Which Virus?

[tim-n]

After serious research and such I've come to the decision that I'm going to buy an Access Virus. I think that if I would buy any other synth I'd constant keep asking myself what a Virus could do for me. So after that was set I still have to choice between A, B, C or Ti. I already decided to leave out the A as this coming Virus will be my only synth (next to my 303). I also aim for a key version (or a indigo/polar). The main difference is offcourse whether to go for the Ti Polar or Indigo 1/2. I'm aware of the differences between all of them.

However, a choice has to be made.
Due to my current gear list (no sequencer) I was thinking of doing the following combo:
Access Indigo 1 or 2 + Cubase/Ableton

The sounds I look for: dark, harsh, brutal, leads, basses, screams, bleeps, ... pads have to go from soft, light, beautiful to dark-thread-horror
Style: hard dark hardtek with a big cup of acid and slight touchof trance.
It has to be very usable for live use.

Which virus do you recommend me for this?
Personaly I was thinking of the Indigo 2 or Virus KC. However, I've read some reviews that the Indigo 2 is not as good as an indigo 1, which I find odd vue the specs of the Indigo 2.

anybody care to share his/her thaughts on this??

[AlexHall74]

Bang for you buck you can't beat a used Virus KC.

The keyboard is 1st class; the synth is legendary.

I've never heard a Ti (other than demos online) but have to say that I've seen threads for over a year where Ti owners are still working through glitches if not outright problems.

The Ti OS now has got to be pretty damn stable but for people to be threading on the Ampfea list at the rate they do with a bunch of problems and compatibility issues (e.g. no DP support, etc.) I would rule out a Ti if you are considering LIVE performance. So much of the Ti interface is available via the Virus Control software. Even our very own Digital Screams indicated that the Ti should have a control panel of knobs for each oscillator + a few other key functions at a minimum, which it does not, thus making it more difficult than it needs to be to tweak away at. Check out Digital Scream's thread that's a review of the Ti on this forum, it's pretty good and readable.

Also, bang for the buck is a consideration for most people, me included. The Virus sound is in all Viruses. The A is out because there are so many B's, Classics, and C's around now. Any of these will sound like a Virus, albeit with certain restrictions according to its class.

If it were me, I'd buy a Virus KC. You can't go wrong with it. It sounds great, is stable, and is built like a tank.

Save the difference betwwwn a KC and Ti for other gear, especially if you need to buy a sequencer.

There's my .02.

Good luck!

[ledge]

I'd go with a TI if I wasn't worried about spending the extra cash. It seems most of the serious issues have been resolved particularly if you are using cubase for sequencing.

The advantages of having all the sound capabilities of the C series plus wavetable, hypersaw and now graintable are pretty difficult to ignore. It gives you a massive range of sounds you can produce.

But yeah, I'd agree bang for buck a second hand kc wins easily. I'd not get the b/indigo 1 as the price difference shouldn't be that big and you miss out on the moog filters which are good for harsher sounds.

[AlexHall74]

Originally Posted by ledge

I'd go with a TI if I wasn't worried about spending the extra cash. It seems most of the serious issues have been resolved particularly if you are using cubase for sequencing.

The advantages of having all the sound capabilities of the C series plus wavetable, hypersaw and now graintable are pretty difficult to ignore. It gives you a massive range of sounds you can produce.

But yeah, I'd agree bang for buck a second hand kc wins easily. I'd not get the b/indigo 1 as the price difference shouldn't be that big and you miss out on the moog filters which are good for harsher sounds.

Hey Ledge,

Regarding the TI and live performance:

[Question 1:]
Would you say that it is safe to perform live with a Ti if:

(1) All programming is done before the performance
(2) Virus Control software is not used during the performance
(3) Tweaks performed live are of course performed via knobs on synth itself

If yes, that seems like a logical assumption.

[Question 2:]
Would you perform live with the Ti using Virus Control software?

Cheers mate,

-Alex

[Khazul]

The only issues I hit with the TI are when its hitched upto a computer via USB and VC is being used. As a standalone midi synth it seems perfectly OK.

Lets face it - you aint going to be using VC in a live situation - at least not if you intend to play it rather than just sequence it - thats down the the key playing latency you can get - particualrly with ableton live - which is way too high for my taste even when using analog outs on the TI.

So a functioning setup could be Live 6 + a TI, but connected via midi to kep the setup as simple and reliable as possible. Also you would probably want to be using multi mode rather then seq mode...


As for choice of Live 6 vs Cubase 4 - that depends entirely on how you want to work. There another recent thread about various DAWs on here somewhere - worth a read.

Cubase is a very powerful DAW for a more conventional approach to tracking, mixing, post production etc. Live 6 is much weaker on DAW/production features, however its session mode makes a way more inspriational tool for creating music in (rather than just editing/mixing).

Live 6 is a wicked tool for doing remixes or otherwise messing with audio phrases/loops. It weaker than Cubase on the midi front, also weaker than cubase if you have a hell of alot of hardware (synths, fx) from a workflow perspective, but in some ways because of its fairly easy to setup midi and audio routing its actually very flexible if you have alot of external gear.

[ledge]

Originally Posted by AlexHall74

Hey Ledge,

Regarding the TI and live performance:

[Question 1:]
Would you say that it is safe to perform live with a Ti if:

(1) All programming is done before the performance
(2) Virus Control software is not used during the performance
(3) Tweaks performed live are of course performed via knobs on synth itself

If yes, that seems like a logical assumption.

[Question 2:]
Would you perform live with the Ti using Virus Control software?

Cheers mate,

-Alex

Well, I have a C and not a TI so I'm not really qualified to answer this, but yeah, I'd agree with all points in question 1. Though if I had a TI and had enough experience of it's stability via virus control with my particular set-up I'd use it otherwise I'd use normal midi for live performances. But I guess that is the thing, for studio work you can use VC for the benefits it provides then for live you could switch to normal midi and I assume that would be fairly straight forward to do.

[Monobeat]

Forget about VC and all... everyone is right. I imagine you won't be using any VC on stage. Your sets will have more voices and bang for the buck with the TI. The synth itself will become a legend. It already is to us. Having owned a C, I can tell you the difference in power is not subtle. Especially since this is your ONLY synth. Voices are very precious. A little voice stealing here and there during an important part of your set can kill the vibe...

You Must Choose Wisely... <--- Indiana Jones Quote

[tim-n]

I checked some soundsets here and there and I'm really starting to like the Virus C. As for the Virus Control software...I'm not sure if I actually want that, soundwise I'm pretty sure I will like it.
furthermore, the hypersaw is of no interest to me actually, the other two however are but I'll be satisfied with the C and the soundsets that are available for it.

The sequencing will be done with either cubase or ableton, guess error and trial will determine what suits best for me.

Next to all that; I cant justify spending so much cash on a synth if I'd buy a Ti (keys or polar). If however the C would turn out not be what I wanted or expected, I can always go and get a Ti, or by that time the latest virus

as for the voices... Somebody told me to, since I have already a monosynth it"d be better to get me a decent poly. I think the Virus C would fit nicely in my current studio, it can bring what is missing in my "tracks" and more.

[Onkel Dunkel]

If you buy a second hand C/KC you won´t loose much money (if any) if you later feel that it doesn´t fill your needs and you go for a TI instead. If you go for at TI at first and then find out that you don´t need the extra features you are almost certain to loose money.

Another sell/buy issue is your patches: You can´t always (if at all) use your TI patches in a C/KC but you can always use your C/KC patches in a TI...

[tim-n]

There are just a few things that hold me back from buying a Ti.

1st: Money, I would buy a Ti new, this means quite some money, maybe too much, but I dont know if prices drop or not.
2nd: I really dont need that Virus Control Software thing, thats just the best part about hardware synths, you can do everything (except maybe sequencing) without having to look at that screen
3rd: on many fora I still read encounters with a bad Ti: malfunctions, impossible to upgrade, impossible to reset and stuff like that. Honestly, once a synth exceeds the 500 euro, I demand that it works properly and no bugz!!
4th: is the sonic difference between a C and Ti really that big and is the difference needed for what I want to do with it? I mean, the C will be my only synth for a very long time. The accent in what I make lies on rhythm/percussion, I will use the synth for basses/bleeps/screetches/screams/pads... more to give my tracks colour or a feeling, setting a mood is what it has to do. I dont think I need a supersaw or extreme preset editing (virus control) for that?
5th: the virus C has great reviews, prizes, owners,... the works and I already can get shitloads of extra sounds for it.

and as said before: going from a C to a Ti makes more sense than the other way around.