Will Omnisphere 2 run on my Macbook Air Mid 2011, dual-core 1.8GHz Intel Core i7, 4 GB Ram?

[Soarer]

Anyone with an older Macbook, with these specs who uses Omnisphere 2?
I don’t expect to run multis but just at least 1 or 2 instances along with my other synths. I can usually run 4-6 instances of Waldorf Nave and Largo (in Ableton Live) along with a Drum Rack and quite a number of effects (EQs and Limiters on each track, a few creative effects, Aether-reverb on the bus etc.) without problems (about 60% CPU).
And yes I do plan to upgrade my system but not ATM.

[Soarer]

DP

[Soarer]

DP

[tehlord]

Yes it'll run, but the library is 50-60GB so you'll need the hard drive space too!

[Soarer]

Thanks and good to hear that. Yes I'm going to clear a bit of stuff until I receive it sometime soon. But I do have a 256 Gb HD.
I was thinking, could you keep the library on a 64 GB USB flash drive and run it from there and will that work properly?
I'm planning to use mainly my own field recordings for making patches.

[jamesbernard]

Thanks and good to hear that. Yes I'm going to clear a bit of stuff until I receive it sometime soon. But I do have a 256 Gb HD.
I was thinking, could you keep the library on a 64 GB USB flash drive and run it from there and will that work properly?
I'm planning to use mainly my own field recordings for making patches.

First off.. Your processor is below the minimum specs for running Omnisphere by itself. Will it open? Sure. Will you be able to get multiple instances going, along with all of your other plug-ins? Most likely not.

I believe you have already asked our support department about this, and they informed you of that.

Secondly, there is NO way you will be running Omnisphere with the STEAM folder on a USB flash drive.. They are NOT fast enough for the streaming requirements. Putting the STEAM folder on an external SSD (or fast enough HDD) would work though (many users do this, myself included).

In the end, it's your decision.. just be aware that you are not going to get the proper experience with Omnisphere if you run it on an underpowered system.

James Bernard
Media Director
Spectrasonics

[Zexila]

I'm planning to use mainly my own field recordings for making patches.

Isn't there more tools that can serve you for that mangling purpose except Omnisphere?

[zippie]

And thanks! For considering our product!

[Soarer]

James I wanted to ask for the direct experience of people here on Macs with approximately the same specs and running Omnisphere 2, if there are any.
Actually If I can run one instance of the average patch I'll be happy, and I can start making patches until I get my system upgraded.
From the list I mentioned of all the plugins I can already use, Omnisphere's CPU use does sound really high!

I'm planning to use mainly my own field recordings for making patches.

Isn't there more tools that can serve you for that mangling purpose except Omnisphere?

I don't really know. I do know quite a number of granular plugins but I really like the sound of Omnisphere and how well the granular engine is integrated in the Synth. I'm surely also going to use Omnsiphere with the more standard synth methods and from the videos I have seen and listened to it sounds way more powerful than any of the other Soft synths I've used or heard.

Secondly, there is NO way you will be running Omnisphere with the STEAM folder on a USB flash drive.. They are NOT fast enough for the streaming requirements. Putting the STEAM folder on an external SSD (or fast enough HDD) would work though (many users do this, myself included).

Ok I hear you!

[Aryaroman]

James I wanted to ask for the direct experience of people here on Macs with approximately the same specs and running Omnisphere 2, if there are any.
Actually If I can run one instance of the average patch I'll be happy, and I can start making patches until I get my system upgraded.
From the list I mentioned of all the plugins I can already use, Omnisphere's CPU use does sound really high!

I'm planning to use mainly my own field recordings for making patches.

Isn't there more tools that can serve you for that mangling purpose except Omnisphere?

I don't really know. I do know quite a number of granular plugins but I really like the sound of Omnisphere and how well the granular engine is integrated in the Synth. I'm surely also going to use Omnsiphere with the more standard synth methods and from the videos I have seen and listened to it sounds way more powerful than any of the other Soft synths I've used or heard.

Secondly, there is NO way you will be running Omnisphere with the STEAM folder on a USB flash drive.. They are NOT fast enough for the streaming requirements. Putting the STEAM folder on an external SSD (or fast enough HDD) would work though (many users do this, myself included).

Ok I hear you!

My specs aren't very much above yours, but I can easily run multiple instances of Omnisphere. However, I mostly use the DSP waveforms. I experience a lot of crackle on the Omni 2-patches, but it's not a major loss, because the 2.0 content, majority of which is the EDM-stuff, is garbage. The granular feature is CPU-hungry too.
The EDM-content was a total miss and the granular feature, of which I was really interested in originally, I've haven't gotten grips with at all.

So yes, you can find better granular synths. Iris 2 has been praised a lot and it's currently on sale, for 1/4 of the price of Omni. Although, it's CPU-hungry.
Then there was something called Kaivo, but I'm not too familiar with that.

That said, I still think highly of Omnisphere. It's a great, intuitive and relatively easy synth, you can't go very wrong with. I'd call it an XLL-size swiss knife, but with a few blunt spots here and there.

[exmatproton]

James I wanted to ask for the direct experience of people here on Macs with approximately the same specs and running Omnisphere 2, if there are any.
Actually If I can run one instance of the average patch I'll be happy, and I can start making patches until I get my system upgraded.
From the list I mentioned of all the plugins I can already use, Omnisphere's CPU use does sound really high!

I'm planning to use mainly my own field recordings for making patches.

Isn't there more tools that can serve you for that mangling purpose except Omnisphere?

I don't really know. I do know quite a number of granular plugins but I really like the sound of Omnisphere and how well the granular engine is integrated in the Synth. I'm surely also going to use Omnsiphere with the more standard synth methods and from the videos I have seen and listened to it sounds way more powerful than any of the other Soft synths I've used or heard.

Secondly, there is NO way you will be running Omnisphere with the STEAM folder on a USB flash drive.. They are NOT fast enough for the streaming requirements. Putting the STEAM folder on an external SSD (or fast enough HDD) would work though (many users do this, myself included).

Ok I hear you!

My specs aren't very much above yours, but I can easily run multiple instances of Omnisphere. However, I mostly use the DSP waveforms. I experience a lot of crackle on the Omni 2-patches, but it's not a major loss, because the 2.0 content, majority of which is the EDM-stuff, is garbage. The granular feature is CPU-hungry too.
The EDM-content was a total miss and the granular feature, of which I was really interested in originally, I've haven't gotten grips with at all.

So yes, you can find better granular synths. Iris 2 has been praised a lot and it's currently on sale, for 1/4 of the price of Omni. Although, it's CPU-hungry.
Then there was something called Kaivo, but I'm not too familiar with that.

That said, I still think highly of Omnisphere. It's a great, intuitive and relatively easy synth, you can't go very wrong with. I'd call it an XLL-size swiss knife, but with a few blunt spots here and there.

Kaivo is awesome, but REALLY CPU hungry. I mean, 60% at 8 voices on a 4970K@4,6 GHz. Awesome device though.

[Aryaroman]

Kaivo is awesome, but REALLY CPU hungry. I mean, 60% at 8 voices on a 4970K@4,6 GHz. Awesome device though.

Great, so I'm not getting that one. Or OP. for that matter, I guess. Granular synths seem generally really hungry.

Oh well, probably should just stick to Paulstretch. What? It's a classic.

[Soarer]

Thanks for your inputs.
Regarding an external HDD for the Omnisphere 2 Library I think a small SSD drive (like the SanDisk Extreme 500 Portable 120 GB) would be optimal and pretty awesome. It's fast and very small.

Can't wait for the new MacBook Pro that comes out later this year! That should be able to run Omnisphere 2 pretty well

[Soarer]

And here's my actual experience:

No friggin problem! I'm easily running Omnisphere 2. I ran it in Stack and Live mode last night using 4-6 Parts (one instance) and even in a set with 5 other of my previously mentioned Synths + drumracks. CPU was high but no overload. They were probably not the most complex patches but I use the patches as they are, no lite version or thinning. Playing around with the Orb does make Cpu go up but nothing that takes this MacBook Air down. So I think you are underestimating the power of the Mac side I just found out that this MacBook Air has 2.9 GHz Turbo Boost!

So it's awesome and I look much forward to delve deeper into it and make my own patches.

One problem I had though was with the installation of the Library and I had just cleared the space for it and I have 84 Gb of free space but there was a repeated error message saying that 56 Gb (or so) were needed and Not enough free space. I have installed it on my hard drive but that means one USB port less. What can I do about this?

[Soarer]

Well, I better talk to support about it...