Does the Virus TI have a "dark" sound to it like everyone says?
 

i'm enticed by the possibilities of the TI and by the number of presets (aren't there over 6,000?) but i am worried that everyone says it naturally sounds dark. I want a really bright synth...is the TI the wrong way to go? or can someone recommend something bright? or can the TI be as bright as anything? Thank you!!

'ello elloway :)

I think the Virus does sound a touch dark. But it's a character that has won itself many favours. I think the Virus' strength is the middle frequencies of the filters (and their envelopes), they really punch through.

That said, Ben (Crosland) has mentioned that the TI's Hypersaw uses a new and totally different algorithm to the classic saw wave of the Virus, with greater anti-aliasing properties at the high end, so if you use just one saw wave of the Hypersaw instead of the classic saw waveform it should sound considerably brighter.

A lot of people say how bright the Roland JP80x0 is, but I think this is also to do with the filters.

The Korg Radias is extremely bright, but it has a tendency to sound very digital and light-weight as a consequence.

thanks for the response! anymore thoughts on this? is it impossible to get this thing to sound really bright?

i have a nordlead and jp8000. while mixing i find myself pushing the virus around 8k because those synths can make it sound not as bright when above are in the same mix. the virus' frequency response seems duller thank those bight synth but it's not like those frequencies are not there. you just have to lift them on the same level.

hth, marc

I agree that most patches could do with boosting the high end if running along side more digital sounding synths, but to me the dark quality comes from the low pass filter. Its more 'brick wall' than other filters so filtering a saw at the same cutoff frequency as some other filter will have less high frequences. This is the dark sound which makes the Virus special. I love the virus filters so to me the dark character is something desirable.

B

Yes
 

The Virus is evil. It only creates satanic sounds. It is impossible to create positive/happy sounds on a Virus TI.

Not true. Using wavetables you can make some positively saintly and cheerful patches....

I am smiling as I listen to the bell wavetable. It makes me want to hug a tree.

Elloway - welcome to the forum

Having spent many thousands of pounds buying and selling a variety of analog, digital and VA synths.....I'd say I'm in pretty good position to comment on this topic - however, all opinions differ....but I do feel quite strongly....you might find my take on it quite interesting....

I've been through practically every synth worth owning - Roland Jupiter 8's, Prophet 5's, Pro-One's, MonoPoly's, Juno 60's, DX7's, D50's, FS1r's, Wavestations, Nords 2 & 3, JP8000's, K-Stations, Casio CZ3000's (im not kidding), AN1X's, Andromeda A6's, MiniMoog Voyagers and practically every softsynth ever made - in a nutshell - the Virus is definitely the darkest sounding synth.....

This is pure speculation......but I believe the Virus designers decided to suppress certain frequencies in an effort to reduce the audiable effects of aliaising oscilators. I might be talking complete bullshit....but to my ears...thats what it sounded like. Ironically, by doing this they created a unique sounding synthesizer.

I have used many of the brighter sounding VA synths....and they just do nothing for me. Don't get me wrong...I like bright sounds....and often use my DX7MKIIFD purely for bright, crystaline type twinkles and bells.....but on a VA.....bright sounds just don't work too well. I find bright sounding VA's (ala JP8000 and Nords) to sound 2Dimensional, sterile, cold, lacking depth and ultimately boring/uninspiring.

If somebody forced me to pick just one synth out of all the ones I've ever used....it would have to be the Virus TI (and I dont say that lightly as Im an analog enthusiast). The reality is that the Virus is one of the most unique, versatile, warm and silky sounding synths ever made. It has an original tone, its not trying to be anything else...its not trying to imitate, its not trying to be a Moog.....its trying to be unique....and it is.....its a Virus.

If you want the Virus to sound brighter then just EQ it abit....or layer it with a cheap/free softsynth of your choice - you'd get the best of both worlds then....warmth and depth and top end poke.

I only use three synthsnow: The Virus TI, DX7MKIIFD and MiniMoog OldSchool. It took me many years to realise what I needed.....you're probably on a similar quest.

Why not check out this video to get a feel of the Virus http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=8o1mdUncJxo&fmt=18

or MP3 http://www.alanmarcero.com/mp3s/virusti.mp3

Cheers

DS

thanks so much for all the responses...especially digital's!

From the reviews I've been reading, a lot of people who are long time Radias users recommend using one of the filters to take off the top end before sending bass patches to compressor on the Radias for more depth and punch as the bright top end makes some people think it lacks low end power (which it doesn't apparently but the headroom gets used up by the highs instead.)