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Virus Powercore vs Virus TDM
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| Trancevision |
| I am curious. Anyone knows which sounds better? |
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| Fatboy |
| As far as I know both versions are based on the Virus B. Seeing as both TDM and PoCo uses the same Motorola chip I would think that they would sound identical. Obviously the DA stage after the sound leaves your computer would play a role, but the internal sound should be the same for both version. That's the impression I've heard from people that have tried both version as well. |
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| Derivative |
they are different. the virus TDM is designed to run on a pro tools TDM system. so it wont work unless you have a TDM system.
the virus powercore is designed to run on the DSP of a powercore card. so it wont work unless you have one of those.
as for the differences in the instrument. they are both based on the virus b engine. the only differences are that the powercore virus has a maximum polyphony of 16 using 1 license. whereas the TDM has a maximum polyphony of 20 using 1 license. the TDM also has 8 multitimbral parts and can receive aftertouch from a keyboard that has this feature, whilst the powercore virus has 4 multitimbral parts and cannot receive aftertouch.
not that long ago, access revised the licensing system and now if you buy a multi license you can use several instances of the powercore virus, much like using several instances of a VSTi to circumvent the polyphony and multi timbral limit of the synth. therefore, a powercore virus spanned across more than 1 instance technically has a higher polyphony, more multitimbral parts and better multi mode usability than a hardware virus b. the downside? it also costs alot more than a hardware virus b on ebay in excellent condition.
does the extra polyphony and multi timbrality make much of a difference? in my humble opinion, no, not really. the virus multi mode is pretty crap really since you cant use delay/reverb on every part. only 1 part. additionally, you simply wont have the number of voices to make any multi timbral patch that spans more than 8 parts at best. more likely you will never use more than 4 parts, meaning the extra multi timbrality is quite simply a wasted feature for most people. many people i know who are virus owners dont even use multi mode.
the extra polyphony? useful sure, but you quickly get used to working within 20 voices. the voice stealing feature of the virus b engine is also pretty good and as a whole its fairly good at recycling voices if you hit the limit provided you dont shoot way over.
in most cases this will make next to no difference to the sound of your virus patches unless you like to play huuuuuuge chords 5 or 6 note chords with unison on (unlikely) or you like to have the amp/filter release envelope really really high.
the most important feature is the easiest to decide - whether you have a powercore or TDM system and which one is cheaper and/or best suited to your needs if you have neither. |
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| Trancevision |
thanks for your detailed review. I already own a powercore and I have the single license of the virus.
I am quite satisfied with it because I got both on ebay for a quite fair price. But I also saw a cheap Virus TDM for buying and I wondered if it was better than the virus powercore concerning sound quality and if you would get more stuff for your money. |
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| Derivative |
heheh. thats what i call 'greener pastures' syndrome ;) this reminds me of what i ended up doing after i bought my virus b desktop - i kept looking on ebay afterwards to see if anyone got a better deal and got mildly peeved to see an indigo I go for about the same price as mine. i also got it into my head that an indigo II was the way to go for a short while and kept looking at prices despite already owning a virus but i squashed that idea real quick :)
the key i think is to be happy with what you have - i will probably never get a virus c or ti now that i think of it. i would just miss my virus b. it would be like selling your dog. i mean, there are better, smarter dogs out there but my one is just too damn cool to give to a shelter. hah.
you have a pretty awesome powercore dog as it is. if you could upgrade your license to the multi one then you will get alot more voices though. alot more. more than a virus c and you will at least be able to make multi timbral patches using 1 reverb/delay per instance. still not great but better than just having the 1 reverb/delay full stop. but i guess you have to decide whether its worth the extra money. im not even sure what the cost difference is but put it this way - my virus b has 24 voices and with unison based leads and pads, i struggle to get everything into 24 voices without voice stealing. im not sure how i would go about trying to get some of the more complex patches into just 16 voices. but im a bit unison trigger happy.
and then again, lab4 can do it (and still make absolutely *monstrous* sounds), so technically we should be able to make do :/ |
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