has the bs2 new, for 350 out the door, i think i am gonna return my impulse volca buy, and pick one up, i need some keys for my tempest, i have no keyboard.
How is this thing as a controller for the octatrack? It has after touch and velocity sensitivity right? I don’t really need a mono but seeing as a similar size controller goes for about half of this, I can justify the extra money for some extra synth fun.
The BSI was a response to Roland’s failure to continue making a line of SH 101 analog monos and filling in the gap in demand. Same thing a decade later. Roland must be trying to get bought out by someone else or something- why else would they keep declining easy money?
i am very surpeised at the demos, they are terrible, but i have messed with the bs2 on a few ocassions, it sounds great, its one of the best little keyboards around. i had a brute, minituar, and have messed with pretty much all of the new analog monos out… the patterns on the arp, the 2 filters, the 2 distortions, the 3 oscs, are what sold me, only the sub-phatty was as fun and immediate, but i put that in a different price bracket.
i havent messed with the pulse 2, but the demo was very good, when noise bug or a shop in los angeles get it, i will try it out for sure… the ms20 is very cool as well…
i sold my Pittsburgh modular, so i need a fat mono, plus the bs2 will be a decent keyboard for my tempest when in poly synth mode, i have 0 keyboards atm…