This is a video demo of the Access Virus TI Polar, on of the popular Virus family of virtual analog synthesizers.
All of the Viruses are DSP-powered, virtual analog synthesizers. They have classic analog-style oscillators which can be tuned continuously from a pure sine wave to a square wave (with variable pulse-width modulation), as well as 63 “spectral” waveforms which are entirely synthetic, non-analog style waves. With the TI series new oscillator models were added like Hypersaw and Wavetable oscillators. The Virus comes with many different types of analog styles and digital distortion, as well as filter saturation.
The filter section is highly customisable, compared to most other synthesizers, with the Viruses having two independent resonant filters that can be combined in various ways to produce a unique sound. The synthesizer is somewhat a modular synthesizer with many routing possibilities, particularly in the envelopes.
An outstanding feature of the TI series is “Total Integration”: It can be fully integrated in a current computer based audio workstation as a VST or AU plugin, including the advantages of sample accurate MIDI timing, host automation as well as total recall.
Here’s what Keyboard Magazine had to say about the Access Virus TI Polar:
The Polar is a well-built instrument with surprising weight. Knobs feel solid, buttons firm, and the keys and keybed are noticeably improved from earlier versions. Being a former owner of the Virus Indigo (predecessor to the Polar), I immediately felt the difference in the keyboard action. There’s a certain satisfaction when digging into the keybed to engage aftertouch, and the keys themselves have a nice spring without feeling cheap.
Access isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel with the TI series. Rather, they’re building on the foundation of their original Virus line — in fact, a number of “best of” presets from past Viruses are included in the TI.
Thanks to a new dual-DSP engine, though, the TI offers many more factory patches (512 RAM, 2,048 ROM), more than double the polyphony (80 voices under “normal” conditions), and up to 129 simultaneous effects.
If you’ve used the Access Virus TI Polar, leave a comment with your thoughts!
Resources:
- Wikipedia entry on the Virus
- Unofficial Virus forum at infekted
- Keyboard Mag review
- Video via keybdwizrd
