Access Music Virus b

Software version is 4.58, but I am planning to upgrade it to 4.8.
I just purchased the Virus and what I write here,
are my first impressions on the machine.

The preset sounds are very nice. Actually there are only few ones
that I may not find any use. And the selection of sounds is enormous
on Access's website. Editing the patches is easy. The user interface
is excellent. No need to even look at the manual :). The manual is
very good too, much better than the manual of my Korg Wavestation.

Polyphony is enough for my use since I use the synth mostly
in single mode and record everything as audio to sequencer.
Built in effects are very easy to use.

The sounds fit excelelently to the musical style I am doing.
I am doing pure electronic music and the 1024 patches is so
enormous collection that I need quite some time to go through them
all. The onboard effects are
excellent. Very nice reverb and delays.
The phaser is good, not as Jarreish than the real Small Stone
(that I also own), but still very good. And the distortion,
well, it is the first one I have heard to sound very good.
I tried to route the Wavestation through the Virus effects and
in a fraction of second, it's a bit cold and harsh sound was
beefed up with the delicious effects of Virus. Very very nice.

I have backed up the Virus to computer. I have encountered no
software bugs so far. No problems so far during my currently
short owning period.

Access seems to update the Virus software excellently. Actually
the secret of Virus doesn't rely in hardware, it relies in the
software instead. The Virus software is excellent.

The Virus sounds excellently analog, fat, and also lush.
There is nothing bad to say about the synth.
If this would get stolen or broken or something, I would buy it again.
If I would be able to own only one synth + keyboard, the Virus
would be my choice currently. All other synths that I have tried,
have been quite unimpressive so far, but the wow-factor of
Virus is many many times higher.

To see details of my studio, please have a look at the following
page:
http://www.karoliinasalminen.com/studio.php3

Using version 4.0 will be upgrading soon to newer version. Very user friendly, lots of documentation available with Virus and on their web site. Creating patches is simply a matter of turning knobs, definitely a very organic process. It certainly helps if you have an understanding of sound design. But they do walk you thru the process and explain how each parameter affects the sound in their tutorial.

I don't even know where to start, this machine is increadibly versitile and packed with quality features. But what is truely amazing is that with each and every software upgrade it becomes a dramatically more versatile and richer instrument. Unlike other vendors they don't just fix bugs, they actually significantly improve the instrument by adding substantive features.

The Virus is the best analog modeling synth I have ever seen or heard. If you are into any form of electronic music, this is the instrument to own, nothing even comes close. Comes with some truely amazing sounds, and thousands more are available for free on their web site and other virus related sites.

Have never had a problem with it in any shape or form, whether it be mechanical or software related.

Anyone that pans thier customer support is on crack. They would be hard pressed to find a single other company that still offers software upgrades for a long discontinued product, they are still putting out upgrades for the Virus A for gods sake. Not to mention they offer thousands (yes thousands) of free quality sounds for free download on their site. Any other manufaturer is going to charge you hundreds of dollars for one or two banks of mediocre sounds. As far as technical support, it may not be as quick as some (assuming you need an answer in the next hour or two), but it's significantly more thurogh, and they will get back to you every time, can't say as much for Korg who never respond.

The Virus and Access as a company are the standard by which all others should be measured by. However, that will never happen as all others would fail miserably. As a keyboard it just sounds amazing and you could get lost for hours just fidling with one sound and a couple of chords. The beauty is that it just keeps getting better with age and each and every upgrade (like a good bottle of wine). While other instruments fall to the way side as newer models come out, the virus just gets a tune up and stays on the cutting edge. As a company you will find no other with as much of a comittment for it's products and to it's customers. You will not find a better value for the money, expecially when you take into consideration the significant library of free sounds available on it's web site. A+

Using OS4.5. This version comes with 1000 presets, and there are some corkers in there. Everything from mellifluous pads to dirty fat woovers. Amazingly, the Rhodes patch and Hammond patch are actually good enough to use...

The manual is great, and leads you by the hand - anyone who complains it is too difficult to use is clearly very lazy or stupid. It's a complicated beast, but if you want to keep it simple, just use the presets...

No keyboard. 3 LFOs (can be assigned to any destination, sin/tri/pulse/s+h,s+g etc.), 3 oscillators (main osc has fm/pwm & detune) + sub, two filters + envelope, amp envelope, arpeggiator.

Built in effects are fantastic, and the device can be used as an external FX unit. Indeed in multi mode you can process the input with one part, and still have another 15 for synthesis! Everything you'd need: phaser, chorus, flanger, ring mod, input follower, 32-band vocoder, loads of types of distortion, the best filters money can buy (I mean this - the filters are UNBEATABLE. No stepping, warm, lush, dirty, they give the virus it's characteristic sound). And you can use them all at once!

24-voice polyphony, which I've not yet exhausted, although you could pretty quickly in principle as the unison mode allows you to assign as many voices as you want to each note. The way I see it though, the only time this would be a problem is if you were playing loads of pre-sequenced stuff live. If you're recording, you can always put down parts separately, after all.

Everything is MIDI-controllable, and there's a comprehensive PC-based patch editor if you want to see everything at once. There's also a mod matrix which allows you to mix things up a little. No expansion (the only niggle - there is only 1 global reverb/delay).

Well, the sounds rock. This beast can do pretty much anything you'd ever want out of a synth. The oscillator has 64 (single cycle) waveforms, in addition to sine, triangle, pulse; there's PWM, FM, everything you'd expect. The signal path is fixed, but you can get around this: on Multi-mode, you can feed the output of one patch into the effects and filters of another part, so in effect you can chain osc -> FX -> filters -> FX -> filters ad infinitum. Did I mention the FX were amazing?

The box tends to get used in trance/techno stuff, but I'm in a jazz/funk band and I use it to sound like Sun Ra :) Seriously, with this, a sampler and a copy of logic / cubase / sonar, you're sorted.

I use it to gig all the time without backup. I've never had any kind of problem with it at all, which is more than I can say about my laptop. The thing is built like a brick shithouse - I knock it about quite a lot, and it's still going just fine.

There's a very lively mailing list which WILL be able to answer your question. I emailed tech support once and they responded in a timely manner.

The best thing about this beast is the fact that Access constantly provide FREE OS upgrades. We're on 4.5 at the moment - and it really is an amazing OS.

For the cash - it's brilliant. You can use it as your external FX AND as an incredibly versatile analogue synth. It's incredibly good value for money, and an incredibly powerful beast. OK, it may not be as configurable as a Nord Modular or have as many features as the Supernova, but it has everything you'll need to make great, beautiful / dirty sounds.

vocoder info in manual could do with more detail

good realistic sound.
good for any electronic music
effects are good, the vocoder very hard to operate,

very dependable, should never do a gig without backup anyway

bit dubious about the memory upgrades.

been waiting for a reply from support for a while

certainly helped me with my music, would definately buy another, could only be outdone by the nord lead

The Virus is my favorite synth, so right off you know my bias. I've had it for about a year. Currently using OS 4.50. I find editing using the front panel controls or menus quite easy. Any manufacturer must make choices about what controls to include on the front panel versus what to keep in the menus and I think Access did a pretty good job balancing things. For those with a PC/Mac, the SoundDiver Virus module puts all parameters on a single page, which also easy to use, especially if you have a big monitor. The ability to automatically sync the delay, LFOs, and arpeggiator to incomming MIDI clock is a huge ease of use feature for me. The manual does a good job explaining things (better than most) but the layout seems a bit odd. You can download it from the Access site and take a look.

For me the key feature of the virus is the sound. With over 1000 presets there's a lot to hear. Most of the presets are very good, and seem to come from several different sound designers. Each designer tends to have their own style, so you get several different flavors of how the virus can sound. They range from the standard analog emulations to odd effects and a few using the audio inputs for effects processing or vocoding. The presets keep on getting better with every (free) OS release too. The Multi setup is very flexible, with options to internally route one patch to the input of another.
The only thing I wish the Virus had was a digital out.

I expect everyone has their favorite synth, and the Virus is mine. I just keep coming back to it. I love the sound. It can be fat and gritty or bright and bell-like. You'll read many times about how it has it's own character. It does. You can listen to MP3s on the Access site that will show some of that, but really you need to use the Virus for a while before you truly see it's character. In all honesty, when I first got the Virus (with OS 2.5) I thought it sounded similar to other things I had. After working with it for a few days I changed my mind completely and since then use it all the time. I do wish that some of the stock presets used more controllers like modulation or aftertouch, but that's easy to change and there's always the front panel controls.

Very reliable. All metal case with real wood sides. Knobs have that heavy "oily" feel when you move them and are very solid. The OS (through several versions) has never crashed or glitched on me.

Support via email is very good. Haven't had to call. The email list was great too, but was fairly high volume so I had to unsub.

If my equipment was stolen not only would I get the Virus again but it would be the first synth I'd get, followed by a standard piece like the Roland JV/XV line. When I was deciding on the Virus I also considered the Nord Lead 2 and Waldorf XT. The Q wasn't out yet and I wasn't interested in the Novation. Other things I have are the XV-5080, Z1, Wavestation EX, K5000R, FS1R, Micro Modular. I have been in and out of giging bands for about 10 years, mostly as a drummer (using both acoustic and electronic drums and triggers).

I am using the newest operating system, 4.5, just made available this month. It came with about 1000 sounds, maybe 30 of which I use. There are a lot of very good patches, several which have inspired song ideas. There are also a lot of sounds that I wouldn't really have a use for on stage or in the studio, but are still fun to play with. I'm more of a plug and play guy, but the Virus has made me enjoy tweaking sounds and creating new ones. I'm not a synthesis expert by any means, but after a year now of performing with it and using it in my home studio, I feel completely at home with it, and can do all sorts of sound creation and manipulation on the fly. I have a patch editor for the Macintosh, which is an older one, but it does make some things easier, and eliminate the need to scroll through menus. But I don't find the Virus difficult to program at this point. The manual for me has been very helpful, and a lot easier to learn from than those from Roland or Kurzweil, which in my experience suck. I use a lot of Roland gear, but their manuals are horrible.

24 voice polyphony, knobs feel good, some buttons seem to have the contacts worn a bit, and sometimes I need to hit a few of them twice, but I've never tried to address it. It has been about a year and a half now. Lots of effects - chorus, phaser, reverb, delay, distortion, ring mod., analog boost. Easy to use, I am very happy with the sound and flexibility of each. Great phaser and versatile delay effect. Cool arpeggiator - I can't compare it to others, since I have just recently just begun experimenting with it. Good midi flexibilty - Multi patches can have a separate midi channel assigned to each instrument, any parameter on the Virus, it seems can be assigned to almost any controller (knobs, mod wheel, pitch bend, aftertouch, pedals, etc)

I love the sounds - I am a pro-touring keyboardist/songwriter for about 15 years, and use it for rock / pop / funk / fusion / and lately for trance/rave and textural stuff.
I love the synth leads and basses, the pads and strings are very lush, and there are actually some usable electric piano patches (and I'm pretty damn picky about that). It's easy to make a patch sound ridiculously fat. Real cool arpeggiator patterns and patches - 40 patterns to choose from as a starting point. It reacts very well to my playing and its easy to get a patch to be more responsive to my playing if I don't like the feel initially. I have gotten nothing but oohs and aahs about the sounds in it, even guys I know who still cart around mini-moogs are impressed by it.

It hasn't failed me once in a year and a half. The one time I emailed Access with a question they got back to me within a few days. Access always offers new OS updates and sounds free. The seem to really care about their product and their customers. I have heard hellish stories about people waiting months to get the Indigo, but that's all I can say about that. I had bought the Novation Nova before the Virus, and thought it sounded great, but was never really inspired by it that much like I am with the Virus. That's the bottom line for me.
There are a few people who have posted some negative reviews here, and of course it's a personal preference issue, but I think after reading some of them that some points are well taken, others kind of stupid, and that beginners may have a hard time getting used to the unit at first. I've been around keyboards and midi for a long time and this is one of the funnest keyboards (modules) I've ever owned. The best way to learn synthesis is to experiment with the knobs and buttons - period. Don't spend too much time reading the manual too learn how to create sounds - just do it. Doesn't take long to figure out what each knob does. And the manual even tutors you through some sound creation from scratch.

Never needed a repair, so I can't comment on that. Upgrades are as easy as logging on to their site and downloading it. Installing it is a piece of cake - the instructions that come with the upgrade are right on the money.

I'd buy it again in a heartbeat if it got stolen. I've messed around with Nords and Waldorfs in stores, but don't have much pratical experience with them. I have owned an ARP Odyssey and Solas years ago, but would never again buy an old vintage synth - way too much maintenance. I'd love to get my hands on the Virus KB keyboard.
My rig is a Roland XP-80 and RD-600, Korg CX-3 organ, Virus and various mixers, amps, and leslie speakers.
I have some songs posted on my website that use the Virus. Go to http://daveosoff.com/music.shtml and click on the song
'Why Not?' - fusiony Tower of Power/Herbie Hancock-ish instrumental with synth leads, pads and layered clavinet sounds at the end that were all made with the Virus.
Also go to http://daveosoff.com/Vykki.shtml for other songs in a rock context that use the Virus. Check Out 'Hold On', 'Water' and 'On Your Side'. Feel free to email me if you have any questions.

4.07
good variation, using most cross mod options
KnobsKnobsKnobsKnobs!
manual friendly if not amazing for reference

Both distortions (for each of the patches) r xcellent+ others

only 1 global delay/reverb
Toyal midi/sysx

fantastc

Y

Presets aren't great. The synth can obviously toss out wikkid sounds but the OS isn't very user friendly and the screen/user interface is pathetic.

24 voice polyphony is good, but no expansion possibilities as with the Novation synths where you can expand to 48 voices should you need it. However, 24 voices would do for most of us. No onboard sequencer but not really in issue for me since I use the comp for that. A big plus to Acess for updating the OS regularly and offering Virus users to exchange sounds on their website and mailinglist.

Can create amazing sounds, I find it most useful for hard/distinct basses and leads, i don't find it very allround. My Waldorf Q was much 'warmer' in it's sound and if I could afford it I would like a combination of the two :)

I find the Virus OS quite messy and unlogical. The feel of the knobs are rather chep and the design if the box is rather dull despite Access' attemp to create something stylish retroesque, I wouldn't use it live if I was a live musician.

Very small german company, basically impossible to get in touch with, email responses are VERY slow, and telephone is not even in the question. If you're lucky you have a dealer in your country who can help you out,,,

I got my Virus from musicians-gear.net before the Virus got 'hot', I don't know if Access raised their prices or if the current prices are a result of currency changes. It was definetely worth the $1250 but with the current pricing I would probably go with something from Novation instead.

The Virus B is a synth that can make amazing synths, but it COULD (and should!) BE so much easier and intuitive to use.

Virus B OS 4,7
Nice Presets, needs tweaking
hardly ever use sounddiver coz it's so easy to program
have not read the manual yet, had it about a year

24 voices, 16 midi channels, nice effects, love the midi implementation (you can control about every parameter by midi).

I have a ms2000, jv-1010, tr-rack, bassstation, pulsar2 and none of them comes close to the virus in terms of sounds

never had any issues

never had any issues

If mine were stolen I would by one again in a minute, the only thing I wish it had were double or triple the voices

- OS 4.07

Presets are very good, they need some tweaking and a little tip is to e.g. disable the arpegiator and listen to the basic sound.
Overall though they are good and you can download more at Access's
website.

Editing patches are easy for the soundshaping part but effects are through a menu system on the LCD display and takes some time to scroll through. The menues are well laid out but sometimes it takes a bit of clicking to get to the place you want.
As a plus you get Sound Diver for free when you buy a new synth (for the virus only though).

Manual is quite good but you'll probably want to read some more to learn the synthesis of the synth and not just the functions.
It explains the layout of the synth and what everything does but no short tutorials how to make a certain sound.

Polyphony : 24 Voices

Effects : Delay, Reverb, Chorus, Phaser, Distortion, 32 Band Vocoder and more. Easy to use though you need to read the manual for the vocoder layout but other then that no probs.
There are also external inputs to the Virus B so you can use the unit as a effectbox if you need and want to do it.

Sequencer: Nope, for me that is no biggie since that's what the computer is for.

Since this is my first "real" synth it's hard to realy compare it to other synths but it sounds realy realy good and I choosed between the Virus B, Supernova II and Nord Lead 3.
It became a Virus B and I'm very pleased with it.

I have had no problems with it and so for it seems to be very reliable. I'm using it in my studio and it seems sturdy and well built.

I had a quick question and mailed Access, I got a quick response so thumbs up for the support.
There is also a discussion forum and the people there are friendly and helpfull.

If it were stolen I would replace it as soon as I got the insurance money. I realy like the sound of the Virus B and I compared it to more expensive synths (NL 3 and SuperNova II).