If The Access Virus TI is hardwired how can operating systems updates add so much

[Newly Accessed]

Hello,
Can someone explain to me how The Access Virus TI has had so much added to it through operating system upadates if it is a hard wired synth?

By the way how can a hard wired synth have so many mod matrix options as the Virus TI has in its sources and destinations?

Thanks for any info.

[Timo]

It's not hard-wired (like analogue modulars, for example). The operating system is stored on a memory chip - Flash ROM - which has a certain memory size, and can be erased and re-programmed. It's all digital code. It's effectively a soft synth, in a hardware body. It just happens to sound 10x better than any other soft-synth.

The reason? It's programmed (or converted) into assembly language - machine code, using mnemonics - which is extremely efficient as it takes fewer lines of code and runs exceptionally fast, as it's in a lower-level language that hardware can understand without having to decode it in realtime. The only way it could be faster would be if it was programmed in binary.

Most software synths are programmed in higher level languages (C++, etc.) which aren't anywhere near as efficient as machine code. They're bulkier, and run slower as they need decoding.

Plus, because the Virus has its own hardware, and isn't simply piggy-backed onto an operating system like Microsoft Windows or Mac OS X, it can run even faster. This means you can have more lines of code, to make it sound even better.

[Newly Accessed]

Hello there,
Thanks for the great response - very informative. Okay the Virus TI operating system is not hardwired. Surely it is hard wired in terms of the two envelopes,three lfos, the number of oscilators, the sources and destinations in the mod matrix and the types of available effects? Basically what can and cannot be achieved via operating system updates or is the sky the limit?

Thanks again

[Timo]

The theoretical boundaries are limited only by 1) the amount of memory available on the flash ROM to store the native operating system including all the routines and instructions, and 2) the processing power of the CPU to attempt to carry it all out in realtime.

I guess Access try to maximise use out of both (Flash ROM memory and CPU).

A given CPU can only process instructions at a certain speed. If the CPU is being utilised heavily and you add another LFO on top of what it's currently processing, requiring more instructions to be processed in realtime than it can actually handle, it might be enough to overload the CPU and you end up with glitchy audio or drop-outs.

Similarly, if you have filled up the Flash ROM with routines and instructions and the given amount of memory storage is nearly full, you wont be able to add any new software functionality to the synth (in other words you wont be able to teach it new tricks).

In other words, when Access release a new synth, the Flash ROM is not full, meaning that new routines and instructions can still be added at a later time. And the CPU they choose to use also has room to spare, in that it is still able to carry out more instructions per second than is required for the original OS (when the synth is originally released). A bit like a car engine that is capable of doing 130mph, but only 100mph is required of it at the beginning.

Access may also fine-tune and optimise their code over time, meaning that it can use less filespace on the Flash ROM, giving them additional space for new updates.

[Onkel Dunkel]

In fact it´s just like a computer. It has a proccessor and and some memory (and a bunch of other stuff). Just because your computer is hardwired doesn´t mean that you can´t upgrade from Windows XP to Vista without changing the hardware. It´s called software

[thecraig]

Excellent description TIMO

It is essentially a soft synth inside a hardware case, and all the controls on the front can be redesigned to anything really.

The DSP chips inside are awesome, same as used on protools TDM cards thats why it integrated with TDM so well.