Access Virus TI2 Desktop

For a late 90's underground electronic music enthusiast this is a dream synth. Controlled from a sampler/sequencer and using the multitimbrality the possibilities of creating soundscapes of past and present are literally endless.

The sound quality is great. Modulation and sounddesign possibilities are among the best that hardware synthesizers has to offer when using the multi mode. Learning how to optimize your programming to save the DSP resources and get the maximum polyphony out of the synth takes a bit time but the results are rewarding. As this is a quite complex synth it is highly recommended to read Access Music's / Howard Scarr's 'Programming analog synthesizers' and the user manual to understand the what, where, why and how.

The UI can be a hit or miss but the layout of everything is logical and most of the functions in menus are found from dedicated, labeled buttons, which go to the relevant menus. Some parameters need to be dug from deeper multi-page menus, especially the added features from the latest firmware updates.

The Total Integration can be tricky to get working without crashing and this I consider to be the Virus' weakest link.

Pro:
-Effects are good to great quality
-Can be used as an Aux multi effect processor and processing external signal
-Overall sound quality is great
-Modulation possibilities are among the best in hardware synthesizers
-Build quality is great

Neutral:
-Polyphony in multitimbral mode is good to average, depending on how efficiently it is programmed.

Cons:
-Total Integration part is quite unreliable and can cause crashing and other unexpected behavior of computer or software, resulting in BSOD in extreme cases
-Customizing some arpeggiator parameters can only be done from the TI-plugin

As a long-time fan of electronic music, this synth was on my wish list for a while. I use it mainly for tracks that need strong characteristic synth lines, as it has such a huge range of possibilities for synth manipulation.

The main pros for me are the comprehensive options for waveforms, voicing, filters, and all types of other effects you might want to put on the signal chain in one quality unit.

On the first day it arrived, I spent the entire afternoon programming perhaps the most disgusting distorted reece bass I've ever heard and I felt like I was 17 again. That is one of the main problems - there's so much you can do on this synth you can easily lose hours just tweaking and tweaking.

Another con is the fact that when you want to save a patch, you have to save it to the software, as the majority of the hardware banks on the synth are used up with presets. You can of course overwrite but they do have some great sounds for inspiration.

Overall though, an undisputed modern champion of the synth world, and well worth the investment.