(Not) another virus vs. VST thread

[MBTC]

Originally Posted by HUROLURA

I wouldn't agree on that. VSTi is easier to design (no hardware constraint). So more people can offer new advanced solution without being forced to be big companies.

Well you're right that actually producing and selling a pure VSTi solution is easier to get out the door, but that makes an even better case for why innovation might be occurring more rapidly here, thus resulting in VST improvements happening faster than hardware can keep up (my original point that I think you were disagreeing with).

Originally Posted by HUROLURA

On the hardware side, after the rise and fall of hardware samplers which are mainly replaced by software based DAW, the synth inovation landscape showsome enhancement from time to time among which I would notice:
- the Virus TI concept which I find really clever though actually I never tested it but I feel this is the challenge for other maufacturers.

Aha... this probably explains why we aren't on the same page here. Any issues I have with the Virus as an instrument have nothing to do with how good it is as a standalone keyboard. I've mentioned this before but if I could only have one keyboard on stage with me it would be a Virus. If I did play live (I don't), having hardware like that would be much more important to me than lugging around a laptop, controller, dinking with stuff in software, etc. But it is the DAW integration I'm talking about here. If your music creation centers around the software host, getting a bunch of hardware to behave as well as a softsynth can be a chore. I fall into that category of folks who is very DAW-centric. So, my only rationale for adding hardware would be (A) offload processing power from the CPU (B) get better sound than a softsynth can provide, hopefully via things like more responsive filters and dedicated fx that do not have to compete with an mainstream PC OS for resources. However, if in the quest for (A) & (B) I am for one moment burned with misbhaving hardware, synchronization issues, latency issues, USB limitations, etc., then the advantage of having hardware at all can be a huge disadvantage. Everyone's workflow is different, I acknowledge, but for me I have very limited time to create music, so nothing must stand in the way of the creative process. If it does, it is a tumor in my workflow and will be removed.

I love the concept behind Total Integration -- I think they have the right idea, they just need to improve upon it. I am very eager to see if they solve this with the next generation of Virus products, nothing I'd love more to own one but it must promise not to misbehave too much