If he is a Reason user, Viral Outbreak is available as a refill.

I have and LOVE Virology. In fact anything by Pink Noise is so worth getting. Now that I have more space on my computer I also have my eye on Thrillology by someone named Cyforce

Novation ultranova as soon as i get the money, and i dont even need a computer to run it seperately. Previously had a kstation, and even though ive got lots of soft synths i still wouldnt mind a real synthesizer sat in front of me without having to automate this, and set up that.Plus it has the benefit of an onboard soundcard too so ill be looking at that hardware compressor ive been promising myself as well.

Why ultranova? Why not Virus TI Keyboard? (If price is the problem then i understand)

I don't know, i just find ultranova to be pretty lacking in the sound department, and the menu dive..... Btw virus also have menu dive but pretty easy to learn.

Yup, Im only up for spending around £500, but I have thought about it before, not just the virus, probably a real analog. Quite a lot of synths for the £2000 region-serious investment. Also would probably go for arturia origin for that money because that is a mother of a synth(VA of course)

Hello, check out Discovery Pro and Corona.

http://www.discodsp.com/discoverypro/

http://www.discodsp.com/corona/


We updated Corona recently with top filter algorithms.

http://www.discodsp.com/mp3/snippet/zerodelayfeedbackfilter. mp3

I tried an Ultranova. I liked the Roland Gaia better. Did you audition one of those? Around the same price. I thought it sounded phatter, the filters kick butt and the arp is great.
But the heart wants what it wants...

No, but i have been looking at it as an alternative, ive had a kstation so i was wanting something like that.But, now you come to mention it i think i might be persuaded.Cheers

Try it you'll love it. I seriously had a lot more fun with the Gaia and the best thing was, the way it's laid out. No manual needed (well, you know you need one), but if you ever tweaked a softsynth, you can plug this in and go. Plus, the Roland fx are

a virus doesnt sound particulary analogue IMO, but the closest soft synth to a virus is Dune.

Lovely. Diva does sound great... I'll have to pick it up some time.

As for the Virus, I've been using the TI keyboard for the last 3-4 years, and it's a great workhorse synth. Sounds fantastic, very flexible, well built, well supported.

How does origin stacks up to TI? I have all of their vi's I suspect origin sounds about the same

I do have a reason 6 perhaps I should investigate it a bit more. I remember that Thor sounded pretty good I just don't care much for rewire. But allegator is by far my favorite thing for reason I actually called waves and told them they should make a plug like that:) upon checking it out they agreed that this type of a plug is needed:)

If you don't love the sound of a Virus there are lots and lots of software synths out there that'll easily take it's place. As other's mentioned you can get close with Dune, Corona, Sylenth1, Zebra 2, etc. All of those will give you some pretty kick-ass sounds. However, I bet if you really ran them though their paces next to an actual Virus you'd find them all lacking in some ways... maybe better in others. Same? Not really.

However I had a Virus C and got rid of it and did exactly what I described above. I replaced it with software. I do want to point out that it was at a time when I was thinking I was about to lose my studio space. I was basically trying to make a system that would run on a laptop with a MIDI controller, some studio monitors and an audio interface.

If you do love and cherish the sound of the Virus, I bet you just won't be happy with anything other than a Virus. Save up and get one. If it's to be the centerpiece of your "sound" you'd be better off not wasting your money on software that gets you almost there but then stops short. Me? Every time I hear a Virus in action I think "Meh." It's just not for me. For a while I thought, "It must be that software has trumped dedicated digital synths" but I think I was wrong. I found a Nord Lead 2x rack cheap and I've always loved the sound of those but thought Discovery Pro got me close enough... and it kind of does, but now that I have the Nord it's pretty clear that there's an extra something Discovery Pro and Synth1 don't have. I should also mention that the Nord was a very good deal and if it had been selling for it's normal price I wouldn't have gone for it.

So it's up to you. There are always diminishing returns as you spend more and more money. You just have to figure out how much money you have and what's the most important place to put it.

I'm heading to the store where they have one set up and I will know if it's a waist;)