Hey guys, there’s an access virus in my area for extremely cheap. Trying to decide if I should buy it. I most likely would be sequencing it with my OT and would be controlling the parameters within the Access Virus from the OT. Was wondering if anyone here has done this, and would let me know if its any fun or if its worth it. Are all the parameters accessible via cc? Cheers let me know.
P.S. Im asking about the Access Virus TI Snow specifically.
I had a snow until i upgraded to the TI desktop… I believe the TI snow has the same sound engine as the TI desktop but its CPU has slightly less processing power so the polyphony has been reduced [from like 96 voices down to 30] and it might be lacking a few other bells and whistles [fewer parts in multi mode, others i cant recall] but it is otherwise the same as the TI desktop and is a killer digital synth.
honestly, more than anything else my main reason for switching was i got offered one as part of a trade and i honestly liked the fact the desktop has thirty-something knobs for tweaking.
if you can source one in good condition for short money, you enjoy the sounds you’ve heard from it and don’t mind it being digital i think you’ll be very happy with it.
word thank you man. I’m interested in it because I need something portable and polyphonic for my live set up. I’m hearing some nice pads from it on youtube.
No matter which model you get. You will have an excellent and flexible synth that sounds superb. The Virus deserves it’s reputation. There have been complaints about the total integration feature being buggy/unreliable. Other than that there isn’t really anything to fault.
I have never used the TI feature. My Virus is a KC which doesn’t have usb.
i’ve been in your shoes - bought a snow a couple of years back intending to use it with my ot, the way you are asking about. i ended up selling it after a year of frustration. your experiences may not echo mine, but i’ll tell you why we didn’t get along in case it helps.
the snow is for most purposes as powerful as the keyboard viruses, but programming it requires a computer that runs one of a few (well-known) supported daws if you want to get beyond the basics. that doesn’t sound bad on paper, but i found the ti system access has come up with to be hard to manage, though i was running ableton on a mac … it was buggy and hard to figure out, partially because of the poorly organized manual that was clearly aimed at keys version owners. there was a fairly active user forum with helpful people on it, but i felt like every time i set aside some time to spend digging into the snow, i got stopped by some issue or other. basically i felt like i owned a diamond mine buried under impenetrable earth, so it was no good for me.
the sound was heartbreakingly good, and a keys model remains on my want list. but if you can, get the current owner to show you how he’s used it. if you can perceive a decent workflow for yourself based on what you see that will allow you to create patches, you might have a far better experience than i did. if.
The Main leak of TI’s is:
connected over usb to use the Editor, you cant control the TI ’ over pure Midi anymone,
Because the Midi in & out running then as a midi “USB MIDI Hub”. I changed my TI desktop to a ti polar to use the local keyboard …
But the Sound is absolut worth to get over this lead.
Mostly i am work the my OT over Midi without USB connected.
But i am not a Profi…
Greetings Darius
I can heartily recommend the Snow. I had one for quite some time, and as others have mentioned, its sound is fabulous. Given the small size of the unit, there is a lot of power in a very compact footprint.
I didn’t experience buggy integration with TI / Ableton / Mac OS myself. The latest, free, updates to the access Virus firmware provided some new & crazy filter options + more.
Additionally, the Ben Crosland Virus TI Programming Bootcamp series of tutorials on vimeo is a treasure trove of interesting synthesis lessons.
My Snow played very well with elektron stuff.
Thanks guys, I went ahead and picked it up. Been having quite a bit of fun with it so far! Haven’t even messed around with the total integration yet. Just sequencing from the OT. I have found that I have a hard time hearing the difference made by tweeking parameters. I think it could just be that there’s so many layers to the patch that for example tweeking the pitch of one OSC just kinda gets masked by all the other sounds. Any tips or sweet spots you guys could recommend?
you still have your Virus? Was thinking about getting one these just for arp bass. well, mostly.
sold it but wish i hadn’t.
I’ve seen a few pop up on uk gumtree recently , about £450+
I played my last two gig with OT and Snow. Marvelous combo. One hour live with just two machines, it was so cool.
I don’t have computer, so integration isn’t a problem. I had a Virus C before and the lack of buttons on Snow isn’t a problem. I hardly program it and with habit I don’t see difference with Virus C (that have more tweak abilities) So now i’m looking for a second one in view to have more multi possibilities (4 is a bit shorty if you use big patches/consuming lot of engine capability).
The only problem with Snow is that massive use of cc seems to crash the beast. You must then reboot it. A pitty in live situation…
Hi, I experiences the same problem with the combo DG and Virus TI Snow, I have to reboot it many time as it got frozen or with the wrong sound pattern. Getting me crazy…
I currently using the sequencer mode.
Does anyone find a way to get those two devices stabled together ?
wondering if the problem is coming from:
I’d be intrested to know if it happens with a newer version of the Virus.
Glad to hear your good experiences with this combo. I’m about to buy one these days and plan to use it with the Octatrack. OT has eight midi tracks so can you sequence all four parts on the Snow with it (not CPU heavy patches) and automate parameters via midi?
I suppose that if I can do it with with the Digitalt, it should be the same idea with the Octatrack.
After mapping by example the Cutoff(40) to Midi CC Value, I can use the Live-rec option in order to modulate as I want and get it reflect in the Virus Ti Snow sequencing.
By the way, as I am very curious to know more about the problem we have with elenacortes, I opened a new entry regarding Digitakt and Virus TI: Digitakt And Virus Ti in DawLess setup... stable?
If you use “light programed” patches on Virus and resonable cc the Snow works perfectly. It’s a pleasure to have little footprint when playing live and big sound on the stage.
Futhermore, the Snow is really easy to avoid problems in live thanks to the few buttons to be tweaked. A good prog of the three assignable knobs and the matrix permit a good and enough playability in live.
So I really like this combo.
You know, OT in its self is enough to break the ground, so if you join to it the Virus’ power, you can’t meet deception.
But if you want heavy cc prog and heavy patches, you will easily meet the limits. That’s why I thought about a second one…
But it would be a bit overkill… since my last work on this combo, I understand well the fact to use few but good sounds programed. I often find myself using just one Virus sound (max 2) and only 3 audio tracks on the OT. Less sounds, but more defined.
What ever, i’m curious to read answers to Psyraw’s new thread.
Great! Actually I have just ordered a used Snow and I’m looking much forward to use it in my music. I did own a TI2 Desktop once but was foolish to sell it. I’m going to use it together with the Digitone so I don’t really need a lot of complex patches. I have gotten use to the Digitone having only 8 voices which actually works surprisingly well.
So my recommendation is to get a Digitone instead of a second Snow. It is an amazing synth!
I have a dt and a snow. I have used the snow for 10 years with the TI vst software but when i hooked it up with a MIDI cable to the DT i got some excellent and different reasults. I found my self using it in ways i never imagines staring at a VST interface, and using plocks to automate crossmod and wavetable possition was insain. Its a little menue divey but you realise its not rocket sugery after a short while. I stopped caring about the TI vst after a bit and now that the snow is away from my DT im getting more vanilla type sounds from it. Its a great combo and definately sample fodder as well.