Virus going outta fashion
 

Just noticed there are no fewer than 4 (correction: 5, including the Powercore plug-in) different Virus units for sale on SOS readers ads within the past day. Change in the air...

Competitive world these days, especially when software can often do more for less. Very harsh economic environment at the moment, too.

Wonder if anything good will be announced at NAMM? My whole original interest in the Virus wasn't really that it sounds better than software, it was just that having something like fat pads & supersaw sounds offloaded to another device would free up some of my CPU. The problem seemed to be that the hassles of getting the thing to integrate over USB reliably seemed out of reach. So, I wonder if the next gen product will solve this? At least maybe utilizing the full potential of USB or better yet Thunderbolt?

What's In A Name
 

Tried to purchase an Access Virus TI Polar "Darkstar" "Whiteout" (think this thing has enough names)...Anywho....I had two one had a terrible noise and cut out even without use of the Virus Control software. The other the LFO selector switches on the hardware froze up and refused to work. Additionally the Virus Control worked partially once and then never again for the two weeks or so I had them.

So I ask, what's in a name? It is by all accounts a very BUGGY synth - AND.....

It is called a VIRUS isn't it????

I may be the odd-man-out here, but I use all hardware synths and absolutely no computers, (aside from in the recording studio), have never had an issue with my Virus. Just synthy bliss.

Are you talking about playing one synth part at a time in a band or producing complete tracks? I cannot imagine doing everything using just knobs, tiny displays and the like, and would love to hear the science behind that.

never had an issue with my virus and I am currently making some crazy FM sounds.

virus going out of style? probably not anytime soon

Yes, using a 3 synth set up- all sounds are created first, then recorded one track at a time. But will do the same thing live, just with fewer layers.

I'm a bass player who got into this synth thing just as midi was first coming out and was recording to 8 track reel to reel. Go a bunch of synths hooked together by midi thinking how cool was this. Then computers and soft synths came into the picture and it kept getting better and better. I eventually sold all my hardware synths, except a Roland D-50, and decided to go the software route. What I eventually have found is that I can't put together enough software synths to do the music I'm trying to write because the computers just can't handle it. I decided to go back to hardware synths.

My first purchase was a Waldorf Blofeld, then came a Virus Indigo, followed by a Korg MS2000r and then a windfall of older EMU samplers, Korgs and Yamahas. The Virus is the corner stone to the whole setup and has been solid as a rock and have been looking for a second one to increase my capabilities. I have seen a lot of Virus's for sale on Craigslist around the country, but what I not seeing is people unloading them. Prices are almost all very high for a secondhand synth.

I have had or played on a lot of synths over the years including my old Mini Moog to an old Fairlight, plus most of the modern "killer" synths. There isn't one that I like better than the Virus and for me, it's not going out of fashion any time soon.

I cant imagine selling it. Cornerstone of nearly every production I do, for me the sound quality cannot be beat or replicated from any plug I have used. That said, the only bugs I have ever dealt with have been USB sync/arp errors which are gone now with the latest OS update and early USB connection errors (fixed with a new cable).

Yes, one might not think this... but mixing 'outside of the box' (meaning your computer) is one way to really achieve a pro level sound. Sure the Virus is just software just like all the other VSTs out there, BUT it's running on it's own dedicated DSP system! When you have a simple VST running in your host that is running of your system DSP it DOES impact sound quality on a few different levels. This is the same reason people like UAD systems and other outboard gear. Ask any pro level audio engineer, pro mixer, or mastering technician and they will tell you the same thing.

Point being... Virus and other hardware synthesizers digital or analogue are not going anywhere, and certainly ARE in fashion!

The issue is that for the music to be in a format where anyone can actually hear your work, it will ultimately end up on someone's iPod or mobile phone, broadcast off satellite radio, etc., and by that time the difference in fidelity you might hear between hardware and software is gone. There is nothing about a CPU that puts sound at a sonic disadvantage over a DSP, what matters is whats between the signal and your ear. So if you go hardware board > amp > ear you're surely going to hear a difference than if for example you're comparing to VST > crummy build in audio card > headphone jacks. But run the audio signal of a GOOD VST (they are not all created equal) through an equally capable path, and do a blind study (others have done this in the past and proven this already, just to save us the trouble).

In an article I recently read, a representative from Moog conceded that the lines between hardware and software have now converged to the point where it does not matter much in a final mastered track, but proceeded to talk about the real value of true analog hardware is inspiration in the studio (which I fully understand).

This I completely agree with. Synths are instruments with unique characteristics that don't really go out of style. One might say that when the characteristics are software implemented, it's not even a "true" instrument anymore because the algorithms that give it the character we here could in theory evolve/morph with simple patches (but for purposes of patch compability, they don't much).

Look at how many people would love to get their hands on a mint Jupiter 8 or similar. What I do see happening is that Access will either need to get their act together and put a quality focus on the host integration aspect of the Virus, or there will simply be no compelling reason to pay such a premium for one for most music producers with modern high-end CPUs and high end plugins. We will just start to see these devices like Aturia Origin or OpenLabs Neko start to merge the advantages of softsynths with hardware.

Preach it my brudda!!!

Personally I don't think I've heard a HW or SW-synth that I like as much as the virus, of course this is my personal opinion.
I use both HW and SW but often it's to complement the virus rather than the other way around.
Some VSTs are also very CPU heavy and that kind of breaks the whole idea.

E.g. I remember when I tested the Arturia CS80v, complex HW for sure to emulate but with an i7 965 CPU, using a single patch, it could grab 30-40% of the CPU.
Sure it would be cheaper to buy a computer just for that VST rather than bying a real CS80 but somehow I don't think that was the idea :)

Yes, some VSTs (particularly those that have features that try to truly emulate analog) can get CPU heavy. I don't have a lot of experience with Arturia's synths but I've seen others where a thick polyphonic patch can eat a lot of CPU, but keep in mind (1) the same thing is happening on the Virus' DSP for a sound of equal warmth, and (2) the usual solution for handling the polyphony problem on a hw synth is to bounce down, which you can also do with the VST, and (3) most of the good VSTs offer a way to dial down things like aliasing quality and other CPU hogs so that you can make that 30% CPU gobbling sound go down to 5% or so, without hearing a difference in the mix (its harder to do this on most software synths).

But yes, I do understand sometimes we want it all and all at the same time. Sometimes I would just like to have half-dozen hardware synths, but getting it all working simultaneously especially with DAW integration is not always easy.

As far as having a dedicated computer for each VST, think about what if the computer were attached to a dedicated keyboard controller that is optimized for each VST... Well its true then you just have a Virus, but that is the direction of the "hardware VST" solutions like Aturia Origin and OpenLabs Neko. The only problem there is that full integration comes at an enormous cost. Hardware recalls are a lot more expensive than software patching, and by the time they bundle everything into one big hardware package, the markup is huge and bang for the buck goes out the window.