# I want to get Omnisphere, but...



## sIR dORT (Sep 12, 2019)

I can't afford it. I've heard such good things about the lib, but $500 dollars for a freaking HS student like me? No dice. So, would you guys say gather a good collection of cheaper libs or save up for a long while for Omni?


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## Jaap (Sep 12, 2019)

It's an amazing synth and in my opinion worth the wait and keep an eye out on KVR marketplace where sometimes it's sold by people who want to get rid of it.

But what is your aim with your music and sound as there are also tons of other great products and synths out there.


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## sIR dORT (Sep 12, 2019)

Jaap said:


> But what is your aim with your music and sound as there are also tons of other great products and synths out there.


For this library, it would be pedal tones, synth arps, anything cinematic/trailerish (when I say trailer I don't mean hits/braams, more synthy stuff), but all within an orchestral context.


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## rrichard63 (Sep 12, 2019)

EDIT: never mind, answered while I was writing this.

What genre or genres are you most interested in?


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## wst3 (Sep 12, 2019)

I waited a very long time before purchasing Omni! As luck would have it I purchased about a week before 2.5 was announced.

Of all the software tools I own I would say this is one of a very few that I regret waiting to purchase.

It sounds amazing, it is inspiring, and it is not nearly as difficult to use as I was led to believe, and while it is very expensive compared to many others, I think I got my money's worth.

What else do I wish I'd not waited on?
- u-He Zebra
- Wayoutware TimewARP 2600
- Project Sam Symphobia series

That's all that come to mind. And don't mis-read, there are even fewer library purchases I regret making. And sometimes I end up proving myself wrong about those too.

These are wonderful tools, and it is a good time to be an electronic musician.

Sometimes it is not practical to purchase a $500 software package - and that's cool too. I would never have made that investment even 10 years ago. (Hmm... I didn't come to think of it<G>!)


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## sostenuto (Sep 12, 2019)

Omni 2.6 now has one of most impressive array of 3rd Party expansion libs available, most at very affordable cost. 
Big bonus for many, even considering Omni's terrific standalone capabilities.


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## Jaap (Sep 12, 2019)

sIR dORT said:


> For this library, it would be pedal tones, synth arps, anything cinematic/trailerish (when I say trailer I don't mean hits/braams, more synthy stuff), but all within an orchestral context.



Zebra 2 can be great for that as well and then check out also some soundsets from TheUnfinished as they will be great for this kind of things. 
But the post from Bill (@wst3 ) and @sostenuto sums things up very nicely as well


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## Jaap (Sep 12, 2019)

Oh and as addition, Omnisphere 2 comes with an internal library of more then 14.000 sounds! And then you have indeed a lot of developers who create amazing soundsets for it in every possible style. Also Spectrasonics provides big and free updates now and then.

Zebra 2 gets also updated frequently, but comes with far less internal sounds, but as mentioned earlier, go with the sounds from Unfinished and you have probably a steady base for what you are looking for.


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## Mystic (Sep 12, 2019)

I was just reading that Musicians Friend puts it on sale sometimes if you get on their mailing list


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## Reid Rosefelt (Sep 12, 2019)

Omnisphere has so many kinds of instruments, from guitars to vocals to pads to world instruments, that you can save a ton of money over the long run by buying it sooner. Lots of little $25 or $50 libraries you might buy and find out that Omni has better versions. 

Stores like Musician's Friend and Sweetwater offer Omni for 6 payments of $80. No interest if you pay for it within six months. Does that help you at all?

And yes, I did get it for 15% off at Musician's Friend plus their 8% rewards points.


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## Henu (Sep 12, 2019)

Ok, I confess. I got Omnisphere a year ago and haven't really found out what's so freaking awesome about it except for the patches from Atmosphere and Distorted Reality and some of the vocals. And Glorious Guitars. Technically, everything that sounds like a 90´s synth is great, hah!

Yes, there are a LOT of presets, but every time I try to find something cool I'm surrounded by mangled quasi-instrument-sound design or some utterly nonsensical patches containing distorted wobbles and reversed burning hammonds. Or hoovers. I hate hoovers.

Should I be actually looking for 3rd party presets if I want more of those atmospheric pads with movement? Something like Atmosphere, perhaps? It seems that there are a ton available, but I have no idea how to separate "MEGA MAGIC NORTHERN ZEBRAS" from "XuEviAn OmNipreseNt Spac3 tr1p" and so forth. I mean, why can't they just sell things which non- electronic musicians could somehow even _guess _what they contain? 

Yes, I'm grumpy. I want to love Omnisphere. Help me love Omnisphere!


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## sostenuto (Sep 12, 2019)

Would take fair amount of time, but zipping thru most of PluginGuru's Livestream Videos sure covers lots of Omni innards. Many other of his Vids are equally insightful in terms of Omni depths not often uncovered. _imho, of course _






Videos - PluginGuru.com







www.pluginguru.com


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## Mike Fox (Sep 12, 2019)

Omni is completely worth it. By the time you spend $500 on other synths, you might just end up wishing you bought Omni in the first place.


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## Reid Rosefelt (Sep 12, 2019)

This 15 part video course is free and brief and tells you everything you need to know to get going with Omnisphere. It's good for anybody who is thinking about Omni or who has it and would like to get more out of it. 



Omnisphere is not a sampler, so I think it's a mistake to expect it to do the kind of things Kontakt does. It's good because it can do other things. Can you drag in any MIDI file into a Kontakt envelope and have it turn into a complex multi-part envelope? You can with any of the many envelopes in Omni. It has unique capabilities, and as it's easy to bring your own sounds into it, it all depends on what you do with it.


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## sostenuto (Sep 12, 2019)

But then, _keep the piggy bank going_, cuz Keyscape not only brings the amazing set of Collector keyboards, but adds 1,200 patches to Omni2. 
Good to have 'amazing' now and something great to look forward to ........


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## GtrString (Sep 12, 2019)

Its the everything library. Save up for it. You can import any audio and mangle it, which means unlimited patches.. for life!


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## Jeremy Spencer (Sep 12, 2019)

Henu said:


> Yes, I'm grumpy. I want to love Omnisphere. Help me love Omnisphere!



For starters, pick a category and go through each patch one by one. I've had Omni for years, and every time I start picking my way though the patches, inspiration strikes and I end up writing a ton of music based on that one patch. I have probably only heard 25% of the whole library.


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## BezO (Sep 12, 2019)

I've been waiting on a sale of Omni for a while. I'll now add Musician's Friend to the list.


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## Reid Rosefelt (Sep 12, 2019)

BezO said:


> I've been waiting on a sale of Omni for a while. I'll now add Musician's Friend to the list.


I don't think there has ever been a specific sale on Omni, but they regularly have 15% storewide sales. Usually Spectrasonics libraries aren't included in these sales, but sometimes they are. And you can always call. Plus you always get the 8% off on points and then sometimes there are double points. Being on the mailing list does pay off.


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## Mystic (Sep 12, 2019)

I've been getting a lot of 20%+ coupons from Musicians Friend lately as well which work on Spectrasonics stuff as well.


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## Dewdman42 (Sep 12, 2019)

Omni is a great synth, but if you're on a tight budget, then there are lots of other options that have a good return value for a lot less money. When I was your age all I had to play on was a 4 track cassette portastudio and my friend's prophet synth, which was quite a privilege to even have access to that...otherwise I was strumming my fake les paul into a chorus pedal straight to tape. Go make some music, I wouldn't spend that much at your age unless you're rich.


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## jcrosby (Sep 12, 2019)

Easily my favorite all around synth. 1st thing I reach for if I'm not looking for something purely sample-based... Unlike other synths, 7 years later I love it more and more as time goes on...


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## dzilizzi (Sep 12, 2019)

Henu said:


> Ok, I confess. I got Omnisphere a year ago and haven't really found out what's so freaking awesome about it except for the patches from Atmosphere and Distorted Reality and some of the vocals. And Glorious Guitars. Technically, everything that sounds like a 90´s synth is great, hah!
> 
> Yes, there are a LOT of presets, but every time I try to find something cool I'm surrounded by mangled quasi-instrument-sound design or some utterly nonsensical patches containing distorted wobbles and reversed burning hammonds. Or hoovers. I hate hoovers.
> 
> ...


Glad I'm not the only one. I go looking for sounds and end not using it. I'm not sure if it's because their idea of what fits a category doesn't match to mine or what. 

I did get it because supposedly you can import your own sounds into it then do stuff with it. As you can tell from that sentence, I haven't done it yet, so I have no idea what "stuff" I can actually do. I guess if you like to play around with sounds, it's good to have. If you don't, you're still at the mercy of buying presets and sounds from others, which can add up fast.


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## dsblais (Sep 12, 2019)

It's a good synth, but a lot of the value is just because it has many thousands of sounds. And that is totally awesome, but, honestly if you're looking for sampled VIs there are other options that offer much better bang for your buck.


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## sostenuto (Sep 12, 2019)

Most top /fav /successful 3rd Pty expansion creators continue using and producing for Omnisphere, Zebra /Diva /Repro. This seems to add another supportive dimension.

Perhaps all remaining synths combined do not attract such 3rd Pty backing.

_NI _ Komplete synths may be the exception ?_


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## Garry (Sep 12, 2019)

Henu said:


> Ok, I confess. I got Omnisphere a year ago and haven't really found out what's so freaking awesome about it except for the patches from Atmosphere and Distorted Reality and some of the vocals. And Glorious Guitars. Technically, everything that sounds like a 90´s synth is great, hah!
> 
> Yes, there are a LOT of presets, but every time I try to find something cool I'm surrounded by mangled quasi-instrument-sound design or some utterly nonsensical patches containing distorted wobbles and reversed burning hammonds. Or hoovers. I hate hoovers.
> 
> ...


You've articulated exactly why I'm still holding off Omnisphere. The thing that convinces me I should buy it though is The Unfinished - his sounds are _exactly_ what I'm looking for, and if I could just buy his libraries, rather than have to buy Omnisphere first, I would. But I'd convinced myself to go for it, but then Spitfire dropped their BBCSO, and Omnisphere had to move down 1 rung on waiting list!

To the OP: the 3rd party add-ons are much cheaper, once you've made the initial Omnisphere investment. If it helps, there's a poll here that identified some of people's favorites.


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## Lee Blaske (Sep 12, 2019)

One thing that I definitely think is important to consider when thinking if it's worth it to stretch your finances to buy something like Omnisphere is shelf-life. Unlike a lot of other libraries out there, I think that Omnisphere has legs. We've gotten some pretty AMAZING updates along the way that added incredible capabilities. Most likely, there will be another paid update at some point, but if history is anything to go by, it'll be well worth it.

So, Omnisphere, IMO, is definitely an investment for the long haul. It's not as likely to end up in your digital trash bin anytime soon. I've been buying libraries for a long time, and I've left plenty behind. There are a lot of things that don't stick around for long, and you can't even load them using current operating systems and DAW apps.


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## Fleer (Sep 12, 2019)

Omni and Keyscape. Indispensable. 
But they should get NKS compatibility.


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## Reid Rosefelt (Sep 12, 2019)

Fleer said:


> Omni and Keyscape. Indispensable.
> But they should get NKS compatibility.



i get my NKS for them from Freelance SoundLabs.





Spectrasonics







freelancesoundlabs.com





They work great. I doubt Spectrasonics is ever going to implement NKS.


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## Fleer (Sep 12, 2019)

Thanks, saw that too, but just want to harass them a bit more


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## sIR dORT (Sep 12, 2019)

TigerTheFrog said:


> Omnisphere has so many kinds of instruments, from guitars to vocals to pads to world instruments, that you can save a ton of money over the long run by buying it sooner. Lots of little $25 or $50 libraries you might buy and find out that Omni has better versions.
> 
> Stores like Musician's Friend and Sweetwater offer Omni for 6 payments of $80. No interest if you pay for it within six months. Does that help you at all?
> 
> And yes, I did get it for 15% off at Musician's Friend plus their 8% rewards points.


That is good to know, thank you. And thanks in general for all the replies guys, interesting to hear everyone's perspective. I plan on submitting my music to libraries for the first time, and hopefully that will provide me with some cash flow to put towards Omni. Then again, that can be hit or miss (let's hope its a hit).


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## artomatic (Sep 12, 2019)

The best! And I do own a lot of soft synths - including Arturia's V Collection 7.


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## anp27 (Sep 12, 2019)

Mystic said:


> I've been getting a lot of 20%+ coupons from Musicians Friend lately as well which work on Spectrasonics stuff as well.


This. Also wait for the Musician's Friend Black Friday sale.


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## MisteR (Sep 12, 2019)

I recommend buying a copy of computer music magazine online for 5 bucks. That gives you access to “the vault”. There’s enough stuff in there to keep you busy for years.


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## asherpope (Sep 12, 2019)

Dewdman42 said:


> Omni is a great synth, but if you're on a tight budget, then there are lots of other options that have a good return value for a lot less money. When I was your age all I had to play on was a 4 track cassette portastudio and my friend's prophet synth, which was quite a privilege to even have access to that...otherwise I was strumming my fake les paul into a chorus pedal straight to tape. Go make some music, I wouldn't spend that much at your age unless you're rich.


Agreed! Back in the days of dinosaurs roaming the earth (mid 90s) I made my crappy music with a Tascam portastudio, a basic Yamaha keyboard and a strat copy. It was pretty awful but we made do! 
You can do so much for so little these days, with resources like Boscomac and Spitfire Labs etc - not to mention stock instruments and effects. Have fun destroying sounds and creating new ones. That'll guarantee no train spotting dorks like us ever say "hey I know that patch"


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## unclecheeks (Sep 12, 2019)

I’m on the fence about Omnisphere. It makes its way into a fair amount of stuff I write, but the two things I don’t like 1) the amount of presets and sound sources actually makes it kind of a pain (tyranny of choice) and 2) I don’t find the UI to be that efficient (too many different pages, too scattered).

Not that I regret the purchase, but don’t love it either.

Also it can be kind of a CPU hog.


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## synthetic (Sep 12, 2019)

The cool thing about having more time than money is that you can sample your own stuff and layer it up to get your own take on that sound. And then you won't sound like the other 300,000 people who use Omnisphere presets.


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## rgames (Sep 12, 2019)

I think of Omnisphere as the equivalent of a "workstation" synth. It's a kind-of all-rounder. Just as you wouldn't use a hardware workstation in place of, say, a dedicated analog synth, you (probably) wouldn't use Omnisphere in place of some other soft synths like Diva or Serum.

Omnisphere is "OK" at everything. But there are other synths that are better at specific things.

Agree about the UI - Serum sets the bar there for me. I've never been confused in the Serum UI but I get confused in the Omnisphere UI every now and then. But I guess that's a side effect of the "do everyhting" nature of Omnisphere.

But really you should just buy Omnisphere because Eric Persing seems like a cool guy.

Could I get by without Omnisphere? Yes. But I could also get by without beer. And if you can afford beer, why would you?

rgames


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## NYC Composer (Sep 12, 2019)

I’ve never upgraded to OMNI 2 because I haven’t gotten through half the patches in OMNI 1. It’s sort of mindbending. 

The patch organization and tagging leave something to be desired. It’s easy to get a bit lost. My pal Guy Rowland has been on a crusade about that for years, but it doesn’t look likely to change. 

Still-yeah. Save up and buy it-it covers an awful lot of ground.


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## Reid Rosefelt (Sep 13, 2019)

This is the front page of Omnisphere:






How many synths do you know that only have cutoff and resonance on the first page? With huge sliders in a very prominent place? 

If this is the first second anybody has ever tried to use a synth, they can load a preset and if they move those two sliders, the sound will change. They don't need to know anything at all. 

The preset is composed of four sounds. Click the picture of a sound and you can change it to any sound that is in Omnisphere. Or just click an arrow and it will change to a different sound. 

The front page is really, really, really simple. It is designed for somebody who has never even looked at a synth and who doesn't want to read a manual. One way of describing the main page of Omnisphere 2 is "Synthesizers for Dummies." 

And it's a very satisfying experience for an inexperienced person who just wants to try all the presets. 

If you want to dip a toe further in it, then you can see that there are multis on top and you can have 8 presets combined into one patch, that can be layered or split anyway you want.  There's also an FX button to explore. 

But if you start clicking into it you will discover levels within levels within levels. The power of this thing is unbelievable. If all of you just stopped working on all your other libraries and synths and just focused intensely on Omnisphere for ten years, you wouldn't be able to get all of it. In fact I'm sure that John Lehmkuhl (PluginGuru), the Unfinished and other sound designers continue to learn more every day. 

But again, even if you delve into its complexity, it's all laid out with the same clarity of the front page.

And I don't think there's any synth that has a free resource like Lehmkuhl's massive collection of Omnisphere videos. People buy his stuff because it's great but some of his libraries include patches made by the people who watch his videos. It's easy to learn more.


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## Reid Rosefelt (Sep 13, 2019)

NYC Composer said:


> The patch organization and tagging leave something to be desired. It’s easy to get a bit lost. My pal Guy Rowland has been on a crusade about that for years, but it doesn’t look likely to change.



For browsing in Omnisphere, check out the Projects, Sound Match and Sound Lock features. (5:13)


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## jcrosby (Sep 14, 2019)

The other thing I do is add my own keywords or make a collection...

When I'm not on a project I spend at least a few hours every week just farting around in Omnisphere. As soon as I find sounds I want to recall later for a project or genre I either edit the patch and add keywords to the description, (which are searchable), or make a 'collection'...

As an example I've been doing a lot of trailer writing lately. As soon as I find an appropriate patch I add _trailer_ as one of my keywords to the patch description, along with decriptive keywords like _atmos_ or _soundscape._.. If it's for a particular library, I add the name of the library into the patch and then add it to a library or project collection.

Ture, Spectrasonics may not have the same sonic vision of a specific descriptive keyword as you do, but you have total and absolute control over this by devising your own keyword or collection schemes that let you quickly find your 'bookmarked' patches later... I haven't found anything else that lets me find patches at a later date nearly as easily as Omnisphere does. I wish every synth had a keyword/tagging scheme like Omnisphere's...

With 14000+ sounds the odds of you finding something very close to what you want in a a single keyword search or couple clicks are small... Like anything, you have to learn where its still just a _human-product-made-by-humans_, stick with it, and learn how you adapt your patch hunting skills to it...

With all that said for me it's still first call for 85% of synth work for a reason... I haven't found anything else that has the range of sounds it has, and it doesn't stifle my desire to severely edit the sound in some way.

Unlike many sample-based instruments Omni let you end up in a completely different galaxy from where you started without bringing a single 3rd party plugin into the picture.... All of which you can save microscopically; envelope shapes, LFO shapes, FX chains, etc... All of which can be recalled.. Or, as others pointed out simply forced onto any other sound via soundlock...

AFAIC Omnisphere is the swiss army knife of synths...


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## TomislavEP (Sep 14, 2019)

Although I've never had an opportunity to actually try Omnisphere firsthand, I often envy those who have this product in their arsenal. There seems to be certain "universal quality" of all the included sounds married with the sheer usability and intuitive GUI. For me, personally, Omnisphere + Keyscape from the same company could potentially be the ultimate desert island combination, even in comparison with NI Komplete packages. Unfortunately, I'm seldom in a financial position to spend such a sum on a software in one go, so I've opted for slowly but surely building of my 3rd party Kontakt libraries collection instead. I do not regret for choosing this path for many reasons, but I really like the "no-nonsense" approach of Spectrasonics products.


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## MA-Simon (Sep 14, 2019)

Omnisphere is awesome!
I almost never touch another synth anymore. Because most of the time a perfectly fitting patch can be found or tweaked easely inside.

With all of these thousands of patches you can just search for keywords like "sad", "angry", "soft" or stuff like that and be presented with a list of matching sounds, then you select the sound you like most and you now can display a list of similar sounding patches. So it is incredible for finding the perfect sound quickly.


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## Henu (Sep 14, 2019)

Hey, that was actually an awesome tip- thanks!


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## GNP (Sep 14, 2019)

Which ever way, cheers to Omnisphere. It is indeed all-round powerful, as much as I love Zebra and others. Eric Persing seems like a cool dude.


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## Johnny (Sep 14, 2019)

A must have! Price matters not. You are in school? Check and see if Spectrasonics offers anything for an educational discount😀


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## Tekkera (Sep 14, 2019)

I bought it a few weeks ago. It's really awesome, I think everyone should own it at some point in time. There's cheaper options for synths out there though, but none come with this amount of base stuff in it. I wouldn't say Omnisphere is an essential early purchase but it's endlessly awesome. 

Check out Kilohearts subscription service. It's $10 a month and gives you access to all of their plugins. Once you're subscribed for a full year, you get a $100 voucher. It's similar to a rent to own system, but in this case, it's more like "subscribe to get access to your investment early". This subscription also gives you access to Phase Plant, one of the most versatile on the market, if not the most versatile. It would compete with Omni if it had a Rompler system in it (it can import samples though, you could probably set up a round robin/velocity system!). It's also really user friendly. Wavetables, FM, Granular, standard oscillators, modulate/route any and every internal oscillator however you want.

This message was not sponsored by Kilohearts™


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## holing (Sep 15, 2019)

It's definitely worth every penny! I would say just save up and buy it!


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## ManicMiner (Sep 16, 2019)

Based on your needs, why not check out VPS Avenger or eDNA Earth?
Avenger has a few Cinematic expansions and an Atmospheric expansion. It was on sale a few weeks ago for $90, and expansions were on sale as well. 
eDNA Earth is likely to be $90 on BF.


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## Fleer (Sep 16, 2019)

Indeed, eDNA is a fine option.


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## Braveheart (Sep 16, 2019)

Indeed, Avenger is a really great option.


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## ManicMiner (Sep 16, 2019)

Braveheart said:


> Indeed, Avenger is a really great option.


With Avenger you have the OSCs, Wavetable scanning, you have the ability to import samples and play them combined with the OSCs, and you have a Granular engine in there too.


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## premjj (Nov 13, 2019)

I think I just got sold on buying Omnisphere. Now to find a good offer somewhere..


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## Michael Stibor (Nov 13, 2019)

I've had Omnisphere (V1) sitting on my shelf for about two years now because my 2017 imac doesn't support it. Or the other way around.

Haven't tried to sell it yet because I didn't know if the process was hard. Apparently I have to ask them for permission or something?

Or should I just eventually upgrade to V2?


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## Fleer (Nov 13, 2019)

Any need for Avenger if one has Omni2?


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## Fleer (Nov 13, 2019)

premjj said:


> I think I just got sold on buying Omnisphere. Now to find a good offer somewhere..


Musicians’ Friend has 15% off during Black Friday. May work on Omni two too


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## Dewdman42 (Nov 13, 2019)

I the past I bought Omnispheres through guitar center/musicians friend using one of their standard 15 or 20% coupons and it did work. That's about the only way I've ever seen it discounted.


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## rrichard63 (Nov 13, 2019)

premjj said:


> I think I just got sold on buying Omnisphere. Now to find a good offer somewhere ...


To reinforce the point made by @Dewdman42, valid license transfers appear on eBay fairly frequently but always sell for more than I can afford to bid.


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## kgdrum (Nov 13, 2019)

Dewdman42 said:


> I the past I bought Omnispheres through guitar center/musicians friend using one of their standard 15 or 20% coupons and it did work. That's about the only way I've ever seen it discounted.




+1.
I also bought Omni w/ a 20% off coupon, this imo is one of my best GC all time purchases.
Spectrasonics keeps updating,adding features,presets and do not charge for these updates which are substantial. 
If I can also add to all of the people who complain about the high price and rationalize all of the cheaper bargain libraries they buy instead of the big O............
After buying and getting into Omnisphere my reaction was how much money I wasted on bargain libraries I never use and the money I wasted would have paid for Omni a couple of times if not more.
Spectrasonics also has great tech support and seem to always release extremely stable versions without major issues or bugs.
I only have 2 complaints I wish I had bought Omni sooner and wish Spectrasonics would finally update Stylus RMX!


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## premjj (Nov 14, 2019)

Fleer said:


> Musicians’ Friend has 15% off during Black Friday. May work on Omni two too



How do you track the discount? All I get from MF is Stupid Deal of the Hour/Day and general emails about product categories being on discount.


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## Dewdman42 (Nov 14, 2019)

once you get on their list they will start sending 15% and 20% discount coupons. They send them to me all the time, but they exclude nearly everything product line I am interested in. The only two things I have been able to use it for that were worth it, were Spectrasonics and Behringer. All the other usual stuff is usually excluded from the discount. I have no idea how I got on the list to receive the coupons. Bought something I guess.


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## premjj (Nov 14, 2019)

Dewdman42 said:


> I the past I bought Omnispheres through guitar center/musicians friend using one of their standard 15 or 20% coupons and it did work. That's about the only way I've ever seen it discounted.



I don't think they offer these discount coupons to international customers. I've never received any.


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## Dewdman42 (Nov 14, 2019)

probably not. I had to have the physical box shipped to me also.


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## Fleer (Nov 14, 2019)

premjj said:


> How do you track the discount? All I get from MF is Stupid Deal of the Hour/Day and general emails about product categories being on discount.


Newsletter subscription.


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## premjj (Nov 14, 2019)

Dewdman42 said:


> probably not. I had to have the physical box shipped to me also.



Yes. Just figured that out. I can ship to an address in the US (my relatives) but not to a non-US address. The product disappears from the cart in case of the latter.

The discounted price for US customers is coming to $407 in case someone wants to shop now.


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## dzilizzi (Nov 14, 2019)

premjj said:


> Yes. Just figured that out. I can ship to an address in the US (my relatives) but not to a non-US address. The product disappears from the cart in case of the latter.
> 
> The discounted price for US customers is coming to $407 in case someone wants to shop now.


You need the stupid dongle thing to load Omnisphere. It is stupid. You don't need it to run. It doesn't actually have the installer, you still have to download it. So, yes, they need a US address.


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## sostenuto (Nov 14, 2019)

Hmmmm .... have had Omni, Trilian, StylusRMX, for many years, and it came by box via some sort of shipment. All (many) Updates by _download_. 
Spectrasonics Dongle is unheard of here .....  even though I routinely use iLok and Vienna Key for other preferences.
Sumpin' new everyday ..................


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## Dewdman42 (Nov 14, 2019)

My omnispheres doesn't require a dongle. But Guitar Center doesn't sell digital downloads, simple as that. They sell physical inventory. So for the 20% coupon discount at GC on Omnispheres, you have to order the physical inventory product and have it shipped to you the old school way. I've never seen Omnispheres discounted any other way, and frankly this is probably slipping between the cracks for now...


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## kgdrum (Nov 14, 2019)

sostenuto said:


> Hmmmm .... have had Omni, Trilian, StylusRMX, for many years, and it came by box via some sort of shipment. All (many) Updates by _download_.
> Spectrasonics Dongle is unheard of here .....  even though I routinely use iLok and Vienna Key for other preferences.
> Sumpin' new everyday ..................




+1 to everything Sostenuto says.


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## shponglefan (Nov 14, 2019)

dzilizzi said:


> You need the stupid dongle thing to load Omnisphere.



No dongle is needed for Omnisphere. They do use Internet-based authentication though.


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## Dewdman42 (Nov 14, 2019)

Also, when you do use their digital download, you basically get one download. You need to make sure to back it up because you have to pay if you want to download it again.


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## dzilizzi (Nov 14, 2019)

sostenuto said:


> Hmmmm .... have had Omni, Trilian, StylusRMX, for many years, and it came by box via some sort of shipment. All (many) Updates by _download_.
> Spectrasonics Dongle is unheard of here .....  even though I routinely use iLok and Vienna Key for other preferences.
> Sumpin' new everyday ..................


I don't know what else to call it. It came in the box. You plug it in and it seems to authorize the computer. Then it takes you to the site where you download and install. I tried to install in my new computer without it and it didn't let me. 

But maybe I'm doing something wrong? It happens.


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## sostenuto (Nov 14, 2019)

dzilizzi said:


> I don't know what else to call it. It came in the box. You plug it in and it seems to authorize the computer. Then it takes you to the site where you download and install. I tried to install in my new computer without it and it didn't let me.
> 
> But maybe I'm doing something wrong? It happens.



Always interested to stay up-to-date. I run (2) Desktop PC(s) with Spectrasonics on both. Updates are always online-challenge/response. Likely to add Keyscape at some point, and it likely uses a newer process, as you have experienced.


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## Kony (Nov 14, 2019)

dzilizzi said:


> I don't know what else to call it. It came in the box. You plug it in and it seems to authorize the computer. Then it takes you to the site where you download and install. I tried to install in my new computer without it and it didn't let me.
> 
> But maybe I'm doing something wrong? It happens.


Same here


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## tav.one (Nov 14, 2019)

I’ll jump in to say a few things:

I bought Omni 2 few days ago and within 30 minutes I realised that its worth way more than I paid.

I bought it here from classified section at more than 40% discounted price, so that amazing deal is not impossible.

Edit: No dongle was ever mentioned or used. I just had to buy the downloads for $10 (very fair)


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## composingkeys (Nov 14, 2019)

The boxed version of Omnisphere 2 comes on a USB installation drive to make installation easy and fast. The only thing you need to download is the latest software installer but the actual library is on the USB drive. Omnisphere does not use a dongle for authorization.


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## chimuelo (Nov 14, 2019)

Henu said:


> Ok, I confess. I got Omnisphere a year ago and haven't really found out what's so freaking awesome about it except for the patches from Atmosphere and Distorted Reality and some of the vocals. And Glorious Guitars. Technically, everything that sounds like a 90´s synth is great, hah!
> 
> Yes, there are a LOT of presets, but every time I try to find something cool I'm surrounded by mangled quasi-instrument-sound design or some utterly nonsensical patches containing distorted wobbles and reversed burning hammonds. Or hoovers. I hate hoovers.
> 
> ...



Make User Sets of sounds you like and delete the rest.
Ive got a collection of everything I need.
140 app.
Name them and be done with the thousands of useless ones somebody’s relative managed to get included.


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## premjj (Nov 15, 2019)

tav.one said:


> I’ll jump in to say a few things:
> 
> I bought Omni 2 few days ago and within 30 minutes I realised that its worth way more than I paid.
> 
> ...



Was searching for 'For Sale' posts for Omnisphere and saw the one where you got this deal. That's a very sweet price indeed. Hope I get lucky too sometime.


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## premjj (Nov 15, 2019)

Dewdman42 said:


> My omnispheres doesn't require a dongle. But Guitar Center doesn't sell digital downloads, simple as that. They sell physical inventory. So for the 20% coupon discount at GC on Omnispheres, you have to order the physical inventory product and have it shipped to you the old school way. I've never seen Omnispheres discounted any other way, and frankly this is probably slipping between the cracks for now...



Am guessing the MF deal works the same way as the one at GC. It's a physical product so it needs a US address.


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## kgdrum (Nov 15, 2019)

premjj said:


> Am guessing the MF deal works the same way as the one at GC. It's a physical product so it needs a US address.




Correct, in case you don’t know MF and GC are actually related companies.


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## I like music (Nov 15, 2019)

The nerviest part is when you try to pry that fecking dongle thing (that you need for installation) from the box they put it in. Honestly, you need a crowbar to get that flimsy thing out and you feel you'll break it before you even get it into your machine! Be careful. I'm absolutely sure someone has 'broken' their Omnisphere before they even got to use it :D


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## Wolf68 (Nov 15, 2019)

did they ever do a sale for omnisphere?


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## Dewdman42 (Nov 15, 2019)

I've never seen Ominspheres on sale, and generally the policy by Spectrasonics seems to be no sales ever. And they don't need to frankly.


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## 2chris (Nov 15, 2019)

Omnisphere is great. Once somebody asks, "what should I get?" I always say think between:


NI Komplete because you get a little bit of everything you need and amaizng 3rd party and hardware support.
Arturia V Collection because again you get a mix of stuff, though heavily scewed toward vintage goodness.
Omnisphere. Why? Yes, you don't get as much stuff as the other two, but it works as a synth and sampler while coming with amazing presets. My folder size is INSANE because I've sampled so much into. It's that great. Anyone here saying the presets aren't good needs to say what kind of music they make. I'm seriously wondering.
Buy omnisphere wherever you can get the best deal, or consider NI Komplete because it covers soooo much ground.


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## Fleer (Nov 15, 2019)

premjj said:


> Am guessing the MF deal works the same way as the one at GC. It's a physical product so it needs a US address.


Indeed, but MF may email serials while GC almost always sends boxes. Have a good look at each product description.


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## SupremeFist (Nov 15, 2019)

Henu said:


> Should I be actually looking for 3rd party presets if I want more of those atmospheric pads with movement?


I don't have Omnisphere to compare, but if what you're after is atmospheric pads with movement then Soniccouture's Haunted Spaces has them up the wazoo. I just bought it in their NI sale and it's incredible — and also possibly unfortunately misnamed, because it's far from being just about "scary" sounds...


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