The case against Omnisphere, for those who don't have it and think maybe they should...
 
Nobody NEEDS Omnisphere. It's not a "bread 'n butter" instrument, neither as a synth nor as a sample player. It's not where you'd turn first for a bass or a piano. Strings, maybe, but although it has some very sweet-sounding strings you get no articulations like you would from a good Kontakt string library. The strings, like so many Omnisphere patches, are meant for beds, not as featured instruments.
 
Most Omnisphere patches are designed to sound good on their own, in solo. They'll typically have impractically-long release times and/or be drenched in reverb, delay and chorus effects. They are usually very broad-spectrum. Played in isolation, they make you go "oooh". But try to squeeze them into an actual mix, and they either muddy everything up or get lost. Most patches, unless featured up front or in solo, will require envelope modification, paring-back of effects, and aggressive equalization (usually a HPF) before they can be slotted into a mix.
 
Omnisphere's sample library is a closed, proprietary system, so there is little third-party support. The only aftermarket patch libraries available use only Omnisphere's synth engine, as they are not allowed to use its samples. So unlike almost any other synth or sampler, when you buy Omnisphere what you see is what you get. (Yeah, yeah, it's a big library! Not as big as my Kontakt collection, though.)
 
Omnisphere is a resource hog. You'd better have a top-spec machine if you want to run more than a couple instances. Sometimes, patches play OK but end up garbled after a fast bounce or export. Because many patches are so large, browsing patches during project playback may not be practical.
 
Finally, it's fairly pricey in the soft synth world. It's in the same ballpark with NI Komplete, which gives you a whole lot more content and variety. It's twice the price of Alchemy, arguably Omnisphere's closest competitor.
 
Hope those of you who don't have Omnisphere will feel a little better after reading this.
 
 
Now as for me...well, to paraphrase Charlton Heston, you can take away my Omnisphere from my cold, dead hands.

you did a good job of summing up my impression of Omnisphere... it is cool, it sounds BRILLIANT, it is expensive, and for now I don't really need it. I can create sounds similar to some of the more popular Omni patches in Alchemy and to a slightly lesser degree, Tassman.

My Kontakt library has exceeded half a GB, which concerns me. I would not want to rebuild it from scratch<G>!!!! (that's why it is backed up as built as well as the source.)

Thanks for confirming my impression Bit

Bit
I've wanted Zebra for about 4 or 5 years now.... I have the CM-Zebra with several additional free sound sets and it is just KILLER....I have the Demo of Zebra 2 and all I can say is I want it!!!! along with the Dark Zebra....I want it , I want it, I want it, I want it..........I need it.....I want it........OOHHH!
 
But then again I have wanted the FabFilter Plugs for the same amount of time as well....................
 
Now on the other hand I just got me a recording student a month and a Half and I am $60 towards my Zebra 2 Purchase!!!!!!
 
It will not be long now!
I am also committed to working on FM8 and Massive......

I am fairly new to synths as my background is guitars and keys/pianos but have been expanding my horizons.
 
I have picked up Zeta 2 and have all the synths that come with NI Komplete.
 
Just curious what is it that makes Zebra stand out above these?
I have been trying to decide which synth to really cut my teeth on so I am curious.

Crowned One
Just curious what is it that makes Zebra stand out above these?

Curious you should mention Zeta 2, since it shares something with Zebra that most synths don't offer: wave shaping, although in Zebra it's called something like Spectral Transforms.
 
But that's neither here nor there.  It's hard to say what makes Zebra special, but the number of extremely good sound libraries created for it attest to it's special qualities.  Urs Heckmann, the main developer, is an extraordinary designer of audio software, so that surely has something to do with it.  The documentation is pretty good ... sufficient at least for sound designers to get the necessary information out of so they can do their thing, but it's not great, so that's not the secret of Zebra's success.
 
It's difficult to answer your question.  Zebra does things a little differently than other synths but, apart from the spectral transforms, it doesn't have anything particularly unique in the world of synths.  The individual components all sound good, but other a number of other synths can legitimately make that claim.  Zebra's architecture just organizes the basic synth components in a way that invites innovative sound design, I suppose.

Now on the other hand I just got me a recording student a month and a Half and I am $60 towards my Zebra 2 Purchase!!!!!!

Mine was financed via a penny jar I'd been throwing pocket change into for the past 6 months. I got the idea last summer after driving my grandson to the bank so he could cash out his penny jar (actually a small beer keg), and was surprised when it yielded $550!
 
 

Just curious what is it that makes Zebra stand out...?

What distinguishes any synth from any other is its ability to create complex sounds that aren't static and boring and that engage the listener's ear. They all do this primarily through modulation, filters, and amplitude controls, but Zebra's modulation capabilities are absolutely staggering. The stuff you can do with just the oscillators, even before adding any other modifiers, is amazing.
 
I'm just at the beginning of my Zebra journey. I thought I knew about synthesizers. I've been tweaking them for 40 years. But Zebra is a whole 'nuther step up. The 90-page manual is really just an abridged quick-start overview of the main features! 
 

bitflipper

Now on the other hand I just got me a recording student a month and a Half and I am $60 towards my Zebra 2 Purchase!!!!!!

Mine was financed via a penny jar I'd been throwing pocket change into for the past 6 months. I got the idea last summer after driving my grandson to the bank so he could cash out his penny jar (actually a small beer keg), and was surprised when it yielded $550!

Bit!
Thanks for reminding me about that......You know I have done the same thing most all my life but with the advent of the debit card my coin jar fills slower now a days......but I still have one that I have been thinking about what to put the money to.......this would be an excellent solution!!!!
 
When I was on the road my coin jar was a coffee can...medium size one and it filled very fast cause a lot of purchases were cash....so it was not hard to come up with four or five hundered dollars in no time just in coin.....but the can was heavy as all get out.....
 
My jars now will hold about 30 to 35 dollars but I have  couple of them spread through out the house.....
 
Yeah Baby, Zebra is closer than I think!  :-)

Ask around - musicians, music stores - and try to locate an analog synthesizer you can take a photo of (with a card on top that says "replaced by Zebra"). Send it in to u-he and get 50 bucks off Zebra.

bitflipper
Ask around - musicians, music stores - and try to locate an analog synthesizer you can take a photo of (with a card on top that says "replaced by Zebra"). Send it in to u-he and get 50 bucks off Zebra.

As I said earlier read the page ( the Emerson pic made me smile too):
 
"On the other hand, certain rack mounted units or digital synthesizers can qualify. That depends. Rumours has it that even one or two digital hardware synthesizers have become classics in the meantime."
 
I used something not exactly vintage but was able to get the $50.00 discount. If you have some h/w equipment lying around & uncertain if it qualifies email him & ask!
 
Great products & customer service btw..
 
 

As a tip on the $50 off Dinosaur discount, some have even baked cakes that were decorated like analog synths to get the discount.
 
They are VERY generous in their standards to get the discount.  You could always give it a try (and yes, they do typically give it for retiring any sort of synth hardware...digital or analog).