Buying either Snow or Desktop TI - Noob Questions

[AndrewM]

I run a TI Snow daily on my projects.. usually three of the four parts. You can get a lot of use out a Snow as long as you know how to optimize your patches. I rarely, as in almost never, run out of juice or get drop outs.

The Richard Divine soundsets are the heaviest consumption wise and they play back fine. You can get some pretty massive sounds with the virus without stacking 8 unison parts on it as well.

[12341234]

Originally Posted by AndrewM

I run a TI Snow daily on my projects.. usually three of the four parts. You can get a lot of use out a Snow as long as you know how to optimize your patches. I rarely, as in almost never, run out of juice or get drop outs.

The Richard Divine soundsets are the heaviest consumption wise and they play back fine. You can get some pretty massive sounds with the virus without stacking 8 unison parts on it as well.

Great info. just what I was looking for, thanks!

I almost got a Snow last night but somebody beat me to it with the "buy it now" option on ebay Now I think it is basically down to which ever model comes up first and at the right price... I've seen a few Snow's go for as much as Desktop models in the past few months and there aren't many available at the moment.

If I get tired of waiting and decide to go ahead and buy new, considering that the Snow will play all of these soundsets, wondering, for someone who wants to work ITB as much as possible, does anyone who has owned a Snow and then upgraded to the Desktop model think its really worth the extra coin/regret it?

[MarPabl]

Originally Posted by 12341234

If I get tired of waiting and decide to go ahead and buy new, considering that the Snow will play all of these soundsets, wondering, for someone who wants to work ITB as much as possible, does anyone who has owned a Snow and then upgraded to the Desktop model think its really worth the extra coin/regret it?

Considering the type of sounds you need, I think the only issue you may have is the lack of knobs for realtime tweaking. If you'll work mostly with a DAW, it's fine. If you need live performance and you want to do many adjustments, it's more difficult on the Snow.

Considering that the Virus TI Desktop (first version) is usually sold at a price for a new Snow, maybe that's a pretty interesting option to consider

[12341234]

Originally Posted by MarPabl

Considering the type of sounds you need, I think the only issue you may have is the lack of knobs for realtime tweaking. If you'll work mostly with a DAW, it's fine. If you need live performance and you want to do many adjustments, it's more difficult on the Snow.

Considering that the Virus TI Desktop (first version) is usually sold at a price for a new Snow, maybe that's a pretty interesting option to consider

Yeah, I wont be using this live at all, strictly studio work.

I agree. From all of the reading and demos I already decided that the TI2 additional features aren't enough for me to go all in for a new Desktop. I'm on the hunt for either a Used Snow, Desktop TI or a new Snow if all else fails. Unless of course I find something else that'll do the job while waiting around...

[MarPabl]

Originally Posted by 12341234

Yeah, I wont be using this live at all, strictly studio work.

I agree. From all of the reading and demos I already decided that the TI2 additional features aren't enough for me to go all in for a new Desktop. I'm on the hunt for either a Used Snow, Desktop TI or a new Snow if all else fails. Unless of course I find something else that'll do the job while waiting around...

Considering the budget assigned to those choices, the best option is a Virus TI Desktop (first generation), even the Virus TI Keyboard (fist generation) can be appealing.

[enossified]

The biggest advantage of the desktop is the knobs for programming. Deep programming requires menu diving on both. If you don't mind programming on your computer screen, then polyphony is the major difference between the Snow and desktop.

The Virus Control plugin only supports three stereo/six mono audio feeds so the 16 parts of the desktop are less useful for ITB use anyway. You can always freeze tracks in Live if you need more polyphony or parts.

I don't know what computer you have, but for me VC inside Live on a MacBook Pro with Snow Leopard works great, I have no problems with latency, clocking or crackling.

[AndrewM]

Keep an eye on MusiciansFriend.com ... they usually get returns that are in pretty good shape. ...And they always have some sorta coupon 15% off and free shipping. That's how I got my a few years back. Under 900 bucks and it still had the plastic film over the screen. Not sure if 'used' gear applies for the discounts anymore, but I'm sure if you called them and talked with them they'd cut you a deal.

[12341234]

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions.

It seems that the Snow will fulfill my needs.. but its really down to what I can find second hand. I'm not sure if Musicians Friend will ship to my location, I emailed support.. they have 15% off right now with free shipping so that might be a decent deal. There aren't any stores locally, well there are a few distributors selling online, but their prices are jacked up like an additional 30%!! Crazy. So it seems that I have to stick with Ebay.. but I'm also wondering about the power supply, the USA is different than here -220v in Asia where I'm currently located. Sent an email to Access, so we'll see what they have to say.

[feedingear]

The power supply for the TI is universal so you can gig it anywhere. Just get the appropriate converter for the cable from any hobby/electrical shop. I run a US TI in Australia and have never had a problem.

[12341234]

Originally Posted by feedingear

The power supply for the TI is universal so you can gig it anywhere. Just get the appropriate converter for the cable from any hobby/electrical shop. I run a US TI in Australia and have never had a problem.

Yep, Access support confirmed this today. Cheers