Why Virus is discussed more than other HW synths?

[3*s]

Funny, before finding kvr I always thought of the Nord Lead as being the most iconic VA synth in trance.

[johnny2johnny]

i dont want to say mean things bout virus, and trance producers nowadays....

[musikmachine]

I've heard of most of them but not familiar with their more recent stuff but i wouldn't think they used a virus simply because of it's association with tarnce(which is a derogatory term suggesting trance is crap because it's gone south in the past few years)but when i think of a virus i think of trance,and no doubt the trance kiddies do but i've seen some vids on youtube of a guy playing trance classics and i was well impressed.But at the end of the day it's a va ain't it?And what it's capable of surely must be in the hands of the user and not every sound coming out of it is going to sound like autotrance

[Zaphod (giancarlo)]

because it's good. At first glance it doesn't seem ever "digital" or "virtual".
With nebula we sampled every internal bit of software of it. Filters are normal, oscillators are normal, but the saturation algorithm is good and the result is "fat". Other point, it has a continuous behaviour when you turn knobs. You don't hear steps or clicks.

[cassus]

I havent used it a lot, but I've seen a lot of vids of it, and heard many audio clips. I wanted one at one point, but settled for the Radias because it is way more versatile. You can get some really f**ked up sounds on the Radias. The Virus does seem like a poppy trancemachine from hell. The sounds people coax out of it are totally useless to me. I think its weird too, cause it has alot more modulation destinations and so forth than the radias. But it just does not have any real "bite".
Like i said.. very trancy. Also, it is hugely expensive compared to other VA's out there. So if you want to do some really sharp sounds that make your eardrums bleed.. It's just the wrong synth for my use at least.

[JediMind]

The Access Virus can be used in many styles of music and thus has gained an incredible amount of popularity.

Take me for example. I like various styles of psytrance, but everytime I ask someone "how do you do it?", I get the same answer every time: "Well I start playing around in my Virus B/C..." It leaves me with no other option when it comes to picking a hardware synth.

[aMUSEd]

I havent used it a lot, but I've seen a lot of vids of it, and heard many audio clips. I wanted one at one point, but settled for the Radias because it is way more versatile. You can get some really f**ked up sounds on the Radias. The Virus does seem like a poppy trancemachine from hell. The sounds people coax out of it are totally useless to me. I think its weird too, cause it has alot more modulation destinations and so forth than the radias. But it just does not have any real "bite".
Like i said.. very trancy. Also, it is hugely expensive compared to other VA's out there. So if you want to do some really sharp sounds that make your eardrums bleed.. It's just the wrong synth for my use at least.

I know it's often associated with trance but really it's a much more versatile semi-modular synth, especially the latest OS version with it's Waldorf-like wavetable oscs and granular stuff. Personally I'd probably choose it over the Radias any day (and I have little interest in trance except as occasional easy listening) and compared to others in it's price bracket it looks like good VFM to me. I suspect you could get some great experimental pads and ambient sounds from it and much more digital stuff and if it wasn't so typecast as a "trance" synth I bet many more serious sound designers would jump on it.

[cassus]

I havent used it a lot, but I've seen a lot of vids of it, and heard many audio clips. I wanted one at one point, but settled for the Radias because it is way more versatile. You can get some really f**ked up sounds on the Radias. The Virus does seem like a poppy trancemachine from hell. The sounds people coax out of it are totally useless to me. I think its weird too, cause it has alot more modulation destinations and so forth than the radias. But it just does not have any real "bite".
Like i said.. very trancy. Also, it is hugely expensive compared to other VA's out there. So if you want to do some really sharp sounds that make your eardrums bleed.. It's just the wrong synth for my use at least.

I know it's often associated with trance but really it's a much more versatile semi-modular synth, especially the latest OS version with it's Waldorf-like wavetable oscs and granular stuff. Personally I'd probably choose it over the Radias any day (and I have little interest in trance except as occasional easy listening) and compared to others in it's price bracket it looks like good VFM to me. I suspect you could get some great experimental pads and ambient sounds from it and much more digital stuff and if it wasn't so typecast as a "trance" synth I bet many more serious sound designers would jump on it.

Yeah i spotted the wavetable osc and granular update after i bought my Radias. That probably does help quite a bit. But i have yet to hear anyone really make the sounds i was after. Would love to get my hands on one for a week or two though, cause it is really sexy looking, and that goes a long way too

I might pick up a second hand one down the line. Radias and Virus were really the only two i seriously considered. Which other synths do you guys feel are in the same line as far as sound design possibilities go? (not to hijack the thread or anything, just think we might get more of a reason as to why it's held to such high regards).

[aMUSEd]

V-Synth is fantastic and I also have the Nord G2 Modular which is great. The new Nord Wave looks rather cool.

Waldorf have a load of new synths coming out (expensive though) but if you really want a monster sound designers synth try the Zarg Solaris hardware version (I have the DSP version already) which is coming out soonish.

http://www.johnbowen.com/solaris.html

[advaya]

I haven't a lot of experience with hardware synths other than a MicrowaveXT (which I like, mostly for it's wierdness).

I was at TomLee music here in Vancouver, and they had a Virus Ti Polar running through a BlueSky System One surround setup (or ProDesks, I'm not entirely sure which). It really was an experience.

The whole room was awash in this incredibly lush sound. It was one of the most incredible things I've heard. I think much of that could be attributed to the high quality of presets. Seems every single one of them had that WOW factor. Access must have some of the best sound designers in the biz.

Anyway, if I could have afforded the near $3500 pricetag, I'd have grabbed it immediately. People can scoff at the success of the Virus, but after my little experience, I can see why it has such appeal.

[aMUSEd]

Yeah i spotted the wavetable osc and granular update after i bought my Radias. That probably does help quite a bit. But i have yet to hear anyone really make the sounds i was after.

Well the granular update is fairly recent but the wavetable stuff isn't. Maybe it's like I said - it's a bit typecast so sound designers have not latched onto it to make less pop oriented patches yet. Maybe in time. The architecture looks more flexible than other synths in it's price bracket - it's far more than just a VA.

[cassus]

V-Synth is fantastic and I also have the Nord G2 Modular which is great. The new Nord Wave looks rather cool.

Waldorf have a load of new synths coming out (expensive though) but if you really want a monster sound designers synth try the Zarg Solaris hardware version (I have the DSP version already) which is coming out soonish.

http://www.johnbowen.com/solaris.html

Yeah the solaris is absolutely stunning. I don't think the virus is gonna get knocked off the throne before the trance kiddies adopt a new baby. Cause the trance kids really do constitute a large % of the people who play synths, and also a large % of the online community population. Which is why i wont say stuff like "trance sucks"

The dude in the store where i bought my radias talked about the virus, tried to get me to buy that instead, but i was sort of set on the radias already. Anyway, i asked the dude what kinda music he played, cause he had a virus, and he said "trance mostly". And that sealed the deal for me

[The Chase]

The TI is the first virus to ever impress me, though it seems that the more complex the architecture of the virus, the more functionality gets put under the interface so you have to scroll through menus to get to any of the non basic parameters. One thing the TI nailed was the VST version which has most all of the functions in the interface (even though it saw a couple dozen updates before it worked). The TI can get very squelchy, crisp and fat. Not just bass-heavy like the other viruses, but actually fat. With the previous viruses, once you strip the presets down to a simple waveform without any effects or envelope, they usually sounded super weak. Good for pads and atmospheres, but before the TI you had work the balls in afterward for decent bass. I guess the thin waves are designed to make the unison so good?

To answer the question:

- Presets
- Hype
- "derdy der uses it, so it's the best" syndrome
- "hip" interface

[EoN604]

Why is it so talked about? Hmm... let's see.. Oh wait, I think I know why!! Here's your answer, Einstein:

Because it's a VERY good synth.

[deastman]

I see plenty of different synths getting talked about to death, not just the Virus.

I bought my Virus A when it first came out, somewhere around 1996 or 1997. I was looking for a new polysynth to add to my collection. It seemed like the best bang for the buck at the time. I did not then, and never have, made trance music. However, trance was just starting to get really big at that time, and I'm sure a lot of other people found the Virus to be a good value, just like me. Its rise to prominence can probably be chalked up to that, along with opportune timing.

I find the sound of the Virus to be pleasant, unassuming, and mild. It doesn't really stand out as particularly remarkable, but it isn't bad either. It has always had a wavetable for the oscillators, but it was downright infuriating that you couldn't modulate wavetable position with an LFO or envelope. I haven't played with any iteration of the Virus since the first one, so I can't comment on how it may have changed since then. I have a lot of other nice synths which I would turn to before the Virus, but it will always remain part of my collection.