KVR Audio

osiris · Post by **osiris** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 9:47 am

I consider that a sampler......

DevonB · Post by **DevonB** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 10:05 am

osiris wrote:I consider that a sampler......

You said, and I quote,

I believe it would be the most expensive VST ever.

Both Omnisphere and Hollywood Brass are VST's, last time I checked.

And if I was picking nits (and I'm not

) neither Omni or HB are samplers, they're sample playback, like nearly every VST out there. There's only a very small handful that emulate analog circuitry to create an oscillator. Most are samples, that I'm aware of, which would technically make them a sample playback engine. Please feel free to prove me wrong on that one though.

Devon

osiris · Post by **osiris** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 10:10 am

I think that;s wavetables, which technically are samples, so yes you're right about that, but then they wouldn't call them Romplers, would they?

mkdr · Post by **mkdr** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 10:36 am

juffi wrote:Hmmm it would be too expensive. I watched some ipad apps like Korg IMS20 on youtube and found that great sounding "sunrizer" synth pad. Maybe i'll save for an used ipad.

Note in the video it says "sounds like hardware synths"...

Doesn't sound too bad at all. Looks like a nice average VA engine in there. Filter's sound a tad bland though..

Still can't understand why people waste their time on these things (developers or customers). But who am i to say if one want's to shove their dough down the toilet.

I mean come on.. It's a software synth with none of the good things soft synths usually have and all the bad aspects the hardware synths have.. That is: no total recall, no audio rendering, no multiple instances, no integration to a daw, no keyboard.. low quality output.. midi accuracy.. wtf

DevonB · Post by **DevonB** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 9:02 pm

mkdr wrote:Still can't understand why people waste their time on these things (developers or customers). But who am i to say if one want's to shove their dough down the toilet.

I mean come on.. It's a software synth with none of the good things soft synths usually have and all the bad aspects the hardware synths have.. That is: no total recall, no audio rendering, no multiple instances, no integration to a daw, no keyboard.. low quality output.. midi accuracy.. wtf

...and it's $4.99. Not many hardware synths for $4.99... provided you already own an iPad, of course.

Devon

juffi · Post by **juffi** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 10:15 am

DevonB wrote:
mkdr wrote:Still can't understand why people waste their time on these things (developers or customers). But who am i to say if one want's to shove their dough down the toilet.

I mean come on.. It's a software synth with none of the good things soft synths usually have and all the bad aspects the hardware synths have.. That is: no total recall, no audio rendering, no multiple instances, no integration to a daw, no keyboard.. low quality output.. midi accuracy.. wtf
...and it's $4.99. Not many hardware synths for $4.99... provided you already own an iPad, of course.

Devon

The ipad is a closed system , which has a big advantage for the developers : they dont have to develop a plugin on many different systems. As Korg has Ielectribe and IMS20 (which looks and sounds very cool by the way), is it only a question of time when the virus powercore would come to ipad? Or any Roland or Yamaha plugin will arrive? But not for 20 $ i fear

. I think the "daw integration problem" is solved, if anybody gives us a universal vst Ipad-Plugin whatever.

mkdr · Post by **mkdr** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 10:53 am

juffi wrote:I think the "daw integration problem" is solved, if anybody gives us a universal vst Ipad-Plugin whatever.

Yeah, just like they've given us universal Motorola DSP plugin whatever....

DevonB · Post by **DevonB** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 6:35 pm

osiris wrote:I think that;s wavetables, which technically are samples, so yes you're right about that, but then they wouldn't call them Romplers, would they?

ROMpler, would by its very name, would indicate a piece of hardware that has samples stored in ROM that are not modifiable. Sticking to the 'spirit' of the name, since it doens't really apply to software for obvious reasons, I would call any VSTi that has its own sample set that cannot be added to or modify the internal "samples" to be a ROMpler, if arm twisted to use the term. But it's not a ROMpler because there is no ROM in your PC that holds the samples. For comparison sake between hardware and software, they are of the same "class" even if the term really doesn't accurately describe the technology.

As for wavetable, no, that's again, something different.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wavetable_synthesis

Devon

ryandfl · Post by **ryandfl** » Fri Apr 13, 2012 4:12 am

I'm really thinking about getting a Virus. Here's why -

To me and my limited experience, hardware synths seem to sound 'weightier' and more 'real' in general. Not necessarily more analog, but more substantial, 'hard' even. Soft synths are crazy versatile and often sound excellent, but they tend to have a certain 'mushiness' to the sound. Like they are floating in space rather than pushing against air.

For instance, I recently got a Monomachine and in many ways prefer its sound quality to Diva. I know that Diva actually sounds smoother, more analog, more sophisticated and all of that. But the Monomachine can often sound more 'real' somehow, even if it is considered to be a just a decent synth with an awesome sequencer.

My very guessed theory is they DA / AD conversion is playing a big part in that.

So I'm thinking about getting a Virus to stay out of the box but retain software like access (!) to a ton of voices and multi-parts without filling up a room with synths or spending too much money. In terms of hardware, a used Ti2 desktop seems like a good deal to me for what you get. Compare it to software and it's nuts, but to get that much power and quality elsewhere in hardware you would need quite a few pieces of gear. Getting a bunch of simpler, more discrete and dedicated synths and effect units would probably sound better, but that's beyond my capabilities.

I'm still trying to make up my mind about the sound quality/type though. Virus's tend towards a certain feel which I'm like but don't exactly Love. I think working to with that is going to be worth it for me though.

Getting OT, but I wonder if after this year's rush of new affordable analog synths if we will see Access and Nord and possibly Korg step up their VA games next year to keep up / stay on top.

Kompulsor · Post by **Kompulsor** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 4:12 pm

Can I mention the elephant in the room? LATENCY?

If I buy a brand-new Virus TI 2 in 2012, will I still have these latency/sync issues that will totally cripple production from the start, and make Virus' incredible price tag seem even more ridiculous than it is?

Here's my problem: I'm a potential customer. When I hear "total integration" it means that I plug it in and it's totally integrated. But if I plug it in and I start hearing latency, and I need to dig thru settings and buffer sizes and STILL have a noticeable latency, then that's not total integration for me. It's partial integration.

I know a lot of people praise the Virus, but how can they be OK with this huge outstanding problem? Something doesn't make sense here.

Can anyone tell me if latency problems have been resolved in the latest Virus? Are they still using the old USB interface which leads to these problems?

cryophonik · Post by **cryophonik** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 4:20 pm

Are you referring to latency when using the TI as a soundcard? I don't use mine as a soundcard, so I can't comment on latency issues from that standpoint, but I don't have any latency issues when simply using the TI as a soft synth with Virus Control. The only outstanding issue that I experience is the occasional arp sync issue.

kmonkey · Post by **kmonkey** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 4:29 pm

Kompulsor wrote:Can I mention the elephant in the room? LATENCY?

If I buy a brand-new Virus TI 2 in 2012, will I still have these latency/sync issues that will totally cripple production from the start, and make Virus' incredible price tag seem even more ridiculous than it is?

Here's my problem: I'm a potential customer. When I hear "total integration" it means that I plug it in and it's totally integrated. But if I plug it in and I start hearing latency, and I need to dig thru settings and buffer sizes and STILL have a noticeable latency, then that's not total integration for me. It's partial integration.

I know a lot of people praise the Virus, but how can they be OK with this huge outstanding problem? Something doesn't make sense here.

Can anyone tell me if latency problems have been resolved in the latest Virus? Are they still using the old USB interface which leads to these problems?

Elephant? Something does not make sense?

I think you need to educate yourself a bit. Under that i don't mean you are stupid or something like that i think that you don't have correct info on subject you are talking about.

First of all there are no issues. If they are thy are mostly down to configuration. Sure you always have troubles with product but if it is working for majority then...you know..You are right there was some issues but they where what..when TI was introduced and that is years behind.

Second thing is that indeed it is totally integrated. You can do everthing from inside your host thus it is integrated inside your host.

Regarding latency: welcome to the 2012. Every single DSP in audio world introduce latency. Take UAD platform. Heavily used by all kind of people. Pros, amateurs, etc.etc. I never heard anyone complain about latency. FYI it is about the same as Virus.

Liquid mix - latency
Powercore - latency
SonicCore - latency

Even some plugins introduce latency. Noone ever complained about lack of integration because of latency.

And for your info: you can use Virus in several different ways. As a purely external synth which means you don't use it as a plugin. You use plugin version only to control parameters. But you need to connect virus hardware out's to some ADDA converter. There ar epeople claiming they hear difference in such processing and some claim it is even punchier. IMHO there isn't difference in sound, maybe it is but that is because slight converter coloration. But if someone is going to build his music within converter coloration i think he should just shoot himself. But that is another subject.

But the point is that using it as that is as instant as you will get with any other snyth in the world. Your soundcard latency and of course you need to add slight AD DA converter latency and that is all. But this latency is what everyone is working with.

Is it something to bet on a Virus synth?