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Access Virus TI Snow / Polar

Is this the equipment recommendation forum?

I'm tempted to invest in an Access Virus TI. The descriptions online aren't all that telling and GC (by my house) only has a Snow, so I've got nothing to directly compare it with. What I'm wondering is how much I am sacrificing by going with a Snow instead of a Polar. There's a significant price difference (more than double) and I'm wondering if the sacrifice in cost by going with the Snow is something I'm going to regret in the long run. Could someone that has used both at length give me an idea of the features you'd be missing with the Snow so I can better gauge whether I get what I can afford now, or put the investment off for quite some time?

Appreciate it.

The main differences I've noticed are the number of parts and polyphony. The TI Snow is only 4 parts multi-timbral while the other TI's are 16 parts. And I believe the TI Snow is limited to 50-something voice polyphony?

Half the polyphony.

get a virus ti desktop. the price difference is only ~$300-400, but you get all the polyphony, parts and knobs.

snow really needs to be $200 cheaper for it to be worth it.

quote:

Originally posted by echosystm snow really needs to be $200 cheaper for it to be worth it.

I agree - although I'd actually say the Snow needs to be about $400 cheaper to have a comparable cost:benefit ratio as the desktop TI. But either way, I agree that the Snow is way overpriced and you'd be better off spending a little more on a TI desktop.

The Virus TI Desktop is the way to go.

Snow is small, has 1 DSP chip, and is tedious to program without using the software.

And none of the Virus keyboards offers any advantage except the keyboard. (Other synths has a all the knobs over a bigger surface, while on the Virus it`s just melted together.)

quote:

Originally posted by No Left Turn The main differences I've noticed are the number of parts and polyphony. The TI Snow is only 4 parts multi-timbral while the other TI's are 16 parts. And I believe the TI Snow is limited to 50-something voice polyphony?

The polyphony is only enough for 4-8 parts though (Virus TI), or 2-4 parts (Virus TI Snow). Polyphony on the Virus is a bit odd. It differs depending on what oscillators and effects you use.

Does anyone seriously use all 16 parts though? I use multi mode alot but even then I pretty much never use more than 2 or 3 parts and not because of polyphony limitations. It just gets messy after that and mixing them all together and editing singles is slow and annoying.

quote:

Originally posted by Derivative Does anyone seriously use all 16 parts though?

Good point. I typically use 1-4 Virus parts and combine them with other synths, although I have a few unfinished works that use as many as about 8 Virus parts IIRC. I find the number of outputs to be the limiting factor since I post-process most of the parts in my DAW.

The 3rd USB output with the new 2.7 OS in beta makes using more than 4 patches simultaneously a much more attractive option.

BTW, if you click on the download OS 2.5.1 link on the virus site, you get to the OS 2.7 beta with the 3 outs, atomizer and all that goodness.

quote:

Originally posted by Sean Walsh BTW, if you click on the download OS 2.5.1 link on the virus site, you get to the OS 2.7 beta with the 3 outs, atomizer and all that goodness.

I've been following the thread on the Unofficial Access site regarding the 2.7 beta OS for a few weeks now. It sounds like a nightmare for many people, so I'm waiting for the official 2.7 OS release. The third output is going to be a VERY nice feature.

I think it's on the 3rd iteration of the beta so far. I personally installed it over the weekend and haven't had any issues, but I haven't mucked around with atomizer yet.

Really excited to explore the possibilities though. I'm more and more in love with this beast by the month.

Thanks for the info - helpful in my decision making.

Now I've just got to finally list my Motife ES8 for sale... going to miss the bass sounds, guitars, and 88 keys. Not going to miss the lack of synths... life's a compromise.

Appreciate the input.

Shit, check out this atomizer video.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=41BUEC-il3g

This thing looks so fucking awesome, I can't wait to explore the possibilities.

I'm sure I'll be in a minority here but may I suggest not buyin TI at all? I've had every single one of TI iterations and they all had UNFIXABLE problems.

1. Multimode is unreliable on best days. On other days it plain and simple SUCKS. Imagine playing a multipatch that keeps getting stuck with only 2 parts - and this is on TI Kbd, Polar, or desktop

2. Clicks, pops, etc - bugs galore.

3. Horrible issues when used with USB and TI software.

4. Using TI as a "soundcard" over USB is virtually useless due to horrific latency, clicks/pops, and awful stability issues

5. CRAPLOAD of unresolved problems which will never be fixed due to hardware limitations.

6. Completely bogus polyphony numbers. I can take the same patches on my Virus C and run a multipatch without any problems or running out of voices. Same patch on TI goes ape-crap and runs out of polyphony.

7. TI sounds "colder" than Virus C. I can't explain it but same patches on Virus C sound more "analog" than they do on TI.

8. Even running in single mode, you still get stuck notes, cracks, pops, etc.

Bottom line - TI is like Windows Vista - you either love it or hate it but regardless of your like/dislike you will have tons of problems to work through.

I like Virus C simplicity and stability as well. I've seen soooo many live acts have problems with Virus TI on stage that it amazes me that people would continue using this POS. Thomas Dolby was down due to TI malfunction for about 10 minutes on the 1st show I saw him and then another one he did with BT. Saw several local bands that used TI have lock up issues in live gig as well.

I think you're better off buying a Virus C (at much cheaper price) which has most of the features of TI. All the gizmos they added to TI are not worth the instability or frustration.

Check out a this little file I created while messing around with my polar. All synth parts are TI Multi, all drum sounds are PX-7. No sequencer, directly connected to MOTU 828 MK2 and recorded straight to Sony Soundforge 8. Sorry for mistakes. The only connections are Audio & MIDI (no USB).

http://www.cynep.com/sounds/fuxord1.mp3

Artifacts:
@52 sec, @1:10 - clicks, @2:17 voice loss, @2:36 noise, @5:22 noise, @5:27 - filter "bump" - and those are just some of the more obvious ones.

BTW, the multi-patch I created (and saved) for this track vanished after I turned virus on/off. Actually, the name and sounds stayed but all arp patterns and some other multi-settings did not get saved.

JUST AN FYI.

I've read about all of the above problems and believe you, but for what it's worth the only of the above I've ever experienced is the latency, but since I don't play keyboard in a live setting it's not an issue.

I've experienced a few of those problems on occasion using my Polar TI with Cubase SL3, and a few more with Cubase Studio 4.1, but absolutely none of them with Sonar 7 - it's rock-solid. And, I'm using the same audio card - MOTU 828mkII. But, it also works fine through my other audio cards (SB X-Fi and E-mu 0404 USB).

The huge advantage with the TI (the primary reason im getting one)

Is the fact that everything u do gets saved into the project file, you can just close the project when ur done without thinking of finding the patch or what you made again.

Its a pain in the ass to keep recalling the patches you`ve tweaked and recorded.

So if it can do this, then its gold.

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I didn't want to start a new one.
So, the time has finally come when I feel like maybe I want some hardware, and some second hand Tis have started coming up on ebay, so I just had a couple of questions:
first, whats the Tis advantages over the C? Obviously its got the integration thing, but I'm not using it as a soundcard so otherwise?
What's the difference in polyphony between the two (I know C's supposed to be 32 and Tis sposed to be 84) in real terms? I know that people say you don't get anywhere near the quoted polyphony with the Ti, so how much better is it really?
What other advantages does the Ti have over the C that you find helpful?
Is anyone using it with Ableton? If so, how's the stability looking?
How much bandwidth does it chew up USB wise?
So I guess my real question is, is a Ti worth another 5-600 dollars compared to a C?

quote:

Originally posted by Derivative Does anyone seriously use all 16 parts though? I use multi mode alot but even then I pretty much never use more than 2 or 3 parts and not because of polyphony limitations. It just gets messy after that and mixing them all together and editing singles is slow and annoying.

i dont, ill get maybe 8-9 patches max, and even then, i record parts progressively so i always have like 2-3 channels playing at most


I know the ti has more waveforms, more waveform shaping options, and for the rest im not sure. But theres like hundreds of wavetable waveforms that you can morph together and stuff like that, makes for really cool sounds. Theres also the supersquare I believe lol

quote:

Originally posted by kitphillips Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I didn't want to start a new one. So, the time has finally come when I feel like maybe I want some hardware, and some second hand Tis have started coming up on ebay, so I just had a couple of questions: first, whats the Tis advantages over the C? Obviously its got the integration thing, but I'm not using it as a soundcard so otherwise? What's the difference in polyphony between the two (I know C's supposed to be 32 and Tis sposed to be 84) in real terms? I know that people say you don't get anywhere near the quoted polyphony with the Ti, so how much better is it really? What other advantages does the Ti have over the C that you find helpful? Is anyone using it with Ableton? If so, how's the stability looking? How much bandwidth does it chew up USB wise? So I guess my real question is, is a Ti worth another 5-600 dollars compared to a C?

What you get with the TI:
- Hypersaw
- Wave/Formant/Grain-tables
- Separate reverb and delay effects for all parts. (The Virus C only allows sends.)
- VSTi integration
- Higher resolution LCD screen.
- An extra assignable knob.
- Expanded mod matrix.
- Double DSP. (This means it has aproximately double the polyphony of the Virus C, but each DSP can only be used on separate parts.)
- Crappy dynamic voice allocation algorithm. (It sometimes screws up and results in pops and crackles.)
- Bugs

quote:

Originally posted by Eldritch - Bugs

LOL

quote:

Originally posted by Eldritch - Crappy dynamic voice allocation algorithm. (It sometimes screws up and results in pops and crackles.) - Bugs

These unique features haven't been changed yet? I mean its been out a long time now... Does this stuff still happen if its run in standalone mode, with no VST integration?
That stuff about the atomiser might have just sold me on the thing...

quote:

Originally posted by kitphillips These unique features haven't been changed yet? I mean its been out a long time now... Does this stuff still happen if its run in standalone mode, with no VST integration? That stuff about the atomiser might have just sold me on the thing...

Whilst there are a reasonable number of people who have the problems Eldritch mentioned, there are plenty of people (such as me) who don't have any problems. Admittedly, the only way to find out is to buy one

quote:

Originally posted by G-Con Whilst there are a reasonable number of people who have the problems Eldritch mentioned, there are plenty of people (such as me) who don't have any problems. Admittedly, the only way to find out is to buy one

Same here, had a TI desktop for a while now with no problems, i'm running the beta OS with 3xUSB outs too and it has been fine *touch wood*

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