KVR Audio

braj · Post by **braj** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 4:55 am

While we're at it, why can't the Rolling Stones be the Beatles?

A.M. Gold · Post by **A.M. Gold** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 5:13 am

braj wrote:While we're at it, why can't the Rolling Stones be the Beatles?

Are you kidding? Did you ever hear the Stones try to do granular?

braj · Post by **braj** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 5:43 am

A.M. Gold wrote:
braj wrote:While we're at it, why can't the Rolling Stones be the Beatles?
Are you kidding? Did you ever hear the Stones try to do granular?

Granular: Having a roughened surface or structure.

I'd say the Stones are more granular than the Beatles!

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 6:45 am

Alchemy and Omnisphere are not at all alike...

I have Alchemy and not Omni cause I can work with my own sampled material in Alchemy and cannot with Omni...

If one is looking for the very best commercially useful presets, Alchemy cannot compare to Omni... Not my interest so I am glad it doesn't...

A.M. Gold · Post by **A.M. Gold** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 7:06 am

braj wrote:
A.M. Gold wrote:
braj wrote:While we're at it, why can't the Rolling Stones be the Beatles?
Are you kidding? Did you ever hear the Stones try to do granular?
Granular: Having a roughened surface or structure.

I'd say the Stones are more granular than the Beatles!

Well, that, and I guess cocaine is sort of granular in a way.

noiseboyuk · Post by **noiseboyuk** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 7:25 am

Lots of good replies here. I've only tinkered with Alchemy, and I have to agree with those who say the breadth and quality isn't as broad or consistent as Omni, whereas Alchemy can do many things Omni cannot. But the other half of the story is the tag browsing in Omni. Combined with 5,000 outstanding patches or so, that's the single biggest feature that puts it in a league of its own - 600 patches arranged crudely into categories doesn't remotely compare. I'm a media composer, so I do typically need fast results. With Omni I get close in seconds usually, then can edit and customise as I need.

In fact, that browser is the reason I very rarely touch any other synth at all. I only usually go elsewhere if Omni has actually not come close to producing what I'm after (which is very rare). I have all the Komplete synths and will rarely use them, even though several individually have tag browsers, they are not as well implemented. Getting rid of Kore was a terrible mistake imho, unless a free Maschine player is on the way with tweakable patches. Anyway, I digress....

ariston · Post by **ariston** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 7:35 am

Why can't dogs be the new cats?

GMusic · Post by **GMusic** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 7:55 am

Ok let's be serious here, it's a legitimate question.

I owned Omnisphere and Alchemy at the same time for several months. Here's why I ended up getting rid of Alchemy and kept Omnisphere.

1. The soundsources. YES, they are different, BUT...in the ones that over lap, Omnisphere takes the take. For example, choirs, guitars, and such. And you can't deny that most of all Omnispheres sound sources are fairly to super pristine and modern. Not so much with Alchemy (some samples sound like old school recordings (see the choirs) maybe that's your thing though).

2. The browsing system. I suggested a better way to the Camel guys for users to organize their patches. But since Alchemy uses key files for like every single one of the patches, its a nightmare to customize any type of folders without getting "can't find..." errors. Maybe they changed that by now.

Not only that, but Omnisphere's tagging and attribute system is fantastic. I don't need to fuss with which bank some sounds come from..I just look for my damn sound! No needing to sift through banks one by one to find the perfect Lead for my song.

3. The price/patch ratio. Omnisphere comes with many more presets for the price...and I anticipate more free ones here and there.

Also...The moog expansion has over 800 presets for $100 made by several famous artists and sound designers. Camel Audio sells most packs for $59 and only come with about 150 patches each.

Don't even go there with "1200 variations" per Alchemy bank. Load up an Omnisphere patch and go to the ORB page...that's thousands of variations right there for you.

4. Omnisphere is fairly straight forward to use, clean interface, plenty of organized windows. Want to edit only major variables? go to the main page. Want to edit? go to the edit page. Want to sift thru patches? Go to the patch browser. It's very intuitive and not all in your face.

And I respect the guys who manage Camel Audio, don't get me wrong.I like Alchemy. I still use the Alchemy Player once in a while. Lots of nice patches in there. But, I'd prefer to stick with Omnisphere for the above reasons. And I don't see a purpose (for me at least) in owning both.

EvilDragon · Post by **EvilDragon** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 8:05 am

2. v1.5 of Alchemy (due soon) is going to have a much better patch browser with tags.

GMusic · Post by **GMusic** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 8:13 am

EvilDragon wrote:2. v1.5 of Alchemy (due soon) is going to have a much better patch browser with tags.

That's really great to hear!

Now I have to contemplate picking it up again. That is actually my #1 reason (even though I listed it as 2).

But again, redundancy between Omnisphere and Alchemy would have me second guessing whether I need Alchemy too. Yes, one has features the other doesn't, vice versa, but the question is...do I need them? Probably not.

juffi · Post by **juffi** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 8:14 am

I think Omnisphere has the biggest advantages in its huge library with usable sounds, multitimbrality and live-mode/stack etc. Especially the last feature is what very few VSTi's offer (afaik hypersonic2).

What Omnisphere achieved: since it came out, my Kore2 and Komplete 7 package is collecting dust!!!

I think Alchemy and Omnisphere both benefit from the stopping of Kore2 development (and NI's awful idea to take away all Kore Soundpacks as well...)

Alchemy2 should have at least 2000 factory patches and multitimbrality (16-times would be great).

crystalmsc · Post by **crystalmsc** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 8:53 am

If I have to choose, it's going to be the Omnisphere. But after demoing the Alchemy, I seriously feel that it's going to be a great expansion to Omnisphere, specially it's sample mangling capability and other synthesis engine. Also, I feel that both has a different sound character which is complimenting each other.

ariston · Post by **ariston** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 8:59 am

Okay, gettin' all serious here:

Alchemy is a synthesist's synth, not a preset heaven. I can't fault the guys at Camel for putting out lots of soundbanks, but that's never been a selling point for me. They've also acknowledged that the initial sample set was low quality, simply because they had to cut costs before the initial release. Omnisphere seems like a good solution for the reasons others have posted: a quick way to get from A to Z. Going by the specs, I'd prefer Alchemy and its mind-blowing sound design options any day, but then, I hardly ever use presets (Martin Walker's magnificent set Steamworx aside).

Beyond that, I still think it's not a valid comparison, because they're birds of different colors.

Keith99 · Post by **Keith99** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 9:01 am

Well I have both and while Omnisphere has some amazing patches for some reason I tend to end up using Alchemy more. On a typical project I will have say 2 or 3 Alchemy instances and 1 Omnisphere.

Ben H · Post by **Ben H** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 9:21 am

I own both Omnisphere and Alchemy. And have probably had the two for the same amount of time.

I also own about 1/2 of the offical Alchemy banks and most of the 3rd party banks (32Gb worth in total), and also the Bob Moog expansion for Omnisphere.

While I love Omnisphere and agree that it has the most consistent high calibre of sounds, it has a very distinct flavour sound-wise. And well, I sometimes get sick of eating the same rich food all the time.

Alchemy is a great for it's diversity. You can do soooo much with it and not have the same "Alchemy sound" in a way that can't you do with Omnisphere. Because everything in Omnisphere sounds like Omnisphere, if that makes sense.

Why can't Alchemy be the new Omnisphere?