Access Music Virus TI Polar

Over all the I find the Virus fairly easy and straight forward. I'm no magician when is comes to synthesis but i can get the sound I want with relative ease. The presets are amazing but at least 50% i would never use there just weird but cool sounding noises.

The built in effects in this synth are second to none, and i would say that it is possibly the main feature of the virus. The keyboard action is a bit of a let down to be honest, its quite clunky and the keys make a lot of noise when pressed and released.

Ok now this is where i wanna rip it into the TI! For a synthesizer that costs so much money you would expect nothing but the best quality across the board! But the TI is not anywhere near that! the amount of bugs and glitches that are in this thing is absolutely astonishing, the sound drops out, it pitches up and down while just playing it, sometimes i get a clap of white noise and the TI stops working all together, i then need to switch it off take the plug out and then start it up all over again. Because of all the bugs inside the TI i basically use it as a glorified midi controller and i really can't wait for the day i finally sell it! Lastly, even after updating the firmware and Virus control to the latest 3.0.12 make pretty much no difference!

Oh funny this section should come up! Customer Support? What's that then Access? Definitely something you guys don't know much about! I have sent numerous e-mails but have never heard back once, i even tried to phone those guys in germany but no one picked up! A complete JOKE!

I don't want to take it away form the TI, I mean it can make some absolutly amazing sound but the reliablity of it makes it pretty worthless in my view! Good luck with the TI2 Access, you'll need it!

Version 3.0 OS, have had no crashing problems at all.
Editing patches is a breeze if you know how to use an analog synth.
Presets are OK, but you wont realize the power of this synth until you edit them or make your own. FLipping through presets will not show you the fat, warm and lovely sound this beast has to offer.

Polyphony is sick for a VA, 80+ .
Effects are the best of any Synth I own or have used in the past and so easy to modify with the dedicated effects control knobs. Fantastic Lush Reverbs!
Great programmable arp which syncs perfect to LFO , Delay and also syncs perfectly with other synths timing clock.

This thing once I programmed the paches really can emulate almost any analog synth. It is by far the best VA ever. I have made some Yamaha CS-80 patches that are about as close to the real thing as you can get. Way better than Arturias CS-80V. No other VA synth has the Filter emulation and versitility the Ti has. It is so good on MiniMoog leads I sometimes cant tell between my Moog Voyager and the Virus TI Polar.
Effects are the best of any Synth I own or have used in the past and so easy to modify with the dedicated effects control knobs. Fantastic Lush Reverbs!
Aftertouch and velocity are also fantastic, very expressive!

Built like a Mercedes, 40+ pounds. You really get your moneys worth.
Solid, not like most Pro Synths these days.

Have not needed support other than to download the software.

If it was stolen I would hunt the theif down to get it back!
Been playing since 1981. Owned tons of analog synths in the past.
Other synths I own:
Moog Voyager
Korg Triton AND M3
Yamaha Motif
Korg Karma
Novation Supernova II
Roland Super JV 1080
Roland Juno 60

Using OS 2.7.1 Hangs or crashes a few times especialy if your move quickly through the sounds - can be VERY anoying if you are searching for a sound to add to a multi.

Presets - 2000+ - Im sure there is something in there for everyone. Lots and I mean LOTS of German trance & techno presets which are prety useless. "Like skin" is lovely

Editing is prety straight forward, though you can get lost sometimes. Hate the shift key: There should be a double click option. Can't work out how to use the Virus Control yet - does this have to be embedded into Soft Sequencer? I love the FM parameters - its very easy to make a sound more gritty without the usual FM/PD complexity.

Manuals are very very good - one on emulating other instruments (and synths) and a user manual.

80+ note polyphony - Wow!

Effects are nice - give a real sparkle to the sounds. The Chorus is particularly good.

The expansion capabilities are great - with regular upgrades from Access.

Very good interface / MIDI capabilites allow the Ti to be used as a controller KB or audio / MIDI interface. The keys are pressure sensitive. A Very nice keyboard indeed.

Only a modulation sequencer but thats fine by me.

Viruses are not ROMplers so dont expect banks full of accoustic instruments. That said though, the synth architecture is powerfull enough to produce some very realistic approximations. Some lovely strings and flutes in the presets.

Without question this is aimed at all genres of dance music. Its fun to listen to the presets and spot the the sounds from tracks over the last 10 years.

Sounds?
Some of the bases on this thing will shatter windows!
The wavetables are very different to those found on other synths - much more subtle than the VFX's, sounds more like a Wavestation's Vector progams.
I like the way a Virus morphs between a saw and square wave without sounding inharmonic.
The filters are awesome: Gritty, smooth and hard, warm, thick or thin as you want. Very good.
I'm not sure about it sounding analogue. It can do some good impressions of analogue machines (sounds very like a Juno sometimes) but it still sounds very digital to me. That's not a bad thing though: I like digital synths. I've always wanted a PPG Wave 2.3 - my VFX SD came close (but the filters are crap); The Ti does it. It's very easy to make very (no) VERY good sounds in minutes with this machine.

Very expressive. Patching some modulation to the wheel or aftertouch is a breeze. This is a very nice keyboard.

mmmm it's crashed several times. Not impressed. I cant seem to reverse the OS either - the virus control recognises a later version and refuses to cooperate! I program using the k/b - not via the virus control (which I cant figure out how to fire up outside of a soft sequencer). The machine doesnt like the formant synth modules at all - crashes every time I start to push it.

I wouldnt like to drop this thing on my foot - its built like a tank. Excellent. (I love the wood trim under the keys btw - very stylish).

Build quality gets a 10 but Im afraid the OS system bugs let this score down.

Access have been very quick to respond to my queries and there is plenty of info on their web page.

mmmm tricky question - I do think it's overpriced, but it sounds just great.

I love the speed by which great sounds can be made. It's essentially a PPG Wave so I'm more than happy to own one. This thing looks ulta sexy.

I hate the crashes. Full stop. The shift button is anoying but the crashes are uncalled for in a released piece of software.

I own a VFX SDII, R3 and some old Roland JV thing that I never use (I dont like ROMplers). The VFX, R3 and Virus all sound very similar and sometimes very unique: They compliment each other very well.
The Virus sounds much darker, and I will probably get stoned for this - more digital than the R3 - to me. I play house / progressive / tech and electro as well as 80's synth pop. The Virus has some very nice gritty electro sounds hidden inside.

Using Software Version 2.5.1 You can easily browse through the presets (takes some time to browse through 2500 presets). The quality of the presets is the best of the best. But most of them are useless to me. The most common editing parameters is available on the front panel, and half of them are available by using the shift button, wich isn't a good thing. If you want to make nice, fat and complex sounds, be prepared for alot of menudiving and confusion. You gotta sit down with this synth, read the manual many times and try to get to know the synth inside out. Otherwise you will just use presets or use a different synth for editing complex sounds. I gotta say Nord Wave/Lead and Novation Supernova are far more easy to progran then this synth. Once you get an idea of making a sound, the virus might prevent you to realise that idea unless you spend enaugh time on it. This is the weak side of the Virus.

The keyboard is very nice, it doesn't feel cheap and doesn't make much noise either. But the keyboard on the 61 note version is better.
The polyphony is 80 voices, probably when using 1 oscillator without any parameter settings. You run out of polyphony faster then you might think. I made a track with 5 parts using the virus and all parts was monophonic, not using hypersaw and I ran out of polyphony on the 6th part. This is not impressive.
The effects is very good, but they spend alot of voices. It's the best reverb I've ever heard. and all of the effects are easy to set up and use. you got 16 reverbs and 16 delays on this synth. a major improvement from the previous viruses.

The only expantion capability for this synth is Software upgrades.
A voice expantion would've been great.

If you are looking for a synth capable to the widest range of sounds, then this will be the synth for you. It's the most flexible VA synth available. I just wish it was easier to use.

This is the best sounding synth on the planet, I'm allmost convinced. It's sound quality combined with complexity is just awesome! This synth is made to make synthetic sounds unlike ROMplers, but still it's complicated enaugh to make some realistic sounds as well.

The software seems to be very stable. In my experience it never crashes. Gigging without a backup wouldn't be any problem.

Hopefully I would never need support for this synth. But I know a friend of mine who got German manual instead of English when he bought his Virus KC, and it was impossible to get a English one, so he have to read the PDF version instead. I gotta put the rating down because of that.

If it were lost, I would definatly get a new one!

What I love about this synth is the sound quality and all the wide range of sounds it can create. On top of that, the design is stunning! And at the end, it does feel like a quality product.

I compared this synth to the Waldorf Q+. And I chose the virus because the Q sounds more techno-ish and hars which I didn't like.

I wish this synth had even more processing power for more polyphony.
I also wish it had a bigger panel with more knobs and buttons to prevent menudiving. At last but not least, I wish I could twist the knobs endlessly.

Alongside this synth I use Novation Supernova PRO X, Clavia Nord Wave, and Yamaha Motif ES Rack. I've been playing for about 6 years.

As easy or as difficult as any other synth. Nice knobs, very nice build quality, love the aluminum ends with wood contrast. Good keys, nice performance synth...read on.

80 voices of polyphony doesn't mean much to me when an alleged "80 voice synth" can't run the same 4 part multitimbral track that my nord lead 2 can. This thing is more like 24 voices at best, unless you are using REALLY basic patches with no reverbs or delays, etc.

effects are cool, no complaints.

I bought it because of T.I. -- but that was a mistake. I even managed to get one fresh from the factory that was shipped within the month, running latest OS, etc. Using the USB caused a lot of grief, and at one point I saw the synth visually "burp"; the lights all dimmed then went really bright -- and i heard it transpire into my headphones -- and then the entire multi-bank became more of an autechre sound experiment -- cool, no doubt. but I had been working on a beautiful clean ambient piece.

Which brings me to the clicks, the pops, the crackles, an the stutters -- when using this thing in TI mde, things are not clean enough to record. No matter what I did, it was still there at times.

As a stand-alone synth, this thing is amazing. If I was a decent keyboard player and played live, this would be a very cool performance board. It sounds good, plays well, nice keys, etc.

Even ditching the TI interface, and simply running goold old MIDI, I still got unacceptable crackles and pops.

It's a Virus -- the king of the VA synths. I like the Virus C a bit better, I think. the software is at 2.5 now, and it still isn't done. I still believe that Access will get it all worked out, judging from their superior support of the earlier machines.

I think it has a bit clearer and deeper sound than the C does. I like the wavetables. Supersaw is OK, but not too much of it...

Remains to be seen. It powered on and off several times over a 24 hour period.

Didn't bother, it was simply returned.

Great synth, a few glitches to work out, but still very performance capable. I'm not rating this at all -- just my observations.

OS 2.03, presets sound amazing and huge. some great classic sounds too. editing is simple and straight forward. manual is neat and well written.

up to 80 voices, most patches are massive anyway and use maxium polophony. more poly than any other VA out there.

sound range is unlimited. new to classic, moog to oberheim, juno and jupiter. It can also sound like a prophet vs, especially the BP filters.

So far, it has performed glitch free for over a year. It did have some glitches with sound pops before, but the new OS has fixed this.

Great support via email, and always repsond. Cannot complain.

If stolen , would replace without a blink. the polar looks so damn sexy. the lights and wood finish is a touch of class.

Using v2.0.3

The presets sound GREAT.

Editing the patches is very easy from the Virus Control environment (VC) - Using the unit's knobs directly is not too bad either.

Manual is decent.

For those not used to this kind of synthesizer, this unit is not easy to use. However, with Virus Control, access has made it easier than ever to design sounds. The

Sometimes you might run out of polyphony if you're using very complex voices. This is a small price to pay for the amount of power involved.

The built in effects are decent. The vocoder is somewhat useless at this point, however the overall effects provide a good basis. The distortions are great.

On one of my systems I have a problem with the delay "syncing" - it pitches up and down for some reason...

This is why you buy a virus - Great all across the board.

This thing weighs quite a bit, wouldn't want to drop it. But the CHASSIS is VERY solid!

good. The forums have been great help.

Easy to use, includes a thorough manual as well as an excellant tutorial booklet that walks you through how to program in some classic synth sounds on the Virus. The Virus Control plug-in allows you to edit patches via a computer, but I find I prefer using the front panel. There are over 2000 presets to choose from, with four RAM banks in addition to ROM banks A through S or T. Each bank holds 127 different patches, one could probably get away with using nothing but the presets, but I don't know why'd anyone would want to. The quality of presets are pretty good. If I need a generic synth sound, whether vintage 60's/70's, 80's or something more typical of 90's electronica/dance music, I can usually find exactly what I'm looking for. I'm using version 2.0.3, and I haven't add any of the infamous glitches or problems.

It's a synth, and a synth that specializes in purely electronic sounds at that. It's one of the best at what it does. Polyphony is flexible depending on complexity of the patches and the use of effects, but I haven't had any problems in my day-to-day use. In addition to being one of the best virtual analogs on the market, the latest update turns it into a beefed up wavetable synth. It's not a sequencer, it's not a sampler, but in my experience none of those all-in-one synths do any one thing all that well. You can have 16 different patches at once, and you can set distortion, delay, reverb, chorus, flanger and phaser effects per patch. The keyboard is decent, not great, not horrible. Total Integration allows you to hook this up to a computer and use it in effect as a plug-in for editting and sequencing purposes. TI also allows you to use it as a MIDI interface, which is nice, and an audio interface which is so-so. Audio interface is the weakest link, it connects via USB 1.1, has to be connected directly (no hubs) and the only advantage it had over my old emagic emi 6|2m is that it has balanced outputs. I'd probably give Features a 10 if it didn't have the audio interface feature/function at all - better not to do it at all and save a few bucks than to pay extra to have an underwhelming audio interface slapped on. Hopefully the next Virus model has a firewire audio interface or, like I mentioned, none at all.

This is why I dropped 2 grand on this beast - it has a sound that stands out above every other virtual analog synth out there. When Access designed the Virus, they got the most important elements of the sound - the oscillators and the filters - just right. Furthermore, the distortion effects on this synth are the best on any keyboard. I'm also a guitarist, I obsess over distortion tone and tubes and what not, I would never consider using the onboard distortion for *any* other synth except this. Is it the equivalent to a tube driven Marshall full stack? No, but that wouldn't really suit a synthesizer. Access came up with a wide enough range of different distortion models with enough different levels of intensity that it's pretty easy to come up with a nice, warm, biting sound that doesn't make me go, "oh, another cheesy synthesizer distortion effect," and puke.

The keyboard reacts very well to what I play if the patch is supposed to, it doesn't do "realistic" instruments, although it does "realistic" emulations of well-known synth sounds of the past, yet is flexible enough to allow anyone to design the synth sounds of the future.

I would rely on it as a synth, and at 2 grand I couldn't afford to gig with a backup Virus. I give it an 8 because I wouldn't gig with it as an audio interface.

I haven't dealt with Access, but I will say that the store I bought mine from, NovaMusik, is the best!!!

$2000 for the best sounding virtual analog synth on the market - it's a steal, especially since the price point rose to $2500 since Access strated shipping the Virus TI with Virus Control 2.0. I do kind of wish that there was a way to buy it without the audio interface capability for a couple hundred bucks cheaper... I also wonder how much less it would cost with, say, 1000 Presets instead of 2000.

I am using the latest version (both firmware and software), which (at the time of writing) is version 1.2.4 for the keyboard and version 1.2.4.140 of Virus Control software (Virus | TI driver version 1.3.3.1).

To start with, let's look at the presets (this may take some time as there over two and a half thousand of them). They offer just about everything you could ever need from a synth of this nature. Most of them are very well programmed and having three soft controls below the dispay means that you have features directly to hand and these can also be different for ever sound, which makes editing a breeze. Editing sounds via Virus Control is also a great way to save editing changes with your song and help keep track of everything.

The manual is friendly and should not be too hard for someone new to synthesis to get to grips with. Access also supply an additional book, which shows you how the Virus relates to older analog synthesizers (and wavetable and FM), to gelp get the most from the unit. This is a really cool addition, as it helps you really understand what's going on in the make-up of a sound and more companies should do this.

With around 80-voices of polyphony on hand (less when patches become more complex, but the least you would ever have is around 30-voices, which is still a lot), it's a very powerful instrument. The keyboard action is quite nice (I like synth action, so went for the Polar for this main reason) and is responsive. With a stereo analog input (as well as digital) and six stereo analog outs (as well as a stereo digital output), you are well sorted for connections. Also, the USB connection can stream audio as well as MIDI, allowing the unit to hook up to your Mac (or PC) and act as a top quality 24-bit (192KHz) Audio/MIDI interface.

I know people think of Access as making dance products, but it can do so much more than that. There are thousands of sound on this machine (512 user, 2048 preset (but eraseable)) locations), and they are a fantastic place to start creating your own sounds. Some of the best sounds are programmed by Ben Crossland (who can be found demoing the unit at all the major trade shows), and they really show just what the Virus can produce. The internal effects are the icing on the cake, as the sounds don't depend upn them to sound good, they just add that little extra something. The Virus is also quite easy to get to grips with, thanks to the excellent Virus Control software included with the machine (though, for the latest version, you should visit the Access website).

Can you depend on it? Yes! Access products have always been very solid and well made (which is more than can be said for some other companies). The only thing that may put someone off using a Virus | TI Polar live is that it is quite heavy even though it's size is quite compact. For desktop use, it's perfect.

Each time I have contacted Access they have been very quick to reply. They have always been friendly and give direct and helpful answers. Very impressive.

I wouldn't know what to do if anything happened to mine. I've only had it for a little over a week and have to come to depend upon it everyday. I have been buying synths for almost 20 years now and this really is one of the best I've ever owned. The range of sounds that can be produced, the quality of the result and the ability to always be surprised at how different one sound can be from another make this a great buy.

If there were one thing I would change about it, it would be that there should be a dedicted drum kit patch, rather than having to place individual drum sounds on seperate MIDI channels in a multi patch, but that's about it! Access have paid a great deal of attention to detail with the latest version of the Virus and it really shows. This is a quality product and really worth the asking price.

For anyone looking to own just one synth to use with a laptop and DAW, this is just about as perfect as it gets, with Virus Control software acting as a VST or AU plugin, it feels like a hardware plugin! This helps, as you have controls on the Polar that directly relate to the controls you are seeing being edited on the screen, which is far better than just having a plugin synth and using a master keyboard, as the controls are not directly related and it becomes hard to keep track of what control edits what feature.

I would say that this should be at the top of your list if you are shoping for a product of this type, as there really is nothing else to touch it!