Spectrasonics Omnisphere!

[FrankT]

This will raise the bar like nothing else before. Period.

[Frunobulax]

Sonic State has a video up now:

http://www.sonicstate.com/news/shownews.cfm?newsid=6006

[DocAtlas]

Sonic State has a video up now:

http://www.sonicstate.com/news/shownews.cfm?newsid=6006

Really nice! I'm hoping it won't be too long 'til today's video gets posted on Spectrasonics' site. This is the only product I've seen from this show that is a 'must-have'.

[christianmusicmaker]

Sonic State has a video up now:

http://www.sonicstate.com/news/shownews.cfm?newsid=6006

Thanks Frunobulax! I'll add it to the "Sightings" section on the 1st page.

[beej]

I just watched the Sonic State video, and I'm really pleased - I've been banging on about organic synthesis for some years now. I've wanted a good synthesiser, but using something other than just static waveforms as source material. Physical models are about the closest I've come to getting the kind of results I've had in mind - Logic's Sculpture is great for this, although it's not an easy beast to tame and get predictable results out of.

Of course, any rompler can play back samples through a synth engine, and on a basic level Omnisphere is capable of doing that. But it seems that the Specs really get the idea of true synthesis, but with a much more organic and interesting vibe. I want a synthesesir to be a synthesiser, but have characteristics more like acoustic instruments, where the behaviour is random, full of life and interesting, but without being too unpredicatable or chaotic.

Preferably without having to rig up stack loads of mod sources to recreate something similar.

How where Omnisphere delivers on this, and just what you can do with those starting sources remains to be seen - I don't think it's exactly like what I've had in mind, but I very much liked what I heard.

So yeah, bring on the Organic Synthesis!

[JavaJ]

It just looks plain cool and sounds incredible. I watched the Sonic video and am even more impressed. I would definately put money into this package- look at the creativeness that went into the sample sessions- Eric could have just bundled his existing sounds and left it at that- but no- he is a master and went overboard on finding/creating new sounds sources. He must have been in heaven doing the recordings- what a blast it would have been.
I can't wait to get inspired to write new music with Omnipshere- it looks like a tool that will help me get out of my rutt.
Thanks Eric!!!!!!
J

[AndrewSimon]

Totally cool!

Burning piano tone

Spectrasonics does it again!

[JavaJ]

I hope we get an idea os what minimum specs will run this beast. I can't wait to dedicate my laptop to just this one synth. I would love to open up a church service with that demo patch- now that would get some attention!

[DocAtlas]

Any idea what's wrong with today's video? There's a blank space below last week's video, but there doesn't seem to be anything to watch or listen to.

[noiselurker]

From the wording of what you posted, it said something like it will replace atmosphere, etc. etc. So I'm guessing it's going to be atmosphere 2, and since it says "Power Synth" and is a rediculously large sample based instrument, it will be a rompler. It might contain some massive midi work to act like rmx only for synth sounds. So, how many huge romplers are there now?

When someone makes a really great resynthesis, formant, amp, pitch, timbre, etc. morphing synth, or another "special" synth like Zebra was the last special synth in recent memory, wake me.

If this does turn out to have some new or great wave sequencing type synth, using midi RMX on a 50 gig library, yeah, it will be cool.

I dunno really I did vote for atmosphere 2, but, if it is like I said an RMX midi type thing for a 50 gig synth library, then that will be interesting.

I won't buy it, because I'm tapped out of money now, but if it's just another HUGE rompler it won't be that special.

It's gotta have some type of interesting synthesis applied to that library, if not, bleh. I hope it does have some cool synthesis applied to that library, maybe a morphing between two presets like reaktor? Lots of possibilities.

I mean if it's only a huge rompler isn't that going to be somewhat of a letdown?

[zircon]

Watch the Sonic State video, dude. It's about as much of a ROMpler as a CRAY supercomputer is a calculator.

[noiselurker]

Probably something a bit overpriced for what it is....a bit like the rest of their stuff.

Static envelopes, can't draw your own. One nice feature is that it appears to let you combine samples. But uhm, basically that's a 2 voice synth sampler. If it's like $800, I might as well go buy a used korg m3 hook it up to the computer because it runs like a vsti, has all the features omnishpere has, resamples, korgs great pcm, karma 2, step sequencer, can be controlled by the host so basically it's got three sequencers, 2 voices per instrument like omni, it resamples, can put a radias synth inside it, uhm is better, and I've already seen one on ebay go for as low as 1300.

I'm just playing devils advocate.

It looks nice, It doesn't look like a special synthsizer, but it looks like it has enough combinations of two voices(samples), along with a step sequencer, but arghghg static wave forms, can't draw your own, and fx, to make it sound pretty darn good.

At the end of the day that's what matters, if it sounds good. And I think it will. I do think it will be overpriced for what it does though. And no, 50 gigs doesn't make it better, it makes it "bigger". These sample collections for these samplers are getting to be just well stupid.

Here is my general gripe about not just omni, but a general trend in products.

1. Alot of companies seem more interested in how the software "LOOKS" than "thinking" and making better synthesis engines.

for example instead of having a beatiful fx rack omni maybe could have had user definable waves. Now that would be awsome for a big library.

I guess you could say the step sequencer could make up for it, but my point is, programmers are getting lazy. They have so much cpu power anymore, they just re-hash old techniques, and make products look great, and re-use step sequencers and static waves.

2. Instead of making new synthesis, or bringing some of the unique hardware type synthesis to the soft synth world, they just make bigger and bigger libraries.

We all have nuclear computers, and hard drives that we could store our brains on, so we just load more and more samples, but what about better synthesis algorithms?



Just because programmers have sooo much room to work with in terms of CPU and drive space doesn't mean they should be lazy with code, make the look of the GUI as important as the sound, and substitute huge sample libraries for great new or as of yet hardware synthesis not ported to the soft synth world yet.

I'll give you an example:

1. Wusikstation a sometimes free sampler/synth in computer music magazine, or $50 in a group buy honestly has more features in terms of synthesis than it looks like Omnishpere has. Really, go check wusik out and tell me it doesn't have more synthesis features to apply to it's key mapped out sampler. No Wuisk doesn't have 50 gigs of sound, but it has multiple libraries that might if all of them were purchased bring it close to 10 gigs(maybe, I'm not sure), plus you can LOAD YOUR OWN SAMPLES, it is a wave sequencing synth like the korg wave station only it uses different methods, has a custom skinable gui, OVERSAMPLING for anti aliasing, which is damn important, and a mod matrix that makes omnisphere LOOK LIKE A TOY. Seriously, don't tell me omni has more synthesis power than WUSIK. Look at the youtube example on page one of this thread, and you'll see what omni is, and lol, wusik is far deeper, and the sound engine is maybe even better due to the oversampling. I can't say because I don't know anything about the anti aliasing properties of omni.

And don't say,"he's just grumpy because he can't afford it". Well I'm tapped out for this month, but next month I could pick it up, and it doesn't come out until september.

I'm not like anti spectrasonics either, I have stylus RMX and now that is a great product. Great product. Love it. I honestly don't think many companies take much advantage of midi to go along with good sample collections. Good large midi files are also very valuable, and underused in softsynths and hardware synths. The YAMAHA MOTIF employs alot of MIDI PARTS for realistic drum and performances of instruments. I think the korg karma function might be really an advanced set of midi parameters that might be altered in real time, not sure. But midi is very under used in soft synths. It can be more powerfull than static waves or step sequencers.

In all honesty, the best softsynth I think I've seen recently is a MAC only utility/synth/sampler that goes along with logic's exs24. It won computer music award for something. It is really bugging me that I can't find the link or remember the name, but if you are a mac user you probably know what I'm talking about. It does realtime formant, pitch, volume, RESYNTHESIS, and alot more. It is THE BEST piece of software in terms of bringing hardware synthesis to soft synths. In fact, that little bugger might grow and turn into something really special, it already is special, and quite frankly, it is a program that makes me want to own at least ONE MAC just to use it. LOL, I could care less about logic, but this synth editor/synthesis engine utility is an amazing piece of work. So if a Mac user reads this, and you know what I'm talking about, post a link, or gimme the name of it, I hate macs, but it would make me take a look at them.


Omni, I'm sure will make alot of people happy, which is a good thing so, I'm not going to complain about people being happy, but I am just pointing out some general trends in programming lately that have made the vsti market a bit stagnent.

I'll go fiddle with max/msp and komplete. And keep looking for that dang exs24 synth sampler resynthesis, formant pitch amp morphing soft synth sampler that only mac users get , and might make me buy one if it can do those things in REAL TIME. If not, I'll wait a bit longer.

Man once again, I think I just gave myself carpel tunnel typing all that.

[noiselurker]

Watch the Sonic State video, dude. It's about as much of a ROMpler as a CRAY supercomputer is a calculator.

I watched the youtube video, see my above post dude, no it's not a simple rompler at all, but if you bother to read my giant rant, my point is a growing disdain for recycled synth techniques.

I mean like I said, we all have huge hard drives and nuclear computers, but I don't need my gui to look like the backend of reason. It has alot of features, but nothing "new".

There are so many synthesis techniques that no programmers are bothering to port to our nuclear computers. Except one apple program which I can't remember the name of. It goes along with the old exs24 in logic.

Just one question....

When you look at omni, it has STATIC waves to chose from, and a step sequencer. It has a kore, cubase, type of sound browser, and an fx "rack" that does look like the back end of reason lol.

So no, while it isn't a simple rompler, if you compared just the SYNTHESIS features we've seen so far, would you say it has MORE synthesis features than say a 50 dollar wuisk station? Seriously think about Wuskstation and all of it's features, and then think about what we've seen in terms of "synthesis", not huge sample library, from omni. And the TWO sample options it has to BLEND them, uhm, to me it looks like something I'd find in say an old korg wavestation, only with bigger samples. It didn't look like it was taking characteristics of say a bow, and applying it to a pad, it looked like it was crossfading the two samples, now IF it actually is taking characteristics of one type of physical modeling like a bow, or tube, and applying it to another totally different type of sample, THEN....

That's cool....

And that does make it a special synth, along with the other mod sources, and fx. But mainly if it applies characteristics of physical modeling to other samples, that makes it really really sweet, if not, then I still have to stand by my wusikstation comparison.

I don't know if it does that or not though, so I can't say one way or the other if it's something I'd put on the ol sam ashe or guitar center card, try it out for a year, and if it's worth it, pay it off, if not, put it on ebay.

I watched the youtube namm demonstration, it was noisey, and a little hard to see the part I was most interested in, does it just crossfade the two samples, or does it take the physical modeling characteristics of one sample and apply them to a totally different sample(awsome if so).

Hey I like spectrasonics for giving us stylus RMX,.....

I will check out the sonic state video too, not just the youtube video.

lol, the funny thing is, after playing devils advocate, if it does turn out to do the characteristic swap between two samples, I'm going to be grumpy about waiting till semptember? to buy it.

[zircon]

The YouTube video isn't the Sonic State one. The Sonic State one shows all the ridiculous things it can do, like turning a sample of a shepherd's horn into a massive cathedral organ, or a soft bowed guitar into a trance synth arpeggio, or a plucked piano into a wah-wah clav... It's definitely unique and I don't think bears any comparison to Wusik whatsoever. Plus, if you check the feature list it's got a ton of synthesis features, way beyond simple subtractive and sample streaming; looks like they've even developed completely proprietary methods of sculpting the sounds, both synthesized and sampled (and believe me, some of those sampled sounds are INSANELY cool.)

[Ben H]

Wow. 3 very long posts stating that you don't know what it does, yet your $50 Wusik can match it!!!

Seriously, it might help to watch the Sonicstate video before you come across as uninformed.

EDIT: Someone has to quote this dude, before he edits his post.