Omnisphere 2 is here! (yes, it's really here!)

[Cinebient]

Seems i bought Omnisphere version 1 about 2 1/2 month to early. If i had bought it in October i would get version 2.0 for free....
Shit happens. However, there were 3 no brainer buys for me in the future.
Alchemy 2, which will (maybe) never see the light now!
Zebra 3, which could be years away!
But i wanted really mostly Omnisphere 2.0 with sample import.....
... great so far. The only thing i think is really that it looks like only one shot samples for granular and/or pitched like many other synths can do.
All the multi sampled features which some here mentioned are still there in version one and i think they are still only for the spectrasonics content. At least the video shows just how to import a single sample or loop. That's great and usable too but Alchemy already can do more and use sound fonts etc. I hope there is a bit more in Omnisphere 2 as the video shows.
I really like the new FX and think they could be great. Especially liked the short exampel from the "inner space". Reminds me a bit of a sculpture like FX unit.
Even when it's still a bit limited in some areas i think Omnisphere 2.0 will be the king for me in terms of creating all kinds of sound. And i love that it's a multi timbral instrument since i like to layer things really BIG!
What i really like to do is creating multis which morphs like they are one patch with 16 sound sources (2 layers + 8x multi timbral).
There are better synths for only wavetable like Serum or Nave or fantastic synths like Dune 2, Zebra 2 which are far better in some areas but if there was one synth to rule them all Omnisphere 1 is still Nr.1 for me. So it just can be better with Version 2.
Indeed, i really like always the videos from Eric Persing (and Diego Stocco) because they are a few of many where i would bet their smile is not just for commercials.... they seems to really love what they do!

[fluffy_little_something]

So, I assume they ship everywhere?

I think so, except Russia because of the sanctions

What if I promise to write an anti-Putin song with it?

Actually l had issues with some online shops not shipping to Russia. Long before the sanctions, that's why I'm asking.

Oh, I see. Can't you just ask them? There must be a contact address on that site...

[Taoist]

Out of everything Ive heard about Omni 2 the most exciting aspects to me are first of all the new 400 additional DSP oscillator waveforms ( as Omnisphere's synth engine, in my opinion, has always been amazing), then the fact that all of the waveforms are actually now morphing wavetables (as with all of the recent releases in this area Ive become enticed but not to the point of purchasing) and finally the increased aggressiveness of the ring modulation and frequency modulation. Those three additions sold me.

Its always blown me away to go through Omnisphere's presets rating them only to find out that many of my absolute favorites were productions of it's own synthesis engine. I think they finally put enough focus into that side of the beast that this thing may finally take over the amount of work in my projects that I once envisioned it capable of. Well, that's probably once again naive, but who cares, I'm excited!

And thanks for the Youtube video! I

[Touch The Universe]

^ yeah, that's the thing that got me most excited about the video, next is the lock function followed by find similar presets. Good stuff

[BBFG#]

But i wanted really mostly Omnisphere 2.0 with sample import.....
... great so far. The only thing i think is really that it looks like only one shot samples for granular and/or pitched like many other synths can do.
All the multi sampled features which some here mentioned are still there in version one and i think they are still only for the spectrasonics content. At least the video shows just how to import a single sample or loop. That's great and usable too but Alchemy already can do more and use sound fonts etc. I hope there is a bit more in Omnisphere 2 as the video shows.

While I always wanted all my VSTs to import samples/wavetables, I really came to accept that Omni was un-apologetically a ROM based synth (ROMpler), especially since it had such a large library in that ROM. The fact that it does it now just makes it better that way. Now it is a RAMpler!
And from what I can imagine at this point, the way that it works on samples, one shot or otherwise, makes it another tool in the arsenal of processing in a unique way.
But TBH, that alone would not have put it back on my Radar. What really puts it into focus is the work they put into the Granular Algorithm. It has been the one thing about the VST that has kept me from it overall. Thing is, I would put its granular more in comparison to HALion than Alchemy or Absynth though. Omni/HAL are sometimes 'too clean' sounding to me and doesn't do what Alchemy/Absynth do in grabbing a certain quality I often look for with granular. (Although in many ways they are close enough.)

If I do decide to finally get Omni, it will be as an addition and not a replacement to those other granular gods. It might however, replace a few other non-granular VAs.

I'm probably one that will wait until after April though, so I can sit down and give it a good run through before buying. But even that could change if dealers start dumping their old stock of version 1 during the 'Grace Period'.

[pdxindy]

But i wanted really mostly Omnisphere 2.0 with sample import.....
... great so far. The only thing i think is really that it looks like only one shot samples for granular and/or pitched like many other synths can do.
All the multi sampled features which some here mentioned are still there in version one and i think they are still only for the spectrasonics content. At least the video shows just how to import a single sample or loop. That's great and usable too but Alchemy already can do more and use sound fonts etc. I hope there is a bit more in Omnisphere 2 as the video shows.

Yeah, my initial interest has lessened a bit. From what it looks like to me, Omni 2 does not have sample import.

The only thing the video actually shows is importing audio to the granular engine. I wouldn't call that sample import.

[Dewdman42]

I skipped Omni 1 because at the time I felt it was too much like pre-canned sounding. Use one of Eric's ingenious patches until everyone is using the same patch, then what? However, since that time I have come to understand that it had a pretty decent synth engine, and the new version has enough new sound design capability that I am absolutely going to pull the trigger and get it. This will become my goto instrument particularly I will use it for live gigging in Mainstage and I can't think of a better way to compliment mainstage. But I will use it for a lot more than that.

Eric's sound design prowess has been impressing me since at least 1987, give or take a few years. I bought an S-550 when it came out and I used to sell D-50's for a living. In those years Roland absolutely killed it in sound design territory, all under Eric's watch.

The thing I like is that after this much time he did not scuttle the product or leave it dormant, he is evolving it and theoretically he will continue to do so in years to come. My impression is that Eric kind of sees Omnisphere as his personal sound design playground and he gets to directly effect the design of that tool in order to facilitate sound design, about which he is one of the great masters of all time with 30+ years of experience doing so. I feel that not only will Omni2 be incredible to work with, but this will probably not be the end of it, Eric will never stop designing sounds or improving Omnisphere so that it can be used to create even further breathtaking sounds. Not to mention the sheer size of the library and none of it fluff. With audio import, surely 3rd party sounds will emerge in years to come as well, as I predict this product will become a very solid mainstay by studios and pros everywhere.

Omni does not do everything and there are speciality products which will continue to provide more control over certain kinds of synthesis and sound design. Several additive synths have been mentioned for example. I own some of those and may continue to use them, but frankly one of the things I like is simplicity. I feel Eric has a knack for identifying the core elements of sound design that need to be accessible and what needs to be left alone, to find that balance between simplicity of use, and yet providing sound designers with capability to design.

This was the biggest news to make me smile from NAMM this year and I am definitely going to become a new Omni user. Well done Eric!

[noiseboyuk]

Thanks firepile for the NAMM video presentation video link (on p10 if you missed it).

Yeah, my initial interest has lessened a bit. From what it looks like to me, Omni 2 does not have sample import.

The only thing the video actually shows is importing audio to the granular engine. I wouldn't call that sample import.

It seems pretty clear to me - you can import audio as a soundsource. You can then use that soundsource for everything in Omnisphere, just like any other soundsource. To extrapolate that into "Omni 2 does not have sample import" is, to put it politely, stretching a point.

What it DOESN'T have (which must be what's distressing you) is full multiple sample manipulation to build a complex soundsource with velocity zones, round robins, release triggers etc. You'll be stuck with two samples per patch, one on each layer - no throwing out Kontakt. Clearly its not intended to be used as a sampler, the intent is to use user samples in the synthesis engine - granular and also the other options too.

[mholloway]

I agree with noiseboyuk -- the point is that a sample you have can be turned into a basic Soundsource. If you want to edit that sample in detail, you need to use an audio editor before importing. But did anybody really think Omnisphere was ever going to add full sample-editing features? And would you actually want it to? Let's be realisitc...or if the complaint is the lack of velocity zones and all those other sample-mapping specific features, again: this isn't Kontakt, it's Omnisphere. I guess if the desire is to have One thing become Everything, you could have that stuff on your wishlist... I just want to be able to load samples and use the same old Omnisphere Edit Page controls on them we've used for years on all the factory soundsources.

[Echoes in the Attic]

I agree with the above sentiments. Mostly. Once you get into multi-samples for zones, then people want multi-velocity as well as key zones, round robin, release triggers etc. It really takes the focus into full sampler territory and when you don't have all those things that Kontakt has, you ended up wanting it for those real life type of sounds. And usually what that is used for is in cases where the sample is the entire sound/performance. So the expressiveness comes from different velocity samples and key range samples like in a detailed piano or violin sample library. It's not intended for added sound design as you typically want to preserve that sound. Omni on the other hand is more about using a sample as a tonal base for synthesis.

Having said that however, I think it's unfortunate if it's one sample only and that's it for a layer. I would think that at least the ability to layer a few samples would be useful. The most obvious place that I think this would fit would be in the harmonia section, which is used for layering wavetable oscillators. But why not allow this to be used with samples as well? I guess the only complication there is that the granular functions are really dependent on the sample so then would you apply the granular settings to all samples or would each one have to have it's own granular.

One thing that we should keep in mind is that Omni does have 8 different part of 2 layers each. So even with the most basic 1 sample per layer, at least you can still have 2 in a part and then 8 different keyzones or velocity splits. But to make this really useful, I think there should be parameter links for parts like there is for the 2 layers of a part. If you build a multi-zone/velocity instrument using the 8 parts, you'd likely want the filter or other parameters of all of them controlled by a common parameter.

[BBFG#]

The 'sample import' seems closer to what I have in my HW VSynthGT and I find it quite useful so I don't think that Omni is as limited there as others are bemoaning.
I do feel it is above what I get in my Roland synth though and it looks like a pretty cool studio trick to be able to use that I don't readily see anyone else is doing.
In the overall schema though, it isn't the sole factor to decide a yay or nay of purchasing.

[Cinebient]

At least i can imagine nice things with using 16 samples for one evolving patch if using a full multi (or more if use several multis as one super patch ) and making clever timed modulations.
I don't expect a full sampler or morphing/blending options like others could do but sound fonts support would be great to have at least a "full" instrument. You can do a lot with one shot samples or loops (i have a tiny iPad synth where i can use 32 sound sources in one patch and blend them in any crazy way... not high quality sounds like Omnisphere but great textures for importing them into it) but they are not the greatest for creating melodic instruments.
However... too long until the end of april

[cryophonik]

I agree with noiseboyuk -- the point is that a sample you have can be turned into a basic Soundsource. If you want to edit that sample in detail, you need to use an audio editor before importing. But did anybody really think Omnisphere was ever going to add full sample-editing features? And would you actually want it to? Let's be realisitc...or if the complaint is the lack of velocity zones and all those other sample-mapping specific features, again: this isn't Kontakt, it's Omnisphere. I guess if the desire is to have One thing become Everything, you could have that stuff on your wishlist... I just want to be able to load samples and use the same old Omnisphere Edit Page controls on them we've used for years on all the factory soundsources.

I totally agree with this. I do NOT want Omni 2 (or 3 or 4...) to be a Kontakt wannabe. Spectrasonics has developed a really excellent paradigm for sample/waveform-based hybrid synthesis with Omni, and I hope they stick with that direction and keep building on it, as they've done with Omni 2.

[Phorous]

Thanks firepile for the NAMM video presentation video link (on p10 if you missed it).

Yeah, my initial interest has lessened a bit. From what it looks like to me, Omni 2 does not have sample import.

The only thing the video actually shows is importing audio to the granular engine. I wouldn't call that sample import.

It seems pretty clear to me - you can import audio as a soundsource. You can then use that soundsource for everything in Omnisphere, just like any other soundsource. To extrapolate that into "Omni 2 does not have sample import" is, to put it politely, stretching a point.

What it DOESN'T have (which must be what's distressing you) is full multiple sample manipulation to build a complex soundsource with velocity zones, round robins, release triggers etc. You'll be stuck with two samples per patch, one on each layer - no throwing out Kontakt. Clearly its not intended to be used as a sampler, the intent is to use user samples in the synthesis engine - granular and also the other options too.

You can already velocity zones with the multi system in split mode if you want... You have been able to since Omnisphere 1

EDIT: Yeah, didn't realize that was there since Omnisphere 1 . I don't think anyone has seen the sample import UI yet? I don't recall seeing it in the video.

[Echoes in the Attic]

I have to say though, I'm a bit surprised they don't go with something like SFZ import. Because then Omni doesn't need all the zone and velocity editing of a major sampler. We already know it has the capability to store multiple key and velocity zones and round robin for internal patches. It would make sense to have SFZ import and treat them the same way as internal soundsources. Leave people to edit their multi-zone patches outside of Omni.