get a virus C

2x as good as the Virus Powercore

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The Powercore version of the Virus C is what Marcos uses for Bass lines - if thats the kind of sound you are after. And of course its a good deal cheaper than the outboard. £1049 on digital village for a Virus C

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quote:

Originally posted by alanzo get a virus C 2x as good as the Virus Powercore

id have to disagree.

i have heard comparisons to the virus c and the powercore virus in the studio, both sounded exactly the same
except for the sounds for the virus c, that use the new moog filter.

the virus powercore doesnt have this (yet )

if you want to pay the extra $$$ just for the moog filter and a few other new features in the virus c, then go ahead.
but they are really not major over the virus b and virus powercore.

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Except the encoder DA used on Powercore board and the Virus C, cos they are different, the same engine runs over the Virus C's DSP and Powercore's DSP. They are identical (except the moog self-oscilating filter as well).

AK

kc has a awesome keyboard...

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which virus to get?

how much are you prepared to spend?

theres not much difference between the virus a, b and c. the difference between the a and b series is greater than the difference between the b and c series.

never buy musical instruments first hand. not unless you like paying through your arse for your gear. alot of synth owners tend to look after their gear so buying second hand is always for me a preferable option to paying a premium on brand new goods.

ive seen virus c desktops on ebay for as little as £650 (not including shipping)

ive seen virus b desktops on ebay for as little as £350 (not including shipping)

i got mine for £390 + £15 delivery and it was somewhere between very good to near mint in terms of its condition.

ive seen virus indigos go for as little as £420 (a virus indigo is a virus b desktop exactly with pitch/mod wheels + a 3 octave keyboard without aftertouch. oh and a different paintjob)

the powercore virus is essentially a stripped down version of a virus b. the polyphony per instance is lower (16 voices) and the multitimbrality is lower. however, with the multi license you can run many instances of the virus plugin to get more than 60 voices and more timbral parts if you want. the more voices the better really. i can kill all 24 voices on my virus b pretty easily with a unison pad and a large chord. virus c has 32 voices but i reckon i could have that just as easily - the difference isnt huge. 60 voices though...thats alot more.

the powercore virus is in my opinion not a softsynth. its subject to its own latency and it drags behind the rest of your audio tracks just like any other hardware synth including the hardware virus.

things you dont get with the powercore virus - the wonderful build quality of access instruments. the virus kb/kc keyboard is excellent. the rotaries are very well designed and feel very good in operation. the buttons are cheap as shit though. other than that viruses are built like tanks. i think virus b desktops are also cheaper than a multi powercore license. and it feels more tangible having something on your desk which you can 'play.'

differences between the c engine and the b engine? the c has a specially designed moog filter (although it doesnt sound like a moog filter, it does sound good). the c has a 3 band EQ built into it which the b does not. the c has 8 extra voices of polyphony. it also has more modulation maxtrix slots which is easily the biggest advantage over the b. modulation is what the virus is all about. the c also also has a revised control surface, where the effects section is accessible on the face of the unit as well as the 3rd oscillator and all modulation slots. all of these features on the virus b are in submenus on the LED display.

differences between indigos and keyboard viruses? access indigo, access virus kb, access virus b desktop and virus desktop classic are all virus b engine synths and sound exactly the same and have identical control surfaces. the access indigo has a synth action keyboard. its not weighted and it has no aftertouch. the virus keyboard is semi weighted, has aftertouch and is velocity sensitive. its overall a very nice keyboard.

the virus rack classic is a cut down version of the virus b with the 3rd oscillator completely absent and 16 voice polyphony. although i should stress, even without the third oscillator, it doesnt make that much difference to the sound.

the indigo 2, kc, c desktop and rack xl are all virus c engine synths. with the obvious exception of the rack xl, the control surface on these synths are identical and they all sound the same. they also sound almost identical to the virus b with a few exceptions - some patches on the virus c use the extra modulation destinations on the c engine. some patches use the moog filter and some also use the 3 band EQ. other than that, the sound is identical.

virus c engine synths cost alot more than b engine synths. it depends on how much you've got to spend. for the extra cost i could buy another synth with that money. i could get a roland juno 106 off ebay for £250. that to me is worth more than the extra features on the c over the b. the difference between the virus a and virus b is likewise not huge. its missing the 3rd oscillator. has 12 voice polyphony (admittedly one of the bigger drawbacks) and doesnt have the phaser, ring modulator or distortion unit on the virus b. but im not too keen on the in built virus effects anyway so again, if you can find a virus a for alot less than a virus b - go for it.

one last thing to mention - try it out before you buy it. ever wonder why theres so many used viruses on ebay? id hazard a suggestion that theres a reason for it. its not the most user friendly synth in the world. its an order of magnitude more complex than any non modular softsynth ive used. it has annoying characteristics which piss me off no end: the virus multi mode is useless. you will probably not use multi mode on the virus alot. if at all. why? 32 voices. i can eat that up in 1 part. 16 parts?! forget it! its a waste of parts. you will never use all 16. not in any practical capacity. also. 16 multi parts. but only 3 stereo outs. thats a big problem. playing multiple parts from a single out eventually makes it stutter and glitch like crazy so its unusable anyway.

global effects. this makes multi mode even more pointless than it already is.

if your host is fl studio, for the love of god make sure you demo a virus in fl studio at moderate cpu loads. you'll understand why when you try. if you dont use fruity its not an issue so dont worry about it.

i hope you like programming in submenus on a 1 inch by 3 inch LED display because you will do alot of it. on all virus synths.

its not a wondersynth. its an instrument. and like any instrument it takes a long time to understand it and get to grips with it. i still have alot of trouble programming it. you will have to learn subtractive synthesis over again and you'll probably have to change your work habits to accomodate the synth into your software studio.

if you are ok with all of that and have tried it and liked it, get the cheapest one you can find in my opinion. they all have the same characteristic sound give or take a little. if you want the voices and the multitimbrality, go for the powercore. if you want the decent keyboard go for the virus keyboard/kb/kc.

quote:

Originally posted by Derivative the powercore virus is in my opinion not a softsynth. its subject to its own latency and it drags behind the rest of your audio tracks just like any other hardware synth including the hardware virus.

the problems with the sync and latency in the virus poco have been gone for ages
they fixed those problems a while back, there is a few people still having them
me personally mine is working fine.

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thanx Derivative,geat info,you made your point and help me a lot.i'm more interested in a desktop or powercore version cause i'm running out of space in my "studio".i've tested the powercore virus and it's amazing...i love the sound and the fact that it's totally different from all other synths.still not decided wich one?....i love having all those butons ... but in the same time i have a TC Powercore and an microKontrol wich should be ok.