Virus going outta fashion
 

Just noticed there are no fewer than 4 (correction: 5, including the Powercore plug-in) different Virus units for sale on SOS readers ads within the past day. Change in the air...

Competitive world these days, especially when software can often do more for less. Very harsh economic environment at the moment, too.

Wonder if anything good will be announced at NAMM? My whole original interest in the Virus wasn't really that it sounds better than software, it was just that having something like fat pads & supersaw sounds offloaded to another device would free up some of my CPU. The problem seemed to be that the hassles of getting the thing to integrate over USB reliably seemed out of reach. So, I wonder if the next gen product will solve this? At least maybe utilizing the full potential of USB or better yet Thunderbolt?

What's In A Name
 

Tried to purchase an Access Virus TI Polar "Darkstar" "Whiteout" (think this thing has enough names)...Anywho....I had two one had a terrible noise and cut out even without use of the Virus Control software. The other the LFO selector switches on the hardware froze up and refused to work. Additionally the Virus Control worked partially once and then never again for the two weeks or so I had them.

So I ask, what's in a name? It is by all accounts a very BUGGY synth - AND.....

It is called a VIRUS isn't it????

I may be the odd-man-out here, but I use all hardware synths and absolutely no computers, (aside from in the recording studio), have never had an issue with my Virus. Just synthy bliss.

Are you talking about playing one synth part at a time in a band or producing complete tracks? I cannot imagine doing everything using just knobs, tiny displays and the like, and would love to hear the science behind that.

never had an issue with my virus and I am currently making some crazy FM sounds.

virus going out of style? probably not anytime soon

Yes, using a 3 synth set up- all sounds are created first, then recorded one track at a time. But will do the same thing live, just with fewer layers.

I'm a bass player who got into this synth thing just as midi was first coming out and was recording to 8 track reel to reel. Go a bunch of synths hooked together by midi thinking how cool was this. Then computers and soft synths came into the picture and it kept getting better and better. I eventually sold all my hardware synths, except a Roland D-50, and decided to go the software route. What I eventually have found is that I can't put together enough software synths to do the music I'm trying to write because the computers just can't handle it. I decided to go back to hardware synths.

My first purchase was a Waldorf Blofeld, then came a Virus Indigo, followed by a Korg MS2000r and then a windfall of older EMU samplers, Korgs and Yamahas. The Virus is the corner stone to the whole setup and has been solid as a rock and have been looking for a second one to increase my capabilities. I have seen a lot of Virus's for sale on Craigslist around the country, but what I not seeing is people unloading them. Prices are almost all very high for a secondhand synth.

I have had or played on a lot of synths over the years including my old Mini Moog to an old Fairlight, plus most of the modern "killer" synths. There isn't one that I like better than the Virus and for me, it's not going out of fashion any time soon.

I cant imagine selling it. Cornerstone of nearly every production I do, for me the sound quality cannot be beat or replicated from any plug I have used. That said, the only bugs I have ever dealt with have been USB sync/arp errors which are gone now with the latest OS update and early USB connection errors (fixed with a new cable).