What is it with this Virus sound?

[-X-]

Originally Posted by Khazul

I think the NL3 run at an internal sample rate of 96K - that would put the main aliasing tones well outside audiable range.

I thought it was the NL1/2 that runs at 96kHz sampling frequency. The NL3 runs at 48kHz thus has more features.

Access must have done some heavy processing with the oscillator implementing phase shifts and random pitch changes to make it sound so big. I guess the tradeoff is that they kept the sampling frequency lower (I read somewhere it is around 28kHz). This is a shame to a certain extend since the filter can process (external) sounds with higher pitch just fine without the annoying aliasing.

Anyway, it is a matter of features versus quality I guess. And the trend is not changing with the TI, using the two DSPs rather for efx and new oscillator modes instead of using the increased power to build up quality.

Note, the PPG/VS has aliasing to the gazoo as well, but it never sounds bad, rather interesting. I guess keeping it all in the digital world has some disadvantages.

[-X-]

Originally Posted by Khazul

Sounds like listening fatigue. Often caused by digital reproduction of sound into a less than perfect audio chain and particularly with some monitors and headphones with metal tweeters/drive units with ave more of a tendency to resonate badly than the softer sounding silk or similar tweeters.

Distortion and/or aliasing in high frequencies certainly contributes to this by adding a whole load of extra atonal frequencies.

Whereas I have heard of the effect, I never really believed in it until I listened to the Virus. I doubt that it is the effect of the headphones/speakers only since I am using them for years and years and never experienced the fatigue before.

I try to stay away from higher pitched Virus sounds, that's it.

[Khazul]

Originally Posted by -X-

Whereas I have heard of the effect, I never really believed in it until I listened to the Virus. I doubt that it is the effect of the headphones/speakers only since I am using them for years and years and never experienced the fatigue before.

I try to stay away from higher pitched Virus sounds, that's it.

Just a thought - do you tend to use alot of High EQ to try and brigten up the Virus alot?

If so - then yeh, I can understand how that can get a bit painful... Instead add some noise or even a little FM with noise, or use second filter to at a high freq and a little reso to get some high end gentle fiz.

[iand]

Yeah but the TI excels at lower octs. Better than any other VA I've tried.

[-X-]

Originally Posted by Khazul

Just a thought - do you tend to use alot of High EQ to try and brigten up the Virus alot?

If so - then yeh, I can understand how that can get a bit painful... Instead add some noise or even a little FM with noise, or use second filter to at a high freq and a little reso to get some high end gentle fiz.

It somehow depends on what you do with the oscillators. For example with PWM or wavetable waveforms the aliasing is worse than with the classic waveforms. But no, I am not using much EQ at all. Have played with it, but did not find it very useful. Not sure why HS likes the EQ on the VirusC so much.

[sacredgeometry]

I might just be me but I have done all the tests that people list in multiple forums and I just don't hear aliasing, maybe its just alot more subtle than all the other VAs i have used, or maybe my hearing is shot.