Virus TI2 or Arturia Origin?

[James Coplin]

> And the TI I had for a while did sound great...but man was the
integration
> pretty much worthless.  I couldn't get it to work reliably in any DAW I
tried at
> the time, and it was really frustrating that I had to get it to work to
have
> access to certain features (arpeggio editing for one).  If the editor
worked
> stand alone w/o being a VSTi host I would have been much more in favor
of it.

I had really good luck with the integration piece.  The original TI was
really finicky about USB chipsets, drivers, etc.  It worked perfectly in
my studio, but not with my laptop.  So, I saw the good and the bad with
this.  Supposedly the TI2 integration is better.  I found on the DAW that
it was really immediate and fast to drop things on to tracks and get a
frame of a song sketched super quickly.   This being said, I don't mind
working in a DAW.  I actually have a much harder time with a light gear
setup and a laptop.  I have my DAW set so all my outboard is hardwired to
my sends as are all my synth inputs.  For me, it literally is a drag and
drop to put anything into anything in my studio.  It has required a
substantial purchase in MOTU interfaces to achieve this, but it works
flawless and I shudder to think of what I would do if I had to replace the
MOTU interfaces for any reason.

> There is one dimension you can't really get into with a modular synth
> at anything approaching a reasonable cost:  Polyphony.

Give the man a prize.  This is exactly the issue for me.  I have *massive*
modular setup and while I can "realize" a ton of polyphony relatively
speaking, with matched complete voices I can really only muster 4.  I
still like having the traditional poly synths around.  That being said, I
have no shortage of poly synths.  I have a good selection of the history
of synths from the 1970s forward but it kind of stops around the 1990s or
early 2000s.  I was kind of thinking of adding a more "current"
representative to the gear pile and the Virus and the Origin seemed to be
the best candidates.

> My major issue with the virus is it's cost.  It seems to have gotten
more and
> more expensive over the years particularly in comparison to it's
competition.
> The Blofeld, UltraNova or even the Alesis Micron are better competition
than
> their price would indicate.  I think the Korg Radias really compares
well with a
> much more aggressive sound.

This is my issue too. In reality, $3000 puts me into the realm of some
serious modular kit add ons or another true vintage analog beast to add to
the pile.  Sure the Virus does thing the Oberheim OB8 can't but I'm not
really certain the OB-8 for the same money isn't a better purchase.  I've
toyed with picking up a Radias as well but unfortunately no one around
here seems to have one.  My gear buddies are all either modular (mostly)
or wholely in the Virus camp.

James R. Coplin