Namm 2013
 

Around this time each year I start poking around to see what might be up at NAMM, especially from Access.

Unfortunately this year, it looks like Access is a no-show.. no booth rental listed in their name. There is a booth rented by Access Associates, but that's these guys: http://www.access-associates.net

Its okay though, their Ukuleles would likely integrate with your DAW more reliably :(

Seriously though, this does not bode well for the Virus line at all. Several years now and nothing but disappointments and silly announcements like new filters that softsynths provide right out of the gate.

Sad.

Since technology has made communication literally light speed these days, companies of all sorts have a tight lid on what they are working on because Corporate Espionage is a very real threat to remain competitive.
With that said, it may be a really great offensive/defensive strategy for say Access in this case, to perhaps not have a space at NAMM, yet you can bet they send an envoy or two, attending just to see what "cards people have out on table"; new products in this case.
So say Access has something pretty innovative in development and after reviewing other companies' new products they see that another company is doing something similar, it would be advantagous for Access to develope way beyond what's out there or take a whole different direction for sake of fierce competition of target market.
Look what Waldorf did with the Pulse 2 last year! It was a physical prototype without the guts and no sound. They have been putting off release date ever SINCE Arturia MiniBrute was released, with now a Spring of 2013 projected release. Coincidence? Perhaps, but I think not.
I would rather Access or really ANY company release a finished, bug free product rather than spend years in updates making it work with so many different set-ups possible.
Would actually hope Access would go a different direction than continue down the Ti path. Analog is making a come back and would hope in that full circle complete, physical modeling and additive synthesis is re-explored. In fact, I predict that the given example of Arturia, a primarily software company releasing hardware could be the next new trend. Wouldn't it be cool if Izotope released a keyboard sampler hardware version of IRIS? Camel Audio doing same with Alchemy? Not just talking about a midi controller, something that like the Ti is happy on stage or in front of PC. With economies all pretty much in dire flux, would think these would be very precarious times to release new hardware that's truely innovative but yet at an accessable price-point.
My rant is over! The different Virus incarnations currently leave us with the whole universe of sound to explore.

There *is* a booth listed for Kemper GmBh, Access' parent company.

Love to learn new things each day! Thanks! http://kempermusic.com/

Access is still the only company doing the integration thing! And besides that, even without the Virus Control plug-in in place, it still has the edge over any (I dare say it) synth on the market today - that offers as much connection with a pc as my good old Virus C, that still sounds better and has more sound design options then most things out there on the VA market even today...

I think the TI was a big and a bit risky step they took, but kind of a game changer for them. And now things are working better and just take a look at the number of extra options you've gained so far. And another thing, tell me one softsynth that does what the virus does - that has similar modulation options, for once, and the number of oscilator options, so forth and so on... If Virus was a plug-in, and only that, it would rule that world. If it was just hardware, same same...

Maybe there are some dificulties with the usb connection, that only gives certain ammount of broadband for communication with computer, maybe even the internal chips could see some change, but it's such a beautifull thing as is, really, that I honestly don't see how they've fucked up so badly as some people say... just my 2 cents!

Aha.. thanks for the clarity. I should have remembered that.

Although, their booth is still very modest in size, so I'm not expecting a new hardware announcement.

Yep, I've just checked, they will be there in 2013 in the same place as they have in former years: http://www.infekted.org/virus/images...amm2012map.jpg

I would love to see an all new Virus with customisable/designable oscillator waveshapes and LFO waveforms. I think these alone would massively open the gates of sonic possibilities.

Why even bother, all they did last year was announce a few additions to the software which is STILL in beta. Lame.

I really don't want to get into a debate here on hard vs soft synths. I'm a fan of both... but have you ever looked at the modulation possibilities of something like Zebra? There are lots softsynths out there that let you literally modulate anything via anything, especially ones with modular or semi modular architectures. When I had my Virus Ti2, the possibilities VC afforded at that time (2009 I think?) were not even close to the versatility of Zebra, though admittedly I have not had my hands on VC recently.

I'm actually a little nervous about Access. When other hardware and software companies are adding and releasing new offerings in a prolific way, Access has been like the Mary Celeste this last year.

The customisable oscillator waveforms on Zebra2 look extremely cool too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfgoQYVP010