Advice needed on Access Virus C

[SlimboyPhatt]

Ok guys, some of your experience / views required.

I have the opportunity to buy my friends' Virus C for £500.

Can you advise me on these area's?

A} Is it worth £500?

B} With it being my first hardware synth, am i going to notice more work (suchs as having to bounce audio) Will it be worth it

C} Does it sound any better than any of the good soft synths available?

D} Any other comments?


Cheers Gents!

[MARK ANXIOUS]

i have the virus b and i find myself constantly reaching for it when i want to really get a phat phat sound. the filters on it are brilliant and i really like the analog boost algorithm. the distortions are exceptional too.

well worth getting. 500? god i'd snap that up STRAIGHT AWAY.

[Si the Sigh]

I'd agree with Mr EG. Top bit of kit, and a tidy price.

[ampassasinbirmingham]

bargain. One of the best synths for electronic music! Very very phat sounding

[SlimboyPhatt]

i have the virus b and i find myself constantly reaching for it when i want to really get a phat phat sound. the filters on it are brilliant and i really like the analog boost algorithm. the distortions are exceptional too.

well worth getting. 500? god i'd snap that up STRAIGHT AWAY.

Yeah, im really considering taking it. and have managed to secure a ONE MONTH LOAN of it from him!

The only thing im a little dubious on is how to work with hardware. As im not used to having to bounce to audio each time i want to get another sound out of a synth. I just open another instance of nexus for example.

Whats the best method for using hardware synths within its limits ?


And for those of you who would snap one up for this price, there is one on EBAY for £450 buy it now.

[ronlaboa]

you can have 16 sounds all running at once with the virus c and route them to six different outputs (mono) 3 (stereo) so youve got alot to play with

[Komplex]

personally I think its way over hyped but quite usable in the mix... don't expect to be totally blown away because sound wise, its on the same playing field as todays awesome soft synths... test it out and HEAR for yourself :) internet opinions are usually biased in some way and we all have different tastes.

[massplanck]

... don't expect to be totally blown away because sound wise, its on the same playing field as todays awesome soft synths...


lol

except its not a soft synth. and you dont have to wait for 10 mins for your pc to bootup & then load your daw & assign knobs & fiddle with a midi controller and stare at a little JPG of a synth.. etc etc

I agree though. Absynth & Massive would be amazing if there were hardware version of them out.

[SlimboyPhatt]

lol

except its not a soft synth. and you dont have to wait for 10 mins for your pc to bootup & then load your daw & assign knobs & fiddle with a midi controller and stare at a little JPG of a synth.. etc etc

I agree though. Absynth & Massive would be amazing if there were hardware version of them out.


well i have it now, i am amazed.

Took a little while to setup up the recording / playing delays in SX3, not sure if ive got it sorted yet.

Any advice on setting them up??

I cant wait to learn how to actually make my own sounds rather than patch hunting!!

[massplanck]

Good man Slimboy, I'm happy for you. I got mine about 2 months ago (second hand for 500 euro). It feel good to escape from the usuall Nazi 'softsynths are better' arguments which completly miss the point. The point being.. I dont want a ****ing softsynth. :)

If hardware was good enough to be responsible for all that amazing electronic music in the 80's & 90's then its good for me.

[massplanck]

well i have it now, i am amazed.

Took a little while to setup up the recording / playing delays in SX3, not sure if ive got it sorted yet.

Any advice on setting them up??
!

What advice do you want?

[SlimboyPhatt]

What advice do you want?

Well basicly on the best way to set it up in SX3

I have it setup up as an External VST, so i can set a delay for it.

At the moment it plays in time but records slightly out.

Is there a way of finding out the delays etc, without going through the trial and error method?

[massplanck]

Well basicly on the best way to set it up in SX3

I have it setup up as an External VST, so i can set a delay for it.

At the moment it plays in time but records slightly out.

Is there a way of finding out the delays etc, without going through the trial and error method?


Latency problems is it?
mmm. why dont you just record 4 kicks\ticks and have a look at how much the wav is out in soundforge and then adjust. Have you a half decent soundcard?

I'm not using mine with Cubase or any other DAW at the moment.

[SlimboyPhatt]

Latency problems is it?
mmm. why dont you just record 4 kicks\ticks and have a look at how much the wav is out in soundforge and then adjust. Have you a half decent soundcard?

I'm not using mine with Cubase or any other DAW at the moment.

yeah I have an EMU0404 running at latencey setting of 8 ms. I have done it that way, just wondered if there was some MAGICAL way of doing it that I had missed.

[massplanck]

I have done it that way, just wondered if there was some MAGICAL way of doing it that I had missed.

nah. Welcome to the joys of hardware. :)

[SlimboyPhatt]

nah. Welcome to the joys of hardware. :)

Well my friend who sold it to me is kicking himself. Because he didnt realise it was possible to use eq and fx etc from within cubase on the Virus LIVE.

He thought you always had to bounce it and then do the fx.

Poor guy ;) i do feel a little guilty taking it off him now.

[massplanck]

Well my friend who sold it to me is kicking himself. Because he didnt realise it was possible to use eq and fx etc from within cubase on the Virus LIVE.

He thought you always had to bounce it and then do the fx.

Poor guy ;) i do feel a little guilty taking it off him now.

Its always the same story with people who buy hardware, and then flog it off 1 year later and tell you how much better software is etc. They just dont know how to use it. The guy i bought it off told me 'he didnt like the sounds on it', but after much probing I discovered he had never once attempted to make his own sound.

[SlimboyPhatt]

Its always the same story with people who buy hardware, and then flog it off 1 year later and tell you how much better software is etc. They just dont know how to use it. The guy i bought it off told me 'he didnt like the sounds on it', but after much probing I discovered he had never once attempted to make his own sound.

I specificly got it for that reason.

NO MORE PATCH HUNTING!!

[massplanck]

Still for all my moaning. Massive is my fav softsynth outhere. easy to edit & create.

[SlimboyPhatt]

Still for all my moaning. Massive is my fav softsynth outhere. easy to edit & create.

Agreed, but i felt I more hands on approach would help me learn synthesis.

No just need to find a good articl on how to make good hard dance bass sounds, or figure it out myself

[Komplex]

Poor guy ;) i do feel a little guilty taking it off him now.

hehe don't feel sorry for him. he'll probably use that money to buy a synth that isn't a vst in a box...

shit, that sounds harsh...

let me rephrase:

he'll probably use that money and buy a half decent analogue synth and do the digital sounding stuff with vst plugins.

[stjohn]

hehe don't feel sorry for him. he'll probably use that money to buy a synth that isn't a vst in a box...

shit, that sounds harsh...
.


come on now ... the Virus is alot more than any software can do.. the distortion alone, wipes the floor with any software distortion ive encountered.... and ive tried a load of them.

true its not great for subs and that, but for f'ed up percussiony leads, its mint....

im very tempted to get a virus next summer.





but + 1 to massive and absynth!!
and +10000000 for fm8