WooHoo!  Got mine last night.  Impressive customer service for a Saturday.  Now off to play!
 
Thanks again Spectrasonics - excellent support!
 

bitflipper
I'm hearing that they've addressed a common criticism, which is that Omnisphere isn't geared toward EDM. Many teenage preset-punchers will rejoice, but this is not particularly great news to me. Please tell me the new sources aren't all pumping supersaws!

I got my hands on O2 for only a few hours and doubt I went through 50 of the new presets/soundsources, but I did accidentally hit some of the EDM which... I actually liked. 
 
The parameter lock thing really is so incredibly valuable especially when going through presets.  Someday I might actually get through 70% of what's in O1/Trilian, but having the context of a groove/envelopes/arps/fx just knocked me out.  A germ of ideas were really there when mindlessly scrolling.
 
The other thing that really knocked me out were the new fx.  When I heard there was going to be 25 of them I yawned because I've got so much other stuff, but after hearing them I think they're worth a good chunk of the upgrade price.
 
I must have it!
 
 
 
 

dmbaer
 
 
Yeah, nobody could have predicted the levees would break either! 
 

uh...pardon me, bhut r plant did, way back in 71...he said "when" , not "if"

I wasn't sure what EDM sounded like (I'm pretty old) and expected some kind of disco type stuff (like I said I'm old).
Kind of surprised me that a lot of the EDM programs seem like they could be Z3TA sounds. I found a really nice  synth sweep patch that's perfect for an ambient song I'm working on. I'm liking what I'm hearing so far.

So I downloaded the upgrade yesterday - downloaded to my non-DAW machine for convenience sake, with the intent of putting it on a large thumb drive for transfer to my DAW.  Copying to the thumb drive didn't work - several files larger than 2G are included.  Had to reformat the thumb drive to NTFS.  Not a big deal, but could they not have kept all the files to under 2G?
 
The real problem happens when you try to create DVD backups.  Spectrasonics states up front that you only get one download, so be sure and create backups.  But you cannot write 6G files to DVD, even with a multiple-disk-spanning DVD write utility.  I emailed tech support about the issue asking what to do.  This is the response:
 

We don’t provide DVD backups of the library anymore.  However, you can order an alternate download or media installer when that is available in the coming weeks. 
 
Gee, thanks Spectrasonics.  How considerate that you tell me to create backups and then send me files I cannot create backups of.  I'm surprised there's not any ****ing about this from more people than myself.

I can't remember the last time I backed up anything to a DVD, or Blu-ray for that matter... I've got a burner but I haven't used it for ages.

I was not sure how to back it up given that it was so large.  I had not thought about the individual files being too big for conventional DVD backup.  What I did was to back it up to three different hard drives-triple redundancy (I just used the backups I used for backing up my NI Kontakt and Komplete libraries).  I also thought about buying a 32G USB; use that and then drop it in the omnisphere 1 box.  Good complaint.
 
 

Hmm, whilst I wish Spec's every success with their new product, I think that they need to sweeten the deal a little for long-term users (of all of their instruments, i.e. I own Om 1, Trillian and Stylus).
 
I paid £299 for Om 1 (which was actually relatively cheap; on offer), which is about $460.  As I own all three products, I get the 'VIP' upgrade price of $199.  So I need to pay $660 altogether to get Om 2.  That's close to 33% on top of the cost of buying Om 2 new.  Add in the fact that recent purchasers of Om 1 get Om 2 for free and I'm not exactly feeling encouraged to upgrade.  Top the cake off with the 'no public forum support' policy of Spec's and I think I'm going to bide my time and see what happens.
 
tbph, there's not a whole lot in Om 2 that excites me; some new fx (I've got fx for days already), a bunch new sounds (I'll never explore all the sounds in Om 1 even if I lived for several lifetimes), etc.  If digging around in the guts of deep, complex virtual synths was my thing, then I'm sure I'd go for it but as things are I have more than enough depth and complexity for my squishy brain to handle.
 

I'm a huge fan of Omnisphere, and I've been excited about the new version since its announcement.
 
However, much to my own surprise at this point I'm now thinking of skipping Omnisphere 2. 
 
The combination of its emphasis on EDM and the lack of a hard media option are making it less attractive. The ability to totally mangle any sound does not appeal to me, and the ability to import sounds is something Kontakt already offers. The new effects are no doubt excellent, but I've got gobs of effects already.
 
I was listening to Heavyocity's Aeon Melodic, which is currently on sale for a hundred bucks less than the Omnisphere 2 upgrade, and it's loaded with exactly the kinds of rich sounds that made Omnisphere 1 so appealing. 
 
 

the EDM patches in Omni 2 are just an extension of the current music field (new MCDonalds ad had EDM dubstep background music in it) and while the EDM tag gets bannered around a lot many of the EDM patches are just pads or useful in any type of music - it's just a label. 
 
as far as the new FX they can be used in all the older patches as well - all the new features bring Omni as a synth to the next level.
 
I have Aeon collection.  I love Heavyocity products.  you cannot add to Aeon, what you get is pretty much it, like so many kontakt libraries you can tweak a patch or manipulate it a lot in some cases your still stuck with the original sound source material, it's a sample library - not a synth.  to really take full advantage of Aeon you need both rhythmic and melotic.  kinda like the Evolve line of products they all stand alone but together they add so much more.  Aeon is the same.
 
ON the Spectrasonics TechShop page the option to buy a alternative delivery method is coming soon.  many users asked for it and they addressed that.  think it will be available in June from what I read somewhere, they are working diligently on it. USB drive for update purchase.
 
don't dismiss the Omni 2 upgrade, it's really a huge update to the product, if you cannot afford the upgrade I can understand but please don't dismiss it as only catering to EDM and not much of an update, it's rather substantial.