Access Music Virus C

The manual is great, I have found it very detailed, and extremely helpful. I found the synth basically easy to use, but there were still a few things which I needed to look in the manual for (like how to use the vocoder and running inputs through the thing) and I found the answers to my questions in there easily.

The polyphony is great for a virtual analog. It doesn't have the polyphony of a workstation, but that's not what it is. Compare it to the MS2000, and the polyphony is absolutely amazing.

The effects were just ok, I like some of the delays and the distortion and lo-fi effects, but I prefer the sound of outboard reverb and modulation effects. On the plus side, the thing is capable of an absurd amount of simultaneous DSP effects.

As far as expansion, Access always provides OS upgrades for free, a huge plus, as well as a bunch of free patches for download which are actually not just factory rejects.

The filters on this are great. It has some sore of anti-aliasing for the filters which smooths them to sound more like analog. To hear this, turn the Q up to 127, the Cutoff down the 0 and move the cutoff up in gradual steps. It doesn't have the digital quantizing that a lot of digital synths have, and I for one love it!

This sounds awesome. It's best for harder stuff I think, this thing is definiately evil. Which is good :)
I don't think it has a use outside of harder dance music though, but it suits my needs fine.

I would NEVER play with this thing live. I get stuck keys ALL THE TIME!!!! This is apparently a problem with the Access Virus B, not the C so I am very disappointed in the reliability of Virus C. I have to sample everything I do with it, and if I didn't love the sounds it made, out this thing would go!

This thing sounds awesome.
There's no other digital anlog modeling synth which compares.
BUT I GET TOO MANY STUCK NOTES!!!!

At first, playing with the Virus B at guitar center, no one knew how to use it. it took me an hour before i could get the knobs to respond, but when they did i felt the synth doing more than respond. It practically screamed at me what i wanted to hear. I just bought the virus C and recieved it 4 days ago. I have only used software synthesizers and other folks hardware synths. this is my very first synthesizr an i beleive i couldnt have chosen a better one. already 4 days and i made this incredibly tweakable hard trance Kick and an atmospheric becon type soundin drone. It's easy to use if you take the time to read the documents and understand how it works. i found the manual to cover the features very well.

32 poly, 16 mul.tim, good useful fx, full midi implementation, and a nice arp altho i could have done with faster BPM's to feed the arp.

As an example of how tweakable things are on this synth i will tell you that with those 2 sounds i mentioned in 'ease of use' and a single note held down the entire track on each sound while tweaking, i fooled people into thinking i layed down 20 tracks. not only are the sounds awsome and ever morphable but ive never heard better quality.

I havent had any problems with it yet. i dont do live.

Well, havent needed to talk to them. The site has lots of junk for a sucka mc to download.

It's already a favorite studio piece of mine. im hoping it and my yamaha a5000 will get along just fine. i think they will.

I'm using OS 5.0 and the presets sound really fantastic. Although Im not a fan of presets in general these ones are very useable after some additional programming. Man this synth is very powerful and if you are a hardened programmer like me then you'll find the programming of the Virus kc relatively straight-forward. I never really find the manuals to synths that interesting and I'd have to conceede this is by no means the best ive seen....HEY! virus users there is a VERY COOL guide called 'A Guide to Analoge Synth Programming' dowloadable from the Virus website. Ive read it and beleive it to be very informative for most people. It teaches you the basics/intermediate art to programming. Who says Virus support is bad? Man as far as modern companies go they are bloody hot.

The overall features of this synth are excellant. The built in effects are good and the midi implementation runs flawlessly. This synth has a very high quality build & feel compared to most and my favourite feature has got to be the semi-weighted v/a sensitive keys........man what a pleasure it is to play! All companies should follow take notice! (Except Novation)

Ah yes ....lets move swiftly onto one of the best aspects of this synth. Let me begin by saying Im not interested in dance/trance music...im more interested in what electronic music will sound like in 10 years time. The Virus C is one of the very few synths which is capable of phenominal soundscapes. Most of the synths in my studio are old analogues...and their life spans are coming to an end (Well not for another 20 years!). I'm fortunate to own all of the 'classic' 80's synths.....and in my opinion the Virus C has the most convincing 'analoge' sound yet heard from a digital synth. With skillful programming (You must try to get away with from all those tacky dance/trance sounds!) you can create 99% sonically acurate clones. The difference between real analoges and 'virtual analogs' is practically indistinguishable (<- Big word man). For me it is a real pleasure to own a digital synth which deserves the acolade of 'virtual analoge'. Congratulations Access! Ok to conclude you may be asking what is this synth good at......well in my candid opinion its superb at almost everything. It has a very beautiful, rich, expressive, atmospheric sounding synth. If I were to say this synth sounds 20 years ahead of its time maybe that would help. My advice would be to steer clear (as much as you can) from the stereotypical dancy/trancy type sounds and get programming yourself. Be creative ..thats what synths are all! I love this synth...and there really is nothing else out there that can touch it for pure excellance.

Can I depend on it hehe ...thats a good one. Short answer YES

For a modern company in a modern market ...I have found their support to be very muture and customer focused. All my queries have been dealt with efficiently and thoroughly. Excellant.

In my opinion this is the FIRST digital synth that justifies the acolade of 'Virtual analoge' My decision is purely based on the synths sonic characteristics compared to my real analogs.

Money very well spent, an absolute pleasure to play and the sounds are just AMAZING. The other 'Virtual analogs', the nords, novas, waldorfs etc etc are also VERY GOOD but, for me, they just miss the mark.

Yes and if some tosser did steal this synth off me ...I'd have to think to my self ...LUCKY BASTARD!

In my opinion a Virus works best at dance, trance & techno.
But i think the presets are not really that what they should be. I bought a set called
"REVOLUTION VIRUS" from www.sounds-of-revolution.com
i wish that this sounds are presets of the virus :-) - but better not, everybody might have it then....really great stuff - the mp3 demo on the page is quite bad - but the sounds are absolute phantastic !

greets !

The Synth is easy to programm. However the manual sucks, no examples, well you just have to sort it out by yourself.
The controls are ok, however a triton or kurzweil is somehow easier to use.

Two things that really annoy me:
1) you can only save sounds in bank A and B. Access could remedy this by adding patch software allowing you to burn your favourate sounds in bank C-H (ROM)
2) delay in multi mode is only usable for all single programms.

effects and sounds are great an stimulating. However 70% percent of the preset sounds are not what I need on my every day basis. I require this synth to emulate analog sounds like moog, prophet, jupiter, not for techno or industrial. This machine is capable of producing such sounds, but you have to work this out for yourself.

There should be more user specific presets.

Did not experience any problems.

Service resonds quickly, however the access homepage offers too little information and no real exchange of sounds.

It's a nice machine, but definetly only an expansion of my existing gear.

soooooo, many posibilities.....
the presets are so great that you can work with them to make great stuff.
manual is a pain in the ass. but i dont need manuals.

the 32 poly is nice but well, 128 poly would be nice...
effect are just great. and the C is better organised than the B.
midi is good and stable. the arp is fantastic.

forget moog, arp, cs80, ms20....

virus has it all. it's fat, thin, soft, hard, dry, wet,metalic, string...and realy wired stuff.

well compared to software, hardware still is the 100% thing. until now everything works fine (got it 4 weeks now).

within 2 days. but their homepage could have a nice board to exchange sounds and ideas with the virus community

it is absolutely the best synth on the market.

I'm Using OS 5.Trust me you've never heard presets like this before.Deep throbbing basses like a shiatsu massage,Swirling pads, Leads as Sharp as A Ginsu.All the presets are Useable,But just by tweaking a little bit you can get an insane new sound.The included sound diver is cool but doesn't interact well with XP(Does anything really interact well with XP though).The Manual Is hardly needed,This thing is easy.This is the Ultimate VA synth that all have been waiting for,I can't even begin to explain how crazy having 1024 patches on a synth this huge is.It does everything lighting fast too.The new 32bit RISC chip is the heart of this baby.For all you strict RA users,Stop covering kraftwerk,buy this and break some hardcore new ground.

32 Notes is better than what everyone else is packing in their VA's except for the supernova 2 pro which isn't nearly as aesthetically pleasing as my virus.The Effects are very comprehensive,Individual delays/reverb would have been nice but would have bumped this up to the 3,000 price range.The only Synth with better effects is the supernova2.One Gripe i have is that the midi connectors are upside down(Crazy germans),this makes it a little harder to reroute cables without looking.Everything else is great.

The Sounds are Pick of the litter.You can create everything you've ever heard and everything you've never heard.The modulation matrix allows for mindbending lfo possibilities.The sounds I've created with this would make a nord lead 3 cower in shame.

It seems pretty sturdy,I'd gig without a backup definetely.

Upgrading Was relatively pain free.Trading sounds is easy.The only reason it gets a 9 here is cause access didn't put a warranty card in my box.I'm sure they'll rectify the situation though.

If it was lost i would just follow the bass to find it.If it was stolen then someone would have to die :). If you ever touch my virus I'll kill you and your whole family,thats what jesus would do.
This is the new center of my world,I orbit around this on a daily basis.Nothing makes me nearly as happy as playing with my virus and triton,Nothing.I have been playing synth for 5 years,piano for 10.

I'm lucky enough to own 10 synths.....9 of them are vintage (True analog). In my opinion the The Access Virus 'KC' is a remarkable machine. This is the FIRST synth that i have EVER come across where the preset sounds are genuinely inspiring. For me and probably alot of users, the editing/creation of new/existing sounds is both logical and VERY powerful. I must give Access their due credit, they really have worked hard to encompass a vast array of powerful features at your fingertips and in my opinion they have succeeded. When it comes to manuals I tend to read them 10 years after buying the instrument!

Ok here is my opinion >>

1)Keyboard action is absolutely brilliant - very high quality and a great pleasure to play.

2)Polyphony is also very good - 32 voices is probably sufficient for 99% of applications. I cannot envisage anyone actually using them all up and if you did manage to......it wouldnt be very often.

3)The Built in effects in my opinion do sound VERY good and compliment the overall sound of the Virus C. I find them no more difficult/complex to impliment than any other standalone effects box.

Overall the Virus C (I have the KC) is a FULLY featured modern synth.....this has the effect of making it REALLY POWERFUL!

As I mentioned at the beginning I own Vintage analog synths. It is IMPORTANT to remember that this is a 'Virtual Analog' in other words it is a DIGITAL machine which attempts to recreate/emulate analog sound characteristics. This is my honest opinion;

The Access Virus has a VERY DISTINCTIVE & UNIQUE SOUND. I do not use this as an analog emulating machine (Although I must admit....It is F***ing convincing), I use it for FUTURISTIC sounds. Sound effects, bass lines and pads can sound TOTALLY AMAZING on this machine...this is what I find so appealing. The sound is sweet and rich (Forget the presets, forget all the demos youve heard - program this baby yourself). As far as DIGITAL synths go, this is the nicest/most versatile/most unique sounding synth to come out for the last 15 years.

I congratulate Access for creating a unique sounding modern synth......because of this distinctive sound I personally believe this synth will be highly sought after in 20 years time.

This synth has a VERY high quality feel and build. I suspect it will carry on for decades.

Ive had no issues with mine - I am an inquisitive sort of bloke and I emailed Access numerous time before I finally purchased my synth...they responded quickly and effeciently.

CONCLUSION;

THIS IS THE BEST VA OUTHERE...............BUY IT!

Okay, I'm just going to have to disagree with just about everyone here so far: I lived withg the Virus C for s few months before finally selling it on... am I mad? Let's see:

First off; the sound is awesome, I can find no fault with that...

Latest software with the 1024 patch update. First problem; you can't store sounds in any but the first 256 slots.

The multitimbral setup is hardly intuitive. i already own a SUpernova 2 rack and I can't understand why any manufacturer wouldn't instantly copy Novation's way of handling a synth multi timbrally. The Virus has so many extra key presses in order to save and if you've edited a sound in the multi programme you then have to go through the hag of finding somewhere to save it!

Terrible effects implementation, particularly in multi mode: again, look at how the SN does it...

The manual is terrible, it gives no examples of any proceedures and the translation from the native German is not the best.

32 note poly, 16 part multi-timbral: much better than all other v/a synths (Clavia: take notice)!

The effects are poor and badly implemented.

Beautiful sound. It can do just about anything and maybe that's part of the problem... to me the point of an analogue (style) synth is it's immediacy and ease of use, I defy anyone to tell me that the modulation matrix on the Virus is "easy" to use! In the time I had it I really wanted to get to know it inside and out, but in the end became frustrated as the Supernova 2 is so much more friendly to programme and use...

The Virus is almost 2 synths in one box; great some might say, more for your money, but I want my synths to fulfill specific roles within my setup. I beklieve the immediacy of sound creation and multi timbral working has been lost on the Virus.. sadly as the sound is wonderful.

Had a couple of bugs with regards to tune drifting on parts in a multi setup, had to turn on / off to fix. Otherwise quite sound.

Contacted Virus re the above problem and Joerg (their guy in the hot seat) is extremely helpful and genuinely seems to want to get problems sorted.

I sold it on and I don't miss it. That says it all i think. Beautiful sound but too much effort to setup.

This synth is a killer. Sounds incredible. My other VA-synths bite the dust. But I will still use them because of their qualities better than VirusC (Supernova (arpeggio's), NordModular (manufacturing an editing sounds), ModularV2 (Creamware) (same as NM but other synth-patches and modules).
The manual is compact but good. It lets you start in all directions.
I've got my VirusC a week now, I'm not in all sounds yet.

It works very good and smooth with my sequencer. I've got a few strange things, but I write that to my unexperience with my brand new Virus C.

Not realistic. No good for classical music! This is too bad ;-). But the sounds and effects of this beast are the best I've heard yet.

It's very reliable. (In my special case the adapter won't fit. It's perhaps the wrong adapter. But the shop will send me the good one.)

Never had an experience.

I would buy it again if it were stolen.
By the way this counts for most of my gear: Supernova2, NordModular, CreamwareScopeBoard (with Modularv2), Korg Karma. Not for my Electribe EA-1 (which is a good piece of gear after all).