Called off work today. Told them I've got a Virus.

[plaid_emu]

Well the prize has arrived. The free TI Polar my Girlfriend won from Nova Musik showed up about 20 minutes ago. I haven't powered it up yet, as it's still very cold coming off the UPS truck in Ohio. We're having a bit of a winter storm. Ironic. The Polar came to us in the midst of a winter storm.

It looks very sweet with the rest of my gear. Kind of downer though, as the Synth we received was in used condition with a nasty but small blem on the bottom right side towards the front (aluminum panel). No double boxing and the synth wasn't even wrapped in plastic or a styrofoam cover.

Tony Gral (owner of Nova Musik) told Jenny the synth was coming from Germany with an autographed card from Access. She's wondering if they didn't give us the old switcheroo.....

Anyways it was free, so how can you really bitch?

I can't wait to give it the juice. I'll let you know how it went.

[AlexHall74]

BASTARD!

;)

Enjoy your "sick day."

Cheers,

-Alex

[plaid_emu]

Here's my initial impression:

1) The hardware feels heavy and very robust. Looks hard to break. I could probably drop it on a hard surface and it would be OK. (I'm thinking it already happened to this particular unit, hence the damage.)

2) Software was an easy install and everything was smooth sailing. The firmware was already up to date so I was up and running in under 10 minutes. Upon power up the first thing you notice: it's white LED's are bright enough to warn ships miles from shore that they are approaching land. Had to turn them down some.

3) The hardware interface might take some getting used to. Some parameters are well hidden under a few button presses. It took me a minute to find the LED intensity parameter and some other global functions without using the manual.

I really dig the Virus Control AU/VST editor. This thing has loads of unique programming features that make it extremely versatile and powerful. The multitude of oscillators and filters (some of them quite bizarre) are gonna keep me busy for a long time. Can't wait to explore this more, as I was mostly sifting through presets last night and only took about an hour to delve into sound design.

4) Now the sound: This is maybe the most inspiring synth I've ever played. Now I'm not the greatest synth player, but I felt like Robert Johnson at the crossroads and I just signed my soul over to Satan. It seemed to coax all the right notes and chords out of me like I was possessed. ****in' awesome!

I'm not selling ALL my other synths now that I own this, but I can see how it's sound quality and versatility would make it a good candidate for the "desert island" scenario. I was always skeptical about the hype and the price of Viruses. Now I know why they're so goddamn expensive.

[plaid_emu]

I got the autographed Access card from Nova Musik yesterday. It arrived with the Blofeld.

Tony Gral called us today because word got back to him (via Access) we got a B stock unit. Looks like an honest mistake made by one of their employees who just shipped the wrong one. We never contacted either party about the issue, so someone from Access must've been lurking on the forums.

Tony magnanimously offered to exchange it with a brand new Polar when they get the next shipment in Friday. I told him that it wasn't really necessary, as I'm just happy to have the thing. He insisted he was going to send a new one, even If I didn't want it!

I really do get the feeling they try as hard as they can over there. As I said before, my experiences have always been great. I honestly think he had no idea what happened. He asked why we never mentioned it.

I told him I might be interested in a Desktop unit instead, as I only intend to use the Polar at home with my Novation SL controller anyway. He even offered to make up the difference with some plug-ins or something. I told him I'd been thinking about a Spectral Audio Neptune or a Sherman Filterbank. He said he'd be more than happy to do it and seemed genuine about setting things straight.

Now the problem is......which one? Neptune or Filterbank?

Or should I just stick with the Polar for the pimp factor?

[Onkel Dunkel]

I never tried a Spectral Audio Neptune but Sherman Filterbank sure is one mean beast :D
You say you got your Blofeld; does this mean that i actually can expect mine soon :D Oh, please let it be true. I hate waiting for orders...

[plaid_emu]

I hope you get yours soon, 'cause you're gonna like it....a lot. Here's my first impressions. I posted it this morning on gearslutz.com:

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/1850071-post71.html

[dl4plm]

oh man stick with the polar!

Its superb! I love mine to bits already .... and to be honest .. ok its a bit bigger than the desktop .. but tons more sex appeal

your a lucky guy to have your GF win one!

My advice .. stay with that little polar bear

:-)
Rgds

Simon

[Onkel Dunkel]

I hope you get yours soon

Me too :D Thanks for the link to your review...