Ultranova - Got one! Here are my thoughts..

[MBTC]

Originally Posted by namnibor

They are entered by playing an actual note and of course you can adjust the octave range, length of note, time sig, and various latch/hold and ability to add new notes in real time, essentially "playing the arp" just as DSI Mono Evolver Keyboard has. Of course there's the high/low note priority, et al that you would expect as well as random.

That's probably a slight upgrade over the Ultranova -- I should have mentioned you can sort of change things up with the typical chord/as played variations, etc, so I guess those are considered "user patterns", but to me an arp editor means being able to visually edit, even if its just something like a step sequencer display, and preferably be able to do things like modify note velocity and duration or other parameters as part of the display, as well as (critical) the arp sequence step length. Being able to do things like record the arp, add notes in real time etc. definitely adds something, although it doesn't quite supplant the type of editing I'd like to see. Nexus for all its faults has an arp editor that is the gold standard I think.

Originally Posted by namnibor

Kind of akin to Access finding it somehow more logical rather than pragmatic, to use USB 1 for the Ti series, which again, VC **DEPENDS** upon full efficient use of bandwidth???

I don't know how you can get away with saying that while I can't, but I'll be content to live vicariously through you

[namnibor]

"I don't know how you can get away with saying that while I can't, but I'll be content to live vicariously through you"

Surely, you are being sardonic, at best?!? OOOPS~! "THEY" just remotely must have sent a signal from Germany, my cat is staring down the Virus KC as if it growled or something! Note to self: Watch for smoke!

Speaking of smoke, I am a straight-shooter and tell it like it is because I was not "blowing smoke up someone's arse when giving accolades where due re: strong reason I use both Virus KC and Blofeld Keyboard AND a Q. However, I will risk a post being "scrubbed" by stating three thousand dollars is a big risk to take even with a powerful dedicated DAW PC Tower I have running Reaper and recording mostly audio thus far from all hardware synths, to then *possibly* find out that VC (again, possibly), may simply not "play nice" for only reason of having a string rather than a hose for it's nexus to VC.

Now, on the Blofeld ARP, you can enter real time, adjust the whole matrix, note and track length, mute, et al...and adding/defining midi channel(s) and of course ARP and drive alongside, other synths in a chain, if you wish. Rarely will I buy anything brand new, being one to wait a bit and see how it works out for others, bug fixes, and then do as I have done with Analog Four, eight months post release. Three Year Warranty is just icing on the cake and here I go risk a "scrubbed post again", in saying save from DSI's excellent customer support, have found Elektron folks even attentive to the used Mk1 of MonoMachine I purchased end of 2012. They have a great forum community and Elektron answered MANY email queries I have had on the Analog Four over a period of eight months that it's quite amazing that the smaller "boutique" companies making innovative instruments have proven to really have great interaction with their users...**except** Waldorf, but to be honest, they HAVE answered the few questions I have sent to them, even if it was a month after the fact...they are an odd lot and it's the strength and power of their instruments that seal the deal with this odd-ball in the mix.

Nothing is smoking yet!

[TweakHead]

Just checking in on this forum (been real busy) I sense a great deal of tension! Everything's better then boredom I guess.

My 2 cents on this: Virus is a wonderful instrument and was so even before the "total integration" thing came into be. From my point of view - I've also said this plenty, but will dare say it again - it has been gaining a lot of features meanwhile (from C onwards) that set a high benchmark for either hardware (hardly anything out there that can do so much) and even software if you're a sound quality freak.

I've also said that if you take a look at the Nord Lead 4, that has just came out (sort of) and look at it's features and compare them to the Virus ti (even without complementing the ti side of it) the difference in terms of the timbres you can get out of it, the modulation options, the fx section (high grade, and you can run audio through it), the number of voices and the flexibility of it's routings, etc. If you compare the prices between the two you may come to the same conclusion I did long ago: if Access were to keep away from the adventure of TI, no one would be bashing on it the whole time.

This is a thing that really puzzles me: if you go "down" (no smoke yet eheh) to Gear Slutz (I could say level just to catch the smoke, no? ok, level) you see perhaps hundreds (if not thousands) of threads either bashing on the Virus or insanely comparing it with just about anything or even a dumber virus vs pick your software synthesizer of choice, can even be an additive or a rom player like Nexus - minimum requirements don't mention using reason or any sort of specific knowledge, so as long as the Virus is the target everything will be fine.

Makes me wonder: how come it's always about the Virus? And not the fiddly knobs on the Blofeld (a friend of mine had to send one back because of it), or the buggy software it had. Or the menu diving required (yeah, I've used it), even without a proper editor (let alone...) and costing (the rack one) half the price of a snow. How come no one bashes on the Nord Lead for not having a bipolar envelope for the filters? For not having effects prior to version 4? Or Korg Radias? Does it have more features then a Virus C? Hell no! When was the C released?

So I figure that the Virus - like it or not - is the benchmark against which all Virtual Analogue synthesizers are measured against! And even without the integration functioning properly, it's a synthesizer work horse, like a swiss army knife kind of synthesizer with very good build quality!

Will dare say this: does the quality on the Ultra compare to it? if you focus on the integration side of things, then yeah, working better. What about the sound? The modulation options? What you can actually get out of it? Doesn't even have FM, I have plenty of FM modes on the C - and that was 2004 for the record! Even the number of voices is higher then more recent products!

So in the synthesizer department, unless people are eager to compare it with just about any software instrument there is (most specially those who don't have the money for it and are nothing more then net trolls), I think it's doing pretty damn well and way better then King Korg, Nord 4, Blofeld, or the Ultra. Is it not?

If it wasn't for NI's geniuses and Urs's genius (U-he) making software so incredibly good, this topic wouldn't even be worth a look behind the shoulder! For those making music, the Virus is one of the most versatile and inspirational machines out there and great performance devices to for live usage!

If you ask me, I like older products much more then I do love new ones. Such companies like Roland, Korg, Yamaha (oh boy), Waldorf (outch, they're coming back so no pun intended) simply lost the sparkle along the way. Roland is like beyond belief. How can they trigger EDM music into be with the 303, TR x0x groove boxes, Junos, SH and what not, and then completely go out of inspiration with the brilliant exception of V-Station (probably being harsh and unfair here, but... they've set the standards high, not me)... What about the Virus? Well, you add user drawable stuff to it, fine tune the TI thing and it's the best thing on the surface of the planet for sure.

I'd get the TI if I didn't have the C and wouldn't give a shit about TI not working with so many features on my hands. A template made for midi automation and it's good to go - like the C.

No one bashing the Moog, a mono synth with knobs on it, not so many features, but such kind of menu diving that you need the manual at hands! Does it come cheap? Hell no! Living from the reputation? You bet. Yeah, it's analogue and all, but...

Having said all this, I think it's fair enough to ask people about their personal experience on Foruns. Where else should they go to? And there's no smoke without fire, and the USB thing... well, you don't need to ear it again. Everyone knows about it! I ear it's a lot better since version 5, judging by people I know that own one! All I can say about it! I

smoke on the waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...

[MBTC]

Originally Posted by TweakHead

This is a thing that really puzzles me: if you go "down" (no smoke yet eheh) to Gear Slutz (I could say level just to catch the smoke, no? ok, level) you see perhaps hundreds (if not thousands) of threads either bashing on the Virus or insanely comparing it with just about anything or even a dumber virus vs pick your software synthesizer of choice, can even be an additive or a rom player like Nexus - minimum requirements don't mention using reason or any sort of specific knowledge, so as long as the Virus is the target everything will be fine.

Makes me wonder: how come it's always about the Virus?

I'll only comment on this part, because I think there's been enough drama around here lately already and I really don't want to be identified as a conduit for that. I think the answer to your question above primarily relates to cost per unit of the Virus versus what else is out there. One recurring theme you may have noticed from me in this thread is that the low cost of the UltraNova offsets its flaws.

Synth heads have a tendancy to be "technology" people, and with tech products you almost always see one of three things over a period of a decade or so: downward pressure on price, or a constantly improving feature set, or vastly improved performance (they are not mutually exclusive, you normally will see all three). Failing one of those, a product is bound to get some bad press. The nature of Internet communication mechanisms tends to be a cynical tone at best, even great products get lots of criticism, such that when someone has nothing but rosy things to say about a product, readers on tend to wonder if it's just Pollyanna-ism or in some cases whether the writer with rose colored glasses is shilling for the vendor in question. It's just changing times and the cynical nature of the Internet, and also improvements in lower cost soft-synths have probably taken their toll on all hardware manufacturers to some extent.

[namnibor]

I absolutely agree with you, Tweakhead, for the most part (aside from I DO love the Blofeld...*but not as much* as I ADORE my Virus KC and OLDER Waldorf gear. (if you look on a recent quasi-necro-post I made, my Radias is going bye bye...would love to set it on fire while it is turned on with a chord held to see if it even DIES with a damn HAPPY sound!! )

However, I love the Virus so much that if I did not have already great wavetable synthesis as just one of many things the Q can do, and the Q did not exist, would be as you said probably, and not even worry about the total integration thing and get the Ti for recording track by track. Each time I spend hours with the KC I am blown away by how versatile it is and totally compliments another synth from around same time period as Virus KC, again the Q.
Not even anything I have heard in many demos of the new Prophet 12 come close to the two synths aforementioned and indeed sounds rather "thin" to my ears.
I know someone whom owns a "little phatty/slim-on-features-but phatty"...as he calls it. It BARELY has a modulation matrix!! He now has replaced it with a Virus KB because he played on mine for a bit and he was blown away by how damn analog it CAN sound. (he thought my KC was a bit "too dark sounding" but indeed went Viral way), instead of Moog.
Yeah, those gearslutz arguments full of hot air bashing the Virus by some really uneducated ASSumptions can be a good laugh but if you have read one thread/topic you pretty much have read them all...even saw one that persisted for over a year and half on how software was better than the Virus vs. those arguing the Virus IS nothing but software in a box.
Funny, none of those people would want to look inside a Moog Voyager and see how many IC's are in a 'real analog'....HA!
Also, so what if a great hardware instrument is running code anyway? I prefer a nice tactile interface with knobs and keys over mouse clicking but that's just me. in the end we are all heading towards the same goal of enjoying making and creating music.
I am interested in what Access is up to in their labs. Awful quiet, but that also seems to be the Germanic method among the synth makers there.

[Timo]

I go on holiday for five days without decent wi-fi and things go mininova!

I'd hate to close the thread as the on-topic aspects, in the main, may well be useful to some, and others may still have questions/answers pertaining to the Ultranova, so I have soft-deleted some of the latter comments in a final attempt to steer it back somewhat. At the same time, this is not an invitation to restart poo-flinging, otherwise the thread may be locked and appropriate actions given. However, I feel the need to discuss the ongoing agendas of several users, so will do so via PM.

Please, remain constructive, objective and respectful!

[MBTC]

New free sound pack just released for the Ultranova / Mininova:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pegoE...layer_embedded


Download at:

http://global.novationmusic.com/soundpacks

[MBTC]

Special edition of Mininova (500 units will be made) for those into collector gear:

http://www.morodernova.com/

[MBTC]

Originally Posted by MBTC

Special edition of Mininova (500 units will be made) for those into collector gear:

http://www.morodernova.com/

Ok these are out now, so who will be the first to buy one and post the 30 Moroder patches for the rest of us less-special-edition owners?

[Berni]

Originally Posted by MBTC

Ok these are out now, so who will be the first to buy one and post the 30 Moroder patches for the rest of us less-special-edition owners?

The 'I feel love' patches on the video don't even come close...