Omnisphere 2.6 announced at NAMM [RELEASED 27-03-19]

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Richard deHove wrote: Mon Feb 18, 2019 9:01 pm Does anyone have experience in this situation:
- You select a hardware profile matching your synth and begin tweaking
- Using your mouse in Omni you choose a new filter type that's not part of the hardware synth profile
- You resume tweaking the sound on your hardware synth and change the resonance amount, filter env amount etc
- What happens to the sound? Does the filter immediately swap back to the hardware profile filter type if you adjust the filter level itself; switch only if you adjust the 'filter type' (ie 12db, 24db); or does it 'remember' that you manually changed the filter type and will now ignore filter type changes on the hardware?

- As another example, let's say your hardware profile synth has a simple delay. You go into Omni via mouse and change the delay type. Now you go back to editing via your hardware and change the delay time. Does that delay switch back to the hardware profile delay type, or does it keep the new delay you selected via mouse?

Imagine the hardware profile had a simple delay and you switched it for the BPM x3, if the delay type doesn't change then altering the time parameter could now result in a weird mess. On the other hand if Omni keeps reverting your manual choices back to the hardware then that keeps you penned into the flavor of that profile.

I've just bought my first hardware synth since the 90s so will be able to answer that myself in a week or two, but am curious how this operates.
This is how it’s designed to work as far as I can tell. I’ve complained about it before. It makes a cool feature nearly useless to me. I’ll never want Omnisphere to be constrained to some hardware synth. I own Omnisphere because it shatters those barriers.
Zerocrossing Media

4th Law of Robotics: When turning evil, display a red indicator light. ~[ ●_● ]~

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zerocrossing wrote: Tue Feb 19, 2019 5:17 amI’ve complained about it before. It makes a cool feature nearly useless to me. I’ll never want Omnisphere to be constrained to some hardware synth. I own Omnisphere because it shatters those barriers.
Here's the thing though - nobody has explained how any existing controller can meaningfully control Omnisphere in terms of accessing all its functionality. In fact, even something as simple as filter frequency is a headache - which layer's filter? 1, 2, 3, 4 or a combination? The first or second slot? In series or in parallel? What of the few dozen filter types should it control? Multiply this problem by about 1,000 and then you're in the ballpark. And even then you're stuffed if you don't have a dynamic display to reflect the changes - physical controls only work if they're labelled.

Whichever way you cut it, no existing controller is up to the task of a meaningful universal Omni controller. You're always limiting. The Hardware Profiles take that idea of limiting it, and limit it in terms of that synth's architecture. The really good bit though is to take those limitations and then tweak them in almost limitless ways, and that you can't do with the original hardware.
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Omni is a soft synth, iI don't want it to be hardware nor do I need another keyboard so for me the HW integration makes perfect sense in theory, especially as my HW is pretty knobby.

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zerocrossing wrote: Tue Feb 19, 2019 5:17 amThis is how it’s designed to work as far as I can tell. I’ve complained about it before. It makes a cool feature nearly useless to me. I’ll never want Omnisphere to be constrained to some hardware synth. I own Omnisphere because it shatters those barriers.
That's fine. You don't have to use the hardware profile feature. Just continue to use Omnisphere as you have been, and ignore the profiles.

For those that *do* want to chose to sometimes use Omnisphere with their supported hardware, it's a nice feature, but it's certainly not the *only* way to use it.

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From what ı understand you just program like you are programing your hardware synth with it's features and limitations. Omnisphere only supply the sound job of the equation.Ex You program your Moog Voyager as usual but the sound comes out of Omnisphere. Correct me if Im wrong though.

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Using 2.5: Haven't spent a ton of time with it, but I haven't yet figured out - if it's even possible - how to change the cutoff (for example) of Layer 2 or higher. Any time I twist the knob on my SE-02, it reverts to Layer 1. I'm finding that more frustrating than how it changes the filter type itself (again, for example) to always match what they assigned the SE-02. Sometimes I wish I could still have it work, but not change things like that - an intermediate state between on and off.

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vitocorleone123 wrote: Tue Feb 19, 2019 9:26 pm Using 2.5: Haven't spent a ton of time with it, but I haven't yet figured out - if it's even possible - how to change the cutoff (for example) of Layer 2 or higher. Any time I twist the knob on my SE-02, it reverts to Layer 1. I'm finding that more frustrating than how it changes the filter type itself (again, for example) to always match what they assigned the SE-02. Sometimes I wish I could still have it work, but not change things like that - an intermediate state between on and off.
Looking at the midi learn assigns for the SE-02, looks like it should control all 4 layers, but likely the GUI is auto-switching to the first (it can't switch to all 4 at once, clearly). If the auto-switching thing is annoying you, you can turn that off, its the checkbox at the bottom of the Hardware Profile menu.
http://www.guyrowland.co.uk
http://www.sound-on-screen.com
W10, i7 7820X, 64gb RAM, RME Babyface, 1050ti, PT 2023 Ultimate, Cubase Pro 13
Macbook Air M2 OSX 10.15

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The reason it would switch to the first is because that profile would use a shared signal path, meaning all oscillators go through the filter of layer A. So that’s the one it controls. They should have made the filters work like when layers are linked and let you move the filter from any layer to control the first one, but for some reason oh can still change the values of other layers even though they don’t matter. Actually I think they do affect the main filter sound but the actual controls in the layer A filter don’t move. Then the sound jumps when it’s adjusted. But anyways for shared signal path just use layer A filters.

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I've been trying to settle on a synth as my go-to and Omnisphere looks like it may be the one. However I'm also interested in investing in Kontakt Komplete and wonder if maybe I should just go with Massive. Comparable?

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idrumgood wrote: Wed Feb 20, 2019 4:46 pm I've been trying to settle on a synth as my go-to and Omnisphere looks like it may be the one. However I'm also interested in investing in Kontakt Komplete and wonder if maybe I should just go with Massive. Comparable?
They are totally different really. Both have wavetables, but other than that... I guess the most glaringly obvious difference is the 65gb sample pool with Omni, but there are many, many others. NI themselves describe Massive as focussed on Basses and leads. Absynth, also in Komplete, overlaps another bit of Omni territory but it is also a different animal and another synth to learn.

Omni provides a unified interface (which I think is pretty clear and easy to use) for a hugely diverse array of synthesis. It currently has 8,600 patches, with a few hundred more shortly to be added.
http://www.guyrowland.co.uk
http://www.sound-on-screen.com
W10, i7 7820X, 64gb RAM, RME Babyface, 1050ti, PT 2023 Ultimate, Cubase Pro 13
Macbook Air M2 OSX 10.15

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"Major Arpeggiator Update
Omnisphere’s renowned Arpeggiator has been greatly enhanced with all new creative tools, a brand new preset library and much more. The musical possibilities are vastly expanded, making it one of the most flexible arpeggiators ever, while still being fun to use. Best of all, Omnisphere 2.6 can now capture the MIDI data of what the arpeggiator is doing as a standard MIDI file, which can be dragged to any DAW for further editing!"

This feature sounds very exciting, looking forward to it!

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I wish Spectrasonics would let you choose what layers the arpeggiator affects. Or maybe even chug in arpeggiators per layer... That would open up a wealth of possibilities.
https://www.manmakesnoise.com/ - Organic at heart.

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Man Makes Noise wrote: Fri Feb 22, 2019 2:24 pm I wish Spectrasonics would let you choose what layers the arpeggiator affects. Or maybe even chug in arpeggiators per layer... That would open up a wealth of possibilities.
But you already have 8 arpeggiators for the different parts if you want to stack different arps. An arp for each layer as well would be overkill I think.

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Echoes in the Attic wrote: Fri Feb 22, 2019 2:34 pm
Man Makes Noise wrote: Fri Feb 22, 2019 2:24 pm I wish Spectrasonics would let you choose what layers the arpeggiator affects. Or maybe even chug in arpeggiators per layer... That would open up a wealth of possibilities.
But you already have 8 arpeggiators for the different parts if you want to stack different arps. An arp for each layer as well would be overkill I think.
I wish they'd have the option for that if one does not want to work with multis. :)
https://www.manmakesnoise.com/ - Organic at heart.

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It's hard to think of a way to have an arpegiator per layer and not crazily bloat things or break backwards compatibility. One option could be to allow you to choose which layers the arpeggiator will effect. Perhaps a small layer switch panel like the portamento controls? All old patches could then have all four layers activated by default. You still don't get multiple arpeggiators but it would allow for more creative programming especially when combined with looping envelopes.

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