Is it Honestly True That Access Virus = VSTI's

[Distorted Horizon]

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)

I'm convinced that these kinds of difference don't matter all that much in an actual mix

Reminded me of one thing.. I once made a patch with Rocket and replicated it with a soft synth that I can't remember now which one.

Anyways.. The sound was pretty much identical (Rocket has it's on color though), but in a mix I noticed some weird singing sound pushing through when using Rocket.
Checked both again, soloed = almost identical but in a mix.. Rocket was alive while the other just mixed with everything else.

[trusampler]

If Access we're to finally port the TI over to the Vsti world with a good copy protection scheme, it'd probably be the biggest seller of all time I'd love to see them do this finally.

[recursive one]

The apect of Virus TI which is still not quite covered by VSTi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7ErBXKoZdQ

Viper can't do that because it doesn't have Formant Complex mode. Similar things can be done in Serum (warp ->sync) but Virus sounds more authentic.

[anomandaris1]

The apect of Virus TI which is still not quite covered by VSTi.


Viper can't do that because it doesn't have Formant Complex mode. Similar things can be done in Serum (warp ->sync) but Virus sounds more authentic.

First, "authentic", really?
Second, it should be a child's play to get this kind of sound from Zebra (check the internal oscillator effects modes). Considering stuff like Reaktor, Max etc exists, you should be able to replicate anything, if you know what are you supposed to do and how it should sound in the end.
The guys from Access are not some kind of super geniuses that invented new audio techniques... I don't understand the cult status.

[recursive one]

The apect of Virus TI which is still not quite covered by VSTi.


Viper can't do that because it doesn't have Formant Complex mode. Similar things can be done in Serum (warp ->sync) but Virus sounds more authentic.

First, "authentic", really?
Second, it should be a child's play to get this kind of sound from Zebra (check the internal oscillator effects modes). Considering stuff like Reaktor, Max etc exists, you should be able to replicate anything, if you know what are you supposed to do and how it should sound in the end.
The guys from Access are not some kind of super geniuses that invented new audio techniques... I don't understand the cult status.

Could you actually replicate this sound then? I mean not just making something kinda similar, which I can easily do in Serum myself, but getting this exact sound in Zebra with the same character, replicate the sound of Formant Shift/Spread and Virus comb filter, etc?

I think Chris Kemper actually was some kind of super genius, if you consider that the first Virus was released in 1997 and Virus TI2 engine fully shaped up in 2009 when softsynths were pretty much in their infancy

[plrdmus]

If Access we're to finally port the TI over to the Vsti world with a good copy protection scheme, it'd probably be the biggest seller of all time I'd love to see them do this finally.

I think it's a bit late for that. Some other plugins have already taken its place. Also "good protection scheme" would mean "dongle" and that's a big nope.

[chk071]

If Access we're to finally port the TI over to the Vsti world with a good copy protection scheme, it'd probably be the biggest seller of all time I'd love to see them do this finally.

I think it's a bit late for that. Some other plugins have already taken its place.

Thought that this is what this whole thread is about. That it's not easy to replace, regardless of the tech.

A Minimoog is 50 year old tech, and it's still irreplacable for most. Even though there's much better analog tech these days.

[recursive one]

I think Trusampler means that the genres where Virus used to dominate are now mostly produced with software synths.

[chk071]

Yeah. IMO mostly due to the comfort, not so much due to the sound.

So, if Access really released the Virus as a soft synth, I'm sure that a lot of people would use it, instead of what they're using now.

[recursive one]

Yeah. IMO mostly due to the comfort, not so much due to the sound.

So, if Access really released the Virus as a soft synth, I'm sure that a lot of people would use it, instead of what they're using now.

With this I pretty much do agree. Not that i would only use only that hypothetical software Virus, plugins such as Spire, Serum, Massive X, Diva would still make their way into my mixes, but i would defo use much more Virus sounds than i do now.

TBH i still tend to prefer the warm and darker sound of 00s trance and psy to modern releases, they tend to sound too dry and too bright to my taste, which i think is partially due to software synths

[pdxindy]

Is that really true?

Short answer: no.

It was an iconic trance synth because it has the right sound for this genre. Then it was mostly replaced by software - Sylenth, Massive, Spire and the like and the sound of mainstream trance changed somewhat, not necessarily to better.

It's not that the Virus has the right sound for the genre, but rather the genre formed around the Virus so that became the sought after sound.

[pdxindy]

TBH i still tend to prefer the warm and darker sound of 00s trance and psy to modern releases, they tend to sound too dry and too bright to my taste, which i think is partially due to software synths

I disagree that has anything to do with softsynths... It is a cultural shift that can be seen in other areas too.

Modern hyper-realism is a cultural trend and so that character gets selected and developed into softsynths... Serum is bright and kinda cold and it becomes super popular because that is what is being sought. It has nothing to do with whether Serum is a softsynth or not.

Put another way, softsynths are reflecting cultural trends, not driving them.

[FapFilter]

Yes. How close can the Virus sound like Dune 3? For Dune 3ish sounds, Dune 3„“is more authentic“. Same goes for many other softsynths vs the Virus.
The Virus was just around at the time. IMO “authentic“ Acid can be made on other synths aswell, not necessarily just an TB-303, Dubstep can perfectly be made on other synths than just Serum or Massive, Synth Pop not just on some old Roland or Oberheim. Metal bands also don't need to use exactly the same guitars / plectrons / pedals or amps just because some people have used them before.

Of course the Virus was very very good for it's time, even the TI was when it was released. But even then you could also make great sounds on other stuff that cost just a fraction of what a TI did and still does and are faster / more intuitive to use. Especially today.
Do any of them sound exactly like a Virus? Probably not many, but they also don't really need to.
It's IMO a bit like requesting that Alanis Morissette ffs has to sound 100% like Grace Slick, otherwise you can't make “authentic music“. She wouldn't sound out of place, even if she did a Jefferson Airplane'esque song.

[chk071]

Dunno about the "hyper realism" thing. Modern soft synths often sound overly clean and tame to me. Analog synths usually aren't clean and tame. If anything, it rather appears to me that there is a trend to super clean, soft and tame sound (and also... bright sound, that is definitely correct), rather than towards "hyper realism".

[SLiC]

If Access we're to finally port the TI over to the Vsti world with a good copy protection scheme, it'd probably be the biggest seller of all time I'd love to see them do this finally.

Maybe with a certain group of people, nit sure if that group is enough to make it the biggest seller of all time. I used to have the Virus VST (TC Powercore) and it was just 'OK', there is something about porting hardware to software that realy highlights the limitations of the original hardware (like cloning the old VA- why just one LFO, why!!!!)

I eventually also sold my rack TI as it wasnt a case of if other VST could sound the same, it was a case of they sounded 'better' to me in just about every way I could perceive and were more flexible/better features. Once you are using a software interface (rather than the hardware) newer paradigms seem so much more flexible (Rapid, Dune 3 even Massive X) - I understand why people at to emulate 'analog' but I don't want digital VAs to be the way they were 10-20 years ago, I want someone to make the 'new' virus, something as influential and ahead of the time that the TI was....Rapid is now what I use have I would have gone Virus, and its about to get granular oscillators and MSEGs (as well as having 8 layers!) this is what I want from a synth in 2020!!!