Omnisphere - will it be worth the hype ?

[Kicklicker]

Taken from this page here:
http://www.spectrasonics.net/artists/epersing.php

In addition to being the Creative Director of Spectrasonics, Eric was a longtime consultant and the Chief Sound Designer for Roland Corporation Japan from 1984-2005, creating the key sounds for many popular Roland synthesizers, samplers, CD-ROMs, expansion boards, signal processors and groove devices - from the vintage Jupiter and JX series, to the legendary D-50, D-70, JD-800/990, R8, S-series samplers, JV-880/1080/2080, the Sound Canvas, JP-8000/8080, MC-505/909, The V-Drums, XV-5080, Fantom series, the V-Synth and many others.

Very impressive! Well then, I hope his latest work lives up to his reputation and the hype.

[Vectorman]

Heck, I'd almost forgotten about Omnisphere's impending release. Now that more details about the actual synthesis features have come forth, it's sounding even more interesting. It would be very slick to have both synth-based and sample-based sound design under one hood. Although I have a lot of fun culling together bits of strange audio from all over the net to use in Kontakt, I can see Omnisphere is going to offer a huge pool of ready-to-go raw material and that all of it will undoubtedly be very good quality.

I do wish there was a more in-depth tour of exactly what the voice architecture consists of. Are there multi-segment envelopes and/or step sequencers for creating complex parameter modulations, for example? What kind of filter modes are offered and how can they be routed? What kind of tools are there at the oscillator level for "sample mangling" and for manipulating synthesized waveforms? Is some of the bass material from Trilogy rolled into Omni's core library as well, or just material from Atmosphere? So many questions. I'm afraid demand may outstrip supply at first and that pre-ordering soon would be advisable, but it doesn't look like a really detailed, extensive description of Omni's features is going to arrive until the product is released.

That said, I'll probably pre-order it anyway, just on the strength of Eric's reputation and the fact that everything I've bought that he was involved in over the last 15 years has been outstanding. I'll just keep my fingers crossed that it runs smoothly in Sonar (which seems to be very finicky with plugins on my current PC) and hope that it can be run effectively on a laptop if I fall in love with it so much that I want to use it for gigs as well.

[Hunter]

Spectrum (Eric) provided me great support when I had health issues.

Now that's what I call service from a VST developer, I'm cancelling my Pru Health thing when this plug comes out!

[Vectorman]

Ahhhh...some of my questions were answered by watching the "Episode 5" video. I had never watched it because I assumed all it did was detail the contest itself...there's more info in that vid on the voice architecture. 6 LFOs and 8 multi-segment envelopes which look fairly wicked from the brief glimpse I got.

It's a no-brainer. Order placed.

[DocAtlas]

Heck, I'd almost forgotten about Omnisphere's impending release. Now that more details about the actual synthesis features have come forth, it's sounding even more interesting. It would be very slick to have both synth-based and sample-based sound design under one hood. Although I have a lot of fun culling together bits of strange audio from all over the net to use in Kontakt, I can see Omnisphere is going to offer a huge pool of ready-to-go raw material and that all of it will undoubtedly be very good quality.

I do wish there was a more in-depth tour of exactly what the voice architecture consists of. Are there multi-segment envelopes and/or step sequencers for creating complex parameter modulations, for example? What kind of filter modes are offered and how can they be routed? What kind of tools are there at the oscillator level for "sample mangling" and for manipulating synthesized waveforms? Is some of the bass material from Trilogy rolled into Omni's core library as well, or just material from Atmosphere? So many questions. I'm afraid demand may outstrip supply at first and that pre-ordering soon would be advisable, but it doesn't look like a really detailed, extensive description of Omni's features is going to arrive until the product is released.

That said, I'll probably pre-order it anyway, just on the strength of Eric's reputation and the fact that everything I've bought that he was involved in over the last 15 years has been outstanding. I'll just keep my fingers crossed that it runs smoothly in Sonar (which seems to be very finicky with plugins on my current PC) and hope that it can be run effectively on a laptop if I fall in love with it so much that I want to use it for gigs as well.

If you go to this page (http://www.spectrasonics.net/omnisphere_teaser/), check the STEAM, Info, & FAQ links, there's a LOT of info about the synth features.

From what I've seen in the videos, the envelopes are definitely multi-segment, step sequencer-types; there are 8 of them, plus 6 lfos. Not sure if that's per patch or per layer (each patch can have 1 or 2 layers), but it should be lots of fun to play with.

As far as mangling the waveforms, the synth oscillators have hard sync & pwm; either synth or sample oscillators can be warped with 2 multi-mode filters, fm, ring modulation, granular synthesis, timbre shifting, harmonia (not sure what that is), and probably other stuff that I'm not aware of. It looks to be a very capable synth even without using the sampled waveforms.

Since the samples include a 'best of' collection from Spectrasonics' sample libraries, that alone would probably be worth more than the cost of the plug-in, but throwing in the Atmosphere waveforms and all the new samples, I think it will be an incredible value. Since Eric has said that the STEAM engine will be used for the Trilogy update, I'm guessing that those waveforms probably won't be in Omnisphere, but I could be wrong, it might have a small taster from Trilogy in it. It won't make anyone a better musician or composer, but I'm excited about the possibilities in this new tool.

[DocAtlas]

Ahhhh...some of my questions were answered by watching the "Episode 5" video. I had never watched it because I assumed all it did was detail the contest itself...there's more info in that vid on the voice architecture. 6 LFOs and 8 multi-segment envelopes which look fairly wicked from the brief glimpse I got.

It's a no-brainer. Order placed.

Hmmm, I must have been typing my response while you were writing your latest posting.

But yeah, I'm ordering the upgrade from Atmosphere as soon as it's available. Should be around the 8th or so for ordering the upgrade, then the plug ships on the 15th. Just 16 days now; the last 9 months have gone by pretty fast.

[TristezaOrange]

I don't think it will. For anything to live up to that amount hype, it would have to contain the largest library of sounds evarrrr (sic) and also descend from the skies to end all wars and stop world hunger.

[AndrewSimon]

Omnisphere - will it be worth the hype ?

It depends on who you are.
If you are the radio jingle, internet or film content creator,
you will run and buy it even if it's $1000.
All Spectrasonics products are huge time/money savers for these people.
They allow you to throw together a pro sounding jingle by quickly recording a few tracks.... these tracks will almost mix and master them-self without any effort.


If you are a young poor student who doesn't make money yet it will
be much harder to cough up the cash.

[LarryAW]

Heck, I'd almost forgotten about Omnisphere's impending release. Now that more details about the actual synthesis features have come forth, it's sounding even more interesting. It would be very slick to have both synth-based and sample-based sound design under one hood. Although I have a lot of fun culling together bits of strange audio from all over the net to use in Kontakt, I can see Omnisphere is going to offer a huge pool of ready-to-go raw material and that all of it will undoubtedly be very good quality.

I do wish there was a more in-depth tour of exactly what the voice architecture consists of. Are there multi-segment envelopes and/or step sequencers for creating complex parameter modulations, for example? What kind of filter modes are offered and how can they be routed? What kind of tools are there at the oscillator level for "sample mangling" and for manipulating synthesized waveforms? Is some of the bass material from Trilogy rolled into Omni's core library as well, or just material from Atmosphere? So many questions. I'm afraid demand may outstrip supply at first and that pre-ordering soon would be advisable, but it doesn't look like a really detailed, extensive description of Omni's features is going to arrive until the product is released.

That said, I'll probably pre-order it anyway, just on the strength of Eric's reputation and the fact that everything I've bought that he was involved in over the last 15 years has been outstanding. I'll just keep my fingers crossed that it runs smoothly in Sonar (which seems to be very finicky with plugins on my current PC) and hope that it can be run effectively on a laptop if I fall in love with it so much that I want to use it for gigs as well.

Spectrasonics started out by making sample libraries. Omnisphere contains 50GBs (10 times what Atmosphere has) of the best of those sample libraries. Some people are happy about that (me) and others don't appear to be, as they see that as the primary reason the price is so high ($479 at audiomidi.com). I think the new technology and tools are the primary selling points. Also, this is Spectrasonics' own sound engine. The sound engine for Atmosphere, Trilogy and Stylus RMX was licensed from a third party. In any event, I don't think it will be lacking in any sound category. Omnisphere marks the start of their being a plug-in only developer. It makes perfect sense to me that they would include the best of their sample libraries in their new flagship product. Why wouldn't they? I sure would. According to a Sound-on-Sound preview, you will not be able to import your own samples, "at least for the moment" (exactly how Sound-on-Sound described it). So, I think people will be glad they have all those samples to start with. BTW, that preview never stated you would ever be able to import your own samples. It may have implied that you will be able to at some point-in-time, or just that they only know you won't be able to do so at the onset. Correct me if I'm wrong (I often am), but I don't think you will be able to make a preset from scratch. I think Omnisphere is all about making samples from other samples, and Omnisphere includes a lot of tools, and new technology, to accomplish that.

I have been impressed by what I have seen and it will thankfully be an upgrade for me. But, a lot is certainly unknown about it. I have never been a tweaker before, but I'm planning on knowing Omnisphere intimately. If it is not an upgrade for you, the $479 price tag is certainly higher than most. You will have to determine whether or not it's worth that steep (relatively speaking) price to you. I don't get upset if a price is higher than I want to pay. I just buy something else or nothing at all. It's not like our VSTI choices are limited.

[Sascha Franck]

When you have a system that is based on presets or samples it takes you away from the true art of making music, sound design.

Hold on, are you saying that not a single piano player, not a single acoustic guitar player, etc etc on earth has ever been into the "true art of making music", then? I mean, they don't have much options to get into sound design.
If you're saying so, you should really get something checked (no idea what, but something's defenitely wrong in your perception regarding the "art of music").

[DocAtlas]

Also, this is Spectrasonics' own sound engine. The sound engine for Atmosphere, Trilogy and Stylus RMX was licensed from a third party.

Actually, Stylus RMX is also a Spectrasonics engine, the SAGE engine. The original Stylus used the same 3rd party engine as Trilogy & Atmosphere.

Correct me if I'm wrong (I often am), but I don't think you will be able to make a preset from scratch. I think Omnisphere is all about making samples from other samples, and Omnisphere includes a lot of tools, and new technology, to accomplish that.

It depends on what you mean by preset. From what I've read & seen in videos, user sampling isn't an option at this point (maybe never), but creating presets with the existing samples +/or synth oscillators is certainly something we end-users can do.

I have been impressed by what I have seen and it will thankfully be an upgrade for me. But, a lot is certainly unknown about it. I have never been a tweaker before, but I'm planning on knowing Omnisphere intimately.

I used to tweak a lot back in the day, then things got busier in my life, and I haven't done nearly as much synth programming as I used to. I think Omnisphere is one synth that I am going to enjoy getting to know my way around, much like the Roland D50. I spent many hours creating new patches for that instrument.

[ultramike]

When you have a system that is based on presets or samples it takes you away from the true art of making music, sound design.

That's ridiculous! Sound design is just that... SOUND DESIGN. Making music is something different. Sound design is music production. Good production is a wonderful thing but without music its pointless. There still has to be a song and a song can be written on anything. Its doesn't have to be constructed only from sounds that you personally "designed"

[geoffrey]

Have they announced the upgrade price for Atmosphere owners yet?
G.

[LarryAW]

I don't think it will. For anything to live up to that amount hype, it would have to contain the largest library of sounds evarrrr (sic) and also descend from the skies to end all wars and stop world hunger.

It's advertising. And, how did you encounter it? If there is a way other than visiting their website on your own volition, clicking a link on your own volition, reading that Sound-on-Sound preview on your own volition, or entering a discussion thread on your own volition, I don't know what it is. It's not like the videos flashed on your tv screen all day long and/or all night long like those annoying (to me) MAC vs PC commercials, the Ford has caught up with foreign competition commercials, or the Video Professor's commercials. I guess you can say the hype was self-inflicted. You can't shoot yourself in the foot and then blame the gun. I didn't go over to Spectrasonics' website until all videos were completed and the music competition had concluded. I didn't even know about the music competition until I read about it at Spectrasonics' site. I wasn't driven crazy by the release cycle of the movies, whatever it was. So, I guess the hype bothered me less than some, and what I did encounter was of my own doing. BTW, I don't have any of the troubles the PC does in the MAC vs PC commercials; I don't think Ford has caught up with foreign competition; and the Video Professor's training courses are a major rip-off, considering the alternatives. It's all advertising and there is almost always exaggeration - sometimes gross exaggeration.

The only thing Omnisphere has to be, for me, is worth the upgrade price -- nothing more, nothing less. What could I expect from something that will cost me less than $479?

[bailees7irish]

Omnisphere - will it be worth the hype ?

dude,
these Omnisphere speculation threads are simply retarded..

noone knows at this point whether it will be worth the hype - so why even ask the Q yet?


[dammit.. why is there no emoticon that shows one smilie choking another, homer simpson style?]