The Future (?) of Access Virus

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Good article about the future of the Virus. I copied and posted part of the article here for quick viewing, but if you want to check the original with pictures, proper formatting and links then go here.

https://synthmorph.com/blogs/news/acces ... -virus-ti3



“The Future (?) of Access Virus

June 23, 2017
This is a speculation type of post, using some specifics gathered and trying to deduce a conclusion about the future of the Access Virus. Only time will tell what will be realized, and anyone can think of what can be or can not be expected in view of these facts. So take it as much seriously as you want, call it a gossip, rumour, whatever… so read it like this… or skip!

The origins

First we should talk a bit about the special computing chip, the heart of every Virus synthesizer, a certain version of the Motorola 56k DSP (digital signal processors). The origin of the DSP 56000 series came from Motorola's requests to the U.S. Music Industries as to which DSP architecture features they would need to produce synthesizers and other keyboards.

This happened in the mid 1980s when the Japanese music industry introduced digital keyboards using ASICs (Application Specific Intergrated ICs), and started dominating this field previously exclusive to US manufacturers. Yamaha, Korg, Roland and others started to outdate Moog, ARP, Oberheim and Sequential Circuits.

The result of this request was the birth of the first Motorola 56000 digital signal processor (DSP) generation in 1986. These 56k chips were used widespread also in the audio industry since the mid 90s, not just in hardware synthesizers and effect processors, but appeared as an auxiliary digital signal processor for audio functions in some high-end multimedia computers, like the NeXT, the Atari Falcon or the Silicon Graphics Indigo workstations.

The DSP bloodline is breaking.

Fast forward to 2017, today the main domain of the 56k use has drastically changed: car hi-fi systems are being replaced by multi-media dashboards, the significance of DVD players and Blue-Ray is constantly decreasing in the age of streaming/download and even the MPEG/Dolby audio decoding is handled by more powerful and different processor architectures.

The traditional DSP's are here to stay for some embedded systems, designed for longer life cycles, like telecommunication devices (sonars, radars, transponders, decoders, etc), different devices in avionics, naval, military, medical or automotive industry, where the life cycle of devices is naturally much longer compared to consumer electronic devices.

As you certainly know, Virus is a digital synthesizer, with a 56k DSP running software code to generate and modify all aspects of the sounds, these are the exact models:

1997 Virus A - 1 x Motorola DSP 56303
1999 Virus B - 1 x Motorola DSP 56311
2002 Virus C - 1 x Freescale DSP 56362
2005 Virus TI - 2 x Freescale DSP 56367 - 2x150 MHz
2009 Virus TI2 - 2 x Freescale DSP 56321 - 2x275 MHz

(Motorola first renamed its chip division to Freescale, later Freescale has been acquired by NXP, and NXP recently by Qualcomm, hence only the brands change.) Products of Kemper Music (the other brand of the Virus creator Christoph Kemper), the Kempler Amplifier series also use an NXP chip, the DSP 56720 running at 2x200 MHz. This newest and probably the last 56k DSP is part of the Symphony series DSPs, where the main difference to its predecessors is that they are dual core chips.

However, the days of the 56k platform are numbered: according to the official End of Life (EOL) policy of NXP they provide supplies for 15 years from the original release date, so the chip used in Virus TI2, the DSP 56321 is available until 2020, the one in Kemper Amp DSP 56720 ends in 2023 and there is no new 56k DSP in NXP roadmap anymore.

As mentioned above, companies manufacturing traditional DSP chips target growing industries with the more modern technology, and audio is not in the focus anymore, also the type of processors being used have changed to low consumption ARM, FPGA and MCU chips. So the Motorola / Freescale / NXP / Qualcomm DSP as a computing platform will become much less relevant in some years and eventually will vanish.

A rhetorical question: however it is possible to transfer the Virus Assembly code from single core to the latest dual core Symphony DSPs, Access would certainly not choose a soon-to-be obsolete and unsafe chip platform for their next iteration of Virus, not even in the case of increased potential performance.

Unfortunately you can not use the concept of future-proof when it comes to technological advancements, but some newer processors used in hardware devices (like Analog Devices SHARC or Texas Instrument C6000 DSPs, or ARM CPUs) has been developed with a decent C++ compiler.

(Compiler is the application that translates the code written by programmer to a hardware specific machine code, whereas a high-level language, like C++ provides a higher level of abstraction when coding, resulting in a simpler development and more understandable and easier to read code, compared to a low-level language like Assembly.

See examples: a flanger written in 56k Assembly and in C++ for ARM). It means that the code describing the algorithms are being created on a universal language, as opposed to the low-level assembly code written for platform and manufacturer dependent DSP platforms. The 56k architecture has not been designed to run a machine code compiled from a high-level source, like C++, this architecture was specifically made for special audio tasks, like oscillators, convolution, filters, FFT etc. programmed in low-level Assembly language - and this is what the Virus is being built upon.

There is a C++ compiler (Tasking) for the 56k DSP, but it has some issues and it certainly would not be efficient enough for real-time audio compared to Assembly... but the main point is that there is likely no existing C++ code describing the Virus algorithms, as it was always developed using 56k specific Assembly.

It means that in order to run the Virus algorithms in a new, long-term and similarly powerful computing platform (like ARM) would require to re-write its code in a high-level programming language (C/C++).

This is one of the reason (but probably not the most important one, see below) that we hardly see anything new from synthesizer companies previously utilizing the 56k DSP platform.

With the exception of DSP 56311 and DSP 56321 the rest of the chips of the old platform are "not recommended for new design" and there is no new 56k chip beyond Symphony DSPs.

.....” (Read the rest at the website)
Last edited by V0RT3X on Wed Feb 21, 2018 7:02 am, edited 2 times in total.
:borg:

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I remember this article, lots of valuable tech info here.

On topic, I'm afraid there is no future for Virus. I mean, it's a great synth and I still use mine a lot but I doubt there will ever be any new models or anything else except for maintenance TI OS updtates (the latest one was released in 2017).

Speculating about various possiblities I imagine that Virus could be revived as a SW+ HW combo - I mean a native plugin and a dedicated controller, which could also be used as a generic midi controller for other plugins and would serve as a dongle, and probably also store the wavetables or some parts of the code (provided that it wouldn't prevent running unlimited amount of Virus instances in the DAW).
You may think you can fly ... but you better not try

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Yes, Access Virus in still one of the greatest. I´ve got Access Virus Powercore, the only reason I updated my Powercore card purchased long, long ago (Virus works only in the card Mk II or later).

Its unbelievable how crystal clear, piercing leads, how rich, deep basses, creamy harmonies, baffling reverbs, etc. etc. this synth can create. :clown:

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VA's in general don't seem to have a future. If then, the companies release hybrids, with analog filters, or analog synths, these days. With VA's, the considerations seem to be that people rather use soft synths, due to the obvious advantages, and, that a VA hardware synths with many controls is very expensive to produce, so, it has to offer something really special to make people buy it. I don't think we will see a new Virus synth in the foreseeable future, if ever. Rather looks discontinued to me.

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I wonder if there is any discussion going on @ Access to bring out a software version of this synth......

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Chris-S wrote:I wonder if there is any discussion going on @ Access to bring out a software version of this synth......
I highly doubt it. It would probably cost more than 200 € anyway, rather more than 250 (after all, it's a Virus), and would have to compete with the latest generation of soft synths. I really like the sound of the Virus, but, let's be honest, time hasn't stood still, and there's a lot more possible with zero delay feedback filters, than with the "standard" digital filters present in the Virus. I know, it's not always relevant that it's new technology, often it is rather about sound character, but, the DSP in the Virus is more than 20 years old now, and i doubt that Mr. Kemper is considering a complete rework, and further development. I'd place a bet that, in 10 years, nobody cares two hoots about the Virus anymore. Again, coming from someone who really likes its sound, but, i really think that soft synth developers upped their game in the last 6 or 7 years. I rather look forward to a potential Spire 2, than to a Virus VST.

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Adam Szabo Viper is the answer :)

Seriously, i doubt Access Virus is interested in doing anything, also i red somewhere that the main creator is done with Viruses as he doesnt find interesting to work (i may be wrong) ?

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Yeah, Access is basically running headlong into oblivion, as mr. Kemper focuses on the guitar amp profiler technology now. There won't be a TI3, I'm pretty sure. Once the stock of DSPs dwindles, they'll shut down operations and that's that.

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EvilDragon wrote:Yeah, Access is basically running headlong into oblivion, as mr. Kemper focuses on the guitar amp profiler technology now. There won't be a TI3, I'm pretty sure. Once the stock of DSPs dwindles, they'll shut down operations and that's that.
Even Desktop version of TI2 is out of stock in some shops now, its only a question that it will be discontinued (not that i care to tell you the truth) :)

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I believe Access should release this synth as plugin and thats it...everyone happy!

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HcDoom wrote:I believe Access should release this synth as plugin and thats it...everyone happy!
Yeah, already see endless Virus hardware vs. software threads. :hihi:
This entire forum is wading through predictions, opinions, barely formed thoughts, drama, and whining. If you don't enjoy that, why are you here? :D ShawnG

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VA's are not dead, Nord continues to sell, Roland made a very successful Boutique line using VA. But the problem for the Virus is that it is too expensive in todays market. (and IMHo it has few knobs for the price).
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I agree with Rod - soft synths are still fairly clumsy for stage use, that's where VA hardware still has a place. I doubt its enough to keep the Virus going, mind.
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You literally ripped the entire article from the guys site. The guy is a KVR member as well. A few choice quotes and a link to the article is proper forum etiquette.
Orion Platinum, Muzys 2

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v1o wrote:You literally ripped the entire article from the guys site. The guy is a KVR member as well. A few choice quotes and a link to the article is proper forum etiquette.

I fixed this so only a part of the article is readable here. In order for others to read the rest, they have to head to the guys website.
:borg:

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