The Omni 2 presentation video was quite sick.
Wondering if it'll allow me to retire my Virus TI module.

Am bored at work, thought i'd start a thread.
Hoping this doesn't become a SW vs HW debate......till at least 6 hours!

ps: Hows everyone doing ? Post lunch deathly sleep zone here......
Cheers

Hi,

I can only say that for me, Omni 2 won't be putting my Virus Ti2 (desktop) on the For Sale Ads.

The Virus Ti is one of my favorite Virtual Analog Synths. I would not replace it with anything else on the soft synth market. not today, and not tomorrow. Plus, it is still a HW synth with lots of knobs to tweak.

The only thing that can make me sell it, is if Access release a Virus Ti 3 that is much more powerful, and offers a good number of new features due to a newly designed HW, Processors, USB 3 connection, ..etc.

Are you still bored & Sleepy ?

Cheers,
Muziksculp

Omnisphere 1 retired my Virus Ti 2, and Omnisphere 2 is the nail in the coffin.

Really no need for a huge dongle running software on dsp chips when I have an itb solution already. I really wish Access would just make it a native plug in already or make a special usb sized dongle for it.

Granted the Virus has a tremendous sound, and the GUI of the plug in is really well built, but Omnisphere runs laps around the thing.

Omnisphere really isn't A synth. Its multiple synths. You can use oscillators from other synths and change to MULTIPLE filters if needed. Now that you can import your audio it is game over. Shit, I wish I would have sampled the RAW virus ti 2 waveforms and oscillators to throw into Omni 2 and have the best of both worlds!

The Virus Ti 2 Low Pass filter is something serious btw. Love that filter.

I have both, Omnisphere is a completely different beast... I rarely use Omnisphere anymore and I constantly use my virus, awesome effects, great filters can make contemporary sounds in seconds, and I can route my synths through its effects (which I do regularly)

Disagree strongly

I wouldn't expect that to be far off. What more could a TI3 bring to the table? Plus they've already done a Virus TDM plug-in for Pro Tools and as for the physical control, Access got their start making a knobby controller box for Waldorf's Microwave ...it would make some sense to sell a Virus plug-in with a USB controller

I would buy that instantly.

Wouldn't you miss the knobs and perhaps the whole package, for instance for live gigs?

The Virus TI as a whole package is something rather special. No other maker has quite pulled off what they've managed to do with such success, finesse and style. The problem is people seem to judge it for the few things it can't do, and don't give it credit for being an amazing instrument... The sum of its parts.

I would have a hard time selling mine. It has a really high quality professional sound and is good at almost everything it does.

Omnisphere is pretty amazing in its own right, but so is Reaktor. Neither of them could replace a Virus TI for me, although I'm sure I could still make cool music without a TI.

Yes, i have never been able to let go of my Virus TI. Its more convenient to use soft synths, but the TI just has its own huge character....

FM8 and Omnisphere are my top two synths. I still use other synths like Massive, Monark, Absynth, and many more, but those are the two I focus on as far as trying to learn them inside and out. Between that and the fact that I prefer ITB production, I am far too biased to even give the Virus a chance, though I've watched a few demos of it on Youtube and it sounds great. It's just that Omnisphere is one of the best sounding synths of all time and has a lot more power and possibilities.

After tons of updates on the Virus Ti 2, you still have to do some menu diving on the small lcd screen. It kind of kills the point of having all those knobs to be honest. Plus I do not perform, and when I did I carried the motif xs rack with me as it covers all grounds well.

No hate on the Virus. The sound is beautiful, and the plug-in GUI is perfect. But the thing is a soft synth packaged in a hardware unit and they charge a fortune for it.

Anyone can say the Virus sound cannot be emulated through software is lying to themselves.

I remember buying Zebra 2 and going over the sound banks that were based off Virus presets. Two of them ("Overture" & "Arctis" [not sure if the latter is the correct name for the patch]) sounded damn near identical, ONLY thing that didn't make it exact was the reverb.

Yup, even all the knobs i still dont find the Virus hardware interface as immediate as i would prefer. Its not as knob per function as it should have been.

Virus sux.
The whole company socks.












It really sucks though.

I just bought Omnisphere 2.6 now that they recently released Virus TI integration. And man, this is awesome! I love my Virus, and I've got the UI so that I can pretty much use it in the dark, every knob and button, memorized. And so having this UI but routed into a soft synth that does similar, but different enough, things to the sound... I've now doubled the value of my hardware. I wouldn't part with either, the two working together are greater than the sum of their parts.

It's brilliant that Spectrasonics is doing this, Omnisphere is a superset of pretty much all hardware out there. So, this was a stroke of genius that goes above and beyond generic MIDI control of a plugin. Especially for guys like me, that have one HW synth and have dialed in the UI to the degree that I have.

Two of the best synths in my studio. Virus is hardware and that makes a difference, for sound for sure. Wide wide wide range of sound possibilities. Randomize function does near miracles, then I take it from there. Interesting, musical and capable of the unusual in the sound realm.

Omnisphere is a different best. Great sound, nothing better in fidelity. Lots of ways to shape sounds. Massive palette for all kinds of sounds. Can load one or several of your own samples and use the onboard processing to get the sound you want. Cuts through the mix nicely like the Virus, but they have different personalities, and that is good to have.

Both synths are keepers. I do go for months without using my Virus Ti and the same for the Omni, but when I go back to it, I am glad it is here in the studio.


Two synths that are hard to beat for electronic music from classical music Electroacoustic to pop music.

Not sure why you would want to retire your Virus TI, but for me Omnisphere is not a reason to retire anything. It's a different beast altogether to most synths (hardware and software) and I see it more as an addition than anything else. Even though I had plenty of issues with various TI units, it still is a top sounding synth. Best thing you can do is keep both

[QUOTE=165099;10795452]Chord Memory and a Step Sequencer!

I would also expect any future Virus to have better quality oscillators with maybe a legacy mode to recreate the older sounds.

No.

[QUOTE=markorbit;13981238]Don’t hold your breath for a “future Virus.” Kemper’s making guitar amp profilers and he’s stated a number of times that he’s got no intention of going back to synths.

But, if you’re looking for “better” quality oscillators (the Virus oscillators didn’t really bug me that much, but I’d always hoped the filter models would get a bit better) there are a bunch of hardware synths out at the moment that do some amazing oscillator tricks using FPGAs that’ll get you into Virus territory, in all things but voice count. Modal 002, Roland System 8, Peak/Summit, Waldorf Kyra, and the upcoming Super 6 will, IMO, out hypersaw the Virus in every way imaginable and also best it with more organic sounding filters.

ITB, I get lovely sounding “Virus” style sounds from Dune 3, and the new filters are absolutely amazing. My only complaint is that they need to add an oversampling option to the distortion effects, because they really alias like a stuck pig emulation at high note values. Even if it used a lot more CPU, I’d be willing to pay the price because usually in sounds like that you don’t need many voices anyway.

[QUOTE=zerocrossing;13982510]Damn, I'm sure I saw there was a new one coming....ffs. I'd just assumed it was happening and was waiting for the details..

Dune is closest to that sound imo.

Very subjective imho and I do not think anyone but you can answer this question. Dedicated hardware synths, digital and analog, have always been a bigget source of inspiration for me. VSTs on the other hand I find very convenient.

The MODAL 002 and Super 6 have an unfair advantage in that they use analog filters. The Super 6 - and Prophet X - use killer SSI (SSM) filter chips. Those are the reason some of the classic polyanalogs from the 80s sound so hot. But I agree that your examples have subjectively better filters, IMO.

When I got hold of Omnisphere 1, I'll have to admit that it clobbered me with its sound character, the filters in particular, and after that I cooled off a lot on the Virus. Omni 2.6 is a grand slam. I think everyone needs some quality time with it before writing it off, the same with Arturia's Vintage Collection. Virus does some unique tricks itself though, and is a good controller, so that's a tough call.

Incredible

I know you don't want a hw v sw debate, but effectively that's what it is

I don't use vsts. I only use hardware, so its not relevant. If I did use csts I'd likely not use hardware other than a controller either so again, not a relevant comparison.

I like you were calling out USB 3 in 2015. Haha!

I've actually thought about being buried with my Virus. I have a Ti2 and I just love it. Everything about it. I'm an old trance and progressive head so it's got all the sounds and styles that I love. It's so diverse and capable and just....awesome.

Maybe not to you, but it is to a lot of people. I don’t buy based on technology type. I’m happy using anything. I buy based on sound and feature set. I always liked my C, but when I had to move ITB for a period, I found that I didn’t really miss it. When I started building out my hardware studio again, it was during the rise of DSI and Studio Electronics, which made me consider what instruments I wanted in hardware and what I could make due with in software. It’s all totally subjective and personal to what I like, but some things just tickle my ear in a specific way and when I hear it, I try to match it in software, or at least get close. If I succeed, I pass, if I don’t, it becomes a candidate for a purchase.

As this thread is 8 years old and the OP hasn't been seen for two years I'm sure they are not that worried.