Namm 2013

[Berni]

Originally Posted by Ashe35

I really don't see USB going anywhere. It is installed on the vast majority of PCs that are out there and/or being shipped, Thunderbolt isn't. Yes, Apple is a niche market, at somewhere around 15% of the market (unless you count iOS devices....). Thunderbolt still currently requires the Mux/Demux chips in each cable,. which makes even a short cable cost $40. The cost of implementing thunderbolt is higher as well... especially for storage type devices.

I think you miss understood my post. I didn't say usb was going anywhere I just don't think it has much of a future for connecting audio, video or whatever devices. It's good for plugging in your mouse, flash drive etc.
Of course with all new technology the price is always initially high, look how much hard drives have fallen in price these last few years compared to what they used to cost & now internal flash drives are coming down in price now they are becoming more widespread. Its just a matter of time

[TweakHead]

Besides, it's kind of stupid for apple to drop support on firewire so soon, since there's tons of people (like me) who still have firewire soundcards and are not selling them on ebay to get new ones just because Apple decided that thunderbolt is the thing... It really isn't, so far. Besides the Apollo soundcard, I don't see many audio stuff out there with the thunderbolt option. So that's just an unfortunate case of big corporations pushing for their favourite standard, like when Sony has decided to adopt blueray for their gaming console - thus forcing the industry to follow. It's always the same with this kind of thing.

But guess what, we have a hard time deciding upon a good format that would solve the possible bandwith problems that the TI line is facing with the usb connection, now imagine you had to make such decision for the next Virus line. I think the above post makes a very valid point: usb is still the most global of all options, present in literally all computers nowadays, while firewire isn't on some of the new apples, and thunderbolt is mainly an apple thing, still - even though you can get it for intel pcs as well. So it isn't an easy solution for them. Maybe they could do something similar to what Universal Audio has done with Apolo, if it was feasable. But this just shows how much of a challange it must be to have a hardware unit in perfect sync with a daw, streaming audio in and out, and all of that. So much so, that even though everybody recognizes it's a good idea, not a single other company has tried such a thing. And I'd bet that Clavia or Waldorf wouldn't mind having their products advertising total integration as well. And even without it - here I go again - those synths have fewer options then the Virus line, and, even though this is my oppinion, hence totally subjective, I dare say that the Virus still owns it in terms of sound quality, specially the filters.

Since the industry hasn't really reached a new standard with more bandwith then usb, I really don't see them jumping to a new synth so soon. I think the chances of seeing them do an analogue are very remote, if any. They could throw some new totally virtual synth to get some revenues on the meantime, that would be cool, but somehow I doubt it... I'd bet that nothing is going to happen! Maybe they'll have a cake their, since it's they're celebrating 15 years down the line.

[namnibor]

Originally Posted by TweakHead

Besides, it's kind of stupid for apple to drop support on firewire so soon, since there's tons of people (like me) who still have firewire soundcards and are not selling them on ebay to get new ones just because Apple decided that thunderbolt is the thing... It really isn't, so far. Besides the Apollo soundcard, I don't see many audio stuff out there with the thunderbolt option. So that's just an unfortunate case of big corporations pushing for their favourite standard, like when Sony has decided to adopt blueray for their gaming console - thus forcing the industry to follow. It's always the same with this kind of thing.

But guess what, we have a hard time deciding upon a good format that would solve the possible bandwith problems that the TI line is facing with the usb connection, now imagine you had to make such decision for the next Virus line. I think the above post makes a very valid point: usb is still the most global of all options, present in literally all computers nowadays, while firewire isn't on some of the new apples, and thunderbolt is mainly an apple thing, still - even though you can get it for intel pcs as well. So it isn't an easy solution for them. Maybe they could do something similar to what Universal Audio has done with Apolo, if it was feasable. But this just shows how much of a challange it must be to have a hardware unit in perfect sync with a daw, streaming audio in and out, and all of that. So much so, that even though everybody recognizes it's a good idea, not a single other company has tried such a thing. And I'd bet that Clavia or Waldorf wouldn't mind having their products advertising total integration as well. And even without it - here I go again - those synths have fewer options then the Virus line, and, even though this is my oppinion, hence totally subjective, I dare say that the Virus still owns it in terms of sound quality, specially the filters.

Since the industry hasn't really reached a new standard with more bandwith then usb, I really don't see them jumping to a new synth so soon. I think the chances of seeing them do an analogue are very remote, if any. They could throw some new totally virtual synth to get some revenues on the meantime, that would be cool, but somehow I doubt it... I'd bet that nothing is going to happen! Maybe they'll have a cake their, since it's they're celebrating 15 years down the line.

LOL....Access having an exact scale model Ti2 shaped cake, and cakes looking exactly like the Virus KB and KC and maybe a Belgium Chocolate Fountain made up with the Snow bodies on toing down to the Indigo at base of chocolate fountain...LOL!!! Sorry, my imagination went wild with you flip comment that "....maybe they will have a cake or something...", LOVE IT!!!

[Timo]

Back on topic.

Access: "Another day closer. The darkest night of winter is approaching."



The darkest night being the winter solstice (Dec 21) in the northern hemisphere.

Looks like a Polar TI2 Dark Star, but that's already been previously released.

It's got white knobs, so maybe a new Snow TI2?

Edit: Just realised the image is mirrored. Flipping and enlarging it gives this:



... with an exit/mode button on the left, and a Whiteout patch loaded up.

The existing TI Snow also has an exit/mode button to the left, and has a volume knob directly underneath the exit button (with the same 'swish' above the volume knob):

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...us_TI_Snow.JPG

Whereas the Desktop and other versions don't:

http://www.sweetwater.com/images/ite...esk-xlarge.jpg
http://www.sweetwater.com/images/ite...Key-xlarge.jpg
http://www.sweetwater.com/images/clo...DS_detail1.jpg

So, looks like the Snow is getting a limited edition Dark Star treatment or similar.

That's a shame, as it likely means that Access are not going introduce a new line of Viruses any time soon as Snow DarkStar and OS v5 will tide them over for another year. Good news for those who have existing TI1 and TI2s, however.

[Timo]

Confirmed, looks like they're releasing just 15 of them for this weeks so-called Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in America.





So the possibility of a new Virus TI3 line at NAMM 2013 may not be written off just yet.

[namnibor]

Originally Posted by Timo

Confirmed, looks like they're releasing just 15 of them for this weeks so-called Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in America.





So the possibility of a new Virus TI3 line at NAMM 2013 may not be written off just yet.

At least it's not called "VIRAL YELLOW SNOW"!!!! LOL!

[MBTC]

Originally Posted by namnibor

At least it's not called "VIRAL YELLOW SNOW"!!!! LOL!

LOL!... At least a yellow snow edition would show some creativity on their part instead of this black/white toggle.

Honestly the color changes would all make sense to me if it were a case of marketing people supplementing the technology innovation instead of supplanting it... as an example I alluded to before, if an automaker decides to make a limited edition of a car, it can be awesome if the car is historically important enough to be recognized several decades later. I don't think we will be able to buy replacement parts to keep our Ti Snows going in the year 2033, nor will we probably even care.

Admittedly without having actual insight into the company, as an engineer myself, I feel like Access is undergoing one of those moments I've seen in a few companies where the resource allocation has shifted from technical innovation to marketing. When that happens, the dead-end has been marked on the map and it is only a matter of time before the company goes belly up and blames things like the economy, current politicians, changing times and increasingly finicky consumers. The real problem, in my experience, is that some bean-counter in the back with the books decides hey marketing people cost $X per hour, while engineering people cost $X*2 per hour, and make a case to some CEO making $X^X per hour that the company can save money and increase sales by cutting engineering (thus innovation) and increasing advertising, thus kissing the arse of the CEO and making him feel more entitled to his already inequitable salary. The pattern continues ad infinitum.

[namnibor]

Well, on an "up-note" and always being a person to be able to see the glass half-full rather, at LEAST Access IS releasing something! This also means that unbeknownst to anyone else, that Access may INDEED announce something new and cool at NAMM! I say this emphasising that a big part of being competitive is not showing your competetors what you may have up your sleeve because otherwise, company "B" may rather than wait until a product is actually complete, releasing it barely with it's "baby clothes" on such as case with Elektron's Analog Four. The O.S. is not even half-complete, no user manual because they are not even SURE if they can impliment projected specs! THAT's unacceptable marketing laced with greed and too much more psychologically to even go into here. I used that example because it truely shocked me because what they are BANKING ON is those diehards like *some* Apple "loyalists" that will stand in lines outside a store for days for the next iPhone when Apple had JUST released their last iPhone or iPad not even 6 months prior! It's a bit like the "sheep/sheeple" mentality. I swear Apple could put their brand on a toilet seat and charge $600. and those same "loyalists" would be in same lines! None of these companies would even attempt such things if people did not allow themself to be manipulated, let alone think FOR THEMSELVES!!
Remaining optimistic here that Access is currently working on something new and big. Would even be openly filled with glee if they released a hardware advanced polyphonic sequencer with innovative sampling that could be ALSO side-chained in a Ti set-up with ability to map those samples and morph across key-range Happy Thanksgiving!

[Berni]

My prediction for access at NAMM this year...old snow now gone slushy, black snow, get it ; ) & hopefully a full release of OS5...it's only been 11 months since they announced it FFS. Thats it.
Access loyalist's will defend them by saying that they are giving there synths extra features at no cost to them but guess what, access don't give a shit about existing owners (my experience anyway) they already have your money. The extra features are to try & sell the same TI they have been doing for 7 years because they no longer have the resources to develop a new synth. The whole 'darkstar' thing is like putting lip stick on a pig, it might look prettier but it's still a pig

[AndrewM]

Way to be original about the color scheme access.