For all the Ti users out there, I was wondering how many of you use the Virus Control through USB and how many of you use the Analog Outs and treat it like a normal synth?

I haven't bothered to record a whole lot through the Analog outputs in cubase, I mostly use USB. In my opinion the sound that comes out of the Analog outputs is distinctively better than the USB, but the VC is so handy when it comes to adding third party FX to the audio tracks (it basically turns in to a VST which is sometimes handy). If I do record anything through the Analogs I always find myself needing to dump it down to audio too early in the track and get shitty if I need to edit it late on...

If I am right and the sound is better through the Analog outs I want to start using it that way but I find my work flow is way better with the VC.

Anyone have the same problems? Maybe I have relied on VST's too much in the past and can't appreciate it as a normal synth.

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Last edited by Blahzaay on Jan-16-2008 at 03:06

i have never noticed... i was using analog outs for a while to send to my external gear but then i stopped... i'd rather use ableton then anything else.

i use almost only the USB outputs. but i compared them once and it sounded exactly the same. probably it's just your soundcard (A/Ds) which color the signal.

I too found this problem with the TI's audio via USB. But since I had so much cr*p using it in the early days with the plugin I've always used it as a traditional h/w synth with the analog outputs.

The audio via USB always sounded somehow "weaker" and more "tinny" even at the same rms level.

I wonder if there aren't some rather drastic differences between revisions of the TI. I personally have the TI Desktop and it was one of the first ones released. Possible board revisions may make a difference to the unit, even though access denied any changes to the board.

That said, my "still" biggest complaints with the TI is the polyphony lie, note dropping (which happens all the time for me with any sustained notes/pads etc - even when i'm using a single part and possibly 3-5 held notes) and the general sound of the unit. For some reason all the oscillator types sound flimsy and cheap to me. The hypersaw sounds terrible, more like a std. saw with chorus and bad phasing on it.

quote:

Originally posted by johno27 For some reason all the oscillator types sound flimsy and cheap to me.

Thats pretty normal for a Virus. It takes alot of effort to beef them up and I've never gotten satisfactory results. Then again, I have impOSCar so if I wanted to make some monster power bass, I'd use that instead. Virus is more about movement. You can have loads of different aspects of the sound shifting/moving/evolving at the same time but independantly. Its great for absynthian like weirdness and complex pads. At least thats what I use it for most. I hardly ever make analogish leads or basses on it anymore because the oscillators are so weak and the filter is just...strange. Turning up the resonance doesnt give that shrill ear piercing quality that impOSCar's does. It sort of makes the filter go 'pew pewwww'.

Yeah, pew peww is a good description
All in all I have to say as a concept the whole unit is fantastic. As a synth that I can actually use in day to day production.. it doesn't do it for me at all. My Nord and JP8080 get far more use.

Speaking of which, has anyone spent any time with the roland v-synth? I hear that OS2 update for it included the necessary oscillator types etc for the vsynth to basically be a beefed up jp8080.

The USB output will always be superior in quality since it doesn't go through two converters. The analog outputs might sound more pleasant though.

I own both a virus and a JP. The JP oscs are more powerful and brighter. The virus oscs are darker and more plain. You can clearly see this if you compare the waveforms visually. The JP saw is slightly curved while the virus saw is straight.
I prefer the virus filters though. Especially the analog emulation filter.

USB mode is more quiet by default so it may be that. I can't say with 100% certainty, but I honestly doubt that the sound going through 3 converters (DA from virus-> AD into soundcard->DA from SC to speakers) would sound better. Not a chance. But it could sound different.
As far as the synth, I love it to death. A synth programmer's dream.

quote:

Originally posted by johno27 The audio via USB always sounded somehow "weaker" and more "tinny" even at the same rms level.

quote:

Originally posted by johno27 I personally have the TI Desktop and it was one of the first ones released.

See I am using the Desktop version as well but definitely wasn't one of the original versions, I got it quite some time after it came out. It's the phat basslines and lush synths that it's really noticeable on....

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quote:

Originally posted by Eldritch I own both a virus and a JP. The JP oscs are more powerful and brighter. The virus oscs are darker and more plain. You can clearly see this if you compare the waveforms visually. The JP saw is slightly curved while the virus saw is straight.

That sounds backward to me. If the JP saw is more curved (i.e., more like a sine curve), then it should have less brightness and the straight waveform of the Virus should have more brightness. Are you comparing two raw (i.e., unfiltered, unprocessed, etc.) waveforms of the same amplitude?

As far as the original question goes, I don't hear a substantial difference between using the USB vs. analog outputs from my TI. I suspect that the OP may be comparing recordings at two different levels. If the analog outputs are recorded slightly louder than the USB tracks, it's a pretty well-documented phenomenom that people tend to think the louder recording sounds 'better.'

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Last edited by cryophonik on Jan-17-2008 at 02:45

quote:

Originally posted by cryophonik I suspect that the OP may be comparing recordings at two different levels. If the analog outputs are recorded slightly louder than the USB tracks, it's a pretty well-documented phenomenom that people tend to think the louder recording sounds 'better.'

Nah I'm definitely doing comparisons at the exact same levels. And the analogs sound much brighter/phatter/warmer/whatever than the USB. On certain patches I really have to crank the Patch Volume AND midi levels in the VC to be at the same level as an untouched analog signal.

It's the exact same on my mate's setup. The only two things we have in common is the Desktop version of the Ti and the (M-Audio Firewire) sound card.

I would have searched the Ti Forums for help, because I remember guys in there having the same problems but the web page has been down for the last couple of days!!!

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quote:

Originally posted by cryophonik That sounds backward to me. If the JP saw is more curved (i.e., more like a sine curve), then it should have less brightness and the straight waveform of the Virus should have more brightness.

Yeah you're right. I don't know what I was thinking.