1.09 hotfix
1.1.1 public beta
...WTF?
Hi trance producers and all. For clarity I’ll divide my post into parts.
Compromise
Your posts have made me realise how much compromise I have accepted since I bought the TI as a USB 2.0 compatible device capable of 1800 playing voices simultaneously from Sound And Drumland music store in Berlin, Germany (
http://www.sound-and-drumland.de ) in early February 2k6.
Not entirely precise arpeggiator, system hangups, satan saw, clicks – these are things which I have learnt to live with. As I am not recording a CD yet so I can theoretically tolerate these issues now.
At this stage I see I treat TI like an „ill” band-mate, moody, unreliable, boasting as the 7th wonder, glorified by 58 mags as the best you can get in 2006.. Did those mags test the TI or accept some advertisement purchase instead?
(Besides, has the year finished?)
Way fewer than the quoted 1800 voices, up to 2-4 fully effect-loaded parts playable at a time, not without tempo artefacts though, make me create things totally different from what I had the right to expect given the flashy advertisements. Wanted to make trance; I actually make simple quiet tunes with without arpeggiators. That is what my TI enables. Some may say „I do make trance, what is your excuse now?”. But do not know any of them personally.
I fully agree with the previous posters trance without arps or loads of fx, even as simple as reverb or delay is no longer this genre.
Access policy
Access policy is dishonest. The way I see it is they try to maintain the image of things being under control. To give an example, on their website the date of release of v1.1, previously 02.2006 has now been replaced with Q2.2006. In my opinion changing this detail this way is a manipulation. Instead of adding another entry in the news they change a tiny detail in the older one. Prospective buyers may think everything is happening as planned; old users may not notice the change, as I didn’t at first. What we get in June 2006 is beta version preceded by a post from Marc of Access preparing us to accept the fact that v1.1 (supposedly the non-beta!) will NOT solve all the widely reported issues.
What is this last .1 BTW? Does that mean that they have gone even further than they had planned with the development of the TI?
These version numbers are purely arbitrary, but imply that 1.1.1b although still at beta stage, is more than v1.1 scheduled for February. Having given it a thought I guess it stands for beta 1, which means „expect more betas before you get what you paid for”.
They have removed the infekted forum from the links on their site. What they „patronize” is the forgotten virusti and ampfea list; now, which excited potential buyer will dig in a list? No matter how serious fault you report there it gets drowned soon. As another consequence we don’t even realise how many posts have been left unanswered by Access Support Team. (mine: 5 in the least)
Selective response from Access
Once I contacted them about relatively unimportant matters like sysex issues in cubase sx, I got quick response (saying it is cubase’s fault), but as I referred to clicks both in VC and midi mode and sent them a mp3 sample in return I got a delayed answer implying a need to buy a mixer to protect my amp from further breakdowns. How long do I have to wait until it is „objectively” apparent that they have ignored the mail asking them a simple quiestion: Do I need to replace my TI or wait, if wait – how long roughly?
Satisfied/dissatisfied ratio
One of the arguments of the Access supporters is that the image of reliability of Virus TI devices can be distorted by the fact that the dissatisfied obviously have more things to write. But the counterargument is that thousands of VirusTI users worldwide may not speak English, may consider it futile to write, finally, may not know of infekted forum. What they learn from ampfea or Access Team directly is they need to buy more ware like mixer, dedicated USB cards, midi compatible cards, better cards, upgrade for cubase, nuendo, live (only the latest versions are said by Access to be supported), exchange the VST hosts (before Virus TI was said to be compatible with all VST hosts, now Access officially don’t care about such popular hosts as f.e. Traktion), reinstall the system, buy a better USB cable (sic! a device for 1700 euros up is not provided with a good cable), reinstall the drivers and many more.
Conclusion
The fact that after so many months since the product was launched the new buyers still report serious HARDWARE issues even in midi mode like clicks, system hangups etc. indicate that exchange for a new TI is no solution.
Music creation process of many users is seriously drained by TI problems, me among them, unfortunately. How many of us – it’s hard to even imagine. Does it really matter that some after all virtual entities (no offence) say their TIs work fine? If it does, let’s make a poll. But what matters for me personally is that:
1. can’t make music I bought Virus TI for, or even the way it is said to operate
2. among other things my TI produces clicks, but the Access team do not care
3. VirusTI was sold to me as a USB 2.0 device (
http://www.sound-and-drumland.de/ite...-0-0-7473.html)
4. as I visited
http://www.access-music.de to get the upgrade to from a Hotfix to a Public Beta One (!) I saw an announcement that Virus TI is acclaimed as the no.1 synth of 2006.
I am seriously considering returning the Virus TI Desktop I have on the grounds its specifications as given by the dealer being FALSE.