Omnisphere 2.6 features an “Hardware Library” boasting 600 new patches created by Eric Persing and the acclaimed Spectrasonics Sound Development team. Notably, the update takes Eric’s original sound design work from the classic 1987 Roland D-50 into new sonic territory with Omnisphere’s vast synthesis capabilities. MIDI controllers multiply the possibilities of your DAW and VSTs. All of a sudden you can make a groovier beat, mix more easily and tweak with precision. Getting the best MIDI keyboard for your needs is a vital tool for success. Choosing the right one is the first step towards becoming a better producer.
Omnisphere 2.5, an impressive update for an already impressive virtual instrument – the best part: it’s a free update for all Omnisphere 2 users.
by Alex Arsov, Nov. 2018
Which controller/synth lets you control the most of omnisphere 2? And if it is a synth, something that is a great addition and not useless to a setup with Omnisphere 2. I was planning to buy the VirusTI2 and use the both together, but im still exploring some good options.
First of all, Omnisphere 2.5 is a free update for all Omnisphere 2 users. Secondly, the enhancements make this already legendary synth even better, if this is even possible. When you first read through the promo text explaining what’s new, you can easily get the wrong impression that the additions are just a “nice to have”, nothing much really. But having tried all those new synths I should tell that this far from the truth. As you can imagine, the devil is in the detail.
No matter which source you got your information from about this update, the first thing you would have heard about is the hardware integration. What initially crosses your mind is that Omnisphere now supports your MIDI controllers and now you can use it without doing any additional programming. That’s close, but not quite. Omnisphere support MIDI controllers. But now it also support, actually work with a whole palette of synths that have their own unique character and sound, and this is just a start. One thing is that Omnisphere now models a large number of well-known analog and virtual analog synths, along with some digital hardware models, and Spectrasonic claims that there will be even more of those in the future.
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So, what actually does this “support” really mean? It means that when you choose one specific model Omnisphere will load the appropriate set of waveforms and filters for that model and the end result – the sound produced inside Omnisphere – will definitely have the character of that specific hardware model. Not only that, if this synth has some specific set of effects, like Chorus and Flanger, tweaking any knob in the effect section will automatically load those two effects – Chorus and Flanger.
Of course, along with all those hardware synth adopted waveforms, we get over 1,000 new presets that can be found inside the Hardware Library directory. I immediately went to some Access Virus sounds as I had that synth in the past, and was delighted to hear all those fat and nasty analog sounds from that model inside Omnisphere. Hats off, Spectrasonic! Hat’s off!
Many Other New Goodies
As Omnisphere 2.5 brings four layers per patch instead of the previous two, you can just imagine how some of those new sounds can sound. Of course, as with all software, Omnisphere can easily overcome some of the limitations of those hardware synths. If the chosen hardware synthesizer has only one oscillator it doesn’t mean that you have the same limitations inside Omnisphere. It’s no big deal to set up four oscillators per layer.
Next is the redesigned main graphical interface. Now everything looks more up to date and, best of all, it is now resizable, allowing you to modify the plug-in size according to your needs.
There are a host of other new additions including new wavetables and new State Variable filters. With granular synthesis we can go crazy, as now we can select a part of a sound inside a new waveform window made for this purpose, and the end result is just dependent on – or we should say, limited by – your imagination and your free time. If you take the time, you can easily come up with some very original solutions.
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I assume plenty of you are thinking: what should we do with granular synthesis if it is only limited to the waveforms that come with Omnisphere? Well, that’s not true anymore, because now you can load in any audio file and use it with the granular or as a sample based waveform that you can process through all of Omnisphere’s filters/effects/etc. All you need to do is to grab a sound and drag it into the Omnisphere interface. Quite simple indeed.
Spectrasonics also refreshed Live mode, making it even more functional. At the same time they added multi-touch functionality (pc only), so now it is easier than ever to manage this beast. Also, from version 2.4 there is also a standalone version of this instrument.
We Can Go On Forever
This new update is “more and more” in almost all directions as Spectrasonic obviously decided to refresh this instrument quite thoroughly. So, if you already have Omnisphere 2 you will no doubt download this update because, after all, it offers a great deal and is free. If you don’t have Omnisphere 2 yet, then this is the time to consider acquiring it.
Omnisphere was already a rather essential tool. At first I even thought, this is more for media composers, but after I got it, I realized that it is one of the most powerful tools on the market. It used to be a sample based syntesizer – after version 2 it turned into a synthesizer with great number of sampled and DSP waveforms and now it becomes more and more just a “synthesizer”. One way or the other, you will need an additional two reincarnations to get through all the sounds and options, and you will no doubt learn that most of the sounds are really good, far better than I expected. That makes this sample based synthesizer the perfect tool for all kinds of music. To quote the Blues Brothers, it is appropriate for both kinds of music – Country and Western. It is without question a “go to” tool for all genres of music – just name a genre, and this one will fit in.
More info: https://www.spectrasonics.net/news/news-content.php?id=112
Free for existing users, othewise $499 USD for a download version.
If you are interested in full Omnisphere review, you can find it here: https://soundbytesmag.net/omnisphere23review/