I'm Pete & I'm a Technoholic...

[Acid303]

Hi Guys & Gals (maybe the gals was a bit optimistic). I'm into DJing and producing underground techno. I'm from the UK 'the place where everything costs more'. I tend to like the more emotive side of techno through to tech house, acid, detroit...and classical. I do most of my stuff with ableton, plugins and a Future Retro XS.

I'm thinking of getting a virus despite the astounding price tag! The main reason is convenience which seems a funny thing to say, but I like what the overall package offers. I got a semi-modular anolog mono synth to try and get away from preset surfing and find out about the 'analog just sounds so superior in every way' argument, for myself. However, I don't like having to record everything I do in audio, not being able to automate much, having no patch storage, having to use my computer for fx anyway. The sound is good, powerful and pretty ballsy - I like the overdrive on the filter and being able to overdrive the oscillators but I don't think it's really working out for me. I'd like the patch storage, built in fx and vst integration, whilst still having all the knobs and keyboard of the hardware.

The only 3 things holding me back are;

a) the price (I don't really want a snow or desktop - I want an all in one mean machine) I already have sylenth and think it sounds great - Is it worth £1800 just to have hands on control? I can afford it but It means i'll have no money left for anything else...& I do like beer, holidays and I have my eye on the DSI Tetra, Jomox 999 & Elektron Machinedrum

b) I'm haven't heard the sound enough and there's none to demo in my home town - although I could make a trip to test it out. Being digital it puts me off a bit because I can associate it with a certain harshness (waldorf + gladiator) and many plugins lack of any real depth. I seriously do like u-he zebra and sylenth though so I I know digital can sound awesome if done right - in fact I doubt the virus can sound better that these.

c) Only one instance as a vst? I'm not sure if this is a problem as I read you get 16 tracks to utilise although I'm unsure how this system works in terms of mixing and making a track using them or if they are all triggered at the same time by a note press.

d) Whilst you get the hands on control, the knobs can't always reflect what you doing when switching between patches as I presume the work in takeover mode like my novation automap (which I never use). Linked to point 'a' why doesn't this synth have motorised knobs for the price?

I'm sure you guys can convince me otherwise and help facilitate Access's expropriation of my funds.

Thanks for reading,
Pete

[Larchi]

Hey Pete,

Any of the Virus Stuff I'm sure is worth the cash.( I have a Snow )
The Virus sound can be carved into what you want.
I got it mostly for bass sounds - it can shake the walls or rip you're
face off. This digital harshness stuff is just rubbish You can get silky, beautiful sounds from the Virus no problem. (or a waldorf! )
The Virus Control program - (the plugin) works just like they say it does.
I use it with Ableton Live works great - low latency.
The plugin works as a master so on mine it has 4 tracks (snow)
but a ti would have 16. You make midi tracks and send midi to the plugin. - the system is awesome once you get your head around it. You will wish all hardware is like this.
I don't use my virus to control other gear it has only 5 knobs to send
midi. Download the reference Manual (not quickstart) it has all the info
you might need. - Always try to read a manual before you buy anything!

In short - They are solid synths that can make the most fucked up sounds
covered in distortion, ear bleeding squeels, massive punchy bass, beautiful
pads, good company support, 2 year warranty, regular updates that add cool shit!

Hope this helps,

Larchi