The "Zebra2 plays Virus" challenge

[mkastrup]

HERE is a small example I made a while back when comparing various filter behavior between different synths.

That sweep explains alot of things... thx Tronam

For the the original mp3 arp my ears tells me it uses delay and the obvious phaser. In the start you can hear the delay bounces back on the initial sound, sort of very short flamish.

/Michael

[kuniklo]

Nahh, the built-in effects aren't all that special, believe me. The only effect that I think really stands out on the Virus is their phaser.

I really like the Virus effects, particularly the phaser. More importantly, the effects work really well with the basic tone of the Virus. The reverb might not compare well with the current state of the art on its own but it sounds good in Virus patches and I prefer it to any other onboard reverb I've heard in a VA. The only Virus effect I was never satisfied with was the distortion.

[mkastrup]

michael,

two spectra analyses from the two files show quite different high-ends; in particular the virus maintains energy up to 16kHz throughout (these two snapshots are only from the first 7 seconds of the sample).

also note the frequency energy around 125 Hz-its width and strength.

what type of filter sweep is it?

Z2 CHALLENGE 03 MP3



VIRUS EXAMPLE VIRUS.MP3

Nice pics oredon

For the Zebra sweep i used these filters in serial:

1. LP Vintage
2. AP Phaser 8
3. LP 12db

The sweep is done by the MSEG

[mkastrup]

michael,

two spectra analyses from the two files show quite different high-ends; in particular the virus maintains energy up to 16kHz throughout (these two snapshots are only from the first 7 seconds of the sample).

also note the frequency energy around 125 Hz-its width and strength.

what type of filter sweep is it?

Z2 CHALLENGE 03 MP3



VIRUS EXAMPLE VIRUS.MP3

Hmm i'm a bit confused why name the image virusspectraiq9.png under Z2 CHALLENGE 03 MP3 and the kastrupspectravj7.png under VIRUS EXAMPLE VIRUS.MP3

To me the pictures show that the kastrup picture is the one with the highs ??? or am i reading those pics wrong heh heh ??

[hifiboom]

actually the original sound isn't that impressive.

what you all love seem to come from the access fx and not the raw basic sound.

Nahh, the built-in effects aren't all that special, believe me. The only effect that I think really stands out on the Virus is their phaser. It is one of the best digital phasers I've ever heard. They do have a few distortion models that are kind of nice though too. Everything else is pretty below standard of what we've come to expect in the virtual effect realm. I used to own a Virus and the raw basic sound is pretty solid, though it all comes down to personal taste in the end. HERE is a small example I made a while back when comparing various filter behavior between different synths. It is just a simple pattern on the Virus B, raw with no effects (the Virus B has no built-in EQ or compression either) where I'm simply closing and opening the filter. Notice how phasey it is initially, but as the filter closes it gels together in an interesting way. There might be some kind of hardwired equalization curve going on inside, for all I know, to get it to sound that way.

maybe its just the detuning of the hypersaw multiosc.

[GHOST19]

Here is the original Virus Example

The infamous virus arp: virus1.mp3

I made this one with Sylenth1, no external effects:
http://www.speedyshare.com/217959616.html

It sounds better than the virus to me (and not because it's louder).

[oredon]

hi michael,
yes i mislabeled the actual filenames that i uploaded but in the posting the files are correctly labeled-- yours is the top one, the virus is the one below. sorry to add confusion.

[pdxindy]

michael,

two spectra analyses from the two files show quite different high-ends; in particular the virus maintains energy up to 16kHz throughout (these two snapshots are only from the first 7 seconds of the sample).

also note the frequency energy around 125 Hz-its width and strength.

what type of filter sweep is it?

Z2 CHALLENGE 03 MP3



VIRUS EXAMPLE VIRUS.MP3

Hmm i'm a bit confused why name the image virusspectraiq9.png under Z2 CHALLENGE 03 MP3 and the kastrupspectravj7.png under VIRUS EXAMPLE VIRUS.MP3

To me the pictures show that the kastrup picture is the one with the highs ??? or am i reading those pics wrong heh heh ??

your version also sounds like it has more highs

[mkastrup]

hi michael,
yes i mislabeled the actual filenames that i uploaded but in the posting the files are correctly labeled-- yours is the top one, the virus is the one below. sorry to add confusion.

Thats ok most patches i do i leave out the very highs and keep that range for hihats/cymbals and stuff, so my highs might be percieved higher because its the critical range 8-12k that cut thru a mix AND my mums kitchen speaker

/Michael

[oredon]

more waterfalls:

from approximately 6-9 seconds.

Notice still that the right edge of the virus1.mp3 looks "vertical." Yours has a slope over time due to the LP. You can see the sweep happening from around 250 HZ to around 400 HZ for both graphs.

not quite sure how to read the low ends, but they show differences too.

KASTRUP 6-9 secs


VIRUS1 6-9 secs

[jacobh]

HERE is a small example I made a while back when comparing various filter behavior between different synths. It is just a simple pattern on the Virus B, raw with no effects (the Virus B has no built-in EQ or compression either) where I'm simply closing and opening the filter. Notice how phasey it is initially, but as the filter closes it gels together in an interesting way. There might be some kind of hardwired equalization curve going on inside, for all I know, to get it to sound that way.

Great observation. It almost seems like the resonance is automatically turned down as the filter sweeps up. And the lower the filter cutoff is, the more resonance it has.

[mkastrup]

more waterfalls:

from approximately 6-9 seconds.

Notice still that the right edge of the virus1.mp3 looks "vertical." Yours has a slope over time due to the LP. You can see the sweep happening from around 250 HZ to around 400 HZ for both graphs.

not quite sure how to read the low ends, but they show differences too.

KASTRUP 6-9 secs


VIRUS1 6-9 secs

Hmm the bit rate on the virus MP3 is 160 kbps while the zebra is 128 kbps, could that explain a little on the highs ?

I've noticed that the Virus high sweep peak is around 15 sec and the Zebra around 14 sec.

But what i'm seeing is very much like what i hear, the Virus is more hifi transparent while the zebra is more direct and hard hitting.

I really appreciate your doing this graphics thing

/Michael

[gsoto]

ZOMG TEH ARP IS BACK!!!!1!!

Just out of interest, does the TI sound like this right out of the box, without any external compression?

I'm no sure that the clip is a raw Virus; it could be post processed.
The mp3 was originally posted by crimsontider in the old Virus thread. Some time ago Elijah.P told me in another thread that the sequence (melody) is from one of Manuel Schleis' demos. I don't know if the mp3 is taken from the demo though. That's all I know about teh arp.

This was my try then using Xhip and some effects: gsoto_xhip_virus_arp.mp3
But I'm sure it can be done better.

The original is still the best so far. But it's easier to make a nice sound than to recreate one. I'd like to hear an attempt from someone using a Virus...
In the end I think it's more about the people than the tools. The guy who did the original clip probably knew what he was doing.

[mkastrup]

This was my try then using Xhip and some effects: gsoto_xhip_virus_arp.mp3
But I'm sure it can be done better.

Like that version but mostly from the point where the phaser kicks in, nice phasey buzz in a good way

[Howard]

When you do a filter sweep in Twin, it is smoother. The volume and frequencies seem to change smoothly. In Zebra it is a bit incremental and maybe a certain frequency will suddenly be slightly louder. (hard to analyze/describe what I heard). I think the Virus is like Twin in that it is smoother in the sweep.

It's not in the filters (IMO), I reckon it's what each product does to Continuous Controller data...

Twin appears to have quite a lot of CC smoothing (try e.g. mod wheel > Cutoff). The upside of this is that slow and medium rate manual sweeps are um... very smooth! The downside is that rapid CC movement is smoothed too much, and it starts to feel rather "spongy" if you dig in a lot.

Zebra seems to have a lot less CC smoothing. I think overall that the Virus has the best CC smoothing, Z2 could do with a little more (but not quite as much as Twin). Unfortunately, I remember the pitchbend on TI being much too smooth (so I couldn't do George-Duke-rate bending). This might have changed in the meantime - anyone know?