KVR Audio

synzh · Post by **synzh** » Sat Aug 22, 2015 5:49 am

Then it must be GAS because the momentum is certainly building.
And I can rationalize with the best of them.
Resistance is (apparently) futile

barryfell · Post by **barryfell** » Sat Aug 22, 2015 8:14 am

synzh wrote:MachineClaw - fully understood it's a rompler (edit: among other things!), which have their places; definitely more atmospheric/ambient or downtempo, chillout kinda music is what I prefer and each "style" of synth has its place; I'm leaning more towards getting O2 when I have the scratch.
I have Diva and it's great, plus over 50 other commercial soft synths of all types; so I'm covered.
It's only GAS and "more fun to be had" that lead me to get O2 now

It's not a rompler. It's a fully fledged synth with the ability to optionally use samples as oscillators.

It's also not more for atmospheric stuff. Yes it covers that area in spades, but it really covers most areas very well over it's 12,000 patches.

For me the ability to layer samples with DSP oscillators is what makes Omnisphere pretty unique and contributes to how amazing it sounds. I have no other synths, and likewise I have many, which can do that. v2 has made this basic functionality all the better with it's user audio import and 400 DSP waveforms.

I wouldn't say you are covered until you have Omnisphere tbh. Indeed I ended up selling a lot of synths (hardware and software) once I had it as I just felt they were redundant.

LFO8 · Post by **LFO8** » Sat Aug 22, 2015 8:53 am

jamesbernard wrote:B. While Omnisphere 2 is great at atmospheric/ambient/downtempo... it can get VERY aggressive and edgy.. it's a powerful synth with many tricks up it's sleeve.

Yes, if you want it that way (like the entire EDM library ...yuk)

But you might as well be saying; it can get VERY warm an soft and creamy.

Because the character of Omnishpere's sound pretty much depends on what waveform you load up, what filter you apply, what envelope you apply, what FX you apply etc.

noiseboyuk · Post by **noiseboyuk** » Sat Aug 22, 2015 9:12 am

LFO8 wrote:
jamesbernard wrote:B. While Omnisphere 2 is great at atmospheric/ambient/downtempo... it can get VERY aggressive and edgy.. it's a powerful synth with many tricks up it's sleeve.
Yes, if you want it that way (like the entire EDM library ...yuk)

But you might as well be saying; it can get VERY warm an soft and creamy. Because the character of Omnishpere's sound pretty much depends on what waveform you load up, what filter you apply, what envelope you apply, what FX you apply etc.

Yes, exactly.

The EDM thing is kinda funny. I think people had spent years saying "Omni can't do hard and edgy", then when it did people complained there was too much hard and edgy stuff. That library is very badly tagged in particular, a lot of the best stuff isn't easy to find. Hopefully they'll at least sort the tags out, but some more analogue-type EDM patches wouldn't hurt.

In general, like a lot of people I think, my initial response to Omni 2 was almost overwhelming. You feel like you can start building a patch with practically anything, and then turn it into practically anything else. It's a sound designers dream, as well as being a quick tool. I did find it interesting that within days of release, Hans Zimmer got a copy and praised it wildly - he's always been Zebra for soft synths before, and never used Omni 1 afaik. I think that speaks volumes of the new synthesis options.

Echoes in the Attic · Post by **Echoes in the Attic** » Sat Aug 22, 2015 7:52 pm

The user audio opens it up quite a lot for sound design. It really was a romper with some basic synthesis methods in v1, but now with user audio and the granular, as well as the huge set of wave tables and improved audio rate modulations, it certainly a great sound design tool without even using the sound source library. I'm not a fan of the layout and the obscene amount of different pages via zooming, I prefer to have as much as possible in a single view. Omnisphere needs so much clicking back and forth between pages I'm not sure I'd want to do too much sound design from scratch. But what makes this better is that it's very easy to make something unique from existing patches and modifying a few things.

deastman · Post by **deastman** » Sat Aug 22, 2015 8:11 pm

This conversation is making me want Omnisphere again... And a D-50!

Like the original poster, I have so many synths that I could use something different every day of the year and really I don't need Omni at all. But it sure is compelling with all the new features. Granular, user samples, wavetables, parameter locking, not to mention all the effects... It really does add up to a very interesting synth, not even factoring in the huge sample library.

Maybe a D-550 and an iPad editor...

cocoazenith · Post by **cocoazenith** » Sat Aug 22, 2015 9:04 pm

One thing that I find intimidating are some of Omnisphere's presets. Some of them can be pretty amazing, so amazing in fact that they can be considered musical compositions in their own right. I guess it's Eric Persing's maniacal playground for ideas. The guy's gotta fill his time with something, doesn't he.

That being said I always end up feeling like cheating when using Omnisphere. If you have the ability to refrain from using the presets and designing your own sounds, then go for it.

Also, there are debates here about what kind of musical instrument Omnisphere is. Sure it's got DSP but let's not forget that it's got 60 Gb library of samples and it's not Diva. That being said I've found it sounding very Kontakt-ish/UVI-ish at times.

Kalamata Kid · Post by **Kalamata Kid** » Sat Aug 22, 2015 10:06 pm

I believe that Simon had said that the imported user samples are not used as the sound source in Omnisphere. This is very important to me so this is why I in addition to the price have not purchased it.

deastman · Post by **deastman** » Sat Aug 22, 2015 10:25 pm

Kalamata Kid wrote:I believe that Simon had said that the imported user samples are not used as the sound source in Omnisphere. This is very important to me so this is why I in addition to the price have not purchased it.

Huh? That makes no sense! What would imported samples be used for if not as a sound source?

I believe Simon was not interested in the sound design possibilities of Omnisphere because it only supports single user imported samples and not multi-sample sets like the native ones.

Kalamata Kid · Post by **Kalamata Kid** » Sat Aug 22, 2015 11:37 pm

deastman wrote:
Kalamata Kid wrote:I believe that Simon had said that the imported user samples are not used as the sound source in Omnisphere. This is very important to me so this is why I in addition to the price have not purchased it.
Huh? That makes no sense! What would imported samples be used for if not as a sound source?

I believe Simon was not interested in the sound design possibilities of Omnisphere because it only supports single user imported samples and not multi-sample sets like the native ones.

If I am correct that Simon did state so I took it as in a sampler playing back the sample so the sample is somehow prominent. Or perhaps the sample is used for a wavetable. Glad you brought this up as some clarity is welcome on my part. Depending on the response I may start saving some $$$$$$ and get Omni 2.

barryfell · Post by **barryfell** » Sun Aug 23, 2015 6:18 am

Echoes in the Attic wrote:I'm not a fan of the layout and the obscene amount of different pages via zooming, I prefer to have as much as possible in a single view. Omnisphere needs so much clicking back and forth between pages I'm not sure I'd want to do too much sound design from scratch.

Fair enough, but personally i'd hate to have all the controls from the zoom pages on the main screen. There's just too many.

I find the zoom panels quite a neat way of dealing with the issue and don't mind it at all. The new left panel really helps when setting up modulation.

But what makes this better is that it's very easy to make something unique from existing patches and modifying a few things.

Yeah even just using sound lock that 12,000 patch library turns into a 12,000,000 patch library in a few clicks! It's immense.

If there's one feature i'd like to see that i've not seen on any other synth I know of bar the Nord Lead 4 and A1, is a mutate patch option, which gives you a randomly generated patch based on intelligent randomisation of certain parameters. It's amazing for dialling in something you like, then being able to get a load of similar patches that are based on it. Very good for layering up or alternative versions.

barryfell · Post by **barryfell** » Sun Aug 23, 2015 6:23 am

Kalamata Kid wrote:I believe that Simon had said that the imported user samples are not used as the sound source in Omnisphere. This is very important to me so this is why I in addition to the price have not purchased it.

Erm what? Using imported samples can be used as a sound source. What else would they be used for?

noiseboyuk · Post by **noiseboyuk** » Sun Aug 23, 2015 8:57 am

barryfell wrote:If there's one feature i'd like to see that i've not seen on any other synth I know of bar the Nord Lead 4 and A1, is a mutate patch option, which gives you a randomly generated patch based on intelligent randomisation of certain parameters. It's amazing for dialling in something you like, then being able to get a load of similar patches that are based on it. Very good for layering up or alternative versions.

Isn't that similar to Omni's Orb? Or rather, you can use the Orb in that way if you wish.

aMUSEd · Post by **aMUSEd** » Sun Aug 23, 2015 9:01 am

noiseboyuk wrote:
barryfell wrote:If there's one feature i'd like to see that i've not seen on any other synth I know of bar the Nord Lead 4 and A1, is a mutate patch option, which gives you a randomly generated patch based on intelligent randomisation of certain parameters. It's amazing for dialling in something you like, then being able to get a load of similar patches that are based on it. Very good for layering up or alternative versions.
Isn't that similar to Omni's Orb? Or rather, you can use the Orb in that way if you wish.

Is the Nord Lead mutator similar to the one in the Nord G2 Modular (it was first developed for that) where you can breed mutations and then combine or interpolate between them in various ways and create several generations of mutations? If so you have a lot more control over the process than The Orb allows for. The only softsynth that has anything like the evolving mutations feature is Absynth 5 (and it looks like they copied it from the G2 as it's very similar). The process is almost identical to the mutation feature that was in Kai's Power Tools if anyone remembers those (very creative Photoshop Plugins).

barryfell · Post by **barryfell** » Sun Aug 23, 2015 9:22 am

noiseboyuk wrote:
barryfell wrote:If there's one feature i'd like to see that i've not seen on any other synth I know of bar the Nord Lead 4 and A1, is a mutate patch option, which gives you a randomly generated patch based on intelligent randomisation of certain parameters. It's amazing for dialling in something you like, then being able to get a load of similar patches that are based on it. Very good for layering up or alternative versions.
Isn't that similar to Omni's Orb? Or rather, you can use the Orb in that way if you wish.

No the Orb is a great but quite different thing. The Orb morphs a few existing parameters but still keeps the original patch. The mutate function on the Nord's is intelligent randomisation and generates entirely new patches.

Considering Omnisphere 2