By VicDiesel
On 7th June 2003 Version: 1 Read all reviews by VicDiesel
4 of 12 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No |
| |
GUI
Sound
Features
Docs
Presets
Support
VFM
Stability | I bought OmniSynth because I wanted a decent GM sound set. So I don't care (much) that OS has a wonderful Rhodes piano: there are a million other ways of getting that one. EDIT: why is there a rattling tine in the middle octave? How can they have missed that?
Unfortunately, the sounds that you can only get in a GM set, mainly the acoustic instruments, are quite below par. A number of them I've heard better out of the Virtual Sound Canvas which is a fraction the size and a fraction the price. Let's hit a few.
Harpsichord: a sample stretched too far. In the middle register is a usable octave, below that it's too nasal, above that it's a screaming sound that has nothing to do with a harpsichord.
Celesta and Music Box: nice. Lots of the little extraneous noises that these mechanical contraptions make.
Accordion: one of the many illustrations of sounds that have the attack cut off. Even with the SampleTank attack set to zero, this sound still has a marked delay and swell phase. And an accordion can be very percussive.
Acoustic guitar: the transition from wound string sample to, eh, non-wound string is too big. The one is very dull, the other very bright. The notes above e'' would benefit from another sample. They are not very guitarlike.
Acoustic bass: barely usable. Goes from hollow sounds in the E string - A string range to fuller sounds on the D string, then a couple of notes up on the G string again to soft hollow sounds. In effect, an octave and a bit is usable.
Finger bass: nice in the low register, but once you get a few notes up on the G string it's clearly a sample stretched too far.
Solo strings: even with the attack at zero, they keep having some delay to them, and a very pronounced swell. This sound started annoying me really quickly. I think these are symptomatic for OS: too many sounds are geared towards playing long sustained sounds. After the first second or so, they are perfectly nice. Unfortunately the start of the sound is completely unrealistic.
Clarinet: no idea what was sampled here. Definitely not a clarinet.
Piccolo: maybe half an octave of actual piccolo sound.
Flute: beats me what instrument this is. Also a very abrupt switch between 2 samples.
Recorder: who mixed in all that extraneous wind noise? No recorder I've ever heard sounds like that.
Pan flute: ok, I guess. I wish at high attacks it would make that characteristic "chiffing" noise.
EDIT: Saxes. Good grief. They have a nasty sharp attack that can only just be removed with the Attack knob before the sound gets an unrealistic swell. Buried in the mix it works, but I wish I had a better source for when I need saxes.
Koto: very nice, except for the very abrupt transition between two samples.
Finally: user interface and documentation don't really apply since that's sampletank, not omnisynth. |
|
 |
Last edited by TennesseeVic on 28th November 2003
|
|
By Mighty_Hero
On 23rd November 2002 Version: current Read all reviews by Mighty_Hero
0 of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No |
| |
GUI
Sound
Features
Docs
Presets
Support
VFM
Stability | general MIDI sounds not "up to par"?.....spend the little money, and grab omnisynth. the reviews below are exactly what I wanted to say, so I say..........buy it. and also the description on the product page can give you the exact information.......there is not much more to say, since if you are familiar with GM, these are just better sounds. |
|
 |
|
|
By frozentitan
On 6th October 2002 Version: 1.1.4 Read all reviews by frozentitan
Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No |
| |
GUI
Sound
Features
Docs
Presets
Support
VFM
Stability | Wow! OmniSynth is the best general MIDI soundset I have heard. If you need a good solid general MIDI set, get this. There are multiple sets so you are not limited to just one to choose from. Value for money is not outdone by any other VSTi (not including freebies). Technically OmniSynth is a soundset that uses the SampleTank engine so I have given it some lower marks in the areas that are mostly engine related. This is not reflective of the high quality of the sounds themselves. I highly recommend OmniSynth. |
|
 |
|
|
By x_bruce
On 28th July 2002 Version: 1.x Read all reviews by x_bruce
Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No |
| |
GUI
Sound
Features
Docs
Presets
Support
VFM
Stability | Have you been working with General Midi and find the sound is not all that realistic or you use soundfonts which also don't always meet your needs? What are your choices? Maybe a software Sound Canvas or perhaps a hardware solution?
Take a look at the sample ram. It will be anywhere between 2.5 to 32mb for software twice the price of Omnisynth with it's hundreds of excellent mb's of pro quality sounds plus a alternative set of equally high quality sounds.
Sonic Reality takes on a standard that has been somewhat of a joke in pro circles and provides an excellent sounding version of the GM standard. Included with Omnisynth is Sampletank LE, a four channel multitimbral, one stereo output sound engine. Don't fret, although you have to load more than one instance for sequences with many channels of instruments the Sampletank engine is very light on the CPU and allows several instances to be opened, each with it's own stereo output. There is also a set of useful effects and four controls which vary between patches that allow limited control of the patches.
Strings are broad and lush. Solo strings are excellent although the Cello is somewhat drab to my tastes. What's nice is the Viola sample sounds great in Cello range. Your tastes may vary...
Pads are excellent, meeting or exceeding Roland's specification. Pianos? They are great sounding across the board. Winds are very good along with the percussion, drum and effects. The guitars are designed for realistic sound. The distortion guitar is excellent and with some tweaking of the effects can be a metal monster. If you thought you'd never use a Dulcimer think again, on patches like this along with Celeste, Music Box and Sitar you quite probably will change your mind.
Customer service is excellent.
For the composer on a budget you get enough sounds that are far better than any GM synth you might be looking for. At $129 this VSTi is a steal. |
|
 |
Last edited by x_bruce on 30th December 2002
|
|
By Scot Solida
On 21st June 2002 Version: current Read all reviews by Scot Solida
1 of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No |
| |
GUI
Sound
Features
Docs
Presets
Support
VFM
Stability | Think General MIDI has to suck? Think again. Omni Synth is the GM set from Sonic Reality, and the quality that company is known for shows in every single patch. This is what General Midi SHOULD be. Using the SampleTank playback engine, Omni Synth provides the user with a General MIDI soundset (actually, three of them) that puts GM's reputation for mediocrity to rest. You get the usual clarity and attention to detail found on Sonic Reality's other content discs, and the sounds are all imminently playable and realistic. There are, of course, some patches you won't find useful, but, quite frankly, SR had to adhere to the GM patch list, and patches I never thought I care for in the GM patch list come to life in Omni Synth. The pads, for instance.
The documentation is there, and thorough if and when you might need it.
As always, Sonic Reality customer support is without flaw. Squids is quick to address any problem I've ever seen anyone have, though admittedly, those are few and far between. If you are lucky, he'll show you pictures of his gear.
The SampleTank engine has not given me a bit of trouble, and the CPU usage was conservative, at worse.
As for value, Sonic Reality has been including this with Sonic Synth as a promotional bonus, but it's definately worth more than the meager list price. I mean, a Sound Canvas costs, what? $500 or so? The sounds on Omni Synth stand heads and shoulders above those. If you need General MIDI, or if you need a bread-and-butter soundset, Omni Synth is a no-brainer. |
|
 |
|
|
|
Latest 5 reviews from a total of 11 - Click here to read them all |