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| quote: | Honestly, these DSP synths are very nice and all, but it's getting to the point where it's hard to justify their outrageous prices when there is software that can produce very similar sounds. Yes, hardware has knobs you can play with - you can always just get a MIDI controller and tie its knobs to a software synth.
The old-school analogue synths, on the other hand... ah man, I would eat my dirty socks for an OB-4 or an ARP 2600. I don't think I'm quite ready for a Moog modular though. |
some softies come real close but there are a few features about the virus series which i have never seen in software. such as the following:
1) the dual filter design - still access's dirty little secret and there is nothing in software that compares to it at this point in time (which isnt ruling out the possibility of there being one in future). its hard to explain. there are dual and triple filters out there but they just dont sound like the virus filter.
2) the design and layout of the mod matrix. probably the most intuitive design ive seen so far, and short of fully modular synthesis, has probably the broadest selection of modulation options and sources of any analogue or virtual analogue synth on the market.
3) the sound. probably a combination of the above and its very very subtle. but the way it sounds and behaves is quite unique. if you like the way it works and the way it sounds, theres very little in software or hardware that can adequately replace it. in the year that ive had a virus b - it has become my most frequently used instrument. nowadays, most of the stock sounds i produce are from the virus.
although i agree about the cost. in my mind there is not very much that separates a virus b or c from a virus ti. yes there are the extra wavetables, the hypersaw, the extra voices, and the (from what i hear, severely flawed) total integration feature. but the £1000 extra you would spend on a ti instead of a b series model, in my humble opinion could be used to purchase a number of synths with a much broader range of capabilities. im quite suprised so many people have this kind of money to shell out on a synth like the ti without even trying it first :/
if i had £1400 to spend on synths and i didnt have my virus b, id get one of those regardless for the virus sound (which ive grown to love), a juno 60, an sh-101 and some outboard gear. £1400 can get you an adequate studio if you spend it carefully :/
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When using "normal" presets, you can use all 16 parts in multimode?
