TI Snow Automation/Note Information Latency?

[MBTC]

Have you considered an Ultranova or Mininova? They don't cost much (I paid $600 US for the Ultra new) and automation works as you would expect through USB, at least in Cubase.

I'm having an issue unrelated to automation, but it's probably not something most people care about (it has more to do with the way the mixer in Cubase works I think). I'm currently a little pissed at Novation customer support for ignoring a ticket I put into them, but its not enough to make me dissuade someone from buying one. I think these synths are an amazing value if you don't need multi-timbrality. The VST editor is excellent, the touch controls are very useful, the overall sound is great. Not many third party soundsets available, that's one big advantage the Virus has.


UPDATE: after I sent Novation a follow-up nag mail, they did respond to my request and resolve the issue I was having. It had more to do with a setting in the software for my audio interface (which interestingly is also made by them) than it did the UltraNova.

[V-Jolt]

I really want the Snow because it's the most affordable one and it's got that Virus sound. I love those Virus style pads. It would be great to have the Virus sound with parameter automation that truly was smooth and real time too.

[MBTC]

Originally Posted by V-Jolt

I really want the Snow because it's the most affordable one and it's got that Virus sound. I love those Virus style pads. It would be great to have the Virus sound with parameter automation that truly was smooth and real time too.

I've contemplated a Snow too, I'm just not sure I'd be happy with polyphony at the given price point, given my brief experience with a Ti2 desktop. I'd pay $1200 USD for a new Ti2 tomorrow without thinking about it, but for a Snow, or twice that for a Ti2, it's a tough ongoing point of contemplation with me. Newer soft synths have just gotten so good, up against the Virus or anything else, and they're just so easy to work with its hard to justify the hassle and expense (for me anyway).

[V-Jolt]

Originally Posted by MBTC

I've contemplated a Snow too, I'm just not sure I'd be happy with polyphony at the given price point, given my brief experience with a Ti2 desktop. I'd pay $1200 USD for a new Ti2 tomorrow without thinking about it, but for a Snow, or twice that for a Ti2, it's a tough ongoing point of contemplation with me. Newer soft synths have just gotten so good, up against the Virus or anything else, and they're just so easy to work with its hard to justify the hassle and expense (for me anyway).

10 to 50 voices is pretty decent, maybe not that price but what would you say about the snow's latency with live performance? As long as it automates plenty of parameters, plays midi notes/chords and it's a Virus the price doesn't bother me. I would practically gett it for the pads, the "TI", and that authentic Virus sound.

[MBTC]

Originally Posted by V-Jolt

10 to 50 voices is pretty decent, maybe not that price but what would you say about the snow's latency with live performance? As long as it automates plenty of parameters, plays midi notes/chords and it's a Virus the price doesn't bother me. I would practically gett it for the pads, the "TI", and that authentic Virus sound.

If you can, play around with one so you can get a feel for what 10-50 voices really means in practical sound design. 3 osc with unison 3 is 9 voices while holding one key down, and that's before the DSP-gobbling features like FX which will reduce numbers quickly. Granted, that may depend on what kind of music you want to make, and you did mention pads which are polyphony heavy.

I had bad luck with latency at the time and sent my desktop back, but since then I have reason to believe there may have been other issues affecting my USB performance. I have the Ultranova connected to a dedicated USB 3 card in a dedicated music PC now so I'm not comparing that aspect fairly with the Virus a few years back. I think you'd have to get consensus from others on that one, it may depend on platform and DAW, I just know that a while back I noticed Cubase users on Windows were having the best luck but I think the recent scuttlebutt is that things have improved on all platforms.