well normally i'd just scour the KVR forums for this but their site has been down for almost a day now and I'm in a position of severe buying power...

i just have an array of questions about the access line(past & present)..

what is the main difference between the virus c & b... ? i can't find a detail'd sheet on this anywhere

is there ANY difference between the virus b & the virus "classic" (besides the physical look of it)

what in your opinion is more practical and what is really worth the money? experience preffered! hehe (the TI is just far too expensive for me)

1) differences between virus b and virus c are

i) virus b has 24 polyphony limit. virus c has 32 poly limit.
ii) virus c has another filter (moog emulation) which the virus b does not
iii) there is a 3 band EQ on the virus C again not present on the virus b
iv) the layout of the virus c has been modified so that the effects section and modulation matrix are on the control surface as well as everything else on the virus b control surface. on the virus b the effects and mod matrix are in that LED display hidden away in menus. this makes it easier to manipulate or change effects on the go.

the virus classic is exactly the same as the virus b except it has some different patches and its got a crazy red colour scheme going on.

other than that the sound difference is minimal at best. i dont really notice any difference between the virus b and virus c. the difference between the original virus and virus b was much larger. the most radical difference i heard was from the 3 band EQ which really does give some useful soundshaping to your patches. but again you can do this via your PC using any software EQ. my suggestion is definitely go for a second hand virus b from a reputable seller. virus c desktops still sell first hand in the uk for over £900. on ebay they are still over £650 at least. i saw an indigo II on turnkey.co.uk (brand new) for £1,200 which is pretty much what it retailed for when it first came out. far too expensive considering you can pick up a virus b desktop on ebay for £400 which is what i did.

well i can't thank you enough, you answered my question perfectly.

np. the layout on the virus c is nicer though. theres just more stuff on the control surface. the effects in particular. its very fiddly to put effects on the virus b. dont even bother doing it live. i didnt think the moog filter on the VC was very good. the traditional virus filter is sick anyway. + alot of people claim that the moog filter doesnt actually sound anything like a moog filter. but hey, its something extra which increases the number of soundshaping possibilities. i forgot to mention - i never see virus classics on ebay. brand new they are £667 from turnkey. which is a bit much i think. the thing is you can get most of the virus sound with a virus b for about £400. so you save alot which you can spend elsewhere.

yeah, i see the virus classic retailed around 1000$ give or take a couple hundred. If its just a Virus B w/ a new paint job it doesn't interest me. I have 2 friends w/ Virus B's who swear by them so i was just making sure before i got my own that this was the correct decision. Thanks again - Anthony

well im a very satisfied virus b desktop owner too. although i find hardware a bit clumsy and generally find it more difficult to program than im used to, i put this down to the fact that i need to spend more time getting to grips with it and not bug out like a wuss!

If I'm not mistaken the Virus C also has a third oscillator which has its own knob, unlike the virus b, whihc I think was assignable from oscillator 2...now I don't own a B or C, and have never used one but I remeber reading this on the access site.

Does anybosy know if the Virus Classic has the extra knobs for the third Osc? and doesn't the new classic have more voices(poly)?

oh yes you are right. the third oscillator for the virus c does have its own rotary. whereas on the virus b the 3rd oscillator is in the sub menu.

the virus classic (as far as i know) has a layout that is identical to the virus b and the virus indigo 1 (all based on the virus b engine). that is, the left side is taken up the LFO 1 and LFO 2 with the oscillators section directly above the LED display. the virus C and indigo II (based on the virus C engine) have the effects on the right hand side. both LFOs are squashed up above the effects section together with the mod matrix. the oscillators section is squashed up a bit more too and they crammed in the extra 3rd oscillator dial