Snow questions for prospective buyer

[Strenge]

hello,

I've been looking hard at the snow as a good way to
1) supplement my motif live, motif handling the "bread and butter" keys sounds and virus for synth.
2) work with (if not take over :D ) softsynths for home recording. Integration is a big selling point for me.

Mainly for live use, I have a couple questions.

I realize the snow is 4-part multitimbral; what is a good solution to get two keyboards to be able to play two different sounds from the virus? There are some songs that I'd love to exclusively use virus for, controlling from the motif and my other midi controller. I'd guess I'd need some kind of midi hub (since there's only one in on the virus) and transmit on different channels from the two controllers?

Secondly, are splits possible on one midi channel? I'm looking at buying a friend's yamaha controller and I'm pretty sure it would not be able to transmit zones on different channels. (In ableton live/mainstage I've always just handled it on the receiving end). An example would be a bass sound on the bottom octave, a pad in the middle and a lead on the top. There's a few songs I do that would benefit from that.

Failing being able to split, can patches be switched quickly with no load time/gap in sound?

Lastly, the main competition in my mind for this is the M3 (believe it or not) as Nova music has a really good deal for it (as they do the virus). I realize it's a workstation, and those features I'd probably underuse, but I love the keybed and an added bonus would be some far superior hammond sounds than my motif classic...I'm prepared to live with the motif organs but I heard a ksounds soundset that was awesome :) I would welcome any thoughts on the M3 synths, I realize they would not offer the sound customization of the virus, but I do have a few nice softsynths for home use that do pretty well (zebra2 being a favorite).

I certainly appreciate any thoughts! More time goes by I keep coming up with more options...I have to choose right as the boss--er, wife will not look kindly on multiple gear purchases ;)

[PaPi]

The Snow isn't the best instrument for live applications. If I were you, I'd look at a used TI1 module (or Polar for a couple hundred extra bucks, if you can use another keyboard, albeit a short one), which shouldn't be more expensive than a brand new Snow (around $1,300 I would say.)
Incidentally, I do have the Snow (got it used for about $800), but I only use it in the studio, one track at a time (and rarely more than one track.)
Remember that if you're looking for sound variety, the Virus isn't the best instrument for you (it's a VA synth with a few extra gimmicks.) Get the M3.

[kittonian]

Sounds to me like if you're looking for multiple zones, various patches, and total integration with your DAW, you should be looking at the TI2 Keyboard not the Snow. The Snow is more of an entry level, albeit the same sounds. The TI2 Keyboard will allow you to do everything you are looking for.

If you don't need the keys and can use an external controller instead, get the TI2 Desktop and interface via MIDI and the analog i/o on the rear. If you can split up the external keyboard into different zones (something like the M-Audio Keystation Pro 88 can do this) you can output different MIDI channels from the TI2 Desktop over a single MIDI cable to the controller keyboard.

Honestly, your best bet is to get the TI2 Keyboard and be done with it. This way everything is integrated into a single piece of gear and you can just use the analog i/o into your A/D and thus into your DAW. When you go to take it to a live show you can restore whichever patches you wish into the keyboard and be all up and running in moments.

Hope that helps!

[feedingear]

Dont waste cash on an M3 - i fucked mine off after it gathered dust for 6 months. I was more impressed by the patches on my Triton Extreme (particuarly the organs, eps, and synths). Yes it has a brilliant keybed, but all the synth patches are just rubbish and most were copied over from the Triton series. Underwhelming at best.

[Strenge]

Thanks guys. I've ruled out the m3 despite a good deal on it at Nova Music, mainly because I already have one heavy workstation (Motif) and I don't really need a workstation at all :) I don't mind the Virus being a one-trick pony, as the Motif handles the stuff it doesn't (unfortunately the b3 sounds are not so hot but I can live with it live).

I would love to get the desktop, let alone the keyboard version, but I have midi controllers and budget is unfortunately a concern. A used desktop maybe, but the used TI desktops I've seen don't lose much value.

Thanks again for the advice!