Back on topic, yes the Virus has an excellent and exceptionally smooth sound quality. Personally I absolutely love the way it interpolates between knob values, it's beautiful. Additionally the modulation sources/destinations are very comprehensive.
In a few ways I think the Radias, feature wise, was sometimes emulating aspects of the Virus. Such as the unison detuned spread across the panorama, the pulsed "punch" parameter in the amp section, sync and ring on Osc2, waveshaping prior to the filter/amp, the mod matrix, etc. The 24-voice poly would put it in the realms of the kB/Indigo.
But the Radias takes a tangent away from the Virus in very different aspects. The drums, the mod sequences, the multi-channel effects, the PCMs, the Unison oscillator, even down to very little niceties such as the extensive shaping of the LFOs, the almost pulse-width (split-wave phase/sync) waveform modulation of the main oscillators not limited to just the square/pulse, and the curves on the decay/release phases of EGs.
Stuff that's impossible on the virus.
I think they work very well together, as each has different strengths and weaknesses.
I just wish there were perhaps more modulation sources/destinations on the Radias, and that the sound was fatter/ballsier, like the MS-20 demo CD I tried that was bundled with the Radias. Whoa!! If only I was more VSTi-oriented.
Overall the way I'd describe the Radias is an exceptionally competent electribe, and almost do away with the Radias vs Virus comparison entirely, as they sound so different and they're completely different machines on the GUI/tweaking front.
Unknown Sound wrote:Oh, and don't forget the Step Sequencers and PCM Drums on the RADIAS. Now there's something the Virus can't do.
Incidently, that is exactly the sort of thing I've been doing with Radias a lot recently: plugging my virus or similar into the audio inputs of the Radias and working modulation sequences on the signal, while overdubbing with a Radias bassline and drums. If the mod seqs processing the incoming audio is programmed around or complimenting the other parts (such as drums) it really helps them gel together without resorting to stuff like bussing and compressing. Sounds a bit more professional when you're banging away live while improvising making dance type stuff, too, as the seq's draw the incoming audio bang-on into sync (I'm really sloppy at keeping rock solid timing. If some people for the life of them can't play football due to having two left legs [me included], then at music I must have two left hands, as well!).
Had some nice "Jesper - Requiem" type stuff coming out from the virus last night after pumping it into the Radias via the mod sequencers with further tape echo and limiting from the radias effects along with a few drums on a separate timbre.
Haven't got a computer presently (it [a laptop] blew up - no doubt from over-stressing it by doing the video processing last year!) so unfortunately can't record it! Gaaaaaah.
You'll have no trouble using a controler on it, esp to get the most out of multi mode on this shortie.
