Is Omnisphere 2 still worth it?

[noiseboyuk]

Can you post some mp3 examples of what you mean please?

Here's 3 super-quick. All are sorta familiar sounds, but to me they're all subtly different to what we're used to.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/kfdjeocx7aa9u ... v.mp3?dl=0

(The inline player on KVR never works for me - right click and either save or open in new tab).

[Jac459]

Thanks mate. I see what you mean.

[bmanic]

Indeed, good examples. I mainly enjoy combining random sampled sounds in omnisphere. It's so quick and effortless to experiment, without having to do any deep synthesis. This is something Spectrasonics has done so much better than anybody else who combines large library of sampled content.

It's something I wish UVI would allow with their expansions and Falcon, an easy way to quickly get to all the sound sources to quickly make your own. You can "sort of" do it by layering in a multi-instrument but it's not at all the same thing and it gets much more tedious to edit as you are basically working with literal new "instrument instances" per part. Whereas in Omnisphere, it works just like any old Yamaha/Roland/Korg workstation.. you select a sampled source and can immediately combine the next part with something else, all with common quick to use controls.

The icing on the cake (and why it IS worth the money) is the sublime sampling quality of most of the content, and the broad range of it all.

For those that missed it, here is a quick demo, almost done in real time, where I simply browsed through sound sources (using the randomize feature) while playing my midi keyboard, to show just how broad range there is. Single oscillator/part. No filtering, no effects, nothing. Not even proper amplitude envelope settings.

Omnisphere 2 soundsource showcase (Google Drive, 74mb mp3 32minutes)

[noiseboyuk]

I've always said the clue to Omnisphere is in the name - Omni. Everything. It may not literally be absolutely everything, but bmanic you explain it well. The sheer depth and quality of the sampled content (listening to that soundsource showcase as I type, and knowing even that amazing range barely scratches the surface), combined with all the terrific synthesis tools all in a UI that is designed around quick changes - including those tag browsers, sound locks, the Orb - mean it is designed for musicians and not programmers. And you can quickly and easily drill down to anything. Something like Falcon could in theory do this, but the UI / UX is so abysmal, so ENGINEERING, and the quality of the sources is so uneven next to Omni - that it's not close to being a serious contender imo.

Most of what is discussed here and on other forums is oddly obsessional about things that barely matter. The endless pursuit for the 100% perfect emulation of something or other made 40 years ago, and the lengths people will go to get it, is kinda nuts. This is from someone obsessed by 70s and 80s synthesis. Omni can pull pretty much all of that, and 100x more besides, all in this great highly musical yet teasingly adventurous package.

That to me is the answer to the OPs original question. You play with Omni and you want to make music.

[LoveEnigma18]

Good discussion. Nice examples, noiseboyuk and bmanic. After owning Omnisphere for a year now, I think I should have bought it way earlier. It is something that's made for (people like) me.

By the way, it would be interesting and appreciated if you guys can share, at your convenience, any small tips and tricks (not-so-obvious things) about Omnisphere 2 in separate comments for easy reference. For example, searching for 1.6 to see the new Keyscape Creative patches, as noiseboyuk mentioned.

[enCiphered]

I simply browsed through sound sources (using the randomize feature)

Omnisphere 2 soundsource showcase (Google Drive, 74mb mp3 32minutes)

Is that feature new? How can you randomize the sounds?

[noiseboyuk]

Is that feature new? How can you randomize the sounds?

Just click the random button in the soundsource browser (next to the Sort button).

[enCiphered]

Ah, never noticed a random button in the Browser, thanks a lot!

[Jac459]

Indeed, good examples. I mainly enjoy combining random sampled sounds in omnisphere. It's so quick and effortless to experiment, without having to do any deep synthesis. This is something Spectrasonics has done so much better than anybody else who combines large library of sampled content.

It's something I wish UVI would allow with their expansions and Falcon, an easy way to quickly get to all the sound sources to quickly make your own. You can "sort of" do it by layering in a multi-instrument but it's not at all the same thing and it gets much more tedious to edit as you are basically working with literal new "instrument instances" per part. Whereas in Omnisphere, it works just like any old Yamaha/Roland/Korg workstation.. you select a sampled source and can immediately combine the next part with something else, all with common quick to use controls.

The icing on the cake (and why it IS worth the money) is the sublime sampling quality of most of the content, and the broad range of it all.

For those that missed it, here is a quick demo, almost done in real time, where I simply browsed through sound sources (using the randomize feature) while playing my midi keyboard, to show just how broad range there is. Single oscillator/part. No filtering, no effects, nothing. Not even proper amplitude envelope settings.

Omnisphere 2 soundsource showcase (Google Drive, 74mb mp3 32minutes)

That's cool man, thanks for sharing your favorite presets.
I know I am taking a risk here with a lot of Omnisphere fans, but I also want to balance a bit the opinions. I am really surprised that you praised so much the presets of Omnisphere, I find the ones of Falcon (even the default ones) very much better... Am I the only one with this opinion ?

[noiseboyuk]

That's cool man, thanks for sharing your favorite presets.
I know I am taking a risk here with a lot of Omnisphere fans, but I also want to balance a bit the opinions. I am really surprised that you praised so much the presets of Omnisphere, I find the ones of Falcon (even the default ones) very much better... Am I the only one with this opinion ?

I'm not bmanic, but just to clarify - they aren't their favourite presets, they are a random selection of raw soundsources, the raw building blocks of the sampled half of the synth. Currently there are approx 5,500 soundsources in the factory library of Omni 2, and over 9,200 patches.

YMMV but for me there's simply no comparison in the quality of the presets between Falcon and Omni. The initial set and even Falcon 2's were absolutely horrible. Since then some better ones have appeared, and in some of their expansions. The terrible browser doesn't make finding them easy though.

[noiseboyuk]

With a little time to kill, I thought I'd quickly collate the patch count in all the different libraries, expansions and related products. It's surprisingly hard to find, even the Spectrasonics web site oddly doesn't even list some of the stuff. Some of these are approximate figures to give a rough idea.

OMNI 2 - FACTORY. CONTAINS:

5,439 soundsources

OMNISPHERE (the core new libraries of Omni 1 and 2)
5,500 patches

ATMOSPHERE (the predecessor to Omnisphere)
1,000 patches

HARDWARE LIBRARY (Analog and Digital synth patches, also controllable by the synth's hardware)
1,600 patches

SPOTLIGHT (EDM library)
800 patches

MOOG TRIBUTE
1,343 patches
407 soundsources

KEYSCAPE (Factory library for Keyscape standalone)
465 patches
185 soundsources

KEYSCAPE CREATIVE (Library for owners of both Omni 2 and Keyscale)
1,523 patches

TRILIAN. CONTAINS

TRILIAN (New content for Trilian)
1100 patches
880 soundsources

TRILOGY (patches from predecessor Trilogy)
550 patches
500 soundsources

XTRA BASS LEGENDS
35 patches
50 soundsources

TRILIAN CREATIVE (for owners of Trilian and Omni 2)
216 patches

SONIC EXTENSIONS (5 scenes for each listed patch)

NYLON SKY
58 x5 patches
38 soundscources

SEISMIC SHOCK
364 x5 patches
137 soundsources

UNCLEAN MACHINE
372 x 5 patches
210 soundsources

UNDERCURRENT
364 x5 patches
137 soundsources

TWISTED TREES
303 x5 patches
432 soundsources

[Jac459]

I'm not bmanic, but just to clarify - they aren't their favourite presets, they are a random selection of raw soundsources, the raw building blocks of the sampled half of the synth. Currently there are approx 5,500 soundsources in the factory library of Omni 2, and over 9,200 patches.

YMMV but for me there's simply no comparison in the quality of the presets between Falcon and Omni. The initial set and even Falcon 2's were absolutely horrible. Since then some better ones have appeared, and in some of their expansions. The terrible browser doesn't make finding them easy though.

Thanks mate, and that's funny, we are looking at the same thing but not seeing the same... . I actually like the falcon 1 presets as much as the 2, 2.8 and I have a lot of extensions, making falcon actually much more expansive than Omni...

Maybe that's related to the type of music we do/like? I am more into Amon Tobin, Nicolas Jaar, Nicola Cruz, chemical brothers, what about you?

[noiseboyuk]

I remember many of the presets just weren’t what they said. Stuff like “warm analog bass” sounded like a bad DX7. Lots of things like that - sorta late 80s cheap workstation stuff.

I’m a bit of an analog head, but also cinematic stuff and have to do all kinds of things for media work.

[Jac459]

I remember many of the presets just weren’t what they said. Stuff like “warm analog bass” sounded like a bad DX7. Lots of things like that - sorta late 80s cheap workstation stuff.

I’m a bit of an analog head, but also cinematic stuff and have to do all kinds of things for media work.

Yeah you are right on some patches not well sorted and it is true Omni has a better browser.

[Jac459]

I remember many of the presets just weren’t what they said. Stuff like “warm analog bass” sounded like a bad DX7. Lots of things like that - sorta late 80s cheap workstation stuff.

I’m a bit of an analog head, but also cinematic stuff and have to do all kinds of things for media work.

Yeah you are right on some patches not well sorted and it is true Omni has a better browser.

For Cinematic I think both shines but Omni is king. So I can understand your point of view. Some of the instruments are really realistic with a touch of effects that are very nice. Their granular pads are gorgeous...
For more modern electro stuffs, that's where Omni lose in my view or let's say where Falcon rocks.
But anyway, I was just curious of your criteria and you explained very well, thanks mate.