Hmmm... Yeah, software is coming a long way. But... Even if you are to consider the Virus (or anything similar) just a plug-in with dedicated hardware controller, that still gives you a form of control you can't easily get with other software instruments - and yeah, the level of quality that goes into such a product is way beyond most software based stuff. So I think hardware will live long, but maybe we'll be seeing more products that give us the best of both worlds more and more. Integration is something most of us welcome. We need some new standards. There's vst, audio unit, rtas. A single multi-platform thing would be better and enable programmers to focus on what's important. A lot of confusion regarding usb or firewire, and thus, connections to. It's a shame that companies are pushing for their own solutions instead of thinking about what's useful for the users. Thunderbolt is Apple's new baby, for example. Who on its right mind would stand behind it? How can one be sure it's got a future? This is the other part of the problem. And this seem to be very important issues for the Virus. Since Access has to choose something that would work for the majority of users across all platforms, which isn't an easy task. Access or any company that wishes to do the same. We've also talked about how Novation and Korg have done something similar and with success.
I bet it all comes down to the programmer being busy with other stuff and I'm pretty sure Access will blow everyone's mind in the near future. At least more so then Clavia, for example.
Nowadays I think it's cool to have a bit of everything: software, hardware VA, analogue... It's cool times to be making music: so many options and so much good stuff out there!
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