A few thoughts on the Access Virus TI
 

I have been reading this web site and the Virus Ti website about different things to do with the Virus synths.

One thing I read which dismayed me - was the fact that apparently Access does not take kindly to positive feedback - ie when users suggest that something is wrong and if it can be improved. I read that Access does not listen because it has so many people who think the synth is great who shout down those who suggest improvements or changes - What do people here think on that? I think constructive crititism is very useful - particularly is it comes from users of a product - surely we all want the Access Virus to be the best it can be - users and Access(the company).

i disagree. we do take user feedback seriously. we always have and we would be stupid if we wouldn't.
and i think we never said that we have so many happy users what we don't need to listen. but i for instanced said before that the sheer amount of users who happily work away with the TI should make those, who have ongoing problems since years consider that it is in their hands to solve the their TI related issues.

best, marc

Cant speak for anyone else, but my general feeling is they do listen to feedback - good and bad - and as you can see - they even frequent many forums and engage in discussion (marc works for access even if he doesnt obviously say so) :)

As for the synth being the best it can be - on balance - it probably is, else so many wouldnt be using as their primary synth. In my case - I have a whole heap of synths, but TBH the TI get about 95 of the work, while the other 10 or so get the remainder. Im sure many people can find fault with some design choices (I can in the context of how I personally want to use it at times, but I still maintain there is nothing else on the market that is as useful, or sounds as good for such a broad palette of sounds), but they cant implement everything that everyone asks for.

I guess the other biggy for access is they have a history of giving very major free updates through the product cycle - OS v2.x for eg has added a whole heap of new synthesis types - for some of us thats as good as having a completely new synth, but without the usual learning curve.

Also the nature of internet forums are alot of folks come looking for help with issues, which tend to skew them very much towards negative posts compared to the community experience as a whole. and to be balanced - Ive had some major problems with the TI back in its early days, these days however its very reliable using it standalone, in ableton live and in cubase 4.

I've had nothing but problems with my Ti since I took it out of the box a month ago. The people at Access support have been incredibly friendly and helpful with trying to solve my various issues. It's gotten to a point where even after I told them that I didn't think there was anything to be done they still keep contacting me because they want my problems solved. I give Access a lot of credit because most manufacturers wouldn't have been as responsive and would have given up already.

That aside a statement like this...

...would make me reconsider buying Access products in the future. When I pay $2400 for something I would extect it to work. Telling me basically that "the guy up the block's Virus works fine so it's your problem that yours doesn't"...well that just doesn't sit well with me.

jon, have they swapped out your ti for an entirely different one yet?

but it doesn't mean that to me. it means that your problem can be solved because it works for so many others. that's why we encourage people to write into support instead of posting a bad experience here and live on with it.

what's the actual problem with your TI?

best, marc

That's what I did and the support people have been very helpful. I was pleasantly surprised at how helpful to be honest.

I can't use it for more than an hour before it becomes unresponsive, locks up and starts emitting shrieking digital noise sounds. Sometimes it takes less time. Sometimes more. Occasionally it will actually work long enough to be useful...but not often.

Nothing we (tech support and I) have tried has been able to diagnose a cause or come up with a solution.

Also the +2 transpose LED is stuck permanently on. The only time it shuts off is when the Virus is sleeping.

the permanently stuck LED sounds like a hardware damage. you should get your TI into a service center. the crashes could be a result of that hardware problem or an isolated problem. but if you unit crashs after a while i'd say the hardware should be checked.

best, marc

No. Not yet.

How would I go about doing this? I don't see anything on the Access website about where to send it. I'm still under warranty. Are there local service centers (Los Angeles, CA, USA) or does it go back to Europe?