Anyone here who got Omnisphere?

[dreamkeeper]

So how does this work? Is it the job of the plugin to tell the host program how to use the cores? Who is holding the bag here?

Generally speaking, it is the job of the host to spread processing across the cores. Attempts in the past by plugins to spread their own processing across the cores have usually not worked well because that can interfere with the strategy the host is using to balance the load. The fact is, only the host has the big picture of all the things the user is trying to do, so the job of balancing across the cores is best left to the host.

- Glenn

Though a single instance of TruePianos does use all 4 cores of my Q6600 in Sonar without problems as far as I can tell. Multiprocessing is enabled in both, host and plugin - all CPU-intensive options in TP are enabled - ~3ms latency at 88.2kHz, and I can't get it to glitch. Windows task manager is showing a fairly balanced load. So that may be indication that it's possible?

On a side note: Maybe it's worth considering a standalone version of Omnisphere - like there is with NI synths? For patch-programming I usually use standalone anyway, if available. Just a thought...

werner

[Pi_314]

So how does this work? Is it the job of the plugin to tell the host program how to use the cores? Who is holding the bag here?

Generally speaking, it is the job of the host to spread processing across the cores. Attempts in the past by plugins to spread their own processing across the cores have usually not worked well because that can interfere with the strategy the host is using to balance the load. The fact is, only the host has the big picture of all the things the user is trying to do, so the job of balancing across the cores is best left to the host.

- Glenn

There must be something more to this, because Omnisphere and K3 see the cores used differently, at least on my PC it is. It would behoove you to look into this deeper, because I'm certainly not getting the most out of your plugin when using Cubase4, while K3 is using half the cores (not good either), but much more processing than Omnisphere.

[kuniklo]

There must be something more to this, because Omnisphere and K3 see the cores used differently, at least on my PC it is. It would behoove you to look into this deeper, because I'm certainly not getting the most out of your plugin when using Cubase4.

Let the host do what it does best and let the plugin do what it does best. There's a reason there's (virtually?) no multi-core synth plugins on the market.

The last thing I'd want to see Spectrasonics waste its time with is trying to get Omni working on multiple cores. Just load another instance!

[deep'n'dark]

Here's my Omnisphere demo, nothing fancy but i sure will use this sound to make some dnb.

http://www.freewebtown.com/nitrostatic/ ... thtest.mp3

[klagga]

There must be something more to this, because Omnisphere and K3 see the cores used differently, at least on my PC it is. It would behoove you to look into this deeper, because I'm certainly not getting the most out of your plugin when using Cubase4.

Let the host do what it does best and let the plugin do what it does best. There's a reason there's (virtually?) no multi-core synth plugins on the market.

The last thing I'd want to see Spectrasonics waste its time with is trying to get Omni working on multiple cores. Just load another instance!

So what host takes advantage of quad cores then? Sonar 8?

[kuniklo]

So what host takes advantage of quad cores then? Sonar 8?

Ableton and Logic certainly do. No idea about the rest but I'd imagine Sonar would too.

[Pi_314]

Just load another instance!

Thought I'd take ya up on that. Now it's even more confusing.
So I loads me up another instance of Omnisphere, play that while triggering the other instance, and now all cores are being used.

[kuniklo]

Just load another instance!

Thought I'd take ya up on that. Now it's even more confusing.
So I loads me up another instance of Omnisphere, play that while triggering the other instance, and now all cores are being used.

Most hosts handle multiple cores by assigning each track to a core, so as you build up a song the load should be distributed for you. Just use a separate instance for each synth part and you shouldn't have to worry about it.

[Pi_314]

Just load another instance!

Thought I'd take ya up on that. Now it's even more confusing.
So I loads me up another instance of Omnisphere, play that while triggering the other instance, and now all cores are being used.

Most hosts handle multiple cores by assigning each track to a core, so as you build up a song the load should be distributed for you. Just use a separate instance for each synth part and you shouldn't have to worry about it.

Looks like that is the case. Believe it or not, I'm getting slightly less crackle from three instances of Omnisphere, than with just the one instance, because three instances spreads the processing over all the cores evenly, while just one instance trounces the first core with no real bleedover to the other cores. All three instances are loaded with 8 parts, thats 16 layers apiece, using 6 gigs ram. So I guess I'll limit each instance to 4 parts per instance, or somthing like that.

[Captain]

Finally! Installation was a quick & painless, only took 10-15min per DVD (I'm on Mac Pro). And I even kept doing other stuff in Logic while installing, contrary to what the manual said. (This meant I had to quit Logic and move the AU component out of the Components dir and back again to make the plugin appear.)

I first installed the sound data on my external Firewire drive. Trying some patches, I immediately noticed some heavy crackling. However, CPU load was nowhere near 100%, so I suspected it might be the streaming that is not getting the data in time. Disabling streaming confirmed this, so I then moved the data to my internal HD. Crackling disappeared, and patch loading was much much faster. I don't know why my external drive is so slow, but glad that the problem was fixed. In case you get crackles and pops, make sure it's not a streaming issue before you go buy a faster CPU.

Another thing if you decide to move the data after installation: the manual advises to make an alias pointing to the STEAM dir in the /Library/Application Support/Spectrasonics folder. However, Omnisphere seems to look for the dir (or alias) in /your_home_dir/Application Support/Spectrasonics. Fortunately Omni was kind enough to tell me what it was looking for and did not find, so it was easy to conclude that the alias should be placed in your personal Application Support folder.

Other than that, no technical problems whatsoever. No crashes, no waiting, CPU load is moderate (it seems to peak strangely sometimes, but I have to look deeper into this). There are some little beta-isms, like when a patch is loading and you close the patch browser - it closes, but a garbled progress bar still runs on the top. Or the popup when you try to load a patch and another is still loading. Why not just stop loading the previous one and load the new patch, or refuse to load the new one without the popup? BTW, this is one of the only plugins I have used that does not lock up the host when loading large samples. Very nice!

I didn't have much time to play with Omni today (only about three hours, which felt like two minutes), but needless to say, this will be my #1 pad/string/ambient/choir instrument from now on. The pure synthesis part is also great, lots of different filters and tweaking options. Making a larger-than-life trance arpeggiator from a simple saw waveform was quick and fun. And although the Visualizer is supposed to be "just for fun", it can actually be very helpful in showing what really happens to the waveform when you tweak the numerous parameters. (EDIT: Also, showing visually how the mod matrix destinations actually move is a great detail!)

As with all synths, there are many patches that I really can't think of using anywhere, but it's difficult to predict what might come handy in a future project. And since this is a synth instead of a simple rompler, you are not limited to the patches, and can make pretty much whatever you need from the insanely vast raw material.

A short wishlist:

1. Could the dynamic processing FX have some kind of visual feedback? I know you are supposed to trust your ears and not eyes, but I really like to see how much a compressor or limiter is actually crunching the sound. This applies to Stylus RMX too.

2. In the patch and soundsource list, how about showing the total number of patches/soundsources currently listed? Of course it's easy to see the approximate amount from the size of the scrollbar, but the exact amount would be cool. This might also help to make sure you really have more patches after installing an update.

Now, just waiting for the Atmosphere patches...

[phraggle]

Your link took me to some kind of "attack site". Doesn't look to good, you might want to change that...

Here's my Omnisphere demo, nothing fancy but i sure will use this sound to make some dnb.

http://www.freewebtown.com/nitrostatic/ ... thtest.mp3

[phraggle]

My Omnisphere was ordered on the 18th and supposed to arrive today. It didn't. Damn you, UPS.

[kuniklo]

Mine got here earlier today. My very rough first impression is that this is definitely something I can use. The underlying engine wouldn't be exceptional on its own, IMO, although it's quite capable, but the combination of the engine and a large library of high-quality sound sources to much with makes it a lot more interesting. In some ways this is the direction I'd hoped NI would take Kontakt in - augmenting it with some basic synth capabilities.

The UI does a good job of concealing a lot of complexity without being overly clicky and I like the sound character so far. It doesn't have that cold harshness that some of the other comparably complex synths have. I'm guessing I'll probably be doing more of my own sound design than using the factory libs but there's certainly a decent range of styles represented here too.

[kuniklo]

Two things that seem a little weird about the synth engine though:

1. The symmetry control on square waves is weird. Modulating it gives typical PWM sounds but it doesn't seem to allow narrow pulsewidth sounds. There are some samples in the lib with narrow pulsewidths but I can't seem to get them out of the oscillator.

2. FM doesn't apply that much FM, even all the way up. Try turning it up on a sine wave and it just gets a tiny bit brighter. It's enough to noise things up with non-integer pitch ratios but I don't see how you're going to get a lot of typical FM sounds out of this thing.

[yairhol]

Sorry for being off topic for a moment:

Hello Glenno, Erik or other Spectrasonics Personnel,
I am writing to you because I really don't know who else to turn to.
I ordered my upgrade from Atmosphere to Omnisphere on thursday night. I got an email confirmation from Spectrasonics and an invoice but never got a UPS tracking number.
I've tried calling Spectrasonics but only got answering machines (I live outside the US so it's difficult leaving a telephone number), I emailed 3 times the address at the Spectrasonics' site but never received an answer, I PM'ed Erik on this forum but never received an answer, I left messages on different threads regarding my problem but never received an answer from anyone at Spectrasonics.
You (Spectrasonics) have taken my money which is certified with the Visa company but then you (Spectrasonics) disapear and cannot be reached.

Please help me out with this huge problem as I am on a tight schedule.

Thank you and sorry again for being off topic.