WOW - The Omnisphere 2.5 Free Update

[hurricane]

[qn5]

Word. This is nuts. I know what I'm getting for xmas.

[botnotbot]

Turns out to be way cooler than I expected just from reading the headlines / PR.

Looks like I may become an Omnisphere owner after all...

And essentially make all my soft synths and the synth engines on the hardware units redundant

[hurricane]

As I was watching the video for the first time, I was a little confused what this actually was going to be, and when he was playing the Voyager and Eric just casually mentioning how the sound was coming from Omnisphere, that's when my jaw hit the floor and realized how awesome this could potentially be. Cuz holy fuck , that sounded like a Voyager, it seemed to react like a Voyager, it had the character of the Voyager. So essentially when you put Omni in Voyager mode, Omnisphere turns into a Voyager, calling up all the relevant Voyager OSCs , filter, and fx. And they're doing this for 20 hardware synths with WAY more to come (Eric says they'll be adding more "till the cows come home"). And even more awesome is that they're adding synth components to Omnisphere to make this hardware relationship more compatible. In 2.5 they're adding new State Variable Filters specifically for the hardware OB6 profile, plus they're adding 50 analog wavetables, and you can now use four layers per patch, not to mention they doubled the mod matrix, and it now has 8 LFOs, and 12 Envelopes! Oh and there's the "hundreds" of new patches which "have a distinctly 'classic analog' flavor". And even better - all those sounds will be instantly available to you because they are part of Omnisphere's new factory sound bank. OMG. I love this. And this is just the beginning.

[jimmyklane]

Isn’t Omnishpere a Rompler? So you lose things like PWM and sync unless they’re in the samplers? I’m at work so I’ll have to wait till lunch to watch it. Can somebody fill me in in the meantime?

[Despondo]

I think it might be finally time to pull the trigger on purchasing Omnisphere...Been holding out for a while due to the cost, but they really are doing a great job of adding new features to this beast.

[jayhosking]

I know very little about Omnisphere, but I noticed that my synth is on the list, and I love the idea of matching software to hardware. Not worth such a huge amount of money for one synth, but worth keeping an eye on for sales and/or seeing what else the synth can do.

[CephaloPod]

It's pretty cool and hasn't been done before. If I owned one of these hardware synths, I'd probably think about buying Omnisphere now.

I don't think it will do much for me though. I already own Omnisphere. I don't own any hardware synths with knobs and stuff other than a midi controller. So, what benefit do I get from this? I think I'll get some nice patches out of it. Am I missing something?

[hurricane]

I don't think it will do much for me though. I already own Omnisphere. I don't own any hardware synths with knobs and stuff other than a midi controller. So, what benefit do I get from this? I think I'll get some nice patches out of it. Am I missing something?

Well,

Before:

before.png (108.35 KiB) Viewed 4081 times

After:

2.5.png (434.32 KiB) Viewed 4081 times

And as I mentioned before, you're getting new filters, double the mod slots, the 50 new analog wavetables, and lots of new patches based on the character of the hardware synths they're modeling. The analog patches in Omnisphere are already fantastic so it'll be interesting to see how the new patches come out, particularly because they were created by physically moving knobs and sliders on the real synth instead of clicking with a mouse on your computer screen. And Eric already said he is going to add the newly released Prophet-X so who knows what other bonuses Omnisphere will get from that and from other potential hardware synth profiles. And the update is FREE.

[CephaloPod]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I had no idea an update was coming, and had no reason to want one. I'll never complain about a free update. I just don't see the excitement for this, unless you have a beloved hardware synth that you use all the time, and now you can add Omnisphere to it seamlessly (huge deal to those people).

I've never needed more layers in Omnisphere or more patches. In multi mode, you can layer the hell out of Omnisphere and it already has tens of thousands of patches.

I think this is a big update for some users, not very significant for others, such as me. It's free, and I'm totally fine with it. I'm just wondering if I'm missing something, because people are saying this is an amazing update.

[hurricane]

No, I totally get what you're saying. I am one of those who think this 2.5 update is amazing. Now, a drum sequencer player and Europa sample import, on the other hand, is going to do NOTHING for me. And some of you are going to blow your loads on this forum's face when that gets released so, to each his own...

[CephaloPod]

No, I totally get what you're saying. I am one of those who think this 2.5 update is amazing. Now, a drum sequencer player and Europa sample import, on the other hand, is going to do NOTHING for me. And some of you are going to blow your loads on this forum's face when that gets released so, to each his own...

Fair enough! I'm much more excited about sample loading in Europa ( which I will gladly download for free) than the Omnisphere update (which I will gladly download for free). To each his own indeed.

[tobypearce]

Isn’t Omnishpere a Rompler? So you lose things like PWM and sync unless they’re in the samplers? I’m at work so I’ll have to wait till lunch to watch it. Can somebody fill me in in the meantime?

Hiya,

The only bit you're missing is that Omnisphere isn't just a Rompler. It is also a synth in it's own right. It has a regular synth engine - and a very powerful one at that. It's possible to use Omnisphere just as you would a regular soft synth - start with a saw / square / sine wave, assign envelopes, pass through filters, etc.

PWM and sun both entirely possible with no sample in sight:

Screen Shot 2018-05-05 at 06.33.48.jpg (272.14 KiB) Viewed 4051 times

But it gets better still: instead of using a regular saw as the starting point, you can use the exact saw from any one of many vintage synths:

Screen Shot 2018-05-05 at 06.29.40.jpg (742.77 KiB) Viewed 4051 times

All these different waves were added a couple of years ago in Omnisphere 2. I reckon they've been planning hardware integration for a while. I think I remember seeing a video by Eric P a few years ago (some kind of podcast video interview) where he was trying to solve the issue of how to make Omnisphere more hands on.

[AzureEyes]

There's more added from the hardware that's integrating with it!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[groggy1]

Seems like there are some people that are going to love this, and others that won't. Either way, it's all good since it's a free update.

For me, I have a couple of hardware synths, but honestly I'm not sure why I'd want to "map" them to Omnisphere. First of all, I'm sure the mapping will be imperfect: Sure, the filter cutoff and ADSR dials will match well. But for example will patch selection work the same? (I really doubt it since I doubt the Omnisphere patch-list will suddenly show-up on my hardware synth's LCD panel). So for me, having to mentally do the mapping that some buttons will be mapped well and others won't is exhausting, don't need it.

Furthermore, this is why I bought a controller that has knobs on it: I can map whatever knobs I want to whatever Ominisphere controls I want.

Anyway, I'm sure this will be great for some folks, just not me. Which is OK.

[hurricane]

A very beardy JAMES BERNARD showing off Omnisphere 2.5:

And a different video of Eric doing a demo - the Voyager sound coming out of Omnisphere really shines here. Also a demo of the OB6 profile. Sounds SICK.

[joeyluck]

Seems pretty cool. But maybe I'm missing something?

If I have a certain synth in front of me, particularly a nice sounding, analog synth, which is perhaps an expensive one at that... And I want that straight forward experience of programming that synth, and that characteristic sound of that synth, wouldn't I just use that synth? It's certainly going to behave exactly as I expect and sound spot-on, of course.

I could see this being very useful for something like that Korg MS20 USB Legacy controller that came out years before the MS20 Mini (which was just a controller geared towards controlling the MS20 software synth). Something along those lines where you get the layout and workflow of a classic in an inexpensive form factor and the sound recreated in the software...

Or maybe if your audio outputs of your synth are shot or something else is dead inside your synth and you don't want to deal with it? I could see it being useful then. But I'm not sure I quite understand it otherwise.

[modecca]

Would have been a much more interesting update to me personally, if you could use the different synth templates with 1 controller.

[hurricane]

The goal of this update is not to emulate your hardware synths, but rather to use Omnisphere much like a hardware synth using the knobs and sliders of the hardware synths you might already have in front of you. They're not saying you should stop using your Voyager because Omnisphere does a great job at emulating it. They're saying you're going to want to use your Voyager even more now because you now have a GUI front-end - somewhat along the lines of the Virus TI with it's Virus Control "plugin" - and now sound design in Omnisphere becomes a much more tactile experience. However in Omnisphere's case, you'll be able to use the 20 synths available in HW Profiles section of Omnisphere as your totally integrated hardware midi controller, where all of the hardware synths knobs/sliders/controls are intelligently mapped to the relevant parts in Omnisphere. You could even cover your computer's screen or not have Omnisphere open and design sounds using only the synth you have in front of you. Then the convenience of software comes into play here where saving your sound is accomplished with a click.

The second point of this update is that you can essentially supersede the limits of your hardware synth since you are using Omnisphere's complete set of soundsources and features. So like they mentioned in the video, you can turn your Mono Voyager into Polyphonic Voyager. The polyphony limit of the Boutiques is no longer an issue.

Thirdly (and I swear to god I don't work for Spectrasonics lol), from a purely Omnisphere-centric view, the features of Omnisphere will be continually updated to better represent the hardware that will be profiled. So even if you don't have any of those 20 profiled hardware synths, you will still reap the benefits of this arrangement because Spectrasonics will be adding those filters, waveforms, effects, that are characteristic of the profiled hardware synths, to Omnisphere, thus increasing its already powerful and exhaustive capabilities. In addition, we're also getting tons of new presets based on the character of those hardware synths.

There are many more hardware synth profiles coming in future updates. This means you can expect several new additions to Omnisphere's synth architecture as well as hundreds of new presets.

And who knows, maybe you might even consider buying a new hardware synth to use with Omnisphere.

[joeyluck]

The goal of this update is not to emulate your hardware synths, but rather to use Omnisphere much like a hardware synth using the knobs and sliders of the hardware synths you might already have in front of you. They're not saying you should stop using your Voyager because Omnisphere does a great job at emulating it. They're saying you're going to want to use your Voyager even more now because you now have a GUI front-end - somewhat along the lines of the Virus TI with it's Virus Control "plugin" - and now sound design in Omnisphere becomes a much more tactile experience. However in Omnisphere's case, you'll be able to use the 20 synths available in HW Profiles section of Omnisphere as your totally integrated hardware midi controller, where all of the hardware synths knobs/sliders/controls are intelligently mapped to the relevant parts in Omnisphere. You could even cover your computer's screen or not have Omnisphere open and design sounds using only the synth you have in front of you. Then the convenience of software comes into play here where saving your sound is accomplished with a click.

The second point of this update is that you can essentially supersede the limits of your hardware synth since you are using Omnisphere's complete set of soundsources and features. So like they mentioned in the video, you can turn your Mono Voyager into Polyphonic Voyager. The polyphony limit of the Boutiques is no longer an issue.

Thirdly (and I swear to god I don't work for Spectrasonics lol), from a purely Omnisphere-centric view, the features of Omnisphere will be continually updated to better represent the hardware that will be profiled. So even if you don't have any of those 20 profiled hardware synths, you will still reap the benefits of this arrangement because Spectrasonics will be adding those filters, waveforms, effects, that are characteristic of the profiled hardware synths, to Omnisphere, thus increasing its already powerful and exhaustive capabilities. In addition, we're also getting tons of new presets based on the character of those hardware synths.

There are many more hardware synth profiles coming in future updates. This means you can expect several new additions to Omnisphere's synth architecture as well as hundreds of new presets.

And who knows, maybe you might even consider buying a new hardware synth to use with Omnisphere.

Good points

[Krell]

This is a really great idea. And it's not just those with 'expensive' synths who benefit, Roland Boutiques and the Korg Minilogue are in the initial templates and they're pretty common so a fair number of users will get the benefit straight away. Remember, there's none of that head scratching you get with a generic controller as each dedicated control is the same; so cutoff is cutoff, waveform selection is... waveform selection. The label printed on the synth is what that knob/button does.

And it's free! It's like a studio upgrade for no outlay.

[EpiGenetik]

Not an unreasonable idea really, and in the same ball-park as Remote. They'll need to get a lot of profiles ready for shipping with this though, and it will also need to be both extensible, and user limitable (i.e the number of offered profiles). Really not the worst idea, though.

[EnochLight]

This update sort of makes me wish I didn't sell my Omnisphere 2 license...


..OK, not really

Seriously though, it does look like a pretty cool update for Omnisphere 2 fans. That said, I don't have any hardware synths that I would really benefit from interfacing with it, though I'm guessing you can still call up the synth profiles on any controller. The time I did spend with Omnisphere 2 made me realize that each patch is like having a complex Combi setup. That alone may be why it also didn't blow my skirt up, much. I didn't find it inspiring.

Congrats to you Omnisphere 2 peeps, though! Looks pretty cool.

[Iapetus 9]

It's still an overbloated rompler that my hardware doesn't need. Congrats to everyone that bit on the hype.

[adfielding]

I think it's a really neat idea. It doesn't really have any appeal to me since I'm much more of an in-the-box kinda guy, but for people who like to get a bit more hands-on with their patch design... yeah, I think it's an interesting idea. Being able to treat it as an extension for a hardware synth you might already have is something I haven't really seen attempted at this scale, so for that alone I think it's an interesting development.