Valkyrie Synth by Exodus Digital

[enfield]

Hi there fellow Virus fans

It's been a while, since anything worth mentioning happened around here and the Virus (apart from the miracle I actually got myself a brand new TI2 desktop a few months ago after 13 years being in love with that sound) but actually there is something really interesting going on finally on the synth market:

Valkyrie! https://www.soundonsound.com/news/vi...hardware-synth

a brand new ( ) virtual analog synth that reminds me of something you might recognise Apart from the obvious visual plagiarism I'm really happy for this release to be honest, because apart from Roland stuff being re-released in black and green not much has been going on a typical VA fan would care of.

Now there is this new toy "designed to be a high-end virtual analog" that has Hypersaw OSC's looking embarrassingly similar to the Virus TI and offering Audio/MIDI via USB when all we got recently is a short interview with Christoph Kemper telling us they will be treating the keyboardists in some way in the future, but not in the near future as they are busy making their profiling amp and concentrating on the guitar players

What do you think?

Take a look: http://www.synthtopia.com/content/20...ew-audio-demo/

[enfield]

One from Sonicstate as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfhb0uA8N0A

[Berni]

Looks like an ugly virus that REALLY needs to go on a diet.

[oli@bass]

I watched several demos and although it is a nice, probably very good sounding synth, it's actually pretty boring and based on the same old concepts everybody else has been doing for years or even decades. And except for the raw processing power, number of oscillators and more elaborate FM synthesis, there's many things it cannot do which are already available in the Virus for years like Graintable Osc, Formant Osc, many Chorus types, many Distortion types, Filterbank filters (Formant, Comb), etc.

I would love to see that kind of processing power (1280 voices, 32 times oversampling) in a new Virus incarnation, but I wouldn't want to lose any of the current features.


I'd like to propose a thought experiement:

If the Valkyrie, exactly as it is, was actually released by Access, labelled as Virus TI3 and sold for the same price as the current TI2:
- would you rave about it and be happy?
- would you rush out and buy it?


(and to play devil's advocate.... "why not?!")

[Timo]

Originally Posted by oli@bass

I'd like to propose a thought experiement:

If the Valkyrie, exactly as it is, was actually released by Access, labelled as Virus TI3 and sold for the same price as the current TI2:
- would you rave about it and be happy?
- would you rush out and buy it?

Although it's clearly got various inspiration from the Virus, it isn't a Virus, which for me nulls your experiment. Guessing the oscillators, oscillator configs, filters, etc. will sound different to Virus'.

For example, I would drop the Virus' PCM waveshapes in a heartbeat for a better and more audibly pleasing implementation.

Along with a considerably better OLED display like the Valkyrie.

That said, we all know Access Music seriously need to get their shit together, otherwise others like this guy will do it for them. He seems to really know his stuff and I definitely think he has a promising product. From what I can hear it sounds good, will look forward to hearing it again. Surprised he ran with the Hypersaw label, though.

[enfield]

Originally Posted by Timo

Surprised he ran with the Hypersaw label, though.

And while most manufacturers would be ok with a simple “usb” label on the back he clearly states it’s USB 2.0 so we can be sure it puts through enough juice for audio/Midi to run smoothly not having those issues TI had (has?) and he uses the same knobs omg

[MBTC]

Originally Posted by oli@bass

I'd like to propose a thought experiement:

If the Valkyrie, exactly as it is, was actually released by Access, labelled as Virus TI3 and sold for the same price as the current TI2:
- would you rave about it and be happy?
- would you rush out and buy it?

(and to play devil's advocate.... "why not?!")

The operative idea there is "...exactly as it is...". For me the answer would be a resounding no. It would be a consideration at maybe an under $1,000 USD price point.

Unless it can run the vast library of sounds available for the Virus, then there is nothing about it that would be other than a scam if it were labeled the TI3.
Even Access has had trouble maintaining backward compatibility with patches between models, it's tricky to pull off with even small changes to the architecture.

Besides, there currently is no T.I. for the Valkyrie, only hopes and plans. Having a stand-alone editor, and a useful VST are two very different things. Having a working USB 2.0 isn't really enough, Novation synths going for a few hundred bucks have had that down for years PLUS a great VST. Why would we not be expecting USB 3 or Thunderbolt in this day and age?

Drifting from your question slightly, from the demos I've seen, the synth sounds good, but since Access won't be releasing it as a Virus, we have to wonder whether Exodus Digital will even exist 5 years from now and what service would be like. Viruses have proven to be tempermental and full of repair needs, it sort of reminds me of the old Ensoniq VFX back in the 80s -- great sounding synth when it works. I don't know if I want a fledgling company behind a synth that's several thousand dollars? Risky expenditure.

That said, the overall idea of creating a new generation of V.A. synths using modern DSPs is a very good idea and someone needed to do it. Achieving incredible amounts of polyphony with relatively low heat output (which may be part of the cause for some of the Virus' woes) is feasible these days at a reasonable price point. So with that in mind, I will be keeping an eye on the Valkyrie and any similar products that emerge, but I will certainly not be an early mover on a relatively obscure unproven synth at a $2000+ price point. If they show me they can get VST integration working well, and have a few years of a reputation as a stable synth with great workflow in the VST, then they really have my attention.

What would really appeal to me now is something like an even more powerful Roland System 8 in a desktop/rack module, now that they have some REALLY good plug-out synths for it.

[MBTC]

Holy shit, I didn't see this. Well I guess this eliminates my concern about the future stability of Exodus digital. I might need to own one of these.

https://www.soundonsound.com/news/wa...d-call-it-kyra

[MBTC]

As I'm sure many of you know, the Waldorf Kyra was demo'ed at NAMM, there's some videos out there (but beware, the presenter seems to be unfamiliar with synthesis in general and appears to be just randomly twisting knobs hoping all the weird sounds it makes will impress someone).

I don't know when Waldorf plans to actually release it, but I plan to follow developments closely.

[MBTC]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5u1KmVvbxI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj5KhuTSzGQ