Is the Virus TI2 a stable platform?
 

Hi guys, I am here b/c I am moments, er, ok a few days, away from ordering my first Virus. I have to admit I am a little freaked out by the large number of bug fixes I see go out in the different software releases...which leads me to ask the question; is the Virus a stable platform? Do I need to be worried? These things are not chump-change, and I don't want to make a purchase I regret later! :D

Thanks all,
Dave

From my experience with my TI2 so far the answer would definitely have to be no. If you are really after stability buy a first gen TI and don't upgrade to OS3. Sadly the TI2 can't downgrade to OS2 so I can hardly even use the virus right now, it works fine for a few hours and then goes on a crashing spree. It'll be well worth the money once it's fixed though.

Of course there are plenty of people that don't have problems with it too.

Well even Access say dont use in a productive environment...& I have to agree. Despite the latest OS being described as a full release it is still a long way off. The AU & VST versions are pretty good but the RTAS version sucks, so if you use pro tools I would not recommend it if you need the TI side of it.
Works good as a standalone.

in standalone is fairly stable. if your usage is this one then you can go for the TI2.

the problem is when used with the VirusControl, then it can screw up easily and even more easily, without any Access support to save you, if you use an host that is not in their "support list"... i'm one of those screwed (Reaper user), even if i have to admit that 3.0.3 is a bit more usable, sometimes i have sessions of 5-8 hours without a crash. (and sometimes it crashes 30 times in a row so i just turn all off and go play with another synth)

Thanks for the replies guys. My most likely setup would be stand-alone for now. So it sounds like it's a feasible option if I am willing to wait for later OS versions before I integrate to my Logic 8 on Mac setup... :confused:

One thing to also keep in mind is this. This is a forum, there are all kinds of opinions and theories floating around, there are are plenty of us that are doing just fine with our units both standalone and with VC.

There have been plenty of posts on this forum that end up with some sort of asterisk next to them in the end (unsupported hosts, clogged USB chains, hubs, old OSs, old DAWs, cracked software, home-built PC's, etc).

Take it all with a grain of salt.

Well non of the above here...just buggy access software.

none of the above except maybe the *unsupported host*... but lately i crash less with Reaper than with Cubase4 so maybe my * is even more positive that what you think!

let me say something about the number of bug releases and public betas. we didn't do this all the time, in fact we never put out so many (small) updates. we found that collecting improvements into a few big releases might look better but at the same time, users have to wait longer for a bug fix which in many cases is counter productive. on top, with so many platforms (sequencers, OS versions, hardware) it's difficult to cover everything with an inhouse beta test. we, of course, do test but we invite our users to assist us. if someone tends more towards a "never touch a running system" attitude, there are non beta versions also.
i know that TI2 users had not have the chance to go back to version 2.7.5 and had to use the 3.0 public betas but now, since a release build is out, that shouldn't be a problem anymore.

best, marc
access music

I own both a first generation Ti Kb and a Polar ti2 both work without any major problems on my logic 8 setup.

Hardly anyone will in general report here that he is very happy with his virus because this is what you would expect when you buy a virus. Users are predominantly coming here when they have a problem. Therefore, many post are dealing with problems and it appears as if everyone has problems judged by the number of posts but I guess that the majority of access customers are actually very happy with their equipment. Access would most likely be long out of business if that wouldn't be the case. However, the problems reported here give you a flavour of what can happen and where problems can occur. Certain combinations of hard and software are not working very well or not at all. The total integration part is where, to my understanding, most of the problems are located. If the integration is a must have make sure your DAW software is officially supported or known to work.