Hi Ben!
Didn't suggest for one mo that they should get rid of any of their knobs!
But, to see my point of view, you must realise that programming via knobs is not always the best way! Of course it's great for live tweaking, but to fully unleash the Virus' labyrinth of a sound engine when programming sounds in detail in the studio, a large graphical LCD can only significantly help matters, in the same way that a computer monitor screen allows you to do a whole plethora of things that the Virus just cannot do, but potentially could. Think Reaktor, Rhino, FM7, X-Phraze, Z3ta, Absynth, Malstr?m, and the like. - not the entire programs (that would be truly impossible, unless you have a Neko
), but the synthesis concepts enhanced greatly by (or even only made possible by) using graphics of some kinda or another.
Even things like the modulation matrix would be a breeze to use by picking source and destinations via a pull-down menu (which is how the Korg's LCDs work), rather than scrolling through every source and every destination one by one, as per what the currently 2-line LCD only permits.
What I was saying was, that even though the Trinity
doesn't have any knobs, I can still program patches far, far faster - by a long shot - than programming the equivalent patch on the Indigo,
with all 32 knobs, albeit with an Indigo v1 LCD and B-series interface. The Virus' knobs remaining in whole or part, in addition, would be a dream synth. Almost no need to use a desktop computer.
I'd also bet that Access have sold as many (or similar) Viri' that Korg have sold Tritons? But there's no real way to know this, though.
However, they are both roughly the same price, too. And the Triton includes a massive (understatement) sequencer, 48MB sample ROM, upto 96MB sampler, 60 oscillators, 100 effect types and very flexible multi-timbral effects routing (ie. you could have up to six reverbs and delays in one chain, if desired), RPPRs, onboard controllers such as the XY joystick, ribbon-controller (the Trinity's ribbon had depth-control, too), optional CD-RW... etc.
I find my Trinity's ribbon controller to be of a hugely greater use than simply a cut-off knob, when it's set, for example, to modulate cutoff frequency in the X-plane, and resonance in the Z-plane. You can tap the ribbon controller anywhere on its length to produce 'gated' staccato modulations if you wished. You can't do this with a knob, or 32 of 'em!
Regards the MS2000... it has 4 voice-poly, two oscillators, two EGs, two LFOs, one modulation effect, one delay effect. And that?s it. Oh, and a vocoder. Mmmm, not exactly on a par with a modern Virus beast!
The JP8000 is a standard VA, and can?t do anything else due to its UI, whereas the Virus, to me, has more potential to break away and branch out from that VA mould? If only a larger screen would let it.
I think you can only appreciate what a large screen can do if you've actually tried it yourself. Have you ever used one of the Korg workstations? Or, more appropriately in its sound architecture to the VAs, the Roland's V-Synth, or similar?
[
Click this]
Imagine a Virus with the V-Synth interface? Can you imagine
that?! 8O
That would seriously kick some preverbial synthesis butt!! That would be pure sex in a synth, IMHO.
AND everyone would buy one, even if they had a Virus.
www.V-Synth.com
But, it hasn't the Virus sound engine inside it, unfortunately.
But Access could do one!
Timo