How can I back up / exchange the patches on my Virus C?

    Hello-


    An all too familiar story I'm sure but I got a Virus C second hand recently and am trying to figure out how to exchange / edit sounds and patches via computer.


    I am running Operating System 6.5 on the Virus C. My main computer is a Mac OS 10.8.2 with Ableton Live Lite 8, although I also have older laptops running 10.6.8 and 10.5.8.


    Access did send me a copy of sounddiver (660r1) to try but the installer didn't work, even on the oldest laptop, 10.5.8.


    It sounds like Midi Quest is one option (http://www.squest.com/Macintos…MidiQuest-XLFeatures.html) but I wanted to see if anyone else could suggest another method for me to exchange sounds - patches and / or edit sounds via the computer.


    THANK YOU for any advice you might be able to offer!


    Quest

    The main thing I'd like to do is backup my user patches so I can try out some other ones, such as Howard Scarr's patches, for the PROGRAMMING ANALOGUE SYNTHS tutorial here:


    http://www.google.com/url?sa=t…2vw&bvm=bv.42661473,d.cGE


    I read the virus C manual and haven't been able to figure it out yet and don't want to chance over-writing my patches before I back them up.


    Will Snoize SysEx Librarian work for this? Anyone?


    http://www.snoize.com/SysExLibrarian/


    Thank you very much for any help you might offer for this!


    Here is my setup:


    MacBook Pro 10.8.2 / Virus C / Ableton Live Lite 8 / Novation Impulse 49/ Audiobox USB


    Cheers,
    Quest :)

    You actually don't need a specialized program, you can use almost any DAW, just make sure it doesn't filter sysEx. What you do for backing up is just record sysEx dumps into a MIDI tack, just as you would record yourself playing live. Refer to the MIDI/sysEx chapter of the C manual to see how to make it generate sysEx dumps. You can save what you recorded into a MIDI file and call it up when needed. The other way around is similar - load a MIDI file into a DAW track that is routed to a MIDI port where the Virus is connected, put the Virus in sysEx receive mode (actually there is more than one receive mode, so consult manual again). It also might be wise to play the sysEx files back in a slower tempo than the one they were recorded in.
    Hope this helps.

    Thanks very much for the info flabberbob. I missed this reply but do appreciate the info.


    My main daw is Ableton, which doesn't do sysex, but I'm figuring out a workaround.


    Cheers,
    Chris