From the developer Usual Suspects comes their latest release – OsTIrus, a plugin that supports emulation of the Access Virus TI line of synthesizers.
Few synthesizers are as famous as the Virus Ti for trance and other dance genres of the early 2000s to today. The good folks at The Usual Suspects have made waves in the past for the release of Osirus, a Virus A/B/C emulator, and Vavra, a Waldorf microQ emulator.
You can read our article about their Access Virus C emulation to get some background information.
OsTIrus is their latest release, and it targets the Virus Ti, Ti 2, and Snow as you might imagine from the name. I was a donator for early access, so I’m perhaps a bit biased, but I think it’s their best release yet.
OsTIrus features all the functions you’d expect of a hardware Virus Ti. It has six stereo outputs, three analog and three digital.
Polyphony is unlimited, restricted more by the emulated DSP chips and their clock speed rather than any hard restrictions coded into the emulator itself. You can also use sample rates up to 96kHz, which should suit folks who are rather obsessive about aliasing.
You’ve got the full range of features like grain table and formant oscillators, wavetables unique to the hardware synthesizer, and the ever-famous hypersaw.
Unlike the hardware unit, you’re not going to have to rely on MIDI DIN to get the best possible MIDI timing out of the synth. Everything works as intended, and is flawless going by the time I’ve had with it.
Sound-wise, this thing absolutely slays. I’m not one for the trance and dance sort of stuff in my personal works.
However, the Virus Ti is built with ambient pads and smooth Reese basses in mind. Patch management is also a breeze thanks to the patch browser. You can surf presets via categories, banks, or any other criteria you might have in mind.
As with all previous releases, the emulator itself is free. You do have to provide a legally acquired Virus Ti firmware file to make the most of it. However, if you can swing that, you’re in for one of the best softsynths in recent memory.
OsTIrus is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. The plugin has an instrument and FX version in VST, VST3, AU, and CLAP formats.
If you have the cash to spare, I highly recommend donating to the developers to help fund some exciting new projects that are in the works.
Download: OsTIrus (FREE)
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50 Comments
Numanoid
onNow only need the firmware….
not mrg i swear
onYou need to use the magic word: “hocuspocus345”.
It works best if you’re in the magical land of Archive Dot Org.
I’ve been told, I don’t know, I’m innocent Mr. Officer.
Numanoid
onQuite magical :-)
I never expected this to work :-)
not mrg i swear
onThat’s the power of magic!
Tomislav Zlatic
onMRG, the silent hero of BPB!
MRG
onThat clearly wasn’t me. ^_^;
Brenny C
onMRG may be a hero but he is anything but silent. 😄
Tomislav Zlatic
onHaha! :D
MRG
onHeh!? Ah, fair enough.
Ivan
onVirus Maximus )))
Haydn
onthanx for ending my 2 day stuff around trying to get this working
Denys
onyou can download firmware installer from the official Access Music site, run it, install it, and then go to the installation folder and take the “firmware.bin” file from it and copy it to the folder you have installed OsTirus to
that’s it
Numanoid
onI was thinking about doing that, but thought that was too “easy”. Glad it works, that is the best way of doing it, as the software then is offered directly from Access
Mr. Crowley
oni cannot find it. can you perhaps point me in the right directions for the firmware installer thingy?
Frits van Zanten
onCan every Joe Average just register (as is required)?
BCThunderthud
onYes, I was able to do so. The language makes it seem as if it will only allow downloads if you’ve registered a serial number but that’s not the case.
Android Castella
onAnd if don’t have the firmware…? It’s not free… Should tell us what the cost is to donate.. Don’t keep money a secret.. It’s a dirty world and money is a part of it.. Maybe a donation of information?? If you like it.. It’s a, free access (pardon the pun) for a time to use?? There’s a gazillion synths and software out there..
Sion
onWow, sounds good, analog and edgy in the same time. Like it!
shane
onthe magic wont work 😢
not mrg i swear
onChildren know such a lot now, they soon don’t believe in fairies, and every time a child says, ‘I don’t believe in fairies,’ there is a fairy somewhere that falls down dead. ;-(
*COUGH* archive.org/details/@hocuspocus345 *COUGH*
What? I said nothing.
V
onMan, this is THE BEST hardware emulation ever, and I have all the sounds. Thank you for that!
*COUGH*Ultimate Virus TI Soundsets BUNDLE ViRUS TI PATCHES MID*COUGH*
shane
oni think i believe in magic and fairies and stuff
Sean
onThis emulator is SO AWESOME! I ran a multi with eight sounds, numerous efx and arps and it barely registered in my processor monitor…on an old stock 2016 MacBook Pro. I can only imagine what it will do on the newer computers. I own an Virus KC that I swore I’d never sell until I get a Virus TI, now I’m wondering if I need either anymore
Numanoid
onI’m on Windows 10, i5, with 16GB RAM, using FL Studio. It is not a new computer, but it manages to run more or less all my VST plugs without problems
With OsTirus I experience a lot of CPU spikes. So maybe Mac is a more viable platform for it ?
Sean
onWhen I ran the Virus C emulator on the same 2016 Macbook Pro I got all kinds of nasty CPU spikes and such. So far this combined with the new version of Harmony Bloom (released the same day) is a dream machine!
Lucas
on“With OsTirus I experience a lot of CPU spikes. So maybe Mac is a more viable platform for it?”
I’m not going to go to in-depth with any of this, but:
Neither platform is more viable, it’s all about specs, MIPS in this case (argue the equivalent.) Basically, the spikes are due to how FL Studio handles internally, it’s along the lines of (similar idea, not the same,) how Studio One now handles cores. This issue and its causes and *possible solutions, can be found in many threads over the past ten years in various forums. Ironically, official forums of Image-Line, PreSonus, etc., are historically the least helpful.
Numanoid
onThanks for the info, so performance is DAW related
I will try to load it up using SAVI host, see how that works
MRG
onPutting it in “Snow Mode” makes it eat less CPU and RAM too. You only get 4 channels in that mode, not sure what other restrictions there might be (polyphony probably).
Andrey
onDoes anyone have Virus Ti skin? I’ve seen that skin look like exactly the same as og Virus editor exists, but can’t find it anywhere
fwn
onGo to their discord server and there you’ll find ostIrus-skin-repository channel. You’ll find the link o their site: https://dsp56300.wordpress.com
David
onAs JohnC says – Go to their discord server and there you’ll find a OsTIrus Skin Repository channel. There is that skin and it’s dark version.
JohnC
onGo to their discord server and there you’ll find a OsTIrus Skin Repository channel. There is that skin and it’s dark version.
Choko
onYou can download thousands of fantastic sounds from the official Virus website. 👀
http://www.virus.info/downloads/6/Sounds-and-Patches
InnerSync
onYes,but you can’t used them since they are madefor the Acces Virus only .
Choko
onThey are working great for me on the emulator too. Not just the hardware.
Jwolfe
onIf you have viper by Adam Szabo it can
Nak
onA stupid question, but I’m stuck – how do I add presets to favorites? Dragging doesn’t work, there’s nothing under the right mouse click…
MRG
onIt would be stupid not to ask.
In the browser, right-click “Favourites”, select “Add…”, you can then enter a category name like “Best Pads Evah!!1” in our example. You can now browse the presets and when you find the “Whoa dude, that’s the best pad ever!”, you can drag’n’drop that preset name to the newly created category. Until the next one obviously.
Nak
onIt works! Thank you!
Mike
onIt sounds better than my hardware Virus B.
WAY better, even on the same presets.
I can’t believe it…
Who wants to buy an old used Virus B, anyone? :)
Nak
onWorks! Thank you!
gf
onhow to install the plugin correctly?
I copied vst3, the plugin opens, but there is no preset
MRG
onBe sure to read the Installation Guide on The Usual Suspects’ website, it’s quite well done and should suffice. The only thing I would add, is when installing the VST3, to keep the whole “OsTIrus.vst3” folder structure intact, do not just copy the vst3 file buried inside. And put the firmware.bin file at the same level of the installed folder, not inside of it. If the plugin opens, you -HAVE- presets, because a lot of them are baked in the firmware.
Vadim
onruntime error in reaper
Vadim
onruntime error in reaper when choosing preset
AP38
onThis seems like a great piece of kit and surprised me by being simple to install. For VST3 on PC, just extract and copy the entire OsTIrus.vst3 folder into your usual VST3 folder (usually in Common Files) and drop the firmware file (once you’ve sourced it) right next to the OsTIrus.vst3 file within that folder. It comes with hundreds of classic presets, so you might not even need to search for other ROM banks. For lovers of old skool techno and house, you could lose hours just auditioning the presets!
All seems to work well in FL Studio for me.
TDOL
onHmmm, I’m on a Mac, dragged the plugin and the firmware.bin into the Components folder, opened Logic, but it is still asking for the ROM file. Did I miss a step somewhere? Thanks.
Asdren
onOMG …. amazing!!! … thank you!!!!!!
Thomas J Sikora
onHello, I’m new to the vst scene, a huge thank you for the freebee, where are the presets?
MRG
onThe factory presets here under the Browser tab of the plugin. If you want/need more/different sounds I can give you two legal sources of free soundsets: Audiobombs and PresetPatch.
This should be enough to spend a few nights.