Buy Omnisphere 2

[gremlinmoon]

Like a lot of people, I have been using Omnisphere for almost a decade. To imply that those people are still actively trying to save face for jumping on an overpriced under-performing hype train on an anonymous internet board for the past ten years is ridiculous. It is like a form of paranoid thinking.

Man, I'm so embarrassed by those overpriced Guess acid washed jeans I bought in 1984 so I wear them every day because I feel stupid for paying $100.

[pdxindy]

The rompler tag is the myth that simply will not die. When the tag "rompler" applies to anything that has a sample in it (which is where we're at now in order for it to still apply to Omnisphere for the purposes of the pointless debate so beloved at KVR), it becomes meaningless.

I think Rompler (not a negative term, just a descriptor) accurately describes Omnisphere... A large and proprietary sample library is the centerpiece of the instrument.

Serum can load a sample in the noise oscillator... it isn't a Rompler.

You can load samples into Omnisphere 2 as well..so then it is not a ROMpler?

Plenty of workstation Romplers can load samples as well...

[pdxindy]

pdxindy is absolutely correct here, the name is deceptive. But it's more than a funny joke, the positioning is definitely a part of the popularity and the target audience, you see that here, and I've seen it elsewhere. Some people are just more susceptible to hype and marketing than others and seem to equate the price with quality. Hats off to Spectrasonics, they have definitely managed to position themselves such that people are still talking about their $500 softsynth in 2018!

$350 for the high end sample library and $150 for the synth... in that light, not unreasonable if you want both.

I repeatedly hear people say 'Omnisphere' can do anything... it is some steps removed from the top analog emulations like Legend and RePro. It also does not allow the import of user multi-samples so it cannot begin to replace something like Kontakt. It also does not come close to the wavetable capability of an Icarus or Serum. And finally, it cannot do the sorts of sounds I get with Bazille because it does not have the flexible audio-rate modulation that Bazille has.

Regarding the VA, if you took RePro level quality, and applied it to all the tools available in Omnisphere, it would crush the CPU and be unplayable. Big do-everything synths incur their own penalty. It is an illusion that do-everything synths do not have to sacrifice something... in workflow and in sound quality. I'm not saying one approach is better or worse... just that the idea that one synth can do everything is rubbish. I'm glad I have bunch of different synths.

[zvenx]

And yet despite all the local 'experts'/naysayers, clearly to their audience spectrasonics must be doing well financially.

They have four products, one of which hasn't been upgraded in over ten years (RMX), another in lord knows how long (Trilian) and in the last 9 years one new product (keyscape) and one upgrade (omnisphere2). Countless free updates to Omnisphere with free features and presets, and yet they are still very much in business. With another big free update for omnisphere coming this month.

All whilst maintaining a large enough staff and years of R&D before products reach fruition.

rsp

[ghettosynth]

And yet despite all the local 'experts'/naysayers, clearly to their audience spectrasonics must be doing well financially.

So is Amway.

[pdxindy]

And yet despite all the local 'experts'/naysayers, clearly to their audience spectrasonics must be doing well financially.

So is Amway.

[noiseboyuk]

Like a lot of people, I have been using Omnisphere for almost a decade. To imply that those people are still actively trying to save face for jumping on an overpriced under-performing hype train on an anonymous internet board for the past ten years is ridiculous. It is like a form of paranoid thinking.

Man, I'm so embarrassed by those overpriced Guess acid washed jeans I bought in 1984 so I wear them every day because I feel stupid for paying $100.

This.

The way people choose to debate this I find rather revealing, and you've hit the nail on the head. It's all starting to resemble the same terminology and debating techniques as the conspiracy theory crowd. The same people who try to counter climate science by calling it "a religion", and feel that they've made some kind of gown up point.

I presume I'm a prime candidate for being in the "cult of Spectrasonics", despite complaining bitterly about their tagging in Omni 2 and how much of a negative impact this has made as a result, and my incredulity at how long it has taken them to update / replace Stylus which still doesn't have a frickin search box. Somehow, despite these issues, I still find Omnisphere (and indeed Stylus to a lesser extent) a dependable workhorse across multiple genres that consistently delivers. And yet - and I realise this is mind-boggling - in this thread I'm recommending that the OP doesn't buy it, as it doesn't seem a good fit for them.

But this kind of seemingly contradictory real world experience does not fit into the paranoid mindest - I have to be either a cult worshipper or a member of The Pure, which is A World Without Spectrasonics. Omnisphere has to be either the greatest thing in the universe, or an overpriced hype machine only of interest to gullible saps. Myabe.... just maybe... it might actually be an outstanding tool that is of particular use to certain kinds of composers, musicians and composers, but there are other fantastic alternatives with even greater strengths in some specific areas that might suit others better. Or does that read like the ravings of a madman?

[Cinebient]

On a comment on you-tube when Keyscape was released instead of an Omnisphere 3 the answer was that there are more keyboard players than synth players
Are $500 overpriced? (but i´ve seen O2 here in Germany for about €330). For some people yes, for me personally not if you really use it a lot and consider all the free updates you get.
The sound sources which are included are maybe worth it alone....IF YOU REALLY NEED THEM.
For the synth engine alone i wouldn´t pay that much of course.
Omnisphere is a kind of workstation and it´s one of the best performer with the live/stack and other modes. Microtuning, one of the few synths which offer f.e. sostenuto as modulation source etc.
Omnisphere is more for players than synth geeks and i guess their success says it.
Would i buy it again with all the other things i already have now? Maybe not.
But i would buy Keyscape anytime again and in combination with Omnisphere 2 it´s another thing since you get all these really great multi-sampled instrument as sound sources.
There are also simple things i miss in other multi-timbral synths like crossfading between different presets via mid cc and some other things.
Value is as always in the eye of the beholder and if someone think really so side blinded that his/her meaning is a fact he/she is just damn stupid. But yeah, stupid people are the happy ones.

[low_low]

Most of the people I see using Omnisphere on Youtube, etc, are beat makers, they seem to like the variety of sounds and etc. I don't see many sound designers using it, it seems to mostly be people who are loving the presets. I don't know if that even means anything, maybe I'm just not seeing other people who use it, but that's what I've seen.

[Cinebient]

Most of the people I see using Omnisphere on Youtube, etc, are beat makers, they seem to like the variety of sounds and etc. I don't see many sound designers using it, it seems to mostly be people who are loving the presets. I don't know if that even means anything, maybe I'm just not seeing other people who use it, but that's what I've seen.

Might be. But i guess the market for performers is much bigger than synth geeks and sound designers. So they did everything right.
There are much better synth engines out there but they are so much under the radar and just for a niche market.
Most of the more famous synths are far away from what i would say are the best in it´s class.
But that is also just my opinion then.
It´s hard to recommend something these days since we all are biased in some ways.
Best way is to demo a synth but that is of course not easy with Omnisphere 2.
I´m happy to own it so far and it´s in my top 5 most used plug-ins.

[low_low]

Most of the people I see using Omnisphere on Youtube, etc, are beat makers, they seem to like the variety of sounds and etc. I don't see many sound designers using it, it seems to mostly be people who are loving the presets. I don't know if that even means anything, maybe I'm just not seeing other people who use it, but that's what I've seen.

Might be. But i guess the market for performers is much bigger than synth geeks and sound designers. So they did everything right.
There are much better synth engines out there but they are so much under the radar and just for a niche market.
Most of the more famous synths are far away from what i would say are the best in it´s class.
But that is also just my opinion then.
It´s hard to recommend something these days since we all are biased in some ways.
Best way is to demo a synth but that is of course not easy with Omnisphere 2.
I´m happy to own it so far and it´s in my top 5 most used plug-ins.

Yeah .. and I probably should have mentioned that I own it too, I hear what you're saying.

[Echoes in the Attic]

I would not recommend Omnisphere as a trance synth. In fact I really don’t like the dance/edm sounds in it at all.

But some claims in this thread are just crazy. Over priced sample library? Ever checked out the prices of comparable collections of kontakt libraries. Even if you didn’t also get a good synth, with both dsp and granular with user samples, the sample library would still be a competitive price.

The benefits of Omnispheres way of handling its sample libraries though are huge. You can’t replace a whole sound source in kontakt while keeping effects and modulations in tact except in some advanced scripted products. Being able to swap an oscillator and multi-sampled instrument is very useful. The VA side isn’t spectacular but when you put all the parts together it is amazing. Not many products can I quickly copy a part across 8 other parts and have each respond to a different midi channel so I get per note effects for example. And as much as I hate the new tags, the huge preset library is useful with the functions like finding similar patches and being able to lock elements of the sound. It’s very quick to come up with new things quickly.

[Cinebient]

I would not recommend Omnisphere as a trance synth. In fact I really don’t like the dance/edm sounds in it at all.

But some claims in this thread are just crazy. Over priced sample library? Ever checked out the prices of comparable collections of kontakt libraries. Even if you didn’t also get a good synth, with both dsp and granular with user samples, the sample library would still be a competitive price.

The benefits of Omnispheres way of handling its sample libraries though are huge. You can’t replace a whole sound source in kontakt while keeping effects and modulations in tact except in some advanced scripted products. Being able to swap an oscillator and multi-sampled instrument is very useful. The VA side isn’t spectacular but when you put all the parts together it is amazing. Not many products can I quickly copy a part across 8 other parts and have each respond to a different midi channel so I get per note effects for example. And as much as I hate the new tags, the huge preset library is useful with the functions like finding similar patches and being able to lock elements of the sound. It’s very quick to come up with new things quickly.

Indeed. And of course i‘m not allowed to talk about v2.5 but all i can say is that it just takes it to a better level.
Omnisphere can do saturated analog, sharp digital and most things between.
If it had multi-sample import it would be even better but there are enough of great sources to use and mix until the end of time.
I see the single sample import as great bonus to get that kind of hardware old school sampling on top. Of course if you would want there could be a way to use all layers and parts inside a multi do use more samples per „instrument“.
Beside Alchemy, Omnisphere is for me the synth with the biggest variety of sounds.
Another thing is i guess it still has proven to be a future proof product compared to some abadoned tools i love but which could break anytime.
Maybe i‘m wrong but i always think if i see Eric Persing in his videos that he really enjoy the whole journey and the team around the Spectrasonics family is what makes it even better.
There are not only tech people involved but also great sound designers, musicians and i think we will see some great products in the future from them.

[Trancer]

Armin Van Buuren,

Use a lot of Omnisphere for pads, strings, atmosphere.

Fan of this guy, talent in the pure state, I love what he does.

Here is a video, where he uses among others Omnisphere and excellent Sylenth 1.

https://youtu.be/_5C3tCufcnQ

Wanted to take Sylenth 1, but, it would certainly duplicate what I already have

[Trancer]

I spent a lot of time watching Omnisphere 2 videos and there is some potential for what I'm looking for.


Here are some videos to expose my words.

https://youtu.be/7-lSswBZR9M


By cons it is said that original patches and when I look at the site safe site, not taken.

https://youtu.be/vdy_aUSNU00

https://youtu.be/b7-RNYjyib0


https://youtu.be/z_FiIiPofNA

https://youtu.be/StVL1TUW-x4

https://youtu.be/PAyT5CJbndc

The only thing Kontakt is more open it can host a multitude of instruments and thus makes it a very powerful and scalable tool at will.

There is the option of banks of its Nexus 2 which is a more than interesting alternative. I intend to take them elsewhere.

Here the dilemma, Omnisphere 2 or Kontakt 5?