KVR Audio

hate · Post by **hate** » Wed Sep 23, 2015 3:04 pm

i have read reviews going all the way back to the early 2000s that say the exact same things. the osc were always considered weak and thin but everything else made up for it. the controls and the fx. the ladder filter was added with the virus c to make up for people unhappy with the original filters.

4damind · Post by **4damind** » Wed Sep 23, 2015 3:20 pm

Maybe you expect too much

This doesn't mean that the Virus is bad, it's still a good VA but today it can be easier replaced with a plugin synth and nobody can tell the difference...
Christoph Kemper the guy behind the Virus moved the last time more to Amp simulation ("Kemper Profiling Amp"). It seems that also Christoph knows that for the future they need something different. The Virus will already have it's place but it's not anymore the synth everybody must have...

Numanoid · Post by **Numanoid** » Wed Sep 23, 2015 3:24 pm

4damind wrote:it's not anymore the synth everybody must have...

Indeed, as demonstrated by JM Jarre: DIVA and Dune2, but where is Virus?

Robmobius · Post by **Robmobius** » Wed Sep 23, 2015 3:47 pm

Numanoid wrote:
4damind wrote:it's not anymore the synth everybody must have...
Indeed, as demonstrated by JM Jarre: DIVA and Dune2, but where is Virus?

That's great and all... But then you can just jog on down to the Access website and see who has been using the Virus. One or two names just might stick out...

Never really considered it a 'must have' synth tho'. It's more of a nice to have. The Virus in it's own right, has a sound that I really like, especially when it comes to distortion and its FX. I've yet to find a soft synth that can rival it - in that context (IE, before processing in a DAW).

I'm not talking about supersaws and 'trance' btw - Any decent soft synth can do that.

Does it replace my soft synths? Not really... I use whatever I need at the time.

cryophonik · Post by **cryophonik** » Wed Sep 23, 2015 3:54 pm

Oh, yay, it's time once again for the monthly Virus-bashing thread on KVR!

djrevise5 wrote:Not trying to start a fight here, but I just bought a virus snow after lusting after them for years, got it home and I am very underwhelmed with the sound. I have a lot of vsts that sound better than this! Just letting the people like me who thought that the virus has some magic sound, that they really don't.

Are you flipping through factory presets, or diving in deep and designing your own sounds? If the former, then you should take into consideration that most/all of those presets were designed many years ago (mostly in 2008 plus some banks/patches included with OS updates), so they're bound to sound pretty vanilla by today's standards. If you haven't done this already, you should head over the Access website and download some newer patch banks. They literally have thousands (approaching 10K, IIRC) of patches available for free there. The Virus Control software has a pretty slick way of letting you load them into the Virus directly from the Access user patches folder on your computer, so you'll have more patches than you could possibly find time to go through. Give that a shot, especially with some newer banks that match your musical interests and see if it changes your opinion of the Snow.

That said, yeah, I agree that the "Virus sound" (whatever that is) is over-hyped and that most soft synths today sound just as good. So, I've never really seen the point in buying a Snow just to use it as a preset box and hoping to get some magic sound out of it. The full TI2 keyboard (this is what I have), Polar (previously owned one), and desktop (also owned one) are the way to go to really get the most performance bang for your buck in the Virus lineup. It's a very deep and flexible synth that will compete sound-wise with any soft synth on the market and deliver a huge range of sounds. But, like all synths, you'll only get out of it what you put into it.

Robmobius · Post by **Robmobius** » Wed Sep 23, 2015 3:58 pm

cryophonik wrote:It's a very deep and flexible synth that will compete sound-wise with any soft synth on the market and deliver a huge range of sounds. But, like all synths, you'll only get out of it what you put into it.

Nailed it.

4damind · Post by **4damind** » Wed Sep 23, 2015 4:02 pm

Numanoid wrote:
4damind wrote:it's not anymore the synth everybody must have...
Indeed, as demonstrated by JM Jarre: DIVA and Dune2, but where is Virus?

Yes, it seems he replaced the Virus with something different. Afaik Jarre has in the past used a Virus, today he is still using a Nord Lead.

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Wed Sep 23, 2015 4:04 pm

Robmobius wrote:
Numanoid wrote:
4damind wrote:it's not anymore the synth everybody must have...
Indeed, as demonstrated by JM Jarre: DIVA and Dune2, but where is Virus?

That's great and all... But then you can just jog on down to the Access website and see who has been using the Virus. One or two names just might stick out...

Among them: Jean-Michel Jarre.

Not that that would be any kind of endorsement... i think the connection in the industry is well known by now.

Numanoid · Post by **Numanoid** » Wed Sep 23, 2015 4:06 pm

Robmobius wrote:That's great and all... But then you can just jog on down to the Access website and see who has been using the Virus. One or two names just might stick out...

Got the CD today, and looking inside the booklet, there are further images of ElectroHarmonix, MoogModular, RMI Harmonic, Jen SX-1000, ARP 2601, but no Access Virus anywhere...

It's too new yet to be retro cool, give it another 10 years, and Jarre will use the Snow White TI to match his silver mane (fake hair color must have gone out of fashion by then)

Robmobius · Post by **Robmobius** » Wed Sep 23, 2015 4:10 pm

Numanoid wrote:
Robmobius wrote:That's great and all... But then you can just jog on down to the Access website and see who has been using the Virus. One or two names just might stick out...
Got the CD today, and looking inside the booklet, there are further images of ElectroHarmonix, MoogModular, RMI Harmonic, Jen SX-1000, ARP 2601, but no Access Virus anywhere...

It's too new yet to be retro cool, give it another 10 years, and Jarre will use the Snow White TI to match his silver mane (fake hair color must have gone out of fashion by then)

Riiight... Sorry, I'm not getting your correlation between Jar and the access users.

Numanoid · Post by **Numanoid** » Wed Sep 23, 2015 4:14 pm

Robmobius wrote:Riiight... Sorry, I'm not getting your correlation between Jar and the access users.

I just noted that Access Virus isn't found pictured on the sleeve of his latest platter, but some other gear is.

xcentric · Post by **xcentric** » Wed Sep 23, 2015 4:18 pm

Discussions like this can be so confusing. The type of music made by everyone in the thread has a HUGE impact on the context.

Robmobius · Post by **Robmobius** » Wed Sep 23, 2015 4:24 pm

Numanoid wrote:
Robmobius wrote:Riiight... Sorry, I'm not getting your correlation between Jar and the access users.
I just noted that Access Virus isn't found pictured on the sleeve of his latest platter, but some other gear is.

But that does'nt have any relevance to my position on the Access Virus.

2ZrgE · Post by **2ZrgE** » Wed Sep 23, 2015 4:26 pm

Numanoid wrote:
4damind wrote:it's not anymore the synth everybody must have...
Indeed, as demonstrated by JM Jarre: DIVA and Dune2, but where is Virus?

JM Jarre only uses the stuff which is shown in the picture, only that and nothing else...

Hans Zimmer is a Virus fan (when he cannot reach for his ZebraHZ).

Numanoid · Post by **Numanoid** » Wed Sep 23, 2015 4:28 pm

2ZrgE wrote:JM Jarre only uses the stuff which is shown in the picture, only that and nothing else...

Yeah, he keeps his good stuff hidden in the drawer alongside the premium malt scotch he is zipping

Wow the virus really isn't that special after all.