DSP56300 (Access Virus) emulator (very alpha, no GUI)

The Lounge Other Gear
#1

Some good progress has been made on an open source project to emulate the Motorola DSP56300 chip (as used in the Access Virus, along with a whole bunch of other 90s synths from Waldorf, Novation, Nord etc.) and it can now run Virus B and C ROMs as a VST!

Only had a little play but it sounds legit and you can listen to all the factory presets using program change messages. It’s fairly heavy on the CPU, being an emulator.

https://dsp56300.wordpress.com - bit of a write up at https://www.musicradar.com/news/synth-emulator-plugin

There’s no GUI yet - apparently they are working on this next. For now you can hook up an external editor (though I couldn’t figure out how to route it properly in any of my VST hosts).

You’ll need to find your own ROMs (not very hard) and follow the setup instructions - if you’re not very technical, it’s probably best to wait until the project has progressed a bit further before trying. Really cool stuff anyway!

21 Likes
Monomachine DSP oscillators and filters in software?
#2

I am excited about being able to accurately emulate a Microwave II with a VST! I wonder if anyone has made any audio examples with the microwave rom yet?

4 Likes
#3

As far as I know they are focussing on the Virus first, getting that to a point where it has a basic UI, then they are going to move on to other synths. Not sure which is next up!

2 Likes
#4

damnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn,

MD/MnM chip when???

7 Likes
#5

Awesome news! I don’t use my Virus C as much as I should. They are still highly sought after as primo virtual analog synths, would be great to pack that sound into a vst.

2 Likes
#6

Totally, same here - I have a Virus Indigo but it takes up too much space so it’s under the bed right now! The Virus has some absolute classic sounds and can still hold its own.

Looking forward to them adding the UI to this as I can’t work out how to connect a controller app to it on Mac :upside_down_face:

1 Like
#7

I’ve got the virus c rom up and running using this m4l device and Ableton 11.
https://maxforlive.com/library/device/6606/virusc

You can change patches and almost everything else. Eq and distortion don’t seem to work though.
I’m not going above 7% cpu on my I7 7700k @4.2 with 32gb Ram even using multiple voices and fx :blush:

2 Likes
#8

Oh nice, I didn’t think of trying max for live! Going to try that now, thanks! :ok_hand:

#9

Just put the rom and emulator in the same folder in your vst directory and place the m4l in front of the vst and you’re good to go :+1:

1 Like
#10

Woah yeah it works! Super cool, thanks very much :blush:

I also couldn’t get the phaser or the arp working. Some of the presets have arp working though so maybe an issue with the M4L controller part rather than the emulation itself.

Look forward to playing around more, really impressive. Had to stop using it as my MacBook was starting to burn my legs :wink: and the M4L device was making my eyes hurt a bit but I look forward to playing around more plugged in to a monitor tomorrow!

3 Likes
#11

Just wanted to try this. Am I right that this doesn’t run on mac anymore?

#12

I am pretty sure it works on Mac! I’ve used it on my 2019 i9 and it runs OK with some crackles. I believe it works better on M1 Macs

1 Like
#13

Can somebody give me a walkthrough on how to get this running? I have a mini M1. I downloaded the vst and vst3 emulators and copied the rom into the same folder. when I start my DAW it complains about safety issues and says the plugins needs to be updated. something that apple doesnt approve or something.

can anybody help?

#14

I have a Macbook Pro M1 and it works perfect within Ableton Live.

You have to go to ‘system preferences/security’ and approve that the system can use the VST.

3 Likes
#15

Have it up and running now. Thanks dude

As I’m new to Mac I had no clue how to get around this. Good to know.

1 Like
#16

When I use ‘Rosetta’ mode with Ableton Live I got crackled sound, in ‘native’ M1 mode not. Anyone else?

#17

It doesn’t crackle in Rosetta on my mini

1 Like
#18

Which rom do you use?

#19

I just installed the AU and VST files, the BIN file and it appears to be working it shows its incompatible in logic and it makes no sound. any help?

#20

do you mean theres no AAX ?

Q: What platforms are supported?

A: Plugins are available as VST x64 for Windows, VST/AU x64/arm64 for macOS and VST x64 for Linux