Virus's - essential?

I'm looking at getting into producing psytrance... can anyone tell me if a Virus is essential... i know they are intensely phat... but will i be at a serious loss for not owning one? or can i get away with stuff i already have like predator/albino/apr2600 etc?

If i was to get a virus, is there much disadvantage for going for an old virus B over the Ti etc?

Any help greatly appreciated thanks!

Nah its not essential. It would look very pretty and probably be a lot of fun but there really isnt much point buying such an expensive piece of equipment when you are just starting out. To be honest I think that softsynths like the ones you mentioned will serve you very well for the time being. Its not what you have its how you use it (to a degree). If in a year you still like producing psy then maybe think about investing in something expensive. Thats just my 2p. Others may and probably will disagree

No you dont need a Virus.
Having said that, they do sound fatter than most vsti's.

Ive got a Virus Indigo and it makes about 70% of my synth noises.
There's just something very special about its OSC and Filters.....

Ok cool, thanks guys - think i'll just have to ignore the gear lust for a while then and consider this again once i've got stuck in a bit - cheers!

there are a few different arguments for and against...

i wouldn't recommend buying one before you've been producing for a while, just for the reasons atomgrinder outlined. depending on your tech-savvy, a Virus TI might be a pretty intimidating thing to setup and work with if you were brand new to production... and you probably won't get the best out of the instrument initially either.

the contrary argument says that a hardware synth is a fantastic way to learn about synthesis, and getting hands-on with knobs is the best way to understand what parameters do what to sounds.

i guess it depends how much money you have and are willing to spend. i couldn't afford a synth until i'd been producing for years and i spent the time dreaming and reading and learning as much about synthesis as i could. when i finally got my hands on a Virus C it was like fucking awesome like Cameron i'd say my Virus accounts for about 70% of my sounds. it's just a hugely inspiring thing.

they're not essential though; just another sonic tool. plenty of good music has been made without them, and will be made without them.

in terms of models - Virus A, B and C are still amazingly powerful machines, and plenty capable... but bear in mind you will have to record audio whereas with a TI you don't necessarily.

really i'd say learn with free softsynths (there are plenty of wonderful VSTis out there, some which i turn to before my Virus for certain sounds), if you like producing and you like synthesis then think about hardware. certainly i wouldn't advise dropping £1849 on a TI|2 KB, because i don't think you need it at this stage

i had a virus b and got rid of it, i think it sounds thin and tinny - upgrading your computer is a better move methinks.

^strange; if anything i find the Virus is too chunky, with a big fat low-end!

i guess that just goes to show... there are personal reasons for choosing different synths too :iyes:

some people just 'click' with Nord, Access, Korg, Dave Smith, analogue, FM etc. etc.

non TI's are going for bargin prices these days.

A and B, yeah!

although C is holding steady... i've had mine for 2 years and it's gained £100 in value

best deals are on soundonsound or b-stock... every major online music store has a b-stock or returns policy, often it's just a damaged box or unwanted gift. i saw a brand new TI go for £830 the other day...

IMO, no one synth, sequencer or sample pack is essential for Psytrance.

Variety is the spice of life.

The extent of my audio specific hardware is a Rode NT1A mic, a MK-425c Midi keyboard (total junk) and a Saffire LE soundcard.

The ability and skill to write interesting and well produced tunes is totally disconnected in my head to the kit which I own and use ... its perfectly possible to use entirely freeware and come up with the goods.

thanks for the advice everyone. could never have just afforded one off the bat anyway, but maybe i'll start stashing lil bits of cash here and there so maybe when im in the position where i can consider one, i can afford it! cheers

^:iyes: the only other thing to mention about gearlust is that it's an endless cumulative mufucka that puts crack to shame.

i used to swear that the day i got my hardware synth i'd never want for anything ever. then i got a hankering for a proper reverb... once the Lexicon arrived i promised my studio was pretty much done. until i saw a good deal on a Yamaha FM synth. then my soundcard needed upgrading then to take advantage of all those extra ins and outs.

then i realised i wanted some really really really fucking nice headphones... which only made me realise how crap my monitors are. so now i'm looking for a pair of Genelecs at the right price. and a sub, because obviously i'd love a sub.

i also desperately want a Nord Modular. all that would be needed synthwise then is some proper analogue goodness - a DSI Mopho perhaps, but then i've always wanted to build a PAiA Fatman... so perhaps i should get both.

a Nocturn to control plugins would be great, along with a really nice master MIDI keyboard. i'd also really love an Eventide, and to upgrade the Virus C to the TI.

then it'd probably be time to think about getting an RME soundcard for ideal quality, before getting my mixer properly serviced. at which point you realise you need better monitors again...

...etc. etc. etc. until you're living in a cardboard box and your now ex-girlfriend won't even speak to you :iyes:

p.s. although i would say - there are some things which really are best (or only) achieved in hardware.

for instance i have never heard pitchshifting and realtime harmonising like an Eventide... nor have i heard halls quite like a Lexicon. and there is something quite special about a Nord highpass filter... granted, all three of those are just boxes running code rather than being a vintage point-to-point wired Bill Putnam original mojo compressor; but i still haven't heard anything like them!

Bah- generally i'm not actually a fan of hardware synths, bizzare as it sounds. I quite like thin crispy digital sounds for some reason, esp in psytrance. I would really love a good outboard reverb tho

Simon Posford describes the Virus as the "studio clitoris". Cos every c*nt's got one...

That quote got mysteriously lost from my SOS interview.

As everyone's already said, they're not essential but do sound phat as fuck. My housemate has one and I use it occasionally on tracks, although tbh I often find I can get phatter sounds out of the albino. If there's already a synth you know well i'd say the virus deffo isn't essential, it is a nice addition though, and it's nice having hardware to twiddle.

Also the glowing lights look well sex.

Still no monitors here ... ... still don't see the need really. If you know your system, thats infinitely more valuable then having the most pristine flat line freq response, IMO. I know mine are horrible, I think they colourate and compress the signal... but I understand how they do that, and have learnt to mix around it, so things sound good on whatever I play them on. No sub, even a dented cone... nasty ridge at 200hz, proper nasty. But ... well hey, my mixes work, so proof is in the pudding!

I reckon that goes for all music tech, across the board. Give my a synth with the nastiest aliasing oscs, and steppy filters... and that is an opportunity to come up with some madly fucked up noise which couldn't come out of something with 'better' analog emulation.

Ive been using one for the last year and a bit, i think they are a lovely synth. to advance your knowledge of synthesis they are great.
I have designed some FM style patches for the virus that i think would be hard to re-create on another soft synth. The waveforms and filters are totally excellent. Making your own patches from the init patch, with all the controls at your fingertips is something pretty special, not anything another synth could not do however. just fun from the word go.

added to that the TI can allow for multiple channels of midi to be sequenced without slowing up your sequencer, which is a bonus.
. If i was splashing out that amount of money on a actual hardware synth i dont think i would get a virus. after playing on a voyager in headphones for 45 minutes a while back i lost my urge to get an access synth.

i used to have one, swaped it for a holiday (no joke!)

I have only one hardware synth in my studio now, i got rid of most of them - its used mainly as a controller keyboard, the versitility and ease of use of VSTi synths outperforms the pita hardware has in real-life usage.. but great for playing live

:irofl: