The Future (?) of Access Virus
- KVRAF
- 3467 posts since 24 Oct, 2000 from A Swede Living in Budapest
I don't agree with this doom & gloom vibe.
The whole Virus line have been going strong since the beginning, it survived the time when hardware was frowned upon and plugins were predicted to practically end hardware. The market for hardware synthesizers are right now bigger than it has been for some time.
It's obvious that Kemper have his attention elsewhere, but that doesn't mean the end of the Virus. It wouldn't surprise me if he will go back to his roots whenever he feels guitars amps are getting boring.
Regarding it being too costly - I don't know about that. Nords are selling well and they are VAs/Romplers, Teenage Engineering are selling the OP1 for quite a big lump of dough and it has been going since 2013. Elektron are selling their boxes like hot muffins - and they are not cheap either.
The Virus line have served me well since the B model and every time I turn on my TI I'm still blown away about how cool things you can do with it. And I work as a sound designer.
My biggest fear is rather that it will just drop out of a clear blue sky one day, cost 2500 Euro and I will pre-order it even before I've finished reading the specs
/C
The whole Virus line have been going strong since the beginning, it survived the time when hardware was frowned upon and plugins were predicted to practically end hardware. The market for hardware synthesizers are right now bigger than it has been for some time.
It's obvious that Kemper have his attention elsewhere, but that doesn't mean the end of the Virus. It wouldn't surprise me if he will go back to his roots whenever he feels guitars amps are getting boring.
Regarding it being too costly - I don't know about that. Nords are selling well and they are VAs/Romplers, Teenage Engineering are selling the OP1 for quite a big lump of dough and it has been going since 2013. Elektron are selling their boxes like hot muffins - and they are not cheap either.
The Virus line have served me well since the B model and every time I turn on my TI I'm still blown away about how cool things you can do with it. And I work as a sound designer.
My biggest fear is rather that it will just drop out of a clear blue sky one day, cost 2500 Euro and I will pre-order it even before I've finished reading the specs
/C
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- Banned
- 3889 posts since 3 Feb, 2010
As alot of other hardware synthesizersDrGonzo wrote:I don't agree with this doom & gloom vibe.
The whole Virus line have been going strong since the beginning, it survived the time when hardware was frowned upon and plugins were predicted to practically end hardware. The market for hardware synthesizers are right now bigger than it has been for some time.
Well it seems likely, alot of major shops are going out of stock of even Desktop synths and Virus Ti Snow has been silently discontinued doesnt mean anything? i dont think soDrGonzo wrote:It's obvious that Kemper have his attention elsewhere, but that doesn't mean the end of the Virus. It wouldn't surprise me if he will go back to his roots whenever he feels guitars amps are getting boring.
I agree here, i dont agree with being costly either. Well at some part...Virus does cost alot of money but in comparison with other VAs its priced similar and for what you get i could even argue that its quite a bargain. 16 parts multitibral with so many features, even little snow at 990 eu (until it was discontinued) with 4 parts and 4 different outputs (basicly 4 synthesizers) is quite a deal.DrGonzo wrote:Regarding it being too costly - I don't know about that. Nords are selling well and they are VAs/Romplers, Teenage Engineering are selling the OP1 for quite a big lump of dough and it has been going since 2013. Elektron are selling their boxes like hot muffins - and they are not cheap either.
- KVRAF
- 3467 posts since 24 Oct, 2000 from A Swede Living in Budapest
I was thinking about that as well.Elektronisch wrote: Well it seems likely, alot of major shops are going out of stock of even Desktop synths and Virus Ti Snow has been silently discontinued doesnt mean anything? i dont think so
The Snow has been discontinued and that was a couple of years ago if my memory doesn't mess things up. But the full models have not. I have also been seeing them becoming out of stock in places like Thomann - but they always stock back up again.
Which only can mean there's still demand for them.
/C
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- KVRAF
- 5664 posts since 7 Feb, 2013
I gather from the article in the OP that Virus hardware relies on some old generation chips which may become unavaiable any time soon, thus making further production of current Virus models impossible.
If so, we may speculate if Access would in this case develop new hardware based on newer chips, or port the software to run on regular PC/Macs, or just discontinue the whole Virus line (which seems to be the most realistic scenario)
If so, we may speculate if Access would in this case develop new hardware based on newer chips, or port the software to run on regular PC/Macs, or just discontinue the whole Virus line (which seems to be the most realistic scenario)
You may think you can fly ... but you better not try
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- KVRian
- 976 posts since 12 Jan, 2013 from Foolish Shepherd
On Access forum the members asked for open code the answer was NO from @chris.Chris-S wrote:I wonder if there is any discussion going on @ Access to bring out a software version of this synth......
- KVRAF
- 3467 posts since 24 Oct, 2000 from A Swede Living in Budapest
I wonder what the Kemper Amp is based on. Probably not the same DSP components or they would face the same problem further down as well.
It is interesting to think about the Snow though. Since that format was discontinued and the full models have not, my conclusion is that it couldn't have been a huge seller.
/C
It is interesting to think about the Snow though. Since that format was discontinued and the full models have not, my conclusion is that it couldn't have been a huge seller.
/C
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- KVRAF
- 23102 posts since 7 Jan, 2009 from Croatia
Kemper still uses Freescale, running at 400 MHz.
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gentleclockdivider gentleclockdivider https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=203660
- KVRAF
- 6109 posts since 22 Mar, 2009 from gent
Freescale used to be motorola ..right ?
edit: and then freescale was bought by nxp ( dutch ) which in turn was bought by qualcomm ..
A lot has happened the last few years
edit: and then freescale was bought by nxp ( dutch ) which in turn was bought by qualcomm ..
A lot has happened the last few years
Last edited by gentleclockdivider on Wed Feb 21, 2018 6:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Soul calibrating ..frequencies
Soul calibrating ..frequencies
- KVRAF
- 23102 posts since 7 Jan, 2009 from Croatia
Yup.
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gentleclockdivider gentleclockdivider https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=203660
- KVRAF
- 6109 posts since 22 Mar, 2009 from gent
The acquisation of freescale( and nxp) by qualcomm was just a meagre 47 billion dollar .
A bit too fast and totally off topic , seems that the acquisation is still happening ...the 47 billion was just a bid .
A bit too fast and totally off topic , seems that the acquisation is still happening ...the 47 billion was just a bid .
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Soul calibrating ..frequencies
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- KVRAF
- 3268 posts since 22 Aug, 2012
"Not in the near future, but maybe a bit later we will also put some more effort into the keyboards"
https://youtu.be/XE8_x1_JZeI
https://youtu.be/XE8_x1_JZeI
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gentleclockdivider gentleclockdivider https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=203660
- KVRAF
- 6109 posts since 22 Mar, 2009 from gent
That's a first class 'ass licking ' interview .
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- KVRAF
- 2751 posts since 12 Mar, 2002 from Central NY
Speculation of this kind is a pointless waste of time and energy. You don't have a crystal ball. Although it may seem obvious in the now....no one can know what tomorrow will bring. The stories of Léon Theremin, Nikola Tesla, Bob Moog and Don Buchla are rife with twists and turns that none of them saw coming.
If you have a Virus....consider yourself lucky....and shut up and play your Virus.
If you have a Virus....consider yourself lucky....and shut up and play your Virus.
the secrets to old age: Faster horses, Richer Women, Bigger CPU's
https://soundcloud.com/cristofe-chabot/sets/main
https://soundcloud.com/cristofe-chabot/sets/main
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- KVRian
- 1071 posts since 27 Apr, 2016
It came to mind what sums the virus up for me. I learn something new, get surprised and marvel every time I switch it on and tweak a preset I made or start a new one. The end results are greater than the sum of parts. Oscillators, filters, effects and each synth parameter complements every other very well.
I personally think it would be a very sad day if this hardware ever stopped being made. Its depths are beyond any other synth I have encountered if you are willing to put time into experimenting. It has a bit of a limitless feel about it. Or if not quite limitless, enough potential combinations to give the impression of always having something more to give that most importantly sounds good in the end. Instead of pointless unusable sounds.
Oh and it sounds like money...it sounds expensive. It does wide, deep and expansive better than any other synth I know. It just sounds right, for me anyway.
I personally think it would be a very sad day if this hardware ever stopped being made. Its depths are beyond any other synth I have encountered if you are willing to put time into experimenting. It has a bit of a limitless feel about it. Or if not quite limitless, enough potential combinations to give the impression of always having something more to give that most importantly sounds good in the end. Instead of pointless unusable sounds.
Oh and it sounds like money...it sounds expensive. It does wide, deep and expansive better than any other synth I know. It just sounds right, for me anyway.