gear purchase, some questions

[sklawlor]

Hi.

If I decided to get the virus and then wanted to get omnisphere later down the road a bit, I wonder if it's possible to control omnisphere with the virus hardware or would I really need something like a separate midi controller? I'll be working with a limited amount of space so probably won't have room for two keyboards. Any thoughts on this scenario?

Originally Posted by jgg

...All depends on how you define synth - and no I'm not trying to be a smarta$$.

If you mean a device that allows you to quickly create any kind of sound you've already heard before - I would suggest looking at a Korg Kronos. It's a rompler, sample playback, FM synth, physical modeling synth, analog modeling synth, German and Japanese grand piano emulator, hammond organ emulator, and electronic piano emulator - and effects, sequencer, and auto-style-accompianment generator and more. You can even get one with 88 piano weighted keys for a true piano feel.

If you're looking at something that creates sounds from scratch in a way similar to the analog synths of the 60s through the 80s, Moog, Oberheim, Arps, Roland Jupiters and Junos, in a blender on steroids with effects and a vocoder, I can't recommend the Virus TI2 series enough! With any note you can grab a knob and tweak almost any parameter in realtime and hear it change instantly. Add two variable peddles, one hand on the mod wheel, you can complexly modulate sounds in multiple dimensions - it's an absolute blast! You can even layer up to 16 instruments across 6 stereo pairs (3 analog and 3 digital through USB on your computer) for some mind blowing complexity.
It's range is insanely huge, but it will never come close to create a real piano sound or other recorded instrument that a rompler can, but you can easily create sounds that have never been heard before.

If you're looking for a Korg Kronos instrument like set on a budget, get a good second hand keyboard controller and get Apple's Logic 9. It comes with many different virtual synths, FM, PM, AM, samplers, emulators, and is less than $500 (plus a Mac of course).

[jgg]

Slightly longer version of answer: if you get a Polar or the full keyboard version you wouldn't need anything else, they both have USB and MIDI, act as a self contained MIDI controller, and send all the knob controls, pedals (not included, see note below), notes with velocity and aftertouch (not polyphonic but still expressively useful).
If budget is an issue, on ebay the latest TI2 keyboards go for about a thousand dollars less than new. Another way that would work is to get the desktop unit new or used, and a Alesis QS8 or other full 88 key keyboard for around than $500. Piano weighted keys are pretty nice to play on, and you would have two synths with no compromise to sound or ability.

Myself I have a Virus TI2 keyboard and a Roland XV-88, the XV-88 is plugged into the Virus via midi, and the TI2 is plugged into my computer via USB. When I'm running Logic's virtual instruments, both keyboards and all the controls operate the virtual instruments. I'm certain the Omnisphere or other virtual instrument software can be controlled the same way.

If all my current equipment went away tomorrow, I would probably first buy another Virus TI2 keyboard (most useful on it's own), then eventually a piano weighted keyboard of some kind. If budget was no object the second keyboard would probably be Korg Kronos, as to my ears it's the perfect anti-virus - it does everything the Virus doesn't. Third would probably be real piano, as the best electronic piano emulators out there will only sound as good as a great recording of a piano, which is nowhere close to the real thing. They show up free on craigslist but need regular tuning an care. They are also a bit heavy.

I got the Miniak so that I could noodle around on the keyboard in my lap while my girlfriend watches TV show's I'm not interested in. The Polar could be the ultimate anywhere lap synth if space is limited and you don't need the full 61 or 88 keys. My Virus is on a Quiklok WS-540 stand with a second tier along with the XV-88, as I dislike wobbly keyboards when I'm playing - Bach to Chopin to Joplin to techno to ambient.

Best of luck.
JGG

[sklawlor]

Hi there. I've heard some people say that they didn't like the filters of the virus, that they weren't as good or powerful at say something like in the DSI Prophet08 which I had considered because it apparently has a knob for every parameter and I'm not sure if that's necessarily the case with the virus. So how do the virtual analog filters differ from real analog, speaking as someone who may not be able to tell the difference without hearing them side by side and in my case, that's pretty hard since there aren't a lot of music stores around here to even try all this stuff out.

Thanks for more info and help.

Scott

Originally Posted by jgg

Slightly longer version of answer: if you get a Polar or the full keyboard version you wouldn't need anything else, they both have USB and MIDI, act as a self contained MIDI controller, and send all the knob controls, pedals (not included, see note below), notes with velocity and aftertouch (not polyphonic but still expressively useful).
If budget is an issue, on ebay the latest TI2 keyboards go for about a thousand dollars less than new. Another way that would work is to get the desktop unit new or used, and a Alesis QS8 or other full 88 key keyboard for around than $500. Piano weighted keys are pretty nice to play on, and you would have two synths with no compromise to sound or ability.

Myself I have a Virus TI2 keyboard and a Roland XV-88, the XV-88 is plugged into the Virus via midi, and the TI2 is plugged into my computer via USB. When I'm running Logic's virtual instruments, both keyboards and all the controls operate the virtual instruments. I'm certain the Omnisphere or other virtual instrument software can be controlled the same way.

If all my current equipment went away tomorrow, I would probably first buy another Virus TI2 keyboard (most useful on it's own), then eventually a piano weighted keyboard of some kind. If budget was no object the second keyboard would probably be Korg Kronos, as to my ears it's the perfect anti-virus - it does everything the Virus doesn't. Third would probably be real piano, as the best electronic piano emulators out there will only sound as good as a great recording of a piano, which is nowhere close to the real thing. They show up free on craigslist but need regular tuning an care. They are also a bit heavy.

I got the Miniak so that I could noodle around on the keyboard in my lap while my girlfriend watches TV show's I'm not interested in. The Polar could be the ultimate anywhere lap synth if space is limited and you don't need the full 61 or 88 keys. My Virus is on a Quiklok WS-540 stand with a second tier along with the XV-88, as I dislike wobbly keyboards when I'm playing - Bach to Chopin to Joplin to techno to ambient.

Best of luck.
JGG

[jgg]

First please listen to a fairly simple filter sweep I recorded from my TI2, then check out the "Filters and Envelopes" video on virus.info support page.

Without trying to offend or be difficult, I would suggest the persons saying that have probably not dived deeply into the parameters that effect the filters inside the Virus. It's like this video...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du9r2Qg2qQQ
Korg Monotron vs. the Virus (C it looks like).

I have both synths myself and agree that if you tweak only the equivalent parameters, the $2600 Virus ends up sounding thin and the $60 Monotron sounds gritty and more interesting (though perhaps less musical). However a short time tweaking a few other parameters in the Virus Filter section - Saturation type and amount for example, and you can push way beyond the Monotron.

Two things to note here, the Virus filters are a superset in functionality and quality of most of the synth filters out there, but if you want the true analog filter sound get a Moog MF101. Well, get many of them - one for each voice.

If you're really looking for the "Ultimate Synth" I'd suggest looking at http://www.synthesizers.com
Each module is "best in breed". The Portable 22 Rack unit is roughly equivalent to one voice (think supervoice!) of the Virus but with much less compromise (at the trade of cost, space, power, programmability, etc.). You would be getting a real Moog circuit filter, total analog audio path, every setting has knob or switch, and you can re-route signals any way you want. You can even add more modules later and create sounds the virus can't touch... but only one voice at a time. Re-programming takes a few minutes, and the learning curve just to make a sound is pretty steep.

The Virus IMHO is the flip side of this. It's made up of "Really Good Synths". Each voice component is not "best in breed" but rather "a good and mostly complete representation". Where the Virus really shines is that it has up to 110 "Really Good Synths", up to 16 flavors at a time, running together with extremely good realtime control over all of them.

The DSI Prophet 08, PolyEvolvers, Moog Voyagers, and a few others are somewhere in-between. The Miniak and Monotron are way below but cheep and still fun to play with.

There's really no easy way to separate the filters out from the synth, but it's pretty easy to find youtube videos of various synths out there. Pick one that makes the kind of sounds and music you like and that will be the right one for you.

JGG