KVR Audio

zerocrossing · Post by **zerocrossing** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 12:26 am

I'm sure you could be happy with both... but my answer would be neither. Nexus seems to be way too expensive (the same price as a good hardware synth?!) and the Ti.. meh. The demos leave me cold. I think you'd do better with a handful of pure VSTis like Gladiator 2, Zebra 2 and maybe round it off with Sylenth1 or wait until next month and have a listen to Synthquad.

If I had to choose between Nexus and TI, I'd for sure choose TI. At least it's going to lighten the load on your CPU and give your good resale value. Nexus... I just don't get how it can be that expensive.

crufty · Post by **crufty** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 12:26 am

Nexus v Virus

Virus, hands down.

Romplers are romplers. It might sound good, it might be well designed. But at the end of the day, if you like how patch A sounds, and you like how patch B sounds, with a virus--you can make patch A + B. That's not happening with Nexus.

Flip side, is all you want to do is trance might as well get Nexus and the right expansion and save your self 1,000 GBP.

Stomper · Post by **Stomper** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 12:34 am

Too different to compare.
With Nexus you have the sounds as they are and you can do very few things to change the sound. but it will always be that sound.
the Virus is a synth. you can make your own sound from scratch and you can take a preset and make it to sound like something totaly different.

So i guess it depends on what your looking for.
If your not into sound design and like the Nexus sounds, go for it.
If your into changing and making your own sounds, go for the Virus.

One thing i think you should consider about Nexus, is that after youll use the sounds you like, thats it. youll need to wait for new expension, buy it and hope it will have sounds you like (yes, im not a rompler fan:) )
You also wont have stupid transfer policies with the Virus

Stomper.

Fidelity · Post by **Fidelity** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 12:42 am

zerocrossing wrote:I'm sure you could be happy with both... but my answer would be neither. Nexus seems to be way too expensive (the same price as a good hardware synth?!) and the Ti.. meh. The demos leave me cold. I think you'd do better with a handful of pure VSTis like Gladiator 2, Zebra 2 and maybe round it off with Sylenth1 or wait until next month and have a listen to Synthquad.

If I had to choose between Nexus and TI, I'd for sure choose TI. At least it's going to lighten the load on your CPU and give your good resale value. Nexus... I just don't get how it can be that expensive.

*Exactly*. Sample library developers in general seem to think that they should charge as much for their products as hardware synths. What they don't want us to think about is how much higher their profit margin is per sale than it is for hardware developers, whom have not only put considerably more hard work into their product than sample recording companies, but also have to cover the cost of the hardware itself (and its assembly).

Pure VSTis -- if they sound good to you -- often make sense since their resale value doesn't get ruined too quickly, and they're a total bargain for the quality -- but sample libraries aren't the same thing. At least the VSTi developers had to put some brainstorming into the development of their product, as opposed to sitting there looping/editing sounds for hours and passing it off as hard work.

When you pay $1000-$2000+ for a virus (used vs. new), you not only get something with resale value (at least ReFX lets people resell nexus) -- but you get a nice piece of studio hardware and a fun box to tweak.

grymmjack · Post by **grymmjack** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 2:13 am

the biggest disadvantage of a hardware synth seems to be you have to do realtime rendering, and in virus ti case, though you could have many instances, dont you still have to solo and render them one at a time to actually output the stuff or is it multiple output or something in the vst host too? i'd imagine they'd have thought a way through to get rid of the need for a realtime render that was overly cumbersome but dunno.

aMUSEd · Post by **aMUSEd** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 4:55 am

grymmjack wrote:the biggest disadvantage of a hardware synth seems to be you have to do realtime rendering, and in virus ti case, though you could have many instances, dont you still have to solo and render them one at a time to actually output the stuff or is it multiple output or something in the vst host too? i'd imagine they'd have thought a way through to get rid of the need for a realtime render that was overly cumbersome but dunno.

You can only have the one instance but multiple parts. These can all be rendered simultaneously. Most decent hosts allow people to do a realtime render at export stage or through recording into an audio track (the only one I can think of that doesn't is Orion although in Tracktion it's broken so that doesn't count either). However there are a couple of hosts - Sonar and Reaper - that also enable you to do a sort of realtime freeze (well Reaper calls it a stem render but you can use a macro to make it like a freeze which works quite well since Reaper also has a non linear undo system) - that is very useful.

pschelfh · Post by **pschelfh** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 8:48 am

Stomper wrote:Too different to compare.

I also have both and this sums it all up :

It depends on what you'll use it for. Eg, are you also looking for drums, choirs, strings, piano's,...? Nexus has all of these in the expansions.

Virus Ti is a good synth but not a sampler, so however good it is, it will only give you synthesized emulations of these sounds. That said, I think the Virus is a great synth, especialy the filters. You'll hear that it's part of the sound, not 'layered' on the oscillators like in many softsynths. Don't really know how to explain it, but you'll hear it when you try to recreate Virus sounds with other synths. Closest Vsti IMHO is Zebra2.

Peter.

finalfragment · Post by **finalfragment** » Thu Nov 19, 2009 5:54 am

You can't compare them

The only thing they have in common is that they both make sound.

NEXUS = Sample player

Virus = Synth

It is a hundred times easier to work with Neuxs.

But the Nexus is a player, not a synth. You can't change anything in Nexus since it is just a sample player.

On the Virus you can tweak and change the sound beyond recognition.

Though it is much easier to work on the nexus you will still be limited to the sounds reFX publish. You can't make you own. It will be much easier to produce music though.

ckatrun411 · Post by **ckatrun411** » Thu Nov 19, 2009 6:19 am

One of them f**ks hard, the other one sucks hard, you figure it out.

djanthonyw · Post by **djanthonyw** » Thu Nov 19, 2009 6:26 am

I would like to think the OP made their decision by now.

luxth · Post by **luxth** » Thu Nov 19, 2009 7:42 am

in my experience Nexus is a fantastic rompler. Its output is shaped to fit the mix perfectly. Something you really realize once you place it in a busy dance mix. It has also a good analoguesque potential if tweaked a bit.

AdeVanEx · Post by **AdeVanEx** » Thu Nov 19, 2009 8:45 am

MacQ wrote:you're better off buying Nexus and a few choice expansions (some of them are useless)

Would you care to share your expansions of choice?
December 1st is just around the corner and the winter sale will be on so it's time to add some more.
Regards

DrGonzo · Post by **DrGonzo** » Thu Nov 19, 2009 9:17 am

Although the Virus TI is a remarkable synthesizer, I've just recently discovered that I'm not too fond of it. I've been owning a Polar since the day it got released and it has served me very well during the years. Whether the demos impress you or not - the TI is a bloody monster technically speaking. The modulation capabilities are extensive as well as all the gravy: good saturation, good effects and flexible filters.

The problem is that I simply don't connect with it, which of course is a matter of personal taste, but also in the way it's handled. If you're into creating your own sounds - the Virus is The Deal - if you have a patience like a saint that is. This synth is so damn extensive that there are multiple functionality everywhere. If you think all the knobs will let you avoid flipping through menues on the display - sorry to disappoint, but no.

Nexus, on the other hand is very much the opposite. It lacks depth in the creation of new sounds, but are as hands on as it can get. If I'm not taking into consideration the very expensive expansion packs - I might actually say that I favor Nexus for the Virus.

But in real life, I wouldn't choose any of them. My choice would go for an entirely different combo. Sylenth 1 might be the damned best synthesizer I've ever used, and I've been trying them all out since the Roland Virual Sound Canvas (oh the horror!). Technically it looks like a Fiat compared with the Virus TI - but Sylenth is way way more direct and hands-on. As a backup I would choose Synth Squad. I'm only so far as I'm discovering the simplest synth in the package - Strobe - but it totally rocks.

xerxes[no] · Post by **xerxes[no]** » Thu Nov 19, 2009 9:42 am

One thing I have learned about the TI is that it inspires me to make music more than anything else. Yes, it has tons of presets, and yes, it sounds like a million dollars. But you can not put a price on the value of actually having one sitting in front of you when going to work in the sequencer. I have never used Nexus, but I am quite sure it is great - and I am considering getting one. But it would never in any way replace the TI

danbroad · Post by **danbroad** » Thu Nov 19, 2009 9:54 am

The other thing with the TI is that, for me, sometimes I just want to play. Not record, not sequence, just me and an instrument. No screens, no distraction, no mouse; just a couple of hands and some black and whites.

It's happy being a synthesis powerhouse with full computer integration, but it's also happy being a pussycat and letting you just jam away with a Rhodes or a DX piano. If you want realistic sounds, get Kontakt or a Motif, but as long as you like the sound it makes, it's great.

Nexus 2 vs Virus Ti2 Desktop