Virus analogue outs

[boborulz]

Hey all,

Who uses the Virus' analoge outputs over the usb ones? Whats the difference? Sound quality? I find you then don't have as much control with your sounds as you do in USB mode...thoughts, comments??

Cheers.

[synthfiend]

IMO the analogue outs sound richer
The D/A's on the Virus are pretty good I think

[jamie8286]

Yup i prefer using the analogue outs i also like using the midi over usb to play parts maybe as to me it seems a bit looser then on usb. I ususally just use usb to make patches etc.

[cristianokeller]

Didn't totally understand your question... But, the analog outs off course are better because they are the sound that comes direct from your Virus. And they are free of latency. But you cannot get the sounds inside your sequencer... The USB mode uses a A/D (Analog to Digital) conversion and this cause a loss of the quality. But like synthfiend the A/D's on the Virus are pretty good!

[boborulz]

yea, im going to have to trial both the outputs side by side to see if i can discern this "richness"...i guess i can just use the usbs for monitoring during the production process and when it comes time to make the final copy go analogue...also hasn't the sound gone through a D/A anyway to go out the analogue outs? Considering this is a VA synth....

[cristianokeller]

The Virus documentations advices are to use the analog outs as monitoring... Probably yes, they have internal D/A's , but only one right? If you use another it will be a 2 D/A's process... :)

[///OSS]

Analog outs are great D/As, the A/Ds on the Virus suck. the USB out is a no go, only good for MIDI. I take my analog out and use the VC as a remote to edit on the fly but still record thur my DAWs interface (828mkIII) where I can crank the trims and get a nice strong signal coming into the system. love it!

[cristianokeller]

OSS, why are you saying that the USB out is a no go? I think it's a nice way to go and to obtain pro results, specially if you don't have any more money to buy a expensive sound card with class A AD/DA's. Also the ins are ok to the job imo.
well.. I have a m-audio NRV-10 that sounds like a shit but in a near future I'm planing to get a Apogee Ensemble. I know it's better but the USB seems to be a great way to go...

[boborulz]

seems to be hard to find a consensus on this subject...

[///OSS]

OSS, why are you saying that the USB out is a no go? I think it's a nice way to go and to obtain pro results, specially if you don't have any more money to buy a expensive sound card with class A AD/DA's. Also the ins are ok to the job imo.
well.. I have a m-audio NRV-10 that sounds like a shit but in a near future I'm planing to get a Apogee Ensemble. I know it's better but the USB seems to be a great way to go...

It's a no go when you listen to your virus analog outs raw from the box and the sound is fantastic and then you record the same sound thru the USB and it has an apparent loss of tightness or "feel". That's why it's out, I want to capture it so it sounds as true to the source as i can. I see no other choice but to have another set of A/Ds to properly record this great machine. Use the USB for composing or synthesis but when you go record it try your best to get a professional set of A/Ds, They don't have to be a million dollars but the A/D on the TI is average. The D/As are STELLAR! but that doesn't solve the issue we're debating. Once you get that Apogee you will be much happier with the end result and the USB will be just an average way to go.

[synthfiend]

yep, I agree with ///OSS
you should record what comes out of those analogue outs because thats what sounds great, don't record what gets streamed digitally to your hard drive through the USB, to me that is lack luster (however convenient)

[boborulz]

anyone got any usb and analog examples? also i have an mbox 2, thoughts on their A/D's?

[markorbit]

What about the other option, the SPDIF? Surely the Virus is digital to start with, so no conversion needed to record, right? Or not?

[synthfiend]

boborulz i hate to be a nob but i think the A/D on the mbox 2 might suck. I think that gear was sold on its name.

i'm thinking apogee duet or metro halo

[///OSS]

I have an 828MKIII and the result compared to the original is perfect, obviously it's being monitored thru the 828MKIII so it might sound even better just straight to my speakers, but Im happy with the conversion at the MOTU. It's a notable difference from using the USB

Im not sure about the Mbox but apogee and Metro halo makes good stuff

if your a PC person you can use RME-Audio products as well, they make good A/D D/As

[boborulz]

was looking into presonus interfaces...thoughts? hmm..ok i really need to try this out for myself. bit of a bitch if my mbox is shooting me in the foot before i even use the virus analogs...