About Polyphony
So, how many voices (notes) can you expect from the Virus TI Snow at a time? The answer is that since the
Virus TI sound engine is highly dynamic, the voice count can vary dramatically from one sound to the next,
depending on which features are being used.
To help give you a rough idea of how many voices you can expect to achieve with your chosen patch, we
have provided a patch complexity meter in the top right hand side of the display.
There are five levels of complexity, with level 1 being the least complex, and hence allowing for the highest
voice-counts. Since it would be too complicated to explain all the different scenarios, we have provided the
following three examples*:
*The examples below assume Single mode operation, or playing one part at a time in Multi mode. Using ad-
ditional parts simultaneously might affect the amount of voices you can achieve.
•
Level 1
Patches using e.g. 1 or 2 simple oscillators, one or two mod routings and one or two effects can achieve
upwards of around 32 voices. With the very simplest of patches you can achieve far more than this - for
example, please check out RAM1- 78, a nice, warm PWM pad with Delay and Chorus, capable of being
played with more than 50 simultaneous voices.
•
Level 3
Patches using e.g. 3 simple oscillators, 3 or 4 mod routings and several effects can achieve upwards of
around 20 voices.
•
Level 5
Patches using e.g. the Grain or Formant oscillators, several mod routings, lots of effects and the Analog
1-4pole filter can achieve between about 10 - 14 voices.
Maximising Polyphony
The Virus TI Snow has several features which are considerably more demanding of the available DSP power
than others, and this can become apparent much more quickly in Multi Mode. Once you hit the upper limit
by playing more notes than the Virus can play at one time, then consdidered 'note-stealing' can occur, an
effect which can be quite noticeable in certain arrangements.
ABOUT POLYPHONY