Is it Honestly True That Access Virus = VSTI's

[FapFilter]

Interesting, all these 3 users who reject Viper, are from Germany. Coincidence?

Well, as a german myself, i can safely attest that i'd rather catch a virus than a viper.
But even americans seem to think you better dodge viper, so there must be something to it

[roman.i]

I've always wanted one as it is the iconic trance synth but people say that you can get the same sound with any vsti, without the hassle of hardware integration? Is that really true?

With ANY vsti?! Definitely no.
There are many VSTi on the market, most of them a junk compared to something like the Virus,
but few of them are close in quality. None of them sound exactly like the Virus.
But yea, you shouldn't be blinded by the price and the look of the Virus compared to "cheap" VST alternatives.
Plugins like Spire, Sylenth1 can give excellent results. For FM synthesis FM8.
Yet, the hands on experience with a hardware synth can produce better results than controlling the synth with a mouse. Turning real knobs is much more fun and you'll spend more time with a hardware "toy" than with a plugin on the screen.
So, I think even today the Virus still has the edge over modern VSTis, but not sure if it worth the high price. There are a lot of cheap modern hardware alternatives.

[chk071]

I've always wanted one as it is the iconic trance synth but people say that you can get the same sound with any vsti, without the hassle of hardware integration? Is that really true?

IMO, most people replaced the Virus for the easier workflow, not because they all sound better than the Virus.

I'd choose VSTi's over hardware for ease of use every day as well. For me, that's even the main argument.

[vurt]

Interesting, all these 3 users who reject Viper, are from Germany. Coincidence?

Well, as a german myself, i can safely attest that i'd rather catch a virus than a viper.
But even americans seem to think you better dodge viper, so there must be something to it

give me snakes over disease any day

as for the synths, neither is my cup of tea.

[chk071]

Thanks to Youtube's recommendations, I found some videos on the official Kemper channel:



Really love every tone which comes out of this thing.

[recursive one]

Really love every tone which comes out of this thing.

So do I
Actually there are some tonal differences bewteen Virus and Viper so I can see how someone can like one of them and dislike another (won't be surprised if there are also people who prefer Viper's sound tho)

Anyway, the more I educate myself about production and mixing techniques the more I'm convinced that these kinds of difference don't matter all that much in an actual mix. I have a tendency to use certain kinds of sounds which I can make both in Viper and Virus and once a track is finished I can't really hear big difference in sound quality myself.

[trusampler]

Exactly, great point

[plrdmus]

So do I
Actually there are some tonal differences bewteen Virus and Viper so I can see how someone can like one of them and dislike another (won't be surprised if there are also people who prefer Viper's sound tho)

Anyway, the more I educate myself about production and mixing techniques the more I'm convinced that these kinds of difference don't matter all that much in an actual mix. I have a tendency to use certain kinds of sounds which I can make both in Viper and Virus and once a track is finished I can't really hear big difference in sound quality myself.

I doubt anyone can accurately spot the Virus in a blind test vs Viper, let alone identifying it in a mix.
At least I find it hard, the differences are very minor and you can't really say which one corresponds to.

I've done some tests myself, sent audio clips to friends. At most, some patches might sound slighly better in Viper and some others might sound slightly better in Virus.
Nothing clear.

[tapper mike]

Here is something I am seeing in the Linnstrument community. The majority are moving into either MPE and leaving non-mpe capable plugins, daws behind. Or they are moving into hardware solutions even when the hardware solution is not mpe capable.

The reason is the sound is both intimate and in your face at the same time. A hardware synth may be computer based but that computer is designed in physical and in operation specifically for sound operation. Thus abandoning many of the roadblocks laid by computers. The absolute speed limit on midi is 1msec. Most outboard keys run 2msec in midi format and a bit longer for conversion to usb (before it exits the unit and goes into an external slave device (ie computer) From there the midi signal is not prioritized and even with the latest improvements to usb in overall speed and amount of data that can be transferred it still can't hold a candle to the smaller stream of data needed to send midi. Trust me I could go on for pages with regards to this subject.

The discerning electronic musician who is most concerned with producing the highest quality of sound where money isn't a limitation will seek the hardware solution. That's the market hardware solutions are looking to capitalize on. It's a small market and with small markets prices always need to be inflated for R&D expenses and costs that are escalated for minimal runs. This has bankrupted many a business in the past.

For the rest of us without the benefit of deep pockets or spacious studios the vst market will gladly provide you(and me) with similar products but not to the caliber of hardware ones.

[rod_zero]

Here is something I am seeing in the Linnstrument community. The majority are moving into either MPE and leaving non-mpe capable plugins, daws behind. Or they are moving into hardware solutions even when the hardware solution is not mpe capable.

The reason is the sound is both intimate and in your face at the same time. A hardware synth may be computer based but that computer is designed in physical and in operation specifically for sound operation. Thus abandoning many of the roadblocks laid by computers. The absolute speed limit on midi is 1msec. Most outboard keys run 2msec in midi format and a bit longer for conversion to usb (before it exits the unit and goes into an external slave device (ie computer) From there the midi signal is not prioritized and even with the latest improvements to usb in overall speed and amount of data that can be transferred it still can't hold a candle to the smaller stream of data needed to send midi. Trust me I could go on for pages with regards to this subject.

The discerning electronic musician who is most concerned with producing the highest quality of sound where money isn't a limitation will seek the hardware solution. That's the market hardware solutions are looking to capitalize on. It's a small market and with small markets prices always need to be inflated for R&D expenses and costs that are escalated for minimal runs. This has bankrupted many a business in the past.

For the rest of us without the benefit of deep pockets or spacious studios the vst market will gladly provide you(and me) with similar products but not to the caliber of hardware ones.

LOL

[tapper mike]

I didn't say they were smart, I just said discerning and had the financial resources to do so. Lawyers and Doctors don't waste time with yamaha psr's you can find in a wallmart or use reaper.

In the world of the super rich more expensive is always better. That's why they'll pay a million dollars for a sports car to drive to the country club on the chauffeurs day off.

[vurt]

you give the chauffeur a day off?
socialist!

[Aiynzahev]

No, but occasionally something will remind me of it like Massive X. For that matter nothing sounds quite like a Nord lead 4 or a novation Nova or a JP-8000. At the end of the day it’s only your own opinion on these things that matters. I’ve seen a snow for a about $600 and TI2 for $1300, a keyboard TI2 for about $1500 not long ago. There’s definitely less versatile/interesting HW you can spend that kind of money on IMO.

Try it for a while if you can afford it, if not I wouldn’t worry about it. Like anything it has it’s strengths and weaknesses. Personally I love the TI, I wish I could have it as a VSTi.

[pdxindy]

For the rest of us without the benefit of deep pockets or spacious studios the vst market will gladly provide you(and me) with similar products but not to the caliber of hardware ones.

I've got lots of hardware synths in my studio. VST synths are every bit as good.

[chk071]

I doubt anyone can accurately spot the Virus in a blind test vs Viper, let alone identifying it in a mix.

That's not the point for me. The process of making music has to be fun. And, how much fun is it to fiddle with instruments that don't sound the way you want? I really had a mighty hard time with that when I started out with magware/freeware. Nothing, really, nothing sounded exactly the way I wanted it to be. It was furstrating. Until I found stuff which rather does it for me. I guess everyone has to go through that process, and, admittedly, there's probably people who are not that demanding, who'd do alright with anything. But, if you really care about the last 10 %, you will have a hard time fiddling with stuff which doesn't offer you the sweet spot you are looking for. And that's what it is about for me, not that I can pick one particular synth in a blind test.