Congrats, Marshall, the best of the best. Now visit PlugInGuru and get some extra kicks.

Congrats Bill , 
 
I'm probably do it the way you did by getting  Omnisphere first over the NI stuff. 
 
all the best,
 
Kenny

I took a look at the Groove 3 videos on Omnisphere 2.
 
That is a very impressive browser and search function that Spectrasonics have developed.  I'm sure that is where much of the power for finding and shaping the sound layers you want resides.  The Boolean search "and/or/not" is also very cool!
 
I am sure that many other synths and samplers could create most any single patch layer sound that exists in the Omnisphere library, but what really seems to set it apart is the very efficient workflow for creating layers and multis.  I have been creating layers of multiple synths (internal and external) for quite some time, stacking them in a DAW, and it is one aspect of sound design that can be very rewarding.  But having that ability in a common GUI environment and browser takes it to a whole new level. 
 
Still wish they had a demo version! 

abacab, apologies for seeming to contradict you at every turn in this thread - not my intention, believe me. But yeh, it actually is about the sounds, many of which are truly unique. They set a piano on fire, built one-of-a-kind acoustical instruments, applied bows to just about everything, and sampled rare vintage instruments that only exist in museums and private collections.  A sonic palette that literally no other synth even comes close to.
 
Now, there are legitimate questions as to how many of those sounds are musically useful. To me, a great many are not. Those just happen to be the ones that I could create using another synth, e.g. massively-unison detuned sawtooths. Yawn. Fortunately, they constitute perhaps only a thousand or so patches, leaving plenty of others to choose from.

bit, That's all good info and is quite believable, but I can imagine that if Spectrasonics would just assemble a small part of that into a demo package, then they could make believers out of us skeptics.  $500 on faith, I dunno ...

Yay! Great move... As Fleer noted, avail yourself to the guru's numerous educational vids and pick up some goodies on his next sale...

Enjoy... Smart move

BTW, it is $431 at Jrr shop with code GROUP. You have to wait for the USB package in the mail but it's only a couple days

As someone who has composed and produced a lot of music involving synthesis I can offer a different point of view. From a totally synthesist point of view as opposed to someone using a synthesiser in a more traditional rock or pop context. 
 
Every synth has a sonic signature and using one to do many things can suffer from everything sounding like it is coming from just one synth. (software included)  It is better to involve a range of synths in order to get the different sonic signatures and be able to blend them.  Something a single instrument can never do.  I have a large collection of instruments which between them would easily cover the sonic palette that Omnisphere would offer and probably far more in reality.  Instruments like Native Thrill for example. (with its 30 Gig library!)  This is a Cinematic tension instrument and Omnisphere would not even come anywhere close to this.  Others like Prism, Alchemy and Granite and the list goes on.  So I agree with abacab in that with multiple instruments you can basically cover everything and more.  Latest thing for me is PPG Infinite. This is an iOS app only right now but if you have an iPad docked into a quality dock and connected up to your studio it becomes a seriously playable synth.  And it has a sound out of this world.  No samples in sight either.  It also goes into territory I doubt Omnisphere could venture into.
 
Having a range of synths is one of the reasons I have not bought into Omnisphere because I don't feel any real need to.  I am sure it is a fantastic instrument for someone who did not have that much to start with and wanted to get a lot at once it would be an excellent choice.
 
I don't agree with the OP poster getting it first.  It does not have a full range of bread and butter sounds like Kontakt does.  And as pointed out here when he needs a simple cello line he may not find it anywhere in Omnisphere.  (pity considering you have just spent $500!) I think he has been a victim of the hype surrounding it instead of the real need.  A GUI should not matter, it is all about its sound and nothing more.  Any GUI or synths operating system can be gotten around in order to get a job done.  The demos for it may be amazing but you have to ask yourself are you going to produce music exactly like the demos.
 
I have built up the bread and butter sounds myself first before getting into anything other than that and I can assure people that in reality it is those sounds that really get used most often.  In my case anyway it was certainly the better way to go.  Especially from the point of view of doing jobs professionally and getting paid for them. 

Jeff Evans
 
I don't agree with the OP poster getting it first.  It does not have a full range of bread and butter sounds like Kontakt does.  And as pointed out here when he needs a simple cello line he may not find it anywhere in Omnisphere.  (pity considering you have just spent $500!) I think he has been a victim of the hype surrounding it instead of the real need.  A GUI should not matter, it is all about its sound and nothing more.  Any GUI or synths operating system can be gotten around in order to get a job done.  The demos for it may be amazing but you have to ask yourself are you going to produce music exactly like the demos.
 

I am sorry you don't agree with my decision - and I certainly don't feel like a victim! I think we are coming at this from totally different musical backgrounds, I am not in any immediate need of a simple cello line, and FWIW I bought Omnisphere in the full knowledge that there would be bread and butter sounds that I would still need - hence I will probably get Kontakt as well, when it goes on sale. 

Vastman
Yay! Great move... As Fleer noted, avail yourself to the guru's numerous educational vids and pick up some goodies on his next sale...

Enjoy... Smart move

Thanks for originally bringing it to my attention - absolutely thrilled!

Bill I fully respect your decision to go with Omnisphere first.  You know best what sort of music you are going to be creating and therefore it probably suits that decision well.  I am sure you will love it.  But I can guarantee at some point despite its million presets there will be a sound that you really want and it won't be in there! No one synth no matter what it is can do everything. Simple as that.
 
I am not sure if Kontakt has ever gone on sale or if it has I may have missed it.  Can someone answer that as to whether it has.  It is also a pretty hefty outlay. I have a battery of hardware samplers (with huge libraries) and yet I feel for me personally Kontakt is something I would go for even before Omnisphere.  Probably as I have got a lot of the Omnisphere stuff covered with a range of other instruments. 
 
I recently installed the free version of IK Syntronik and I am knocked out as to how good that instrument sounds.  It is amazing.  I should upgrade to the full version of that before I do anything.  It is not cheap either so I have to just hang in there and hope for a sale on that at some point. (Note this is really an analog synth fest so it is a bit specialised as well)