Might Buy a Desktop. Looking for Obvious Signs of Malfunction
 

Hello,
this would be my first real synth. I know nothing about synthesis and have never even used a Virus. However, from a lot of research, it seems that a Virus will suit my needs. The TI desktop is what I am after. A guy is selling one for $1500, which doesn't seem overly expensive from what I've seen. I'd probably offer him $1200 if everything looks right. So, I have two questions:

What do you think is a good price? I think the 12-15 hundred range is consistent with what I've seen elsewhere.

Are there any quick things to check while inspecting it? Obviously, I will turn it on and scroll through some patches and check for physical damage, etc. But I don't know of anything else. Could there realistically be internal problems (polyphony, arpeggiation, etc.) that can't be detected? Thanks.

the long and short of it is that you cant see or find this i feel , your either lucky or your not , both ti's i owned have had issues in multi mode , dsp overload problems , note stealing that breaks up the audio outs , i am pondering the ti2 just to have more power and i kind of feel if its multi mode your after the ti2 is way better with 25% more power.They really need to brng out a ti 3 with 300% more power so it has no limitations.I would say just go for it , if the machines dodgy just sell it again , theres loads on the market with problems ( though the problems are essentially that the ti mk1 is underpowered when you push the machine and people dont realise how much dsp some patche use , the envisage 16 complex sounds at once via multi mode and then when the machine coughs and splutters on 4 they freak out and think the machine faulty , its not its just that its dsp isnt really upto the multimode job - thats why they released the ti 2 !if its just single mode your after then grab the cheapest one you can , they all work fine .Malfunction is mostly related to dsp overload in many virus users cases.