Virus C vs Virus Snow?

[Spreader]

Hey!

I am torn between these two models. Unfortunately I don't have the chance to demo the C, which would make this a lot easier.

Feature wise I prefer the snow a bit. But many people seem to be claiming that the C/older models sound better than the newer TI line. For example the guy who created this great sound set: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkOTdUsluQk

Or these PWM pads:

http://i.cr3ation.co.uk/dl/s1/mp3/ae...lassicpads.mp3


Is this one big sham or do the models really sound different?

[Timo]

Hi there, welcome to the mad house.

Originally Posted by Spreader

Feature wise I prefer the snow a bit.

Sound engine feature wise I'd prefer the Snow a LOT! The jump from the C to TI is huge. However the Snow has fewer knobs etc.

A small number people have said the TI sounds different to the C, but to my knowledge this has yet to be proven (with audio examples, etc.). It might even be something as simple as perception of the difference in levels on the outputs, given that the TI natively uses balanced connections (although both can be used) whereas the C primarily uses unbalanced ones, or the increase in definition of the analogue outputs of the TI over the C.

[Spreader]

Thankyou Timo!

I actually sent an e-mail to access regarding this issue and they were nice enough to respond within a few hours.

I think sharing this would be fine:

Originally Posted by access

The filter models and the "classic" oscillator model in the Virus TI are the exact same as in the older Virus models. There was absolutely no change. Of course the TI offers other oscillator types at this point and it also offers more effects, etc., but the base features are the same in all the models - so is the sound.
The difference here are solely the D/A converters, which very obviously got way better over the years, when you compare the D/A converters in a Virus "a" to a Virus b to a Virus c and now the Virus TI models.

I guess it's a myth busted!

It would be nice to hear how big of a difference the AD/DA converters play though. But I can't imagine it being that big. One thing that may also contribute is that it's said the later models have a hi-boost on the presets, which may confuse people. Not sure if that has any merit though.


Anyway this is good enough for me, I think I will be getting the snow.

[oscillator]

Hi Spreader, nice to hear that from Access itself!

I'm a C user, so when you take the Snow we could do a battle!

let me know and enjoy.

[namnibor]

Although I do not own any of the Ti Series, I firstly added a Virus KB to my arsenal and **I do not do trance**, rather, more experimental soundscapes to industrial music. I LOVE the KB and wil be diving deeper for many many years in programming, learning new things as well for long time.
A buddy of mine has Virus KC and although he says he really wished he had an KB in addition because of the more aggressive to incredible warm/fatness (which I agree it has and more), he loves the filters moreso on the Virus KC and after playing around for some time on his KC, and liking some newer, more immediate access to the ARP, for instance, without having to menu-dive for it as on the KB, I actually heard ENOUGH of a difference between the two that I had to turn down his offer to buy my KB for more than I paid for it AND a few months ago, bought a Virus KC because due to some menu-diving and my way of working, finding enough distinctions between the two (with some obvious overlap as will not be daft and deny that), at least to MY ears, I love them both and for whatever reason, loving them both, finding the KC more of an aggressively cold (in a great way), and harder to "tame" than the KB. This also obviously could be due to me being newer to the KC.
A newer aufio interface is in future as want to use firewire 400 that's on dedicated DAW PC and use oscilliscope program to compare the basic waveforms from KB/KC, then progressively add same filter, LFO, et al in comparisons between the two to view what differences, if any, show-up there. Not that I DOUBT Access' statement but perhaps there's more identical sound when comparing a Virus KC and a Ti Snow than there is between KB/KC??! My ears and a few others hear what I hear and I guess it comes down to what I like and if it makes me happy owning KB and KC, that's all that matters!
In the same vein, although own a Blofeld keyboard, decided to purchase buddy's Waldorf Yellow Q Rack simply because just like the Virus Line of synths, **nothing**, not even the blofeld's Q-modeled filters come remotely close to emulating this beast! She can be warm and fuzzy but just as literally rip your face off with sound as the Virus synths--yet distinct from the Virus.
These differences in VA's seem heavily located with each of their filter types and ability to modulate anything with everything and of course each of their AD/DA converters.

[TweakHead]

It's more a question of what really matters to you. I made that very same choice myself, once. Got a C. Because to me the hands on approach was the thing, at the moment. Wouldn't mind to have a Snow to, because of features that have been added meanwhile. And that's without mentioning the Virus Control plug-in and it's added convenience. I really learned a lot from building my sounds tweaking knobs instead of going through menus and I feel I've developed a very intuitive way of getting sounds out of it. Most of what people talk about when they go obsessive about some classic is related to both the sound and the way they used to work with them, it's all to easy to get lost just tweaking knobs and playing - it all feels like an instrument.

So you'd probably be better off with a Virus ti desktop version - if you want the best of both worlds: to have the latest features and the knob action, if you ask me. But where money is a problem, you need to ask yourself if hands action and knob tweaking is more important to you then new features and integration with the Daw (that sometimes has it's flaws, like most guys here flame about all the time, but seems to be a lot better these days.

[namnibor]

Originally Posted by TweakHead

It's more a question of what really matters to you. I made that very same choice myself, once. Got a C. Because to me the hands on approach was the thing, at the moment. Wouldn't mind to have a Snow to, because of features that have been added meanwhile. And that's without mentioning the Virus Control plug-in and it's added convenience. I really learned a lot from building my sounds tweaking knobs instead of going through menus and I feel I've developed a very intuitive way of getting sounds out of it. Most of what people talk about when they go obsessive about some classic is related to both the sound and the way they used to work with them, it's all to easy to get lost just tweaking knobs and playing - it all feels like an instrument.

So you'd probably be better off with a Virus ti desktop version - if you want the best of both worlds: to have the latest features and the knob action, if you ask me. But where money is a problem, you need to ask yourself if hands action and knob tweaking is more important to you then new features and integration with the Daw (that sometimes has it's flaws, like most guys here flame about all the time, but seems to be a lot better these days.

So well said! Without a single doubt, I think it's VERY important for a person to learn "Basic Synthesis 101 and 102" by using a physical interface and learning modulation methods "hands-on" coupled with one's ears. That could be a real analog or a virtual analog, using subtractive synthesis and actually, even using a cheap Korg Monotron to firstly see and hear the basic components' interactions with each other. Mentioned this because if one wants their sound to "be their own", regardless of which synth one is using, it really requires one to KNOW how to get beyond the facade of presets. Technological advancements are continuing to be great for musicians but what I have repeatedly seen through ALOT of reading many pro forums is this "immediacy approach" where people have owned a synth and do nothing but purchase new preset soundsets rather than actually go down the rabbit hole and learn to make entirely original sounds on their own and this seems to apply to alot of vst-based synths. I think this also contributes to stereotypes about certain synths "ONLY" good for trance, et al! It would do alot of people some good to get back to basics and even learn what the definition of musical synthesizer is even. Here's a cool link that I found that takes one on this journey and is a keeper : http://moinsound.wordpress.com/2011/...t-synthesizer/ Lastly, as tweakhead said quite rightly, alot of factors should be considered when choosing your synth because the physical interface is just as important as the key-action. My 3 or 4 cents! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

[subblack]

I would recommend the Virus C, not the TI. Some the new whizbang features of the TI include instability, unreliability. For example, the atomizer rarely works...I have to go to the edit menu and toggle the atomizer on/off setting a coupla times to get it to work at all. I sold my Virus C for a TI and I miss the sound of the C also.

[Spreader]

A bit too late to get the C as I already have the snow. No problems so far...

I would be glad to do a comparsion....


One question though, is there anyway to get the filter decay to be more linear? I think it's too snappy to get good plucks.

[oscillator]

I am glad to do a comparison too.

We could use the same patch in single mode, same volume, export as wav and load in soundcloud for a side by side ear test.

I will post a patch asap.
(of course we will use a Virus C patch for compatibility reasons)