Access Virus C

Price Paid: 2300.00 (cdn)

Ease of Use: 8
I also own a Indigo 2 which shares the same features and OS. May seem easy to operate due to the many knobs but there is way much more under the hood and it is not so complicated to operate.

Presets are ...well presets. Some impressive some useless (to me)

Manual are hum...not conventional and for most people not very logically laid out.

Features: 10
Both model are 32 voice engine. Good quality FX especially the rythmic delays. FX are also easier to access that the the previous Virus (KB - Indigo 1 and Rack) which I also own. No Virus synths provides any kind of hardware storage , memory cards or expansion boards. Kind of pointless anyway on any analog emulation synth containing 256 ram presets, 768 rom presets and 128 user performances. Ever heard a MiniMoog user complaining about this kind of stuff?

No on-board sequencer but more has more than decent appergiator (non-programmble patterns, unfortunately).

Can play back 16 parts at once each with their own FX and Arp.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 10
Let's make one thing clear: This is not a SAMPLE PLAYBACK machine. It is made to create analogish sound, not to emulate real instruments. That said, whatever electronic devices are used to digitally render analog sounds in ALL Virus, are plain superb. Filters are great. Unfortunately, this kind of synth is mainly associated with the techno/dance scene which is stupid because analogish sounds can be used in any situation, (Tomita-classical, Emerson-rock, Corea-jazz to name a few. Your imagination and good taste are the only limits.

Reliability: 8
I don't gig but I often jam with other folks which mean travelling around and none of them has ever let me down at home or outside. My only reservation is that the potentiometers are not bolted to the chassis but just hanging from the circuit boards. Even if the feel is solid enough, I would nevertheless, avoid being brutal while twitching.

Customer Support: N/A
Never dealth with the company to report a problem. I had multiple OS update done at my local store and everything always went fine on all occasions. (I do not use or own a computer)

Overall Rating: 9
3 months ago I decided to do a major clean up. I sold two Roland SH-32, three Waldorf's: Q , XTK & Q Rack, three Korg's: MS2000 & Microkorg & Wavestation, 6 E-MU's, two Clavia :Nord 2x, Nord rack3, Two Alesis Micron, one Rss Elevata, three Novation's: Nova, KS rack & K-Station, one Yamaha FS1r.

I kept a Alesis Ion, A Waldorf XT, two E-mu's: Vintage pro and Mo'Phatt and I also kept all the Access Virus synths I ever bought: C desktop - Rack - Kb 61 note - Indigo 1 and Indigo 2. That should answer the "overall rating Category"

Submitted by P Parent at 01/23/2006 12:24

Price Paid: 1000 (¿)

Ease of Use: 8
Pretty straight forwards and easy to use.

Features: 7
Does what it does and handles it well. Not the be all end all synth as some have suggested. But non the less good.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 7
Giving it a 7 as to be honest this synth has been somewhat usurped by a piece of software that in all honesty surpasses the virus for sound quality, though I shant name the software as it's my secret !!! Suffice to say it's not that expensive and it's also coded in Germany. It's a bastard to e.q. as well, the virus that is, and in my opinion offers nothing that cannot be done in software.

Reliability: 9
Built like a tank.

Customer Support: 9
Superb.

Overall Rating: 7
O.k. Then... I guess my review differs from many here on this site. This synth is a lovely piece of design it most certainly looks the part sitting in my studio. However it is now dusty and unused and purely there for appearances sake as people coming into the studio seem to like to see lot's of gear. My advice to you would be to learn to program software wise as this is most definately the future of electronic music, hardware in my opinion is on a suspended sentence. Think about all the other gear you could purchase with the money you would save by not buying this... Maybe start to look at gear to record "REAL" musician's, quality mic's, compressors, pre-amps ect... so as to give that final polish to you all digital mix. Or just spend it all on TOP NOTCH software and mastering hardware. There is not a single thing this can do that I cannot achieve with software. But as I said earlier it does look the part... While I'm at it BUY A DECENT SOUND CARD !!!!! it continues to surprise me how people spend so much money on synth and often neglect the essentials. Ho hum. Oh yeah... and monitors.

Submitted by M.T. at 08/22/2005 03:03

Price Paid: used

Ease of Use: 9
I've owned a few synths in my time. My version is 5.5. I rate myself close to novice in terms of programming but this machine is begging me to tweak it! Oh boy, and i love what I can make it do.
The huge number of presets are mostly great. Hook it up to a good controller keyboard (I use my triton le) and use its knobs too to flick through the virus sounds. Some are quite symply stunning! My new age roots are quivering in the sun of it's sounds! i'd better take a breath. no manual with mine but the 'Analogue programming article on the virus website is all i need.

Features: 9
It looks and feels beautiful with plenty of red lights and good firm controls. It's midi capabilities are very good. the modulation matrix is quite complex but don't you want a synth thats this expensive to have hidden depths!? Access to its internal effects for say, modulating a guitar are at this point untried. My wife wont leave me alone with it long enough!

Expressiveness/Sounds: 9
if you want a sample based synth like the triton, then get a triton. the virus exists to make old style synthesis new and relevant and to this end, it does the job perfectly well. it has that certain feel and sound that gives music life and texture.

Reliability: 8
it seems very dependable and very well built. if you use it live keep a close eye on it because it would be easy to steal and would probably be top of the list for a knowledgable evil muso- thief! You have been warned!

Customer Support: 8
access are a helpful friendly company and i think they have the customers point of view catered for. Why they dont have all the manuals available to simply read plus more for each os upgrade is an irritation but ,oh welll!
i'm just lucky that i got this thing ridiculously cheap in a shop that didnt really know what it was!

Overall Rating: 10
this is a wonderful machine and will be featuring large on my new album soon!

Submitted by Tobias at 06/06/2005 16:07

Price Paid: 950 (pounds sterling)

Ease of Use: 8
A synth with as much programming depth as this is never going to be a cakewalk. However, all of the most commonly used parameters can be instantly accessed. The mod. matrix takes a little time to get your head round and the distinction between multi-single, multi, and single programmes never made complete sense to me. A bigger LCD might improve the ease of use.

The manual didn't do it for me. It looks as though they never got around to translating it properly, as there are sections still in the original German. It also meanders around repeating some points, and yet failing fully to explain others. There is a supplemental book 'programming analogue synths' which is excellent.

Features: 10
A very powerful synth engine. Loads of knobs. 6 audio outputs, 2 audio in (you can use it as an FX module). Vocoder, osc. sync, FM, ring modulation. Multi mode filters. Adequate polyphony (for me any way).

There is, however, only one global instance of reverb/delay (i.e. you can't send different voices to different reverb/delay algorithms at the same time). But you can, ofcourse, route some voices to different audio outs and use outboard FX instead.

No digital in/out.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 7
The Virus has an expansive sound - a bit like the audio equivalent of a wide screen TV. It has a distinctive tone that can be quite lovely. It can sound dark and aggresive, yet precise and impeccably well behaved. The filters are probably what makes this synth stand out, managing to sound both vintage (esp. the modelled Moog filters) but still retaining their own character.

All the above I liked. I do, though, have two major caveats that prevent me from fully endorsing this synth.

Perhaps the biggest problem, especially for a 'simulated analogue' synth is that the character of the oscillators is somewhat lacking. They are thin and weak, and don't sound very analogue; and this leads to thiness in the whole sound, which can't be disguised through unison stacking and detuning. You just don't get that monumental analogue sound, there's no real doof, clonk, or fizz. Although the sound is wide and the surface beautiful, it doesn't have the depth of analogue. There's no meat in the sandwhich, or if there is its a thin slice of processed ham. The other problem is one of noticeable aliasing in the upper registers, which adds a harsh quality to high pitched sounds.

I have a Korg Oasys DSP card with onboard VA synths which sounds far thicker and far more analogue (I also own a Waldorf Pulse and an Oberheim Matrix - so I know what real analogue sounds like). The Oasys doesn't exhibit aliasing to anywhere near the same degree.

Whereas the Oasys can sound nearly utterly convincing as analogue, the Virus isn't quite there it has a sharper, edgier and perhaps more modern sound. This, ofcourse, isn't neccessarily a bad thing, its a question of taste. Just don't buy one, as I did, and expect it to be able to bellow and spit like a real analogue.

Access now have some real competition in the VA market with the Alesis Ion/Micron, the new Korg VST synth(I can't remember its name; the one with the USB keyboard), and manufactures of native VST's like Arturia. All of which sound much closer to real analogue.

Anyway suffice to say I was a little dissapointed with the Virus' analogue impressions and it was for that reason that we have parted company.

My advice is try before you buy and compare it to what else is out there now and don't be carried away with the almost histerical praise with which this synth has been greeted.

Reliability: 10
Rock solid, built like a tank. Never had any OS problems with it.

Customer Support: 9
Very good customer support. New OS's with new features were regularly released. Loads of new soundbanks available on their website.

Overall Rating: 7
I've sold it and am replacing it with a Creamware Noah (mainly for the Minimax). I would advise looking at and comparing to the Alesis Ion?Micron (very good reviews, more analogue character) or the Noah, which is being sold off cheap - end of line, or the many native synths which are really catching up in terms of sound quality as PC's get faster.

Submitted by Anonymous at 12/08/2004 13:19

Price Paid: US $1379

Ease of Use: 8
I purchased the VC updated with the latest OS version. It adds a moog-emulation filter to the already powerful virus engine. Editing patches are simple as everything is logically laid out - oscillator, modulator, effects, filters and amplifier sections. Patch editor will help when you want to make 'accurate' envelopes for patches for professional CD production. But for all live purposes, everything is in the box then and there. The manual is good.

Features: N/A
32 note polyphony is plenty for a VA synth. Except for atmospheric pads/chords, you will be using only one note at a time for modulated/arpeggiated sounds. Has enough effects to keep you going. Its vocoder is excellent. Its only drawback I would say is lack of programmable arpeggiator (that you can create from scratch). But I use this in conjunction with triton extreme so no problems there

Expressiveness/Sounds: 10
Excellent range of sounds can be created. Its like the alphabet: with 26 alphabets you can create thousands of millions of words. Likewise, with several dozen parameters, you can tweak thousands and thousands of sounds. Some of the most powerful oscillators give it the absolute rawness and power. Trance superstars like Yahel use it: check out his tracks like DNA, intelligent life remix, going up (trance mix), voyage (the track that made 'tiesto' famous, because tiesto played it in his live sets), tribal maker, waves of sound.

Reliability: 10
Extremely reliable. Built like a mercedes, BMW, Audi or porsche

Customer Support: 10
Excellent customer support. They email you in 24 hours.

Overall Rating: 10
I will never allow anyone to steal it, because if somebody dares to, it will be the end of his life. I use the virus C with triton extreme, and they complement each other well. Triton's advanced sequencer, arpeggiators, sampler, effects and drum samples combined with Virus's high quality analog sounds really make quite a team!

Submitted by Anonymous at 09/18/2004 18:36

Price Paid: N/A

Ease of Use: 6
Pretty easy, but lots of functions are burried in menus. no wonder though, this is a very complex synth and offer far more option for sound sculpturing than its any other competitor. Presets are so-so, all are very alike. Not many instant-trance sounds, really. Most of the presets are designed for... I don't know what for. Most of the time I find myself tweaking hell out of them to get usefull sound. Manual explains what do every function means but doesn't tell you how to access it (what button to press).

Features: 10
HUGE features. Virus is way ahead of competition. Too many UNIQUE features can be found on this synth, that you won't find anywhere else. The only three things that are a minor minus are - 1) it have is probably separate delay and reverb, but then again, you rarely need them both simultaneously, so no problem; 2) arp is weak. 3) only 256 user patches. Otherwise everything is very well thought-out. Most important thing about the Virus is that it has TWO filters per voices. It also has funky "random patch" generator. Extremely flexible architecture.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 9
The only problem is that it has lots of character - dark character, which is not always desirable. I have problems getting clean bright sounds out of it. Despite dozens of waveforms, the sound is always dark and somewhat muddy (due to the extreme fatness). Otherwise simply luxurious sound. The best for huge trance sounds (massive pads, ripping leads). Sounds very different to JP, Nord or Supernova.
I'd give it 10 if it hadn't always sounded that dark.

Reliability: N/A

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 10
I have other VAs (JP8080, Nord Rack 2x, SupernovaII) but if I had to keep only one of them it would be Virus. Despite its character it's still far the most versatile synth, capable of the widest spectrum of ultra-hi-quality sounds. I wish presets were rewritable, cause most of them are not that usefull, imho.

Submitted by Anonymous at 06/07/2004 00:12

Price Paid: US $1499.99

Ease of Use: 9
OS 6.5 w/1024 sounds
Presets are good, but liven up when you start tweeking!
Editing is easy and the manual works you through programming a basic sound

Features: 10
Everything you could ask for in a synth

Expressiveness/Sounds: 10
It's mainly for Electronic music(Teisto, Van Dyk, Crystal Method all use it,) but I saw the keyboardist for a nu metal group using a Virus KB.
Gets really expressive when start tweaking it live.

Reliability: 10
Seems very sturdy.
Has never crashed on me.

Customer Support: 10
I e-mailed a question to Access and they responded that day and answered my question.

Overall Rating: 9
If it was stolen I would definitely buy another one.
I've been playing since '90( I started in an industrial band in SoCal.)
I have a ton of gear and I always like playing with the Virus.

Submitted by Chris at 04/23/2004 10:51

Price Paid: 1700 (EUR)

Ease of Use: 8
I currently use OS6.
Compared with the my Novation Nova the Virus goes deeper, but the Nova is slightly easier to use.

Features: N/A
Much has been said already.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 9
It sounds as Heaven or as Hell.

Reliability: N/A
It looks solid.

Customer Support: N/A
No experience with customer support.

Overall Rating: 9
It took a long time to decide whether I should buy the thing or not. It is a lot of money and I already had a Novation Nova, a CS2X and some soft-synths. I also think soft-synths sound better and better and if you - like me - dont't gig and only make some music on an amateur level, it hard to justify the money for a Virus. But ultimatly I've bought the Virus because:
- Soft synths take too much resources and are causing latency on my current computer set-up
- I love fiddling with real buttons
- I had the money
Now I have the Virus, I must admit that it certainly is a great addition to my set-up. Compared to the Nova it sounds more versatile. The Nova is great for the standard synth ('analog') sounds, but the Virus gives a bit more edge. Besides, I think that the Nova sounds a bit glassy (although in general, the Nova is an excellent synth).
I think I dont't buy more synths though (maybe a faster computer, a soft sampler and some sample CD's)

Submitted by Anonymous at 12/15/2003 07:46

Price Paid: US $0, zero

Ease of Use: N/A

Features: 10

Expressiveness/Sounds: 10
Virus just released the OS 6.5.
That might not be a big event in itself, but this time it was: there are new analog filters modelled after MiniMoog, with reproduced artefacts of analog circuity!

After upgrading I feel that my beloved Virus became totally new and got the real analog sound. This was not one of those deals when you wonder, whether you like old sound more or new sound more. This is a terrific MOOG filter, sounding like one.

If you about to buy Andromeda A6 or Moog Voyager, that check out the Virus with OS 6.5 :)

Reliability: 10
2 years no troubles!

Customer Support: 10
Very very friendly website with lots of free downloads, tutorials and useful stuff.

Overall Rating: 10
Fantastic value

Submitted by Analogissiums at 11/07/2003 19:15

Price Paid: US $1999

Ease of Use: 8
Fairly easy to use
Presets give a good variety

Features: 9
32 voice poyphony
Virus C engine
Nice variety of built in effects

Expressiveness/Sounds: 10
The reason I must review this synthesizer is for the sounds. They have gotten this one right, it blows away all of the competition in the VA market.
- Bass is thick and rips throw the mix, or strong and fat like a jazz bass.
- Leads are "red" and rich sounding, you hear them on all the best dance/trance songs. Sounds like a 21st century minimoog.
- Pads and strings almost have an Oberheim like quality to them. Also some Prophet 5 type piano pads can be heard.
- EP's can be made, arpeggios are easy, the thing is very good sonically...

Reliability: 9
Seems sturdy

Customer Support: N/A
I don't know

Overall Rating: 10
I don't have one, as soon as I can afford it I will. This is the only VA machine that I would buy exclusively. As far as the Z1-MOSS Board with the Korg Triton, and the AN1x with the Yamaha PSR9000, I would work with those as well. Virus is the modern day classic though.

Submitted by Vin at 08/22/2003 00:59