Is it something to bet on a Virus synth?

[izonin]

But if we talk purely about sound, the Virus is still way ahead of it's VSTi clones. Soundtoys' Filterfreak is the only filter that matches the quality of TI's ones. With polyphony in mind, even if Access released a Virus plug-in, you wouldn't be able to run it even on a fast machine.

I think this is not true. Access is not the only company able to design filter algorithms. There are a lot developers with the same or better knowledge.
U-he, Fabfilter, FXPansion, Tone2 are only some companies with excellent filters.

TI has 2 Motorola DSP I guess, this is not the same processing power like a actual Intel CPU. I expect that a Virus plug-in would not use more CPU than NI Massive or U-He Diva with highest oversampling rate.
It's not the processing power it's more the realtime behavior and how processing power will be shared between different processes (and interrupted).
With a Virus you will not have the problem that other processes will interrupt operations. You have no boot time, no problems with latency or bad developed plugins crashing the host.

But also Access is not free of problems. Their operating systems for the Virus had a lot of bugs with every release. I remember it needs some releases to have a proper timing with OS6.5 for the Virus C and the Virus TI was full of problems and bugs when released. Access is not better than others, they are not developing better or more stable software than others or have more knowledge than others.

Are you comparing Massive's filters and the Virus TI's filters? And yes, Diva's filters are excellent. In divine mode they use 5-10 times more cycles than Massive's.

[Bronto Scorpio]

I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a Boesendorfer and a Steinway without reference, can we burn all Steinways now?

Haha - yes, that's a closer analogy than violin/piano.

Burning all Steinways might be taking it a bit far - but I certainly wouldn't recommend someone buy one if there were much cheaper and equally-good/better pianos available.

Fair enough! I completely agree that the Virus is a bit to expensive but is has it's place nontheless.
If someone would ask me if he should buy Zebra or a Virus I'd recommend Zebra without even thinking! WAY more value for money.

Completely unrelated: Some Diva trance
Diva Mono Trance

Cheers
Dennis

[tectonica]

If someone would ask me if he should buy Zebra or a Virus I'd recommend Zebra without even thinking! WAY more value for money.

Dennis

Indeed I agree with you on this I really love Zebra and it's possibilities.
But on the other side the Virus really brings a big load of Presets with it, that must be found or bought for Zebra on the other side. Even for somebody not so keen on programming synths, this is a + for the Virus, imho.

[jupiter8]

With polyphony in mind, even if Access released a Virus plug-in, you wouldn't be able to run it even on a fast machine.

Why not ?

Because quality filters use a lot of CPU cycles. Try running 32 instances of Filterfreak, and you'll see.

What's FilterFreak got to do with the Access Virus ? They don't run the same algorithms.

[izonin]

With polyphony in mind, even if Access released a Virus plug-in, you wouldn't be able to run it even on a fast machine.

Why not ?

Because quality filters use a lot of CPU cycles. Try running 32 instances of Filterfreak, and you'll see.

What's FilterFreak got to do with the Access Virus ? They don't run the same algorithms.

I think that, sonically, Filterfreak is very close to the filters in the TI. It has the same liquid, musical character. Maybe the code isn't identical, but the basic algorithms must be pretty close.

[jupiter8]

With polyphony in mind, even if Access released a Virus plug-in, you wouldn't be able to run it even on a fast machine.

Why not ?

Because quality filters use a lot of CPU cycles. Try running 32 instances of Filterfreak, and you'll see.

What's FilterFreak got to do with the Access Virus ? They don't run the same algorithms.

I think that, sonically, Filterfreak is very close to the filters in the TI. It has the same liquid, musical character. Maybe the code isn't identical, but the basic algorithms must be pretty close.

Doubt it. Fact is the processors in the Virus are orders of magnitude slower than an ordinary Intel CPU. There are plugins that runs on both and the instance counts on the DSPs are way lower than they are on a CPU. As a quick comparison The Glue will run 1 or 2 instances on the latest PT HDX chip,how many can an Intel I2600 run ? 100 ?

[hakey]

I think that, sonically, Filterfreak is very close to the filters in the TI. It has the same liquid, musical character.

izonin's posts in the indistinguishable from hardware thread are informative - bit of a saga, but worth a read

[izonin]

Doubt it. Fact is the processors in the Virus are orders of magnitude slower than an ordinary Intel CPU. There are plugins that runs on both and the instance counts on the DSPs are way lower than they are on a CPU. As a quick comparison The Glue will run 1 or 2 instances on the latest PT HDX chip,how many can an Intel I2600 run ? 100 ?

Hmm, I don't see why the guys from Soundtoys, ex-Eventide employees, who worked on the H3000, would use a less CPU efficient algorithm, than the one in the TI. I've tried recreating basic Virus patches with Filterfreak, and could instantly match the sound.

[izonin]

I think that, sonically, Filterfreak is very close to the filters in the TI. It has the same liquid, musical character.

izonin's posts in the indistinguishable from hardware thread are informative - bit of a saga, but worth a read

Yep, I was the only one who took the time to download the ensemble demo and study it in Reaktor.

[dsynth27]

If this Virus is overrated just don't buy one! I love mine and all of my softsynths also...you are not going to convince anyone that the Virus is not worth it! If you have the scratch (cash) and love the sound buy it! If not, or are not into the sound buy a softsynth that you think can replace it or in your opinion is better for whatever reason and be happy!

Many of us here and elsewhere love the Virus sound and softsynths too....but it is only fair to comment if you have owned one and many people that dislike the Virus have never used one for a significant enough time to honestly comment. These people have already decided that the the Virus is a dongle, can be replaced by software etc., does not sound great, too expensive, overrated!

It is a great synth that has a character that is difficult to replace without jumping through many hoops...I use what works in a track and I always use the Virus for at least one sound...along with my softsynths. Just do what works and use the sounds you are happy with....

[DevonB]

I find the "plugin x is cheaper than a Virus" comparisons silly. The Virus is a computer, a sound card, some models have the keyboard, essentially the "host" (can't play a VSTi without some host at least), plus the sound engine/effects processor all in one. How much did you pay for your PC, the OS it runs, the host you're running in, the sound "card", and keyboard controller you're using, all of which are relative to the "cost" comparison. Obviously this argument goes for any hardware synth, not just the Virus.

I know what I paid for my Computer, OS, Host, Keyboard, and Sound card was far more expensive than most hardward synths at the end of the day. And that's before adding any VSTi's to the mix. It's only when you start to buy more VSTi's that the cost ratio comes down, and that's not the topic of conversation either...

As for "quality", I tend to look at synths as they have "a quality", more than "the quality" (think "she has blonde hair" as "a quality" vs. "she's a pretty blonde" as "the quality".) The former is more based on facts and the later more based on opinion. Adding both to the discussion becomes far more interesting than just the later.

BTW - I like the Virus, and have owned a Virus. They do have a great synth.

Devon

[liquid wind]

People who own hardware synths don't buy computers?

huh, learn something new every day...

[cryophonik]

Ugh, don't you people get sick of rehashing the same old boring Virus-vs-softsynths thread every freaking week? The arguments never change, so why not just make it a sticky and be done with it?

[hakey]

it is only fair to comment if you have owned one and many people that dislike the Virus have never used one for a significant enough time to honestly comment.

I wouldn't want to be open to criticisms of unfairness or dishonesty - would three years be long enough? That's how long I had mine.

[trimph1]

Good Grief.

Get over yourselves. Sheeesh.

Why do you people come up with Virus vs this that and the other softsynth sequel all the time?