Access Virus TI Keyboard Modeling Synth User Reviews at zZounds

"The present benchmark.." submitted December 26, 2005

By a customer from aol.com

Overall

Sound

Features

Quality

Value

Manufacturer Support

The Wow Factor

Musical Background: Hobbyist

Music Style: Electronica

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Sound: Whichever synth you buy, it will at some point be compared to this by someone. Not just useful for uptempo dance music, capable of the full palette of sounds. Subtractive, aftertouch, 2 filters, 4 oscs, wavetable, FM, PWM, effects, envelopes. The full featureset except.. Feature: ...except a sequencer. But marry this to any computer, DAW ready or not, and any sequencer [lets face it, if you're buying one of these, you probably already own a sequencer of some sort]and it integrates perfectly. Drops a point for the lack of sequencer, regains a point for the presently unique computer integration. Quality: Made of stone. Substantial, feels like an item of quality. Value: You get your money's worth. If you can afford the high asking price, then it's probably the best example of its type available today. No other synth offers the TI integration or the amazing polyphony. Manufacturer Support: Frequent updates [monthly at the moment!] each with improving featuresets and resolved bug issues. Historically, a company with good support and very active forum members. The Wow Factor: If I had a dollar for every time a forum post mentioned wanting a Virus, then I could afford .. a Virus! Overall: Not quite perfect, but then near enough for me.

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"One of the best Synth Keyboards EVER !" submitted April 13, 2007

By a customer from Hotmail.com

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Sound

Features

Ease of Use

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Value

Manufacturer Support

The Wow Factor

Musical Background: Active Musician

Music Style: Industrial, Gabber, Trip Hop, DownTemp, & LeftField

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Sound: Awesome sounds! If someone says soft synths can mimic the Ti - they are flat out wrong. Very very unique... even the presets sound great before tweaking. As for acoustic sounds I don't need super "authentic" acoustics. I make Industrial, Gabber, Progressive music, Trip Hop, downtempo, and Leftfield. If I need acoustic sounds I can get them from Reason, Cubase or other sequencing software. Feature: I was looking at all the big screens on the other new synths on the market and yes the Ti has a small screen but it has all the information you need. PLUS I use a 19" widescreen in my studio anyways with virus control. Who is actually going to squence a full project on a 7" screen? Ease of Use: You've got to read the owners manual... especially if you don't know syths. If not, your just twisting knobs hoping for a good sound. Even so the layout is good enough that a neophyte can get a good sound from it. But if you're going to lay down this much cash read the book. I don't care who makes it no synth is plug and play they all have their own style. Quality: Very rich looking and sounding. I love the wood... has that retro cool look. I have the Ti 61 Keyboard. The keys play very well. Value: It's expensive but it sounds rich. Small boutique keyboard dealers tend to have lower prices for some reason. Manufacturer Support: If you send these guys an email they get back to you within a day or less. YES initially they had some issues with the OS but they've made updates and killed all the minor issues. ACCESS MAKES RUNNING CHANGES WITH FREE DOWNLOADABLE UPDATES... YOU CAN'T BEAT THAT TYPE OF SUPPORT. The Wow Factor: Has a hi quality look. Very cool pulsating logo on the back plate. If you're ugly it's not going to get you a date... you're just ugly with a cool synth. A lot of people do want a Virus or the Virus sound. Voted one of the best 20 synths ever. I said ever, on sonicstate.com Overall: I see no need to continually upgrade this board. It will last a long time. Very PC friendly, which is what you want now days.

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"Blows away the best softsynth on it's worst day." submitted April 18, 2006

By a customer from platinumrecruitingl.com

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Musical Background: Hobbyist

Music Style: Techno, Drum and base

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Sound: IMO it's the best sounding VA out there. I own one as well as a Poly Evolver and the compliment each other well. The TI sounds are are big and lush and it's highly programmable. The arp is poweful. It's great for pads, acid (techn/trance), bass and leads. It has good routing and it's very tweekable. Compared to softsynths ... well on bad day it blows away the best soft synth.... there is aboslutely no question about it... I know, I own just about every soft-synth. Turn it up loud and feel the power. Spdif output sounds veyr clear and thick. I don't even use my softsynths anymore (accept for samples). Feature: Endless. It has so many features. With Total integration and the controller as well as the modulation matrix, the combo mode, Hypersaw. Great for Acid sounds (techno/trance)... deep lush pads, searing leads. Can use for pop, trance, industrial, mood music.. it's got it all. Not for Rock'n Roll, get a PEK for that. Ease of Use: VA synth so you need to know MUSIC and you need to know sound. Instruments like that require a person to play the knobs as much as the keys. It' easy if you understand music and sound. And if you don't, it's great instrument to learn on. Quality: Top notch. German made. Like a bimmer. One note, the OS is not complete, so they are still working on it. Virus will not go out of business. This is one of the hottest selling synths around. Everybody wants this and the PEK. They make an awsome combo.. Also great combo is A6, TI and Evolver Mono. It would be a wicked combo for around $6000 new. I'm looking into an A6 right now a well. But for techno trance stuff... TI is the "go to" instrument... nothing comes close. Value: Good value. Much better than Nord or Roland. Those are good, but not this good. Access Virus TI is the now the king of all VA synths and blows doors are soft-synths. The only advantage soft-synths have is workflow and even that is changes once Access gets Total Integratoin working without it's bugs. Manufacturer Support: They respond to my emails within 24 hours. The Wow Factor: I own it. I has some blinking gizmo's in the rear for live use and it looks nice. But better than that the KEYS FEEL soo good. Nice weight. Great response. Overall: I'll keep this until Virus releases their new synth in about 4 years. Then I'll buy that. Or I'll keep this. Who knows. For now this is the king of making acid/techno/trance music. If you combine it with let's say, a Evolver and a A6 and perhaps a Jomox drum machine, it's all you need. Other stuff I like or own. Elektron Machine Drum PEK Andromeda A6 Future Retro Revolution Jomox (anything from them is top notch) Radikal Technologies Spectralis Waldorf Q/Q+

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"Not worth the money!" submitted March 16, 2011

By a customer from inode.at

Overall

Sound

Features

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The Wow Factor

Musical Background: Hobbyist

Music Style: I like a lot of differnet styles.

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Sound: A lot of nice Sounds if your into Techno, House, Trance or SFX Sounds. Feature: Total Integration is a nice idea but never worked 100% for me. Now the drivers are in version 4 and still lot of troubles in both Logic OSX 64bit on mac and Cubase Windows 7 64bit on PC. Ease of Use: Use it as a synth over midi is great but use it over usb in 64bit os its a pain in the ass. Quality: Good build Quality. I have a desktop model can't ssay anything about the keyboard version. Value: I wouldn't buy it a second time. It sounds good but with lots of troubles i had its a creativity killer. I am more happy with my VST's now. Manufacturer Support: They let you think you are the only one with that problem but there are lots of users not satisfied with this access products. Overall: Don't think i buy a hardware synth again. Only if there is the ultimative synth and sounds ten times better than any VSTi.

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"Bad Access Virus experience." submitted February 21, 2008

By a customer from subcycle.org

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Sound

Features

Ease of Use

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The Wow Factor

Musical Background: Electronic music composer for over 20 years

Music Style: Experimental/IDM

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VERIFIED BUYER

zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.

Sound: Sounded great when it worked. It is now un-repairable and there is no support from Access. Feature: It had a decent feature set but does not really compare to a software synth. The fact that my instrument is now no longer working I wish I would have purchased a software synth. Ease of Use: It has a good quality when it worked. All of the controls are on the surface but most soft synths have surpassed this by now. I would prefer to buy a power book and a suite on Native Instruments software synths and a high quality midi controller. Quality: It is now un-repairable and there is no support from Access. It lasted a few years. Was in the shop (the North American authorized repair shop) for just under a year. The repair bill was approx. 500 US dollars and I receieved back a bunch of parts I did not need and a broken synth. Wish I would have bought a software synth a laptop and a midi controller for the same amount. At least two of the three would still work. I still have a Juno 106 in the basement from the 80's and it works like a charm. These products are supposed to last beyond a couple of years. Value: These products are supposed to last beyond a couple of years. Manufacturer Support: Horrible. This is the single worst consumer experience that I have ever had, bar none. The authorized repair shop was horrible I would have to call them once a month to get status and they would always have nothing for me. Until I finally pulled the plug and received a bill for 400-. Wow. The Wow Factor: I will never purchase an Access product again. I have had great experiences with Fender, Roland, Native Instruments, Emagic/Apple, Fatar and Digidesign in the past. This is the first sour experience I have had with gear. Overall: I was pretty psyched when I first purchased this product. The feel of the instrument was impressive and I enjoyed having the freedom that a multitimberal synth can give you. Now my laptop can handle tons of software synths and it is a pain bouncing the midi tracks. But most importantly, the instrument is now un-repairable and there is no support from Access. It lasted a few years. Was in the shop (the North American authorized repair shop) for just under a year. The repair bill was approx. 500 US dollars and I receieved back a bunch of parts I did not need and a broken synth. Wish I would have bought a software synth a laptop and a midi controller for the same amount.

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Access Virus TI Keyboard Integrated Modeling Synth

User Ratings

"The present benchmark.." submitted December 26, 2005

"One of the best Synth Keyboards EVER !" submitted April 13, 2007

"Blows away the best softsynth on it's worst day." submitted April 18, 2006

"Not worth the money!" submitted March 16, 2011

"Bad Access Virus experience." submitted February 21, 2008