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Synth drum libraries (is there an Omnisphere equivalent?)

xguitaristx

Never trust the living
Looking for a synth drum library that has studio quality and pre-made presets that don't require any kind of real adjusting, basically an Omnisphere for drums. Does such a thing exist?
 
There is exactly an Omnisphere equivalent, it's called Stylus.

Weeeellllll....

Oddly I don't think it is. I do like Stylus very much, and use it routinely. It does share a bit of Omnisphere DNA, but IMO not nearly as much as it should do, and its successor is around a decade late. There's no synthesis engine, no tag browser, no search box. Also its core library is now incredibly dated.

Given all that, its quite remarkable that it is as good as it is. It really IS good. I love its way of working with loops, being able to simplify grooves, change time sigs, lock with other grooves - all that is just wonderful and I often prefer it to working with a grid editor. It's just I can imagine it being so much more, and indeed more like a genuine Omnisphere for Rhythm.

I did take a look a Geist a while ago, but it gave me a headache. It's quite amazing to me that no-one has really filled that void re a really modern, musical Stylus replacement.
 
I did take a look a Geist a while ago, but it gave me a headache.
I have Geist and it gives me a headache as well.

@Ned Bouhalassa is correct, of course. It is both versatile and deep. But I would add a "not for beginners" tag to that. The GUI is what I would call "wonky", at best.

Of course Stylus needs an update, so badly. I remain hopeful. But much like Omni, I don't think I've used the stock sounds in 10 years. For both, for me, it's all about the 3rd party soundsets. And as to the original question, I still can't imagine there is any drum option out there closer to Omnisphere than Stylus.
 
A bit off topic, but I sure haven't exhausted the Omnisphere core library, Chilli. 10,000 patches or so now isn't it? Tons of gold in there. I do have about 5,000 third party patches too, but organisationally that's become an increasing chore. Everyone using totally different standards to categorise them which means finding stuff can be very tedious. Fortunately, there is hope there on the horizon ;)

Back on topic. I still use quite a bit of core library stuff from Stylus too, but routinely modify it quite heavily. So much is staggeringly identifiable. It depends on what its for of course - recently I did a pastiche of something that over-used Stylus. Turns out it was BRILLIANT for that.
 
A bit off topic, but I sure haven't exhausted the Omnisphere core library, Chilli. 10,000 patches or so now isn't it? Tons of gold in there. I do have about 5,000 third party patches too, but organisationally that's become an increasing chore.
I'm sure I haven't either, but I have certainly exhausted the ones I like and get directed to the most. There are probably gems in there that I have never found just because of the way the patch browser works with the way my brain works. But how many of those 10,000 patches are HZ guitars, or Symphony of Voices, or other old libraries... Bizarre Guitars, Distorted Reality, etc. I actually use all those sounds but I prefer to keep them separate from Omni or they get lost. I had about 80 third-party libraries for Omni so what is that, maybe 16,000 patches if they average 200 each? Maybe less I dunno. Anyway I tend to use them significantly more than the stock ones solely because I hear the stock sounds all over the place!

Sorry... /off topic. Please return to drum drum drum.
 
Imo - Maschine (if you can work it into your workflow that is, especially the expansion packs)

Barring that, then Battery, but imo Maschine sounds better somehow
 
But how many of those 10,000 patches are HZ guitars, or Symphony of Voices, or other old libraries... Bizarre Guitars, Distorted Reality, etc.

[sorry, last bit of off topic on this - well, there have been I think about 1,500 patches in 2.5 and 2.6 based around the Hardware Synth integration, all of which are synthesis-based. I keep finding new stuff.]
 
What baffles me besides the fact that there's really no drum equivalent to Omni is potentially the seismic hit Spectrasonics would have on their hands if they ever updated Stylus to a version 2 Omni equivalent.
I keep thinking @ Spectrasonics and Eric Persing WTF is taking so long and what are they thinking?!?!
Leaving this huge void multitudes of users have been clamoring for over several years.
Spectrasonics would own the VI world if they ever give Stylus 2 the Omni2 type update it truly deserves...........
 
What baffles me besides the fact that there's really no drum equivalent to Omni is potentially the seismic hit Spectrasonics would have on their hands if they ever updated Stylus to a version 2 Omni equivalent.
I keep thinking @ Spectrasonics and Eric Persing WTF is taking so long and what are they thinking?!?!
Leaving this huge void multitudes of users have been clamoring for over several years.
Spectrasonics would own the VI world if they ever give Stylus 2 the Omni2 type update it truly deserves...........

With each passing year my expectations rise accordingly. Now it also has to also broker world peace.

Essentially what I want is to be able to use loops as currently, but of course be able to search properly for them. Then break them down into named kit elements and swap the grooves in each element over between that and other loops. Then replace any sound with a new one either from a vast sample pool or from its own synthesis engine. Then it take that entirely new groove and generate alternatives, fills, etc in any time sig.

The more I think about it, the more I think keeping away from grid editors is a good thing. Your DAW does it if you need it, after all. But the core genius of Stylus is being able to throw elements around, find happy accidents and then bend them to your will, its very musical. That's what Beatsphere should be imo, in spades.

What I DON'T want it to be is another traditional acoustic drum kit engine a la Toontrack or BFD. I don't think there's much scope for improvement there. Beat manipulation on the other hand feels very crude by comparison.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. Alright so it seems that the yes and no answer is Stylus. I'll definitely take a look into that.

With that said, what about 3rd party plugins? Any recommendations? Again, i need something that's a time saver. I just don't have the time to custom make drums like fm8, or anything like that.

The other requirement that I failed to mention is that it can't be a loop library.

Thanks guys!
 
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With each passing year my expectations rise accordingly.
I think that you and I could take any thread off topic. So is it a Stylus wish list now? Because here's what I want and I'm not even sure how to ask for it. But let's say I have a drum kit groove with elements separated out and I want kick on 1, snare on 2, hat on 3, etc etc. This happens so often and how long does that take to have to browse to that same user library folder on every channel. I guess what you're saying about searching for them properly would make it easier. Or some sort of "copy and paste" between channels. Or, load a multi? OK I guess fooling around with it, you could add every element to favorites and then jump over and add them to different channels, but it's not ideal.
 
If you're looking for a more traditional drum machine sound, Samples From Mars have a huge bundle of sampled vintage drum machines. And you could use something like Atlas or XO as the playback engine / browser for all the sounds.

Or if you're looking for deeper synth sculpting capabilities, Sonic Charge Microtonic could be a good one to look at. Their Patternarium feature is pretty cool for sound variations and patterns.

If you want to go reeeeealy deep on the synthesis end, there's Drum Spillage.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. Alright so it seems that the yes and no answer is Stylus. I'll definitely take a look into that.

With that said, what about 3rd party plugins? Any recommendations? Again, i need something that's a time saver. I just don't have the time to custom make drums like fm8, or anything like that.

The other requirement that I failed to mention is that it can't be a loop library.

Thanks guys!

PlugInGuru has done several cool drum libs for Omni, but maybe not so generalized as you prefer.

OMG! Drums V1, V2, Urban RMX, Airwave V1,2,3 and Bundles, Percusa V1. Even though genres may not work, there are many great examples of what Omni can do for drum needs ?

https://www.pluginguru.com/
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. Alright so it seems that the yes and no answer is Stylus. I'll definitely take a look into that.

With that said, what about 3rd party plugins? Any recommendations? Again, i need something that's a time saver. I just don't have the time to custom make drums like fm8, or anything like that.

The other requirement that I failed to mention is that it can't be a loop library.

Thanks guys!


Well I actually think Stylus really isn't a Omni drum equivalent by any stretch of the imagination.
Stylus was great in it's time but using today standards it's dated and severely limited. Considering what could be possible if Spectrasonics ever gives this the love and attention Stylus truly needs, the VI universe would be altered in a big way.
IMO the only relatable factor is that Stylus is a Spectrasonics product,if Eric ever updated Stylus and Trillian,Spectrasonics would RULE!!!
My other Spectrasonics fantasy that will probably never happen is Guitarsphere! ;)
 
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