Thanks for the ideas and replies guys. After much more tinkering I decided that (A) total integration was a must-have for a hardware synth to me and (B) it just aint there yet.
I think with enough compromises, practice, change in workflow etc I could probably add a lot to my music with this box, but not enough to justify the current price.
I saw one response from an Access employee addressing the issue of why full USB 2.0 speeds are not supported, why was Firewire not chosen, etc, and the basic matter at hand was the cost proposition involved. Well I do understand design compromises but maybe I just need to take another look at the Virus in its next generation form.
I do understand it sounds great and would sound even better if I just ran audio outs to another interface instead of USB at all, etc. If I were a pro or semi-pro musician I would probably keep it, but I have very few hours per week (on a good week) to make music, and I need to be able to get ideas from my head onto MP3 very quickly in order for the hobby to be worthwhile. I sometimes go weeks without touching a music keyboard, and I cannot be dependent on lots of persnickety setup details in order to transfer musical inspiration to a shareable format.
So I guess that concludes my short stint with the current Virus TI. I will keep up with the news on this board and see where things go in the future. And for those of you successfully working with the Virus today, I admire and envy your tenacity, your schedule, your persistence and your luck of the draw
For now my Ti2 desktop is boxed up and soon to be RMA'd.
Cheers,
MBTC