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access virus ti desktop

I was thinking about getting a hard synth for sound and saving cpu. Saving cpu is my main question. I see that it works as an audio unit and the plugin lets you control all the synth parameters. So my question is..does this thing eat alot of cpu using it as an AU or is this something you can turn off. This maybe a noob question, but I have only used soft synths, so I really have no clue about any of this stuff. I'm running a power book 1.5 with 512 ram, osx 10.4.11

It depends how you setup the TI. You can use it as a std midi synth where all sound is generated by the TI and the DAW is used only to send midi. This uses standard midi cables. Or you can use the Access Control which connects to the pc via usb and is effectively a VST giving you all the control via the plugin. This is the main feature of the TI so you would be silly to use option 1 which you could do with a earlier version Virus C.

However the VST still requires memory and CPU and although I'm not sure how it compares to typical software only VST's, I'm sure it is pretty close in resource usage if not more than some. The one advantage however is that there are 16 channels available which means hyperthetically you can load up to 16 patches all in one VST. The reality is there is a voice limit (128 I think). Oscillators and effects take up voices so you could find that 4 really phat patches could use up all the voices meaning you're limited again. Also you cannot load more than 1 Access Control. You could offset this by recording one layer and converting to audio.

Using the Virus as a sound card is also possible with usb connection but I don't recommend it. You get better performance using a dedicated sound card in your pc, even inexpensive ones.

In summary Virus Control does take a bit of CPU and memory and it is not going to solve your cpu problems.

I would say however that the Virus is a great piece of kit and hours of fun and in my view worth the money. If CPU usage is your main concern however, you better off buying a new pc. It's probably less expensive.

I think Reno is wrong.

I have a TI desktop and use the vst to control it. As far as I can tell, it uses none at all or very little cpu. It has its own dsp's or whatever they're called inside it so does all processing itself.

The virus would be an excellent choice and would indeed free up a lot of cpu for you

If you are going to use the Virus instead of a bunch of softsynths then yes. If not spend that money on a new computer.

Yeah perhaps I was wrong: http://faq.access-music.de/index.ph...n&highlight=cpu

I'm aware the sound is created by the Virus so there is no CPU overhead there but the software is still a windows API with various interfaces into the sound card, DAW and Virus and I have noticed performance issues before when loading many Virus patches with lots of automation but to be fair, I also had softsynths and Reason rewired. Rewire is a cpu nightmare.

Thing is it would be very difficult to only use a Virus for a track so I don't see how you can avoid other softsynths, particularly for drums.

quote:

Originally posted by G-Con I think Reno is wrong. I have a TI desktop and use the vst to control it. As far as I can tell, it uses none at all or very little cpu.

Same here. Although, I agree with Reno that using a dedicated soundcard is preferable to using the Virus as one.

quote:

Originally posted by cryophonik Same here. Although, I agree with Reno that using a dedicated soundcard is preferable to using the Virus as one.

Agreed. The Ti uses next to nothing in the way of CPU cycles however I would not recommend using it as your soundcard. I tried that once and it was horribly latent.

Yeah I've been using mine as a soundcard recently and am not particularly happy with the results.

That said, the thing is a fucking beast and has provided me hundreds of hours of entertainment. I would recommend it in a heartbeat to anyone.

Thanks, really good info. That thing looks fucking wicked, I have to just nut up and buy one. Guitar Center has 12 months no interest, these ******s are still giving money away!!

Re: access virus ti desktop

quote:

Originally posted by Bayou Boy I was thinking about getting a hard synth for sound and saving cpu. Saving cpu is my main question. I see that it works as an audio unit and the plugin lets you control all the synth parameters. So my question is..does this thing eat alot of cpu using it as an AU or is this something you can turn off. This maybe a noob question, but I have only used soft synths, so I really have no clue about any of this stuff. I'm running a power book 1.5 with 512 ram, osx 10.4.11

Upgrading your computer would be alot cheaper and more effective

Re: Re: access virus ti desktop

quote:

Originally posted by dainja Upgrading your computer would be alot cheaper and more effective

...but not nearly as fun.


But, yeah, looking at his specs, I think you have a good point - I think I'd opt to upgrade my computer first if it was my decision.

It's pretty sad, I use to think my computer was a beast of a laptop. These newer computers with dual processors, could run NASA. I think you can buy a mac desktop with six chips in it, thats crazy!!!

In a nutshell yes or no answer from people with experience of it, is it worth me saving up the huge amount of money to buy the Virus? Demos of it sound amazing and ive always wanted a hardware synth.

In my opinion yes. If you enjoy making music, or hell just playing around with an awesome toy, then you will not regret the purchase.

You certainly don't need one to make awesome trance/house etc, but it definitely helps There's also the Atomizer built in to it now, which is a great DJ toy to have fun with.

quote:

Originally posted by Tom Scott In a nutshell yes or no answer from people with experience of it, is it worth me saving up the huge amount of money to buy the Virus? Demos of it sound amazing and ive always wanted a hardware synth.

If your not really into production that much, then no. However, if your fairly dedicated then you should have a lot of fun with it!

quote:

Originally posted by Tom Scott In a nutshell yes or no answer from people with experience of it, is it worth me saving up the huge amount of money to buy the Virus? Demos of it sound amazing and ive always wanted a hardware synth.

You are the only one who can answer that question. Obviously you are being limited in what you can do by your aging computer. You don't need a synth to fix that problem. A computer upgrade would do the trick perfectly. If you think paying whatever you are going to pay for a hardware synth because you feel limited by the software you are using then take that into consideration. I'm about to buy my first hardware synths next month, and I don't need anyone to tell me if it is worth it or not. I don't think I can get the sounds I want as quickly as I want and edit them on the fly the way I want with just software, and I've always thought analogue gear sounds better be it a guitar amp, or a synthesizer I prefer the sound. I also love the digital sounds I can get out of the synths in Logic, so I won't stop using those when I get my synths. You really have to think about it and answer the question yourself. The Virus isn't going to make your productions sound better automatically.

I would highly recommend it. It was spendy but I have never regretted the purchase as it was worth every penny IMO. It is an amazing piece of equipment and was the turning point for me in achieving sounds I was never able to achieve without it.

Best would be going for an intel quad core like the Q9550 or Q6600 depending on which your mobo can support. If you're AMD based the new Phenoms II is a great upgrade too. They can overclock very well if you need more speed.

You're not going to be able to run many tracks of a Virus Ti, something like 4-5 parts only unless very simple patches are used. It won't save you from cpu problems and it's a way more expensive solution to your problem.

An intel i7 setup would be pretty sweet too. Cost less than a virus ti and you'll be able to run alot more vsti's and at lower buffer size.

But if you want the virus sound and it's capabilities, a virus Ti is pretty sweet. But I wouldn't buy it just to save cpu

quote:

Originally posted by Timothy Best would be going for an intel quad core like the Q9550 or Q6600 depending on which your mobo can support.

Yeah, I recently bought a new computer with an Intel QuadCore Q6600 and 2gm RAM. Should be upgrading it to 4gm of RAM soon hopefully as well. So far im sorted with CPU, it takes a lot of patches to start running out of cycles and by then i convert to audio anyway.

Despite only being 16, I am quite dedicated to production, I have no problems with spending the money on it i was mainly seeing whether you guys found the purchase worthwile or not. I think your replies have pretty much made up my mind

In reply to Zild, I am not really looking to purchase the Virus to help with CPU speed. The main reason I want to purchase a hardware synth is for the increased quality in sounds and the synthesis capabilities of the virus. As i said before the demos I have heard of the sounds from the Virus are amazing and just sound much richer than what I can achieve so far with software. Of course I do love some of the sounds from my software synths also, the purchase of a hardware synth would not make them obsolete of course. The abilty to change the synth paramaters live is also a large factor for me. Im sure lots of you will agree that fiddling about with a physical knob as opposed to software is much more satisfying and provides better results in the long run.

Good deal. Sounds like you will have fun and make good use with it. Those are good reasons since you aren't buying it just to ease the load on your laptop. It will do that a little bit but of course a new computer is the best option there.

Just one other thing, if you're going to purchase the Virus TI and have a bit extra to spend (and some more space on your desk), go for the keyboard option not the desktop only. The full keyboard really adds to the whole experience and is a beautifully crafted piece of kit. It doesn't give you any additional functionality than having a seperate midi keyboard but the keys are weighted perfectly and extremely solid along with the modulation and pitch bend.

You can also assign the knobs to any vst or reason device so you could completely get rid of an existing midi keyboard if you had one. I had a pretty decent midi keyboard before hand, well thought it was until I got the TI. IT ROCKS!! The first days entertainment value was achieved just by switching it on and off a few times!!

quote:

Originally posted by Reno The full keyboard really adds to the whole experience and is a beautifully crafted piece of kit. It doesn't give you any additional functionality than having a seperate midi keyboard but the keys are weighted perfectly and extremely solid along with the modulation and pitch bend.

I originally went with the Desktop, but I think Renos right. Looking back now, I wish I could've saved an extra 150 or so for the Keys, Pitch bend and Mod wheel. Either way both items will do the same job and this is only my opinion...

I think it should be brought up here that the Virus TI itself has a processor limitation and will eventually choke out. Don't buy the TI to simply decrease the load on your PC. Buy it for the sounds. Otherwise upgrade / get a new PC.

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