You can now use your Moog, DSI, Korg, Roland, Novation or other hardware synth as a fully integrated hands-on controller for Omnisphere, potentially turning one of the most versatile and feature-rich software synths into your dream software-hardware hybrid production solution.
Following the initial announcement at Berlin’s Superbooth in May and public beta phase, Omnisphere 2.5 recently officially dropped, so we thought it was the perfect time to take it through it’s paces and check out the latest improvements and additions.
Check out Spectrasonics Founder Eric Persing’s Keynote Presentation above, where he unveils Omnisphere 2.5 and takes it through its paces and new features.
A Little Background On Omnisphere
Omnispherer’s Patch Browser shows how quicjkly and easily you can hone in on just the sound you want from it’s vast sound library: in this case, I searched “FM” and refined my choices by Category “Synth Bass” and Mood “Dark”, arriving at the “FM Bassy Punch” patch.
Omnisphere was already an excellent and cutting edge synth, especially popular with media composers and sound designers owing to the instruments original emphasis on evolving pads and textures perfect for ambient score elements for film and game soundtracks, but also due to the sheer breadth of the library content and the speed and ease with which you can browse and adapt patches to suit whatever the current project calls for. Omnisphere has also more gradually been gathering an increasing following in the electronic music community, with more preset sounds geared specifically towards EDM production being included since the version 2.0 update.
The Orb, armed to record the modulation I set in motion with the Dice randomise button.
Whichever styles of music you create, Omnisphere features a large enough factory library for several lifetimes worth of sonic exploration, not to mention an integrated rack effects section, flexible arpeggiator, oscillator sections that provide for FM, ring modulation and granular synthesis amongst the plethora of sound-shaping options, and our personal favourite feature, The Orb: a circular controller that modifies multiple synth parameters simultaneously, in a similar way to an X/Y pad with it’s converging axes, but with added momentum/inertia settings so you can “throw” the controller positioning icon and have it spin at varying speeds and angles of motion (either programmed or randomised), imbuing your patches with either a subtle sense of movement or more extreme modulation that you can record and pick out the best bits from.
What’s New?
With version 2.5, Spectrasonics have further beefed up the sonic capabilities, doubling the number of available layers for each patch from 2 to 4, adding 1,000 new sounds to the patch library, and making quite a few more subtle but very welcome tweaks and improvements to the GUI and page layouts that overall contribute to a significant streamlining and refining of the workflow.
4 Layers Per Patch: In previous versions, you could mix and match 2 sources / layers for each patch. In Omnisphere 2.5, each patch now contains up to 4 layers. The number of envelopes, LFOs and Modulation Matrix routings have all also been expanded, providing you with practically more modulation possibilities than you’re frankly ever likely to use in a real project!
Having 4 layers per patch means that more of the hardware synth’s parameters can be engaged. Here, the default Integration patch layers for the Sub 37. These can be swapped out for any other waveform or sample you like, opening up huge possibilities for hands-on sound manipulation.
New State Variable Filter Type: The filter menu has additions in the form of the State Variable Filter, which has been specially designed to make use of the OB-6 hardware synth’s unusual filter configuration, which basically provides you with a single knob that you can use to sweep seamlessly between Low-Pass, Notch and High-Pass filter types.
New Hardware Sound Library: Eric Persing and the Spectrasonics team used the Hardware Synth Integration feature to create over 1,000 new patches that form the Hardware Library section of the Omnisphere patch library. A cool aspect of this is that even if you don’t own any of the hardware synths supported for integration, all Omnisphere users have access to the Hardware Library – possibly a good way to audition some of the best hardware synths ever made to determine which you want to buy and access the original synth engine, if you’re in the market for a hardware synth…
New High Res Interface: Scalable, support for Retina displays and 4k monitors. Slightly cleaner and tidier, more modern GUI; larger controls. Live Mode page redesigned to show much more relevant info if you want to use Omnisphere in a live/ performance context.
New Granular Layout: The Granular page now shows displays a full waveform of the sound you’re messing with, making it much clearer, easier to understand what is going on when you’re manipulating grains and tearing sounds apart.
The Granular page now shows the waveform being effected – much more intuitive.
Support for Windows X Multitouch computers and tablets: “This means that the new Live Mode page can function as a fully functional stage interface when used fullscreen on a Windows computer.” While the support doesn’t extend to Mac/iPad devices, there are plenty of apps e.g. TouchOSC, MIDI Designer and Lemur, that you can use to control Omnisphere parameters on an iPad.
Beyond all this though, the headline feature addition to Omnisphere 2.5 is Hardware Synth Integration. This is the software’s ability to map itself to the physical controls of any one of over 30 (and counting) popular hardware synths. This is what we’ll spend the rest of the review looking at below, as it could be a bit of a game-changer.
Ghost In The Shell: Hardware Synth Integration
Going far beyond what most users would expect from an established software synth in terms of integration with third-party hardware, this is not just an advanced MIDI Learn template, as Omnisphere is tailored slightly differently to the specific control layout and character of each of the hardware synths it can integrate with. The two templates that we have tested, for the Moog Sub 37 and DSI OB-6, demonstrate how thoughtfully and subtly the Spectrasonics team have aligned Omnisphere’s parameters with the character and idiosyncratic limitations of each synth.
This is the starting page when first connecting your hardware synth, in this case the Moog Sub 37.
Not only do the hardware controls map to the equivalent parameters in Omnisphere, but Omnisphere also adjusts itself with the new Hardware Library preset patches to better accommodate the physical architecture and control layout of the particular hardware you’re using. What we found this means in practice is that, when using the Sub 37 to control Omnisphere, for example, you’re likely to end up with different sonic results than if you’re using the OB-6, because the controls at your fingertips are arranged slightly differently and make certain parameters more available and more likely to be reached for when you’re jamming out and shaping your sound.
After a while, you’re not really sure where Omnisphere ends and the hardware synth begins – but what’s really amazing is that you forget which of them is actually doing the work of generating the sounds, since the integration is so seamless and the sonic results such high-quality (after all, if any software synth can go toe-to-toe with hardware in terms of sheer sonic depth and detail, it would be this one).
One question that people have brought up about Hardware Synth Integration is, “If I already own one of the many high-end hardware instruments that can be integrated, why wouldn’t I just use it’s own sound generation capabilities as well, rather than relying on a software-based recreation of sounds and samples?”
The compelling argument for owning a hardware synth that integrates perfectly with a software instrument is simple: flexibility. Of course it makes sense to use the real analogue sound of your hardware for simple patches or where absolute analogue signal integrity is paramount to you, but the potential magic lies in connecting the same synth to Omnisphere and vastly expanding both the range of raw sonic material and preset patches you have available under your fingertips using the same familiar hands-on controls. Yes, you could use your Sub 37 to control “Sub 37” sound patches in Omnisphere — which are loaded by default as a starter patch for the hardware you connect — but the fun really begins when you start switching to patches from a Jupiter-8 or an FM bell sound or any number of other sounds you’d never expect to create using a Sub 37, but all while maintaining the same hands-on control on the Sub 37’s keys, knobs and buttons.
When you move each parameter on your Integrated hardware, Omnisphere automatically switches to the corresponding page. Here, moving the Sub 37 Filter Cutoff brought up the Filter Zoom page, where you can see the cutoff and resonance knobs follow your hardware movements and make finer adjustments and filter type selections, for example.
You can add any other combination of waveforms into Omnisphere’s 4 slots, sticking to the Sub 37 configuration of two main oscillators plus a sub oscillator and noise, or building your own quad-osc monstrosity. All the while, you’re using the Sub 37’s front panel controls to tweak the Osc levels, Filter and Amp Envelopes, Filter Cutoff and Sub 37-specific controls like the Filter Multidrive knob, which is of course pre-mapped in Omnisphere, in this case not to a Filter section control per se but to a couple of controls on a pre-configured Vox speaker cab emulator in the Effects section that pleasingly recreates the additional bite the Multidrive knob applies to the sound on the hardware Moog.
Below is a list of the currently supported hardware synths:
• Sequential Prophet X
• Sequential Prophet 6
• Dave Smith Prophet 12
• Dave Smith OB-6
• Dave Smith REV2
• Moog Sub 37
• Moog Subsequent 37
• Moog Voyager
• Moog Sub Phatty
• Moog Little Phatty
• Moog Slim Phatty
• Korg Minilogue
• Korg Monologue
• Korg Prologue
• Roland System-1
• Roland System-1m
• Roland System-8
• Roland SE-02
• Roland SH-01A
• Roland JP-08
• Roland JU-06
• Roland JX-03
• Roland VP-03
• Novation Peak
• Novation Bass Station II
• Novation Circuit Mono Station
• Access Virus A
• Access Virus B
• Clavia Nord Lead 1
• Clavia Nord Lead 2
• Studiologic Sledge
Spectrasonics are promising to add many more over time, so if your synth isn’t listed yet, don’t despair – it might be coming soon.
If, on the other hand, you don’t already have a compatible synth but are now in the market for one of these synths and wondering which will play the most nicely with Omnisphere 2.5, you should check out their Hardware Recommendations Video for some pointers and background on some pretty iconic hardware gear:
Conclusion
The malleability of the Omnisphere concept, it’s interface, sounds and workflow, has always been it’s greatest strength: the user can make of it whatever they like, and is provided with a carefully curated menu of modulation and processing options that allow you to change and sculpt sounds quickly and dramatically, with detail where needed but without getting too bogged down in minutae. Hardware Synth Integration is a natural extension of this philosophy, treading the deceptively delicate line between optimum flexibility and ease of use.
It’s a strange sensation to see how easily Omnisphere adapts itself to the attached hardware, and vice versa, creating a new hybrid that doesn’t feel like the sum of the hardware/software parts at all, but a whole new instrument. It’s so smoothly implemented that it makes you wonder, “Why don’t all soft synths do this?” Judging by how successfully Omnisphere 2.5 has pulled it off, maybe before too long they will.
Pricing and Availability
For all registered Omnisphere 2 users, Omnisphere 2.5 is available now as a FREE update. Go to the Omnisphere splash page and click the “Get Updates” feature.
For new users, you can buy Omnisphere 2.5 as a download from the Spectrasonics site for US$499.
