The Virus TI2 desktop made me sell all my synths

I understand what you’re saying too. It wasn’t entirely intuitive the first time I tried editing things. I’m still learning, but I’m starting to get to know where to go to get to where I need. I haven’t learned any shortcuts or tricks yet; I’m hoping there are some related to routing modulations. I like synths that let you twist the knob of the parameter you want an LFO assigned to assign it quickly. Does anyone know if the Virus can do this somehow?

No you can’t assign modulations this way.
Imo it’s essential to use the editor for deeper editing.
Way too much menu diving on the hardware

The hardware is so nice though; I’m enjoying it. I love how the knobs feel.

2 Likes

I have to admit; this entire experience with the Virus made me rethink a lot of things regarding digital vs analog, and made me seriously reconsider revisiting Reason with a brand new quad core Macbook, I remember really liking Malström & Parsec, but not quite as much as I do the Virus TI. I really want to try that new Grain synth introduced with Reason 10. I have an old Reason license sitting around unused with a bunch of RE’s I compulsively bought when they first came out, These advanced/new forms of synthesis are intriguing the heck out of me right now.

1 Like

You enjoy your Virus @Prints. Bit of a shame that so many seem to have come on and taken a bit of a dump on things! If it works for you then who cares about the whole digital vs analogue thing or how old the synth is, etc, etc. It’s a fabulous feeling when you have been going through gear or hoarding it then you find something that allows you to shed all the bits and bobs that were just holding you back.

7 Likes

ouch!

I have to say, I miss my Virus Ti… I’ve owned both iterations and it was a joy to play on with excellent build quality. It did feel a little convoluted but it was the Swiss Army knife of my studio. I will buy one again one day, particularly as now I am better at synthesis thanks to the modular world.

The only issue, if one can call it that, was that I would run out of gas/power quite quickly on intensive patches, something was necessary as I found the sound a little stale/thin without FX… the voice count would drop which wasnt particularly useful when wanting to use it to its full multi timbral capability.

Either way, I miss it and I will certainly buy it again soon - it’s been on my watch list the past few months. If only they released a more powerful version as the Sharc processors are quite dated by today’s standards…

Yeah, VST plugins may sound good… but they are not physical synths, they are bits of data on a hard drive. Once the developer goes out of business you’d better have a backup, and you’d better keep that computer offline and pray it will all work in 5 years’ time. And of course you’d better be careful not to get RSI or carpal tunnel from using the mouse. Me, I’ll be smiling and doing this

because staring at a computer screen with hundreds of things to click on is just too much like work… and kills my creative mood. I don’t care about the million options, (that will probably be changed after a few updates) I just want to make some sounds without thinking about computery stuff.

Real hardware and especially Access gear, will work in 5 years exactly as it does today. No computer, no software updates to mess things up. I have a Virus B that looks like it got kicked around like a football, there are bits of rust inside, the filter knob wobbles like a drunk person…but it still works perfectly.
Yeah, the overdriven lead sounds got used to death by all the formulaic psy trance garbage…and the bass doesn’t hold up to a good analog… but it can do a lot more.

1 Like

It’s not much of an ouch on my end, I actually made a profit when I sold it.

And… I’ll keep my voice low for this one though probably not a problem in a Virus thread - but I much prefer digital sounds across the board. I love digital delays, digital synths, solid state guitar amps (JC40). It didn’t make sense to keep the OB6 around for me just to play big ole’ bass notes. I’m hoping NAMM sees some really cool and forward thinking digital synths.

2 Likes

Fair enough. I just believe that the OB6 is the best sounding synthesizer out there (much more than bass sounds!!!) and I’d take it over anything else in that price range, but tastes are tastes.

2 Likes

I guess you have checked out Reaktor… it’s insane if you don’t mind using the mouse. Prism ( a Reaktor based plug) may interest you. It does some kind of FM or granular thing, not sure.

I did. Didn’t have a convenient enough of a way to incorporate it into the Reason workflow so I lost interest. I’ve never been a really huge fan of Ableton, and I already have a lot invested in Reason, so I’ll probably just stick to that platform. I really liked Razor quite a bit.

Cool. I bought a cheap Maschine MK2 just to have some hands-on control of the NI synths and because it does MIDI sequencing better than Live+ Push, IMO.
I used Reason years back and found it pretty good and easy for arranging tracks but the sound quality when mixing everything together didn’t do it for me. I guess it’s improved a lot since then.

I bought almost all the Softube REs, and the Ozone Maximizer. I got things to sound decent pretty decent.

This was made entirely in Reason.

4 Likes

Serum is awesome! I really hope that one day a hardware synth will be produced with a serum like interface and features. I have a ti2 and serum, and i struggle to admit that I miss the option to create my own wavetable on the ti2/Virus control. Soundwise i would not saw that serum is superior, they are both very capable.

But there is no other digital synth with more features, as the Virus. Virus still rules, but in the end software synth will always be more flexible. But what people mostly forget, is the fact that a good pc costs at least as much as a good analog synth. One day. There will be no differente between digital and analog, just a matter of time…
The combo of a OT and VIRUS is absolutely priceless XD

An interesting commonality between the TI2 and OT are that they have fully mature OS’s that have been refined to degrees very uncommon for any hardware synths/samplers.

1 Like

Yes absolutely. But I took some time for the virus, but now it works perfect!

By the way: when I got the Virus a few months ago, and I played for a while, I was like „I will never need my other Synths!“. So I can understand why you created this post :wink:

2 Likes

I love my OT MK2, but I also love having a sequencer built into the synth itself.

A Virus TI2 with an Elektron sequencer built in would rock my world beyond belief.
Total dream machine.

9 Likes

Yeah Serum in a hardware synth would be great.
Unlimited options with its user wavetables.
Here’s Serum hardware in deadmau5 studio :joy: