Delving into this synth and it has become my favorite audio manipulating plugin of all time. To me, its so brilliantly conceived and offers so much depth. There is so much more to it than I originally was aware of so be sure to read the manual if you are trying the demo. The music I do is mostly "abstract" for lack of a better word but I would think it would be equally suitable for almost any kind of music or sound creations and experiments. It is not limited in any sense to me.
Just wanted to say.
P.S. I am in no way affiliated with anything Madrona Labs. Would like to thin this would go without saying...
Thoughts on Madrona Labs Virta
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- Rad Grandad
- 38041 posts since 6 Sep, 2003 from Downeast Maine
would you rather this be in the instrument forum? I can move it 
The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another's world. It requires profound, purpose‐larger‐than‐the‐self kind of understanding.
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- KVRian
- 927 posts since 8 Mar, 2008 from Crestview, Florida
Well, technically, Virta IS an effect plugin, so I think it makes sense to post it here.Hink wrote:would you rather this be in the instrument forum? I can move it
I love everything from Madrona Labs. Unfortunately, their plugins tend to be CPU hogs and don't usually function very well on my cheap laptop. I think, so far, Aalto is their most CPU efficient plugin, though Kaivo is undergoing some CPU optimization atm.
I love 'em all, especially Virta, which is arguably the most sophisticated vocoder I've laid ears on. We need more effect plugins with powerful synthesis engines like this. But yea, that CPU hit is no joke I'm afraid
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 155 posts since 2 Apr, 2012
Actually, I believe this is being successfully addressed in imminent updates. In Cubase, the CPU hit was huge for Virta (and Aalto and Kaivo), but beta 5 for Virta is significantly better. The pre-beta was peaking Cubase VST performance frequently but the beta stays under 10%. My understanding is that these optimizations will be added to Aalto and Kaivo as well so I'm hopeful...Sound Author wrote:Well, technically, Virta IS an effect plugin, so I think it makes sense to post it here.Hink wrote:would you rather this be in the instrument forum? I can move it
I love everything from Madrona Labs. Unfortunately, their plugins tend to be CPU hogs and don't usually function very well on my cheap laptop. I think, so far, Aalto is their most CPU efficient plugin, though Kaivo is undergoing some CPU optimization atm.
I love 'em all, especially Virta, which is arguably the most sophisticated vocoder I've laid ears on. We need more effect plugins with powerful synthesis engines like this. But yea, that CPU hit is no joke I'm afraid
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- KVRAF
- 7540 posts since 7 Aug, 2003 from San Francisco Bay Area
I have the other Madrona instruments, and I had such high hopes for Virta. Sadly, I was completely underwhelmed when it was released. Maybe I should give it another try, but I really felt like it didn't do anything I couldn't accomplish better elsewhere.
Incomplete list of my gear: 1/8" audio input jack.
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- KVRAF
- 3361 posts since 31 Dec, 2004 from People's Republic of Minnesota
Virta is the kind of instrument that requires a LOOOT of time to get something good out of compared to their other instruments. I kind of regret buying it so far. CPU wise, both Kaivo and Virta make DIVA Divine mode look like Hive.deastman wrote:I have the other Madrona instruments, and I had such high hopes for Virta. Sadly, I was completely underwhelmed when it was released. Maybe I should give it another try, but I really felt like it didn't do anything I couldn't accomplish better elsewhere.
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- KVRAF
- 7540 posts since 7 Aug, 2003 from San Francisco Bay Area
Well, it's just that I have so many other things to achieve similar effects. Just between Echobode, SoundToys, MXXX, Guitar Rig, MaxMSP, Reaktor, Nord Modular, Softube Modular, and my Eurorack system, to name a few, I see nothing particularly different about Virta.
Incomplete list of my gear: 1/8" audio input jack.
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- KVRAF
- 3505 posts since 27 Dec, 2002 from North East England
It's an excellent plugin. The CPU hit is indeed quite spicy though. It's generally the pattern that Madrona Labs stuff becomes more CPU optimised with time, so fingers crossed that's the case here. For those who don't know, Kaivo (and possibly all ML instruments?) tend to demonstrate their maximum CPU hit at rest. If you've got 8 voices of polyphony available in Kaivo, you won't see much more processing hit when you start to play those 8 voices as all voices in Kaivo are constantly running due to the audio rate modulations available (AFAIK).
The only thing missing I'd have liked to see in Virta would be somewhere to process the control signals from the audio analysis module. Being able to, say, multiply and limit those control signals would have been nice. For instance, the noise analysis module tends to always hang around about halfway up when the input is quiet (presumably due to equipment/background noise in the input) so being able to multiply this with the envelope analysis output would be nice. Or being able to limit/clip the range of the pitch analysis module to avoid huge transient jumps when it briefly 'gets it wrong'.
Virta is something truly unique though, and the popular perception of it being 'just a vocoder' couldn't be further away from what it actually is. It's possible to get sounds akin to babbling speech synthesis, or even glitchy autotune style processing (via two completely different methods that result in different glitchtune 'styles'), without involving the vocoder module at all. When you do start involving the vocoder module though... hoooo boy!
The only thing missing I'd have liked to see in Virta would be somewhere to process the control signals from the audio analysis module. Being able to, say, multiply and limit those control signals would have been nice. For instance, the noise analysis module tends to always hang around about halfway up when the input is quiet (presumably due to equipment/background noise in the input) so being able to multiply this with the envelope analysis output would be nice. Or being able to limit/clip the range of the pitch analysis module to avoid huge transient jumps when it briefly 'gets it wrong'.
Virta is something truly unique though, and the popular perception of it being 'just a vocoder' couldn't be further away from what it actually is. It's possible to get sounds akin to babbling speech synthesis, or even glitchy autotune style processing (via two completely different methods that result in different glitchtune 'styles'), without involving the vocoder module at all. When you do start involving the vocoder module though... hoooo boy!
Last edited by cron on Sat Nov 19, 2016 8:41 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 155 posts since 2 Apr, 2012
I have some of the others as well, but nothing feels as inspiring. Its easier for me to understand and use than say MMultiBandGranular and MTransform and the Soundtoys bundle. Maybe it just personal preference at this point but it seems so much easier for me who I am to get good results. Well, I guess aside from Reaktor. Nothing really compares to Reaktor either. Reaktor and Madrona at the top of my list. I use MPE controllers so maybe I lean towards Virta cause of the discreet finger control I can have.deastman wrote:Well, it's just that I have so many other things to achieve similar effects. Just between Echobode, SoundToys, MXXX, Guitar Rig, MaxMSP, Reaktor, Nord Modular, Softube Modular, and my Eurorack system, to name a few, I see nothing particularly different about Virta.
I am curious about Softube Modular since they added the RISE module...
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- KVRAF
- 7540 posts since 7 Aug, 2003 from San Francisco Bay Area
Yeah, I haven't updated Softube modular yet, but I'm particularly excited to try that with the Seaboard. And MPE support is definitely a compelling argument in favor of the Madrona instruments. For me, the best pitch tracker I ever used was a custom patch I developed on the Nord Modular G2. I used their pitch tracker, but combined it with multiple stages of clipping, filtering, and smoothing. It also requires tuning the filter cutoff to optimize the analysis for the input frequency range. The end results I found to be pretty outstanding both for vocals and guitar input.
Virta seems a bit lacking by comparison. I think it would have been better served by a larger selection of modules which could be swapped in and out according to need.
Virta seems a bit lacking by comparison. I think it would have been better served by a larger selection of modules which could be swapped in and out according to need.
Incomplete list of my gear: 1/8" audio input jack.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 155 posts since 2 Apr, 2012
I think its a great idea. Maybe'd be good start topic on Madrona Labs forum. I had a G2 some years ago and sold it, now I really wish I still had it...deastman wrote:Yeah, I haven't updated Softube modular yet, but I'm particularly excited to try that with the Seaboard. And MPE support is definitely a compelling argument in favor of the Madrona instruments. For me, the best pitch tracker I ever used was a custom patch I developed on the Nord Modular G2. I used their pitch tracker, but combined it with multiple stages of clipping, filtering, and smoothing. It also requires tuning the filter cutoff to optimize the analysis for the input frequency range. The end results I found to be pretty outstanding both for vocals and guitar input.
Virta seems a bit lacking by comparison. I think it would have been better served by a larger selection of modules which could be swapped in and out according to need.
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- KVRAF
- 25849 posts since 20 Jan, 2008 from a star near where you are
Virta means current or stream, so Madrona Labs want this plug to aid the flow of a users track