Access Virus b

Price Paid: 860 (GBP)

Ease of Use: 9
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...

Features: 10
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).

Expressiveness/Sounds: 10
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.

Reliability: 10
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.

Customer Support: 10
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.

Overall Rating: 10
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.

Submitted by Jez at 03/05/2002 02:56

Price Paid: 800 (gbp)

Ease of Use: 9
vocoder info in manual could do with more detail

Features: 7

Expressiveness/Sounds: 8
good realistic sound.
good for any electronic music
effects are good, the vocoder very hard to operate,

Reliability: 10
very dependable, should never do a gig without backup anyway

Customer Support: 6
bit dubious about the memory upgrades.

been waiting for a reply from support for a while

Overall Rating: 8
certainly helped me with my music, would definately buy another, could only be outdone by the nord lead

Submitted by james shipwright at 01/09/2002 15:56

Price Paid: US $1250

Ease of Use: 9
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.

Features: 10
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.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 10
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.

Reliability: 10
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.

Customer Support: 10
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.

Overall Rating: 10
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).

Submitted by Anonymous at 01/08/2002 15:24

Price Paid: US $950 used

Ease of Use: 9
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.

Features: 10
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)

Expressiveness/Sounds: 10
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.

Reliability: 10
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.

Customer Support: 10
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.

Overall Rating: 10
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.

Submitted by Dave Osoff at 12/24/2001 20:15

Price Paid: N/A

Ease of Use: 10
4.07
good variation, using most cross mod options
KnobsKnobsKnobsKnobs!
manual friendly if not amazing for reference

Features: 9
Both distortions (for each of the patches) r xcellent+ others

only 1 global delay/reverb
Toyal midi/sysx

Expressiveness/Sounds: 10
fantastc

Reliability: 10
Y

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: N/A

Submitted by Anonymous at 12/09/2001 11:11

Price Paid: US $1250

Ease of Use: 4
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.

Features: 7
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.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 8
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 :)

Reliability: 5
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.

Customer Support: 5
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,,,

Overall Rating: 5
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.

Submitted by Jacob at 12/08/2001 04:08

Price Paid: 16000 (DKK)

Ease of Use: 9
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

Features: 9
24 voices, 16 midi channels, nice effects, love the midi implementation (you can control about every parameter by midi).

Expressiveness/Sounds: 10
I have a ms2000, jv-1010, tr-rack, bassstation, pulsar2 and none of them comes close to the virus in terms of sounds

Reliability: 10
never had any issues

Customer Support: 10
never had any issues

Overall Rating: 10
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

Submitted by Morten Winther at 11/19/2001 10:18

Price Paid: US $1500

Ease of Use: 9
- 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.

Features: 10
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.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 10
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.

Reliability: 10
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.

Customer Support: 10
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.

Overall Rating: 10
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).

Submitted by Anonymous at 10/14/2001 14:02

Price Paid: US $1625

Ease of Use: 7
I am using v 4.05 now. The presets sound ok but the majority of them needs al little work.
Editing sounds is as so easy...just turn the knobs and listen.
The manual is very clear but is al little complex but so is the virus

Features: 9
I have no idea what the polyphony is, the virus has some built-in effects such as chorus and delay, i actually don't know how to use them though (i have to start reading the manual properly...)
The virus has 16 midi channels and is key-sensitive (if your keyboard is..) There is no on-board sequencer but that's ok, what else would i use my computer for.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 10
The sounds are good and you can transform them into something great, The effects can also be recorded and controlled by logic. The virus sounds amazing.

Reliability: 9
i would use it on a gig without a doubt...My computer on the other hand isn't so reliable...

Customer Support: 7
there has been no reason up until now why i would need customer support. Everything is clear and works fine

Overall Rating: 9
if my virus was stolen i definately would buy a new one.
I have been making music for about a year, I own a behringer 4mono-2stereo mixing desk (cheap but it sounds good, perhaps i just don't know better...), i own two gemini decks( I have had those for about three years now) and about 500 records to sample from which i practically never do, they do give me inspiration though.
I own a crappy pentium 3 which is totally unreliable (I bought it at a bargain price), an access virus,jv-2080,korg electribe phrase sampler, a stupid 170$ keyboard (it is touchsensitive though, and so much software which i hate to use because it takes ages to create or edit sounds and they usually sound alot worse (accept for vocals though)I also own a guillemot maxi studio isis soundcard, which is great and logic audio, which also is great. that's about it...Oh yeah, and a sure mic!(no compressors or sampler yet, but I'm planning on buying them when i know the rest of my instruments inside out)
I have had the virus for about two months now.

Submitted by dils at 10/01/2001 12:25

Price Paid: US $1275

Ease of Use: 10
* Virus OS 4.07 with Cakewalk Sonar
* Presets? They sound amazing.
* Editing patches? Pretty easy but I use the presets a lot.
* manual is good and new manuals are released with major OS improvements.

Features: 9
Polyphony is more than many synths in its class...built in FX are great and you can use the FX with external gear. Also, it has a 32 band vocoder! Doesn't take cards (who cares) but you can update the operating system when there is a new one, and that adds to functionality. No onboard sequencer nor does it need one.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 9
Instruments are not realistic, they just rule. If you want general MIDI this is not the machine for you...awesome sound. Very gritty and nasty..hence the name virus heh.
* I use this for Synthpop, I think anything synthesized would be perfect...especially trance, techno, europop, dance, etc.
No keyboard, B version sits on the desktop (which I like) and the knobs are right there for tweaking.

Reliability: 9
Very reliable and I'd use it in a gig no problem.

Customer Support: 10
Access is awesome..they care. They have good support and many forums and mail lists for Virus. Access is good about OS releases and updates, and have added lots of functionality since I got it!

Overall Rating: 10
I would replace this in a second..tho perhaps with an Indigo. It is well worth the price I paid...it sounded better than the $1700 Supernova II I almost bought. I love everything about it, the sounds, the FX, the vocoder rules! There is really nothing bad about this puppy...well, the power cable could plug in more firmly..one flaw.

It inspires me to no end..every preset is valuable I think...there are few I don't like and of course, I can make my own. The Virus looks great as well. This is the hub of my arsenal! Listen to my musik at www.mp3.com/NukleoN if you want to hear it in action. ;) Check out 'Escort' and 'Reasons', two heavy Virus tunes.

Submitted by NukleoN at 09/27/2001 02:07