I'm a bit surprised that the TI will export only in realtime export but it makes sense too. I just thought it would be working exactly like a vst(but without taking my precious cpu) hehe

This is the way I have allways worked in Cubase SX for midi devices - even midi guitar fx processors where I might record clean electric guitar and want to mess with or automate the fx later to produce the final processed guitar sound.

Basically record midi, tweak it, eventually bounce to audio, rinse, repeat as required ... :)

I did wonder if the Virus control plugin integrates in any way with the new 'external instrument' feature in SX 3.1?.

Not that I think im likely to use that - I dont find it a huge help with my Motif ES rack, and I still prefer to track midi and bounce to audio manually - maybe Im a bit old school in my approach, but its a workflow that works with all my synths and other gear rather than just the TI.

No, it is designed to run under every AU/VST host. The Virus TI Integration is more than just a midi/audio port, it will also bring you sample accurate MIDI timing, real automation tracks (not just midi) and "total recall" in terms of all settings in the TI. The Virus Control is also your librarian at the same time.

When you speak in terms of just midi/audio, maybe. The TI currently does only allow 2 stereo outputs directly to the sequencers mixer, so bouncing single parts you need to mute the tracks you don't want to be in there.

For the question of realtime bounce: it is a must, since even the virus could render everything faster the digital audio stream through USB can not be accellerated or slowed down. So the transmission of 1 minute of audio takes 1 minute, digital or not. Therefore there is no way to accellerate the bouncing. The good news on that: it won't take LONGER. :-)

tk

I have a few questions:

1) How much does the Virus TI exactly need the computer's own cpu to run all those stereo streams into logic's mixer engine? 5%, 10%, 20% ? Is this the reason why you suggest bouncing the TI tracks? At least this is quite normal with uad1 and powercore too. They need some resources.

2) Can I use the TI as an audio unit synth plugin at the same time with my motu 828 mk2 which is usually monitoring 18 inputs (other hardware synths) at the same time?

3) I usually have about 60% load at both G5 processors in Logic 7 when my project is at the final stage so can I still use the Virus TI without bouncing it or do I have to bounce the TI? I use 512 samples buffer @ 44.1kHz because I have powercores and uad1 too so the buffer shouldn't be a problem. At least I was planning to use the TI always live without bouncing because it has so much power and channels with their own effects. In my opinion it's quite strange to bounce things when you have a machine this powerful in use.

edit.

4) Can you use the analog outs at the same time with the usb channels? So can you assign different parts to output to TI's analog outs? And if you decide not to use the usb transfer of audio, can you still use the virus plugin in the host sequencer to control the virus altough you would use only the analog outs?

Hah
Great, thanks a lot for answering our questions :)

Can't wait :D

Thanks for you comments tk :)

It will certainly be interesting to see how I end up working after I get the TI keyboard and figure out how best to best with it in the context of everything else.

My rig is based upon a PC with a Yamaha o1x+i88x for audio/mix and a UM880 midi patch bay, into which are plumbed a bunch of synths and outboard with SX 3.1 as my DAW controller. I currently use a V-Synth as my master keyboard - a role that the TI will take over mostly.

One of the reasons I still use Propellerhead's Reason alot is because its so easy to do lots of complex automation compared to working with synths and tracking then a part at a time - maybe finally the TI will give Reason like workflow in Cubase but with a really nice synth engine at last :)

This really depends on your computer, but it is in about the same range as a virus powercore, since a little bit of cpu time is of course needed to transport the audio streams and manage automation and midi events.
Yes, you do not need to use the TI Audio interface, it is completely independent.
An example when you could need bouncing: if you want to separate a single part because you want to add an effect, but you need the other 2 stereo outs, so you would solo the part and bounce it. For nothing else you would need to bounce.

Maybe you also use up all the 80 voices, another reason for a bounce.
Yes, you can select the USB 1/2 as well as OUT 1-3, stereo each.
Note that there is a second output selectable for each part.

Yes, you the routing is independent, but it won't take the load from the USB bus, these outs are just silent then.

I hope these are the answers you wanted.

tk

to tk,

just another step.

if the audio doesnt need to go via the USB.
can the INTERFRATED SOFTWARE EDITOR work solely as how SOUNDDIVER worked on ACCESS VIRUS C, therefore just control the patches and I could still go via my 8*8 MIDSPORT for MIDI note sequences.

i know that that might sound like a stupid thing to want to do.
But sometimes I like a little bit of music out of time by a fraction.

The Virus Control needs the transmission over USB, since it is not possible to use the TI communication protocol over plain MIDI.

The internal audio streams are still there, even if they are silent.

If you are using the Virus Control, the external jacks are behave like a external midi interface to the computer, no MIDI is routed to the synth engine then.

Using the Virus TI over normal MIDI interface does work too, but it is the same as on the Virus C etc., no sample accurate timing and no latency compensation.

There is a detailed description in the manual, which is available for download.

tk

Thanks for the reply tk. Can you still give an example of the cpu usage with any computer in percentage, when using the TI and the 2 stereo streams and a couple of virus tracks playing at the same time? For example, with my computer the Virus Powercore needs about 2% of one 1.8GHz G5 cpu, when playing the virus (all 4 stereo-channels) in logic 7 @ 512 samples buffer and 44.1kHz.

How about the TI's polyphony, if you use about 5 tracks and 4 of them have their own reverb? It says that the TI uses the DSPs dynamically and I was just wondering if the 80 voices of polyphony is just a dream if about every sound uses a delay/reverb at the same time? Most of the sounds I use with Virus depend on the delay/reverb so I won't be turning it off.