Congrats Bit, ol pal.  You won't ever regret that purchase.

Well, after a weekend spent doing little else other than getting intimate with Omnisphere, I'm actually feeling a little buyer's remorse today. I've played with a significant percentage of the 8,000+ patches, and have so far found only a handful that I consider useful, and most of them require some tweaking in order to be so.

Frankly,  had I known a week ago what I know today, I'd have given Alchemy more serious consideration. It's nearly as capable but much less expensive. And Alchemy has more third-party support, plus you can use your own waves.

I've actually used more sounds from the $5 Sample Logic TryPack than I've found so far in Omnisphere. TryPack introduced me to a product called Cinematic Guitars that's particularly good. Ironically, I passed on that library because it was too expensive. It's $80 less than Omnisphere.

Ever the optimist, though, I am sure I'll get my $480 worth out of Omnisphere eventually. Just not this week.

Mathew, you obviously do quite well with the hammers & saws in your toolkit. Your example's quite encouraging. 

I'd be even more encouraged if it was even remotely close to my own genre
Any classic/prog rock folks out there who've found a place for Omnisphere in their tunes?

In my case, I was referring more to the loading times of samples if Trillian is any indication. I originally installed it on my XP machine (P4 HT @ 2.9MHz) and browsing samples was very tedious. On my new build, it's another story altogether. 

yorolpal


Congrats Bit, ol pal.  You won't ever regret that purchase.

Two posts later and it appears he does.

Oh yeh, if you're doing a low-budget sci-fi or horror film, it's a must-have!

Too bad I don't have any such projects in my immediate future.

While I realize that when one is working in a specific genre they might feel constrained to a certain subset of instruments, tonalitys and sounds.  To which I, generally, say PFFFT!  Don't be skeered a usin them kooky, evolving and sometimes downright provocative Omnisphere sounds in ANYTHING.  Go on...give it a try.  You might just be surprised as all get out.  Or not.

Trilian is also linked to Omnisphere. They have their own combined patches too. It's all huge. Good thing is, the plug-in in your DAW sounds like the demos - that's a novelty - usually you can't get the sounds you hear in demos because of all the post production firms do on them. What you hear is what you get. Hey, did anyone ever mention how huge it all sounds.

bitflipper


Oh yeh, if you're doing a low-budget sci-fi or horror film, it's a must-have!

Too bad I don't have any such projects in my immediate future.

Just curious, what projects do you have in your immediate future? I ask because while Omnisphere is by no means a total solution for all musical situations, you obviously bought it with something in mind. What is it that you were hoping for that you didn't get?

What is it that you were hoping for that you didn't get?

More organic sounds and fewer supersaws. More plucked-type instruments, percussive effects, and identifiable conventional instruments. Why have a Rhodes that's barely identifiable as a Rhodes, but not include a Rhodes that sounds like a Rhodes? Some processed reed instruments would be nifty and unique. 


I didn't expect a GM rompler. I've pretty much got my bread 'n butter sounds covered already (orchestra, piano, organ, electric piano, basses, etc.). So getting Omnisphere was an attempt to broaden my palette with some lush pads and interesting lead instruments. 


The pads are there, but most are SO fat that there's just no room for them without building the whole song around them from the start. And characterful leads are severely under-represented.

Congrats Bit. I hope you get into a comfort zone with your Omnisphere purchase. I have Omnisphere, Trilian, Alchemy, and also a Kurzweil 2600 SX and all of these have come up in discussion so allow me to chime in a bit.

The sample thinning options in Omnisphere can really help you out if memory is an issue. Worth getting to know about. Definitely get used to those "+" signs in the interface. They open you up to some real creative soundscaping possibilities. I highly recommend checking out the Groove3 video on Omnisphere if you can. They did a really good job with that.

The Kurzweil manuals....holy crap is that ever true how HUGE they are....so powerful yet so impenetrable ;-)

If you find sounds you like overlayed with elements you don't (like a piano blended with a synth you don't want to hear) then open up the patch. All Omnisphere patches have a synth portion and a sample portion. The library of elements you can choose from to create patches is, as you have gathered, enormous. There are a lot of "normal" sounds you can juice up to go beyond the presets.

Many of the presets are definitely drenched in reverb and delay. I think this is a consequence of it being so prevalent in electronic music. Try using Nexus 2! The effects are very flexible so you can definitely tweak stuff up and get rid of that. You can also modulate them so keep that in mind.

Layered multis can really be your friend. Also, if you have an iPad, the free Omni-TR app is really an amazing thing to use to accompany Omnisphere. Too bad you are not a fan of arp'ed out patterns cause the arpeggiator in Omnisphere is one of it's strong points.

Maybe my comments haven't helped much but I am excited for you and hope you enjoy it.

Ken

I'm actually feeling a little buyer's remorse today.

What's wrong with you man? 

Just buy some more gear to make yourself feel better like everyone else does in these circumstances.

Bit,

Alchemy is for wacky and/or scary sounds, too.  Or that is what it is best at.  And most of the libraries are scary, or the biolab stuff I've bought.  Don't get me wrong - I love alchemy and the twisty-turney things you can do w/ it and the pads evolve for sure.  But it ain't the first thing I think of for more basic sounds.

I don't have omni, but w/ alchemy I find I shave a lot of the big bottom to get things to fit in the mix.  W/ alchemy (and Kontact too) there is so much "finished" sound and reverb it is hard to find a place to put your bread and butter into a song.  You just have to get medievel on it.

So have fun.  I know w/ some of the Alchemy sounds I skipped right through them, but found on coming back later there were some very useful sounds I missed.

@

Oh, and I hope you've got an SSD for this lovely piece of software cause it's a demanding little bugger (you'll find out what I mean soon). One thing you have to promise though, I want to hear a personalized "Bit" demo. Good for you and good luck!

 
If you're talking about pulling 128 notes of polyphony or less, no need for SSD for Omnisphere.
Been running Omnisphere here on conventional (higher performance) HDs for many months.
Where you need SSD is for L.A.S.S. and Hollywood Strings (500 to 1500 simultanteous notes of polyphony).  Now *that* is demanding. 
 

Omnisphere is huge. And insane. And a must have if you like pads.