Omnisphere 2 is here! (yes, it's really here!)

[declan32001]

After considering much I still think the weakest point of omnisphereis is the UI, realy sucks for a product at that price and "complexity" (It is really not more complex than Zebra, alchemy, harmor or massive), it's just the interface that insist on presenting a synth in "layers" instead of a clear signal path.

I'll give you that Alchemy & Harmor have extremely deep synthesis capability that Omnisphere doesn't claim to, or want to do. It's a very different approach to sound design and a very different instrument.

Comparing Massive to Omnisphere in any way is quite a chuckle, but comparing Zebra to Omnisphere is comedic genius. You really should email Urs your post.

[rod_zero]

I'll give you that Alchemy & Harmor have extremely deep synthesis capability that Omnisphere doesn't claim to, or want to do. It's a very different approach to sound design and a very different instrument.

Comparing Massive to Omnisphere in any way is quite a chuckle, but comparing Zebra to Omnisphere is comedic genius. You really should email Urs your post.

I am just comparing interface vs complexity of the synth engine. Zebra has a superb interface for its complexity (in the sense that its modular but you can see the signal path).

Omnisphere is not that complex, it has a fixed signal path plus some envelopes, LFOs and the modulation matrix. But it just seems more complex because of the interface .

For example: if you are surfing presets on Zebra you can clearly see how many oscilators, filters and routing it has. In Omnisphere I just can see 1 osc, one envelope, one lfo and one modulation assigment at once, If I wanna see what is hapenning in the rest of the envelopes I have to click, and If i wanna see the details I have to zoom in, then zoom out and zoom again for another parameter, and so on. everything is two or three clicks away. In Zebra a lot of stuff is right there and the rest is just 1 click away.

[rationalizer]

At my local store Omnisphere 1 is only €299 at the moment. If only I didn't have it already.

[quantum7]

At my local store Omnisphere 1 is only €299 at the moment. If only I didn't have it already.

The smart thing for those who don't already own Omni would be to catch one of those 20% sales that Guitar Center or Musician's Friend have every so often. Then you could get it for $400.

[mostlyjustj]

At my local store Omnisphere 1 is only €299 at the moment. If only I didn't have it already.

The smart thing for those who don't already own Omni would be to catch one of those 20% sales that Guitar Center or Musician's Friend have every so often. Then you could get it for $400.

No the SMART thing for those wo don't already own Omni would be to hold off 10 - 15 years for Omnisphere 4, and get the same feature set for a single entry price rather than be like all of us suckers who are going to end up paying way more for the same thing. Heck. anybody who invests in any VST's today is basically going to get ripped off compared to people who just hold off on making any music until 2025. Those are the smart ones.

[Arglebargle]

The best upgrade path is





don't buy anything at all.


Think of the great deal you will get!

[mostlyjustj]

For example: if you are surfing presets on Zebra you can clearly see how many oscilators, filters and routing it has. In Omnisphere I just can see 1 osc, one envelope, one lfo and one modulation assigment at once, If I wanna see what is hapenning in the rest of the envelopes I have to click, and If i wanna see the details I have to zoom in, then zoom out and zoom again for another parameter, and so on. everything is two or three clicks away. In Zebra a lot of stuff is right there and the rest is just 1 click away.

True, dat.

Omnisphere does feel like a 90's synth.... but it's like MEGA SWEET 90'S synth.

[cocoazenith]

At my local store Omnisphere 1 is only €299 at the moment. If only I didn't have it already.

The smart thing for those who don't already own Omni would be to catch one of those 20% sales that Guitar Center or Musician's Friend have every so often. Then you could get it for $400.

No the SMART thing for those wo don't already own Omni would be to hold off 10 - 15 years for Omnisphere 4, and get the same feature set for a single entry price rather than be like all of us suckers who are going to end up paying way more for the same thing. Heck. anybody who invests in any VST's today is basically going to get ripped off compared to people who just hold off on making any music until 2025. Those are the smart ones.

I agree that for new customers the deal is so good it's not even funny. Especially for those in the EU.
The Euro is at a 10 year low - and that Finland shop mentioned earlier sells Omnisphere for €299.
That's $345!! F**k...

[declan32001]

I'll give you that Alchemy & Harmor have extremely deep synthesis capability that Omnisphere doesn't claim to, or want to do. It's a very different approach to sound design and a very different instrument.

Comparing Massive to Omnisphere in any way is quite a chuckle, but comparing Zebra to Omnisphere is comedic genius. You really should email Urs your post.

I am just comparing interface vs complexity of the synth engine. Zebra has a superb interface for its complexity (in the sense that its modular but you can see the signal path).

Omnisphere is not that complex, it has a fixed signal path plus some envelopes, LFOs and the modulation matrix. But it just seems more complex because of the interface .

For example: if you are surfing presets on Zebra you can clearly see how many oscilators, filters and routing it has. In Omnisphere I just can see 1 osc, one envelope, one lfo and one modulation assigment at once, If I wanna see what is hapenning in the rest of the envelopes I have to click, and If i wanna see the details I have to zoom in, then zoom out and zoom again for another parameter, and so on. everything is two or three clicks away. In Zebra a lot of stuff is right there and the rest is just 1 click away.

I'm really not trying to be snarky here.

The only thing Zebra (which I love) has in common with Omnisphere is that they are the easiest synths I've ever had 1st exposure to. They both can be synth 101 for beginners if that's how you want to use them.

You may prefer Zebra's traditional approach, especially if you've learned on programming hardware synths and I think Urs just nailed it in every way, but it's complexity as a synth???

Regarding Omnisphere's current interface, yes it does involve some clicking because it does 10x the things Zebra (& Massive) do, and the "flex-mod system" prevents you from completely getting lost if you do go (up to 16 layers [not wise]) deep.

Many people shouldn't use Omnisphere and don't.

[declan32001]

Though even when in its pure 'rompler phase' (and it remains to be seen how far into being a rampler the new version presents) - I do try to see that in comparison to any sample set I may buy for Kontakt. And some of those have been as pricey as Omni by themself. The question as far as samples then becomes the cross section of what each of us can actually use to determine 'value'.

So I want to ask all of you that do own and use it regularly to maybe give me your top five or six factory patches that are your favorite that you think I should check out. Any little tricks you use to play those and the like would be helpful too. And maybe add the genre you use them for?

I promise, this is not any 'bait' to summarily dismiss you after the fact. I'm genuinely interested in taking a slightly different approach to demoing it this year. Both now and when the new version is released in April.

BBFG#, I'm sorry you weren't able to go to NAMM this year. Heal up with godspeed. But I am highly amused by your post and I know you are.

I wish I could help you with recommending my fave "factory" presets but that's really not how I use Omnisphere in its "Rompler phase".

There are a few exceptions, but I'd hate to think of you trudging to GC and sitting for an hour checking them out and then generously saying they were ok.

But if you're going to do it anyway I'll get back to you.

[r1chard]

The more you guys talk about this, the more I think about it, the more I feel Spectrasonics is ripping off their current loyal customers and giving everything to their new customers for $500 instead of 750. Yes, I am becoming more than a little miffed.

You've got every right to feel the way you want, but honestly, I don't get it.

First of all, you bought and I assume enjoyed, Omnisphere.

Yep

Show me the software that puts out a v2 that doesn't charge an upgrade price. It's ultra rare. The only one I can think of at the moment is Arturia gave me v2 of CS80v after I bought v1 for $75.

Alchemy, updated the system and the browser and it was free. Fl Studio gives free lifetime upgrades, they update the vst's on occasion too. Spark Drum machine free upgrade to spark 2. Real Guitar 2 was free. There are others, I was answering your question, I do not begrudge Spectrasonics and upgrade fee. For me the cost is to high. The software would cost me $750 dollars

Now, I agree that $250 does feel kind of steep for an upgrade price, but we're talking about a synth that retails for $500. But then I start to think, well they added a wavetable engine. And more filters... and effects... and Eric's gym membership. You think those are cheap to join?

I am already in the gym. I can use it anytime I want. I just don''t get to use the new equipment. The new equipment, wavetable, I already have in other vsts and it seems like this was put in for EDM, but I have Massive and Nexus 2 when I need that style of music, I don't need any more effects. I don't input my own audio.

(Just kidding, we all know he lost the weight after he contracted some weird disease mucking about in some cave. Hang in their Eric, just make sure you use the extra gentle wipes with moisturizer... also, I hope some of those events were sampled and included in Omnisphere 2)

So, anyway, think about what a wavetable synth with 8 filters and audio import and 25 effects would cost. Surely it would retail for about $200.

I don't need any of those. Omni sounds great the way it is. I don't need filters, I have them in other VST's, I do not need effects

Now, forget about those additions and look at the core. Updated UI and browser, better granulator, extra arpeggiator functions, more mod sources, etc. Surely you'd pay $50 for just that upgrade.

I like the extra arp functions, Updated UI from what I seen is non existent. I used granulator and imported audio into Alchemy one time, I never used it again. I don't need it.

So there's your $250, but wait! There's more! Lots of expertly crafted presets! (an man, Eric and co. do it like no other company I know) and a ton of extra cool sample content! And if you act now, you get it ALL IN ONE SYNTH which has a synergistic effect making all those features more valuable than they are on their own. You get all that all for the price of a nice dinner for two!

I assume I would like the 3000 sounds but what I found with V1 is much of it I cannot use, I am not a film /video composer. So maybe 50 bucks for the sounds.

I would probably upgrade for 100 bucks. Maybe another 50 for the arp. Now I am up to 650. Still very steep and I cannot preview or listen to the sounds, I have the original library, most of it I don't use, I don't need another burning piano patch. But hey. To each his own. I am glad you will enjoy spending $750 for a vst. I am happy with what I have now. If I need something different, I will probably buy a different VST. I would never discount the possibility of upgrading to V3 or V4 is the price is right.

[r1chard]

The more you guys talk about this, the more I think about it, the more I feel Spectrasonics is ripping off their current loyal customers and giving everything to their new customers for $500 instead of 750. Yes, I am becoming more than a little miffed.

You've got every right to feel the way you want, but honestly, I don't get it.

First of all, you bought and I assume enjoyed, Omnisphere.

Yep

Show me the software that puts out a v2 that doesn't charge an upgrade price. It's ultra rare. The only one I can think of at the moment is Arturia gave me v2 of CS80v after I bought v1 for $75.

Alchemy, updated the system and the browser and it was free. Fl Studio gives free lifetime upgrades, they update the vst's on occasion too. Spark Drum machine free upgrade to spark 2. Real Guitar 2 was free. There are others, I was answering your question, I do not begrudge Spectrasonics and upgrade fee. For me the cost is to high. The software would cost me $750 dollars

Now, I agree that $250 does feel kind of steep for an upgrade price, but we're talking about a synth that retails for $500. But then I start to think, well they added a wavetable engine. And more filters... and effects... and Eric's gym membership. You think those are cheap to join?

I am already in the gym. I can use it anytime I want. I just don''t get to use the new equipment. The new equipment, wavetable, I already have in other vsts and it seems like this was put in for EDM, but I have Massive and Nexus 2 when I need that style of music, I don't need any more effects. I don't input my own audio.

(Just kidding, we all know he lost the weight after he contracted some weird disease mucking about in some cave. Hang in their Eric, just make sure you use the extra gentle wipes with moisturizer... also, I hope some of those events were sampled and included in Omnisphere 2)

So, anyway, think about what a wavetable synth with 8 filters and audio import and 25 effects would cost. Surely it would retail for about $200.

I don't need any of those. Omni sounds great the way it is. I don't need filters, I have them in other VST's, I do not need effects

Now, forget about those additions and look at the core. Updated UI and browser, better granulator, extra arpeggiator functions, more mod sources, etc. Surely you'd pay $50 for just that upgrade.

I like the extra arp functions, Updated UI from what I seen is non existent. I used granulator and imported audio into Alchemy one time, I never used it again. I don't need it.

So there's your $250, but wait! There's more! Lots of expertly crafted presets! (an man, Eric and co. do it like no other company I know) and a ton of extra cool sample content! And if you act now, you get it ALL IN ONE SYNTH which has a synergistic effect making all those features more valuable than they are on their own. You get all that all for the price of a nice dinner for two!

I assume I would like the 3000 sounds but what I found with V1 is much of it I cannot use, I am not a film /video composer. So maybe 50 bucks for the sounds.

I would probably upgrade for 100 bucks. Maybe another 50 for the arp. Now I am up to 650. Still very steep and I cannot preview or listen to the sounds, I have the original library, most of it I don't use, I don't need another burning piano patch. But hey. To each his own. I am glad you will enjoy spending $750 for a vst. I am happy with what I have now. If I need something different, I will probably buy a different VST. I would never discount the possibility of upgrading to V3 or V4 is the price is right. I have come to the conclusion a lower price vst where I can preview the sample packs and choose what I want is a better business model for what I do. But I won't eliminate the possibility once the have a major upgrade, perhaps version 3 or 4

[rod_zero]

Regarding Omnisphere's current interface, yes it does involve some clicking because it does 10x the things Zebra (& Massive) do, and the "flex-mod system" prevents you from completely getting lost if you do go (up to 16 layers [not wise]) deep.

I don't agree at all with this, Omnisphere basic signal path is simple: OSC>Filter>FX, add 6 lfos and 6 envelopes and the mod matrix.

Then you layer stuff. yes layering stuff is the point of the synth, I totally get that, it's what makes it interesting and with granular engine it's going to be awesome to tweak all those samples.

I just imagine some sweet pads composed of layers of sounds, some with tiny grains, some with bigger grains

Both not, it doesnt do 10x times the stuff Zebra does. It probably does more than massive.

But the my main point is that the interface is not good enough, and in a product of this price and power for me its a deal braker.

[r1chard]

Double post

[r1chard]

Triple post, not sure what is going on here.