Access News

[enfield]

Hi there.

I've been away for a while, had no time to produce anything unfortunately and to be honest, in the last few years I only checked this forum when NAMM shows or Messe were around the corner while I was keeping my eyes open for industry news. When TI2 and its limited editions became available I fell in love again and again as I have always been the lover of the sound and looks its incarnations represent, and it's still among my dreams and plans to get me a Virus someday. As I get closer and closer to the day when I can finally get my hands on the Excalibur of all VA's, I become more and more aware that I have to spend my money well and have to be careful not to buy one (a new one, because I want to undress the virgin beauty myself) just months before a new model comes out. But what about the news and excitement we read and felt every 2-3 years in the past? Did I miss something? No news, yet no posts as I can see from people wondering what happened to Access. The challenge is much bigger it was before the sporadically growing numbers of apps and vst's emulating hardware sound and I understand Access has to keep the pace and has to come up with something historical under a so much stronger pressure than before, because having a synth that wins best hw synth prizes is a great responsibility and remains a goal forever after long years of acclaim. How long do we have to wait guys? They have a job offer posted on their site, searching for programmers.

[TweakHead]

I think most of us are aware that it's taking them longer then usual to develop some new machine. This is a company that's been developing the same instrument for quite some time now, last TI updates were received with mixed feelings by owners, but to my mind - perhaps due to me owning the C instead - new features do seem to change the game, in the sense that it vastly extends the realm of possibilities and takes the Virus to unseen territories, as compared to previous editions of it.

Rumour has it that one of the programmers has been dedicating his attention to guitar stuff. Honestly don't know much. Think the Virus, any of its incarnations is worth it, the later being richer in specs. They do sell well on second hand market without loosing much value, so that's not really a big concern. Of course there's some expectations growing for the next: absolutely flawless integration is the top one!

[Timo]

I remember when the Virus C 'merely' added Moog filters, Parametric EQ and a small increase in poly over the Virus B.

The TI series have served extremely well over time in comparison. Over 5 full new OS versions with so many new features. Effectively 5 brand new editions of keyboards, from Virus D to Virus H, rolled into the TI|1 and TI|2.

However there does seem to have been a change the last couple or three years. The biggest being no announcements or demos at NAMM this year or last and sparse, drawn-out updates.

I have absolutely no insight to their company, workflow or their staff and can only speculate given the wall of silence, but my only belief is that Christoph Kemper - the original, and possibly still, or one of, the main programmer(s) for Virus - has chosen to move into high-end guitar amp profile modelling and effects (like Amplitube[?], but hardware-based). His company has released several hardware amps thus far, and he seems pretty active on the Kemper Amp forums. In fact, just this weekend he's announcing something new at the MusikMesse at Frankfurt. (Musikmesse is a kind of European version of NAMM).

Given that what he's doing with the guitar modelling is, to be fair, pretty cutting edge stuff at the moment, and dare I suggest possibly more lucrative than hardware synthesizers. I'm unsure if or what manpower remains behind the Virus. As I say, though, I know nothing about the company, and it's possible that they could be beavering away and shock us by releasing a new synth at any time.

The Virus is an extremely capable synth, but I feel it needs to evolve (or reinvent itself), given its price point, if it wishes to remain at the top. Especially against advanced VSTi's that are released and updated in a prolific fashion.

Given that the OS hasn't been updated for a couple of years, I naturally thought it was due to a new TI|3 being readied for launch. Was really hoping to hear something this last NAMM as I am pretty much ready to purchase a TI|3, if there was one, and I feel the forum is suffering too - I was hoping a TI3 would re-energize it - but it wasn't meant to be. Seems the Kemper Amps have taken over for the time being.

[TweakHead]

Exactly. The Virus TI range has changed more since it's inception then from first Virus to C combined. It's still based on the same sound engine though and perhaps the time has come for some going back to basis for them. I bet they know how to read the market and they're aware of this.

I think their best bet would be to continue to make the Virus a sound designer's dream by introducing some features that it's lacking to the engine. If we're realistic about it, even though the filters do sound good to me, they could be improved - and there's plenty of good examples out there nowadays, as I'm sure they must be aware of.

Your signature here says it all: I to would like to see user drawable waveforms for both oscillator and lfo sections. LFO's should have a much wider range, covering the whole audio range would be nice. If they're really smart about it, since the waveforms on oscillators and lfos are the same, this could mean that you'd have access to similar modulation madness as you do with NI's Massive and perhaps even vector style like you see on some Waldorf's.

This would mean a Virus that's even more suitable for modern times and a machine that offers a very wide range of sonic possibilities, more so then it does nowadays.

Of course they need to work on the integration issue, but highly doubt (because time is passing) that's the reason they're not presenting anything new for a while.

On Kemper's page it says:

"Digital gurus

Developed by the designers of the Access Virus synthesizer - 15 years of innovations in audio."

I think the price tag on the Virus is to high to let people suspect that the crew is investing all their time and energy elsewhere and they'd do well to tease the public with at least the thought they're up to something because - honestly - it's starting not to look so good...

may as well say it: also ready to buy a ti3 whenever it shows up! and agree with you about the forum, we could use more enthusiasm and sharing tips and tricks for our synths like we used to...

[feedingear]

if the virus had Massive style LFO performance sequencer it would be ridiculously amazing.

[machetie]

Originally Posted by feedingear

if the virus had Massive style LFO performance sequencer it would be ridiculously amazing.

Imagine when bitwig comes out today you can add extra lfo for modulation to any virus parameter!!!

[Timo]

Originally Posted by feedingear

if the virus had Massive style LFO performance sequencer it would be ridiculously amazing.

Massive style LFOs, drawable oscillators, and higher-rate LFOs would make for a killer update for sound designing, along with HiSpeed USB v2 (480Mbps) TI (or USB 3, which is back-compatible with USB 2).

I think so many people already have TIs, the Virus market has almost reached saturation point. It would require something at least this radical to make their existing userbase want to upgrade.

On a different note, I've just found an interview with Christoph Kemper talking about the Kemper Profiling Amp (I'll call it KPAmp), as well as the Virus, and giving an insight into his company.



To cut the cheese and see what the KPAmp actually does go to 2:17. Pretty amazing stuff.

The interview starts 6:42.

In essence, it appears that the team that works on the KPAmp is indeed the same team that works on the Virus, and the KPAmp project has been in development since at least 2005 (the Virus TI mk1 was only released in 2004). Christoph says he had worked on the Virus for a decade and didn't want to be limited to just the synth.

This also fully ascertains why some TI OS features (particularly OS v4) have come from 'profiling' oriented backgrounds - the speaker cabinet simulator, the six stomp box distortions, et al.

Interestingly they ask if the KPAmp will have Total Integration like the Virus, and Christoph effectively says "it's an idea for the future, but they primarily wanted to concentrate on the sound" and "they haven't focused on it, and there's no near plans to introduce TI". He even suggests "you can connect easily to a computer by using S/PDIF"! Either a possible indirect acknowledgement that Total Integration has been a rocky road to travel down, or a marketing ploy to reserve future features for KPAmps a few years down the line.

He does say there is no plans to refine the profiling technique at present, so maybe a return to the Virus?

The interview was posted in Feb 2013, a year ago (as of now).