Best synth to do what an Access Virus can do

Vital is possibly the best softsynth I’ve ever used. So quick to make sounds with.

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Sounds better to me as well and since I realized how much more enjoyable it is to play without the computer latency, I only TI it to move patches around.

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Yeah I love that about TI and that’s what the Mystery Islands editor allows you to do as well. It even lets you do it with any of the Virus range over MIDI, and you can even change the skin of the plugin to match your Virus of choice. :smiley:

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I could be wrong, but doesn’t 4 Tetras get you 16 monosynths (versus 16 polysynths) ?

Somehow I thought Tetra is a 4 Voice synth (that’s why the A is a 4). So that’s more 16 Tetras + 16 theoretically voices.
But as FX and such take up CPU power, I don’t think, that you will be able to max out all 16 Parts one the Virus with 5 Voices and tons of FX.

I love my Virus it is a great synth but my MODX is better.

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just got a TI Snow. Even that is a lot of synth. The effects are definitely a big thing, cos it really feels like you can make “finished” sounds for live without effects pedals or sampling.

Have probably barely scratched the surface though, it does a lot of stuff.
Couldn’t really see much else that did exactly what it does when I was thinking about what I wanted. Got a Blofeld first, but the effects are kinda a) crapper and b) limited in how you can apply them in comparison.

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(I think the Blofeld’s filters are more interesting though tbh. Might be the Virus’s weakest point. But maybe I just have weird filter taste. They’re kinda smooth and nice.)

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Yes, the virus is 16 part multitimbral - polyphonicaly.
Wavetables, fm ,VA, two filters, chorus, phaser, 3 band eq, delay, reverb, 30 distortion types…
Again ALL x16 :metal:

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Sort of. Tetra can stack voices, or be a 4 voice mono synth. It’s pretty huge, but Virus takes the crown.

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My next synth will be one that has the same or better capabilities of a keyboard Access Virus TI2. Not sure what to buy but it can wait a year or two. Then with Rytm, SP 404 MK2, OT and A4 and DN have full arsenal of beat making for house, trance, techno and ambient.

FX make a huge difference and I noticed that after feeding my TR-08 and Digitone into Analog Heat and Strymon pedals. The SP 404 MK2 has fun effects.

the new Waldorf M has really nice juicy analog filters I think from watching videos of it. If I had cash for keyboard and synth the best combo for me would be something like Access Virus TI2 keyboard and Waldorf M. I have bass and drums more than covered and A4/DN do nice pads as well.

Can you say more about that?

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Well compared to the Virus it has two types of synthesis, FM and AWM with greater polyphony.

The AWM can be used as a VA synth with up to 8 oscillators each having its own a pitch envelope, filter, amp, LFO and EQ.

The arpeggiator is crazy powerful plus there is a huge range of great sounding FX.

Add to that motion control, scenes, pattern and song sequencers, which have play FX, and audio recording to USB.

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Good points. Well I just dusted off my old Microkorg and hooked it up to my Roland TB03 and TR08 and had some nice trance sounds going so that saves me from buying another expensive synth for now.

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I personally don’t like any of the MODX FM demos I’ve heard. AWM is sample-based; I prefer the Virus oscillators to samples. I like the Virus’s Hypersaw and all the other aggressive sounds it can make. Maybe you can share some good MODX demos that showcase these types of sounds?

Actually, I’m listening to more demos right now and it sounds mostly like a rompler to me. I really don’t think it’s a good synth to compare to the Virus; they just sound so different

Got any examples of MODX making these types of sounds?

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This is very interesting to me. Like all of the synthesis types I enjoy. It’s a sampler too? Granular? Those would round it out nicely for me. I am however skeptical that the VA sounds will compare to how much I love the Virus’. The TI has Moog, ms20 and Juno character settings too!

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The more i read about the Nord A1, the more i think this could be an interesting contender for Virus competitor, at least in spirit if not in head to head feature comparison.

Yes, the A1 is WAY more limited in terms of synthesis options, timbrality, oscillator and effects diversity vs the Virus. It’s a different instrument with a different philosophy. But, much of the same core idea could be achieved - 4 part multitimbral, multiple independent effects per layer, VA, FM, some interesting oscillator types that sound typical Nord good (bell, organ, etc.) Crazy patch morphing macros. I think independent outputs, too.

I happen to like what I hear on youtube slightly more than the Virus, though Youtube is a poor substitute for real life and yeah, on paper the Virus wayyyy outclasses the Nord.

I’d LOVE to spend a month with both before deciding which one gets to join my OT + Oxi.

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