Agreed, it’s a great editor!
I was updating it since they are on version 3 now.
The main point was that it includes Audio Drivers for USB audio on any Mac including M1. New since version 3 apparently!
Something that was missing since Access unofficially dropped support. (Since Catalina technically I think).
I use multi mode to create routing templates, this way certain midi channels are always assigned to specific audio outputs.
I have disabled the multi patches for any irrelevant midi channels to conserve DSP and created blank patches that are named as whichever device I have assigned to that midi channel so it’s easy to remember what’s what
Don’t fall into the “is this synth relevant” YouTube ‘influencer’ style way of thinking.
Synths are instruments and there are very very few (if any) actual synths that are no longer relevant.
The only exception to this rule is if you’re constantly making music that is following the exact current trend-of-the-moment, then you could ask is X synth relevant to X style of music and even then you’d be hard pressed to say that any synth would not be useful in some capacity to making any kind of music that features synthesizers.
With that out of the way, I can say with confidence the virus is 100% relevant to nearly (if not every) genre of music that features synths. I have an Access virus TI polar and I was (and am) blown away at how incredibly versatile it is. When I bought it, it was one of the last synths I bought after getting pretty much everything else that covered sounds that I was going for (and more) then I bought the TI on impulse because I love those Vengance demos so much even though I don’t like trance at all I loved the tone and texture of those demos and have for years so I figured I’d pick one up as like an extra synth…it quickly became one of my main synths once I started programming it I was very happily surprised to find that I could quickly get pretty much all of the sounds I could possibly want out of it. Not to say I went and threw out all the synths I already owned but if the TI was your only synth you’d be doing quite well. I’d even go as far as saying that it does analog emulation very very well, easily gets into Yamaha, Moog and Roland territory and that’s not even what I was looking for just a bonus.
So yes the virus is very relevant in all genres of music.
Thank you for saying it!
The half broken toy keyboard from the thrift store is relevant even.
I agree that you can emulate almost anything with it. The caveat being, it may require some creative thinking and work. Don’t worry though, that’s good for you.
My main desires would be more mod slots and some expanded controls for the extra envelopes.
This could prove useful if I ever get around to setting it up.
My apologies, not having a TI I didn’t realise USB audio through the editor wasn’t a thing before.! Come to think of it, that really is amazing, and it’s M1 compatible… I think it may be time to move on up to a TI soon…
No need for apologies 
The USB audio and TI plug-in stopped working way back when Mac OS went to Catalina.
Access to this day still have never updated it. So basically the “TI” part is useless on a Mac from Catalina up.
A 3rd party seems to have written drivers since Access basically doesn’t exist anymore (but still sell the synth).
Mystery Island seems to be picking up all of the slack fortunately.
… And the Mystery Islands Audio and MIDI driver seem to work quite well. I never really use USB audio on the TI because it never worked to my satisfaction.
But at least MIDI via USB is back thanks to them…
Good on them - it must be really good for Mystery Islands’ business to be in a position to pick up that slack! I was blown away by their editor when I first used it, especially because it’s an old synth and it’s working through MIDI. Being able to easily automate an old Virus through Ableton Live is so so cool.
I had an Access Virus C for a while and it was pretty incredible - the presets alone are gold and the sonic potential is endless - I kind of regret selling it tbh but I bought it primarily for multitimbral and didn’t totally enjoy the workflow (knob per function is great except when you switch to track 2 and all the knobs are in the wrong place…).
I don’t think there’s anything that really compares to the Virus even today.
I feel like I’d be remiss to not point out https://dsp56300.wordpress.com/, which can emulate a Virus C as a VST (as in it runs the actual ROM on a virtual chipset, so should sound identical). You need a good computer to run it in real-time though (I believe M1 Mac or a powerful desktop PC is the best), but if you use it just as a sample source you can always render it offline if it crackles.
That’s cool thanks for sharing! I’d say maybe a tiny bit of a stretch to say it’ll sound identical as subtleties in the DAC’s even present differences in the difference versions of the synth (even when using the same DSP), but I suspect I’m not sophisticated enough to really tell the difference
Running it into an analog mixer would do far more anyway so I won’t go full audiophile on it.
Indeed, they say the B is ‘darker’ than the subsequent models due to the DAC process etc. That said remove some of the upper treble with an EQ or filter and job done!
it’s sort of necroposting, sorry, but just noticed Roni Size and drum’n’bass reference and quite surprised with it. Was not it mostly AKAI samplers, some romplers, PC and some analog synths in 90’s? Virus sound is more like ebm/electro/darkwave scene of later 90’s and beginning of 2000s. Trance scene maybe…
I recently discovered Mystery Island. Sounddiver was always clumsy for me when editing entire banks and I never spent much time on the presets.
I spent a few weeks creating my “best of” presets or banks tailored for a specific project. It really opened up the Virus for me.
I’d say yes:
I gave up waiting for a new version and went modular. Most of the new innovation is that path today.
The versions that are available are already amazing. Modular is a totally different thing imo.
agree if I already did not have a bunch of modular gear that takes up my free time, the Virus would be a great synth to own. Maybe in few years the team at Access will design a modern take then I will bite. Oberheim just released a new version of their legendary synth and Waldorf has new versions as well. Hoping Access drops a new one in the near future instead of focus just on their amp modeler.
I think so. I just bought one
