Menu
What's new
By:
Filters

Omnisphere - disappointed

Technostica said:
I see people saying that Omnisphere covers so many bases out of the box, which is why I smile when they list all the add-ons.
People don't state the same about Kontakt.
Plus you can use a massive amount of Kontakt libraries with the free player version.
It's also bought often as a part of Komplete, so the real world price is much lower.
You can still Crossgrade from a free library for about $130 during sales.
Then you add in all the free and cheap libraries available for the full version.
So a completely different scenario.
Click to expand...
But people often buy Omnisphere to get access to third-party soundsets, because they like many of the sounds that are available and would like to be able to add some of them to their repertoire. In that respect, it is rather like Kontakt. And, in that respect, price is irrelevant. (It is most definitely not irrelevant to whether someone should buy it, or whether they might reasonably feel disappointed in it.)

It is an added bonus with Omnisphere that it comes with a library that you will periodically dig into and find useful content in for the rest of your time making music. Kontakt's basic library is also quite good; but perhaps less likely to satisfy after ten plus years of collecting sounds.

The big difference is that Omnisphere is a synth and Kontakt isn't. So one might reasonably expect it to stand on its own. I think it does. I mean, it's very much not my favourite synth; but that isn't a mark against the synth itself.

None of which is meant to change your mind; I wrote it just to distract me from the yawning abyss of existence. Darn, it didn't work...
 
What I like best about Omnisphere is that it's a reliable one-stop-shop of useful sound choices.

Omnisphere is not the kind of synth that's going to blow you away with mind-shattering patches. It certainly has patches that can do that, but I find the majority of Omnisphere's content is more musically useful - and that's a good thing. The patches satisfy specific musical roles, aren't over-hyped, and fit well into a mix. It's a workhorse synth, and for that reason, can take some time to fully appreciate what it has to offer.

Also, there's just something nice about having many thousands of sounds easily accessible under one common interface. It makes my brain hurt less.

Certainly, Omnisphere can't do everything - no tool can. But it can do a heck of a lot. When I'm stuck for a sound, I know I can turn to Omnisphere and more often than not, end up satisfied.
 
Bee_Abney said:
I didn't realise you knew my work!
Click to expand...
489-4890918_moodboard-niche-aesthetic-guitar-broken-music-smashed-guitar.png
 
Henrik B. Jensen said:
I kind of "impulse bought" Omnisphere after watching the videos with Undercurrent etc the other day. But after checking various of the default patches, I'm disappointed :rolleyes:

Edit: The default patches in Omnisphere, not in the Undercurrent extension.

To my ears u-he's stuff sound so much better.

Checking Luftrum's patches for Omnisphere didn't change my impression sadly: It's the sound of Omnisphere that is not for me, I guess.

I know many people here swear by Omnisphere, but I've also seen others say the sound is not their cup of tea.

I guess I'm hoping someone can tell me "you just have to do this-and-that, then Omnisphere will sound very similar to u-he's stuff" :)
Click to expand...
If you've only had it for a few days, I can almost guarantee you haven't seen what it has to offer yet.

Like another user said, start by sorting what you want exactly in the patch browser (this is very important, you have to sort by categories, never just start listening to random patches in Omni, there's too damn many to navigate)

Try to stay away from the layered sounds, at first. You know the kind I'm talking about, where you press a single note and it makes your walls rumble it has so many frequencies.

Go for simpler, more naked sounds and rate those first.

Learn to use the star system, rate them a 1 star if you don't like them, 3-5 if you do.

Do all this, poke around some more and come back in a week. If it's still not for you then it's probably not for you. Also 3rd party patches are a must!

And don't forget to play with Keyscape, that's the best part of Omni IMO

Cheers
 
TonalDynamics said:
If you've only had it for a few days, I can almost guarantee you haven't seen what it has to offer yet.

Like another user said, start by sorting what you want exactly in the patch browser (this is very important, you have to sort by categories, never just start listening to random patches in Omni, there's too damn many to navigate)

Try to stay away from the layered sounds, at first. You know the kind I'm talking about, where you press a single note and it makes your walls rumble it has so many frequencies.

Go for simpler, more naked sounds and rate those first.

Learn to use the star system, rate them a 1 star if you don't like them, 3-5 if you do.

Do all this, poke around some more and come back in a week. If it's still not for you then it's probably not for you. Also 3rd party patches are a must!

And don't forget to play with Keyscape, that's the best part of Omni IMO

Cheers
Click to expand...
Hmmmm ..... concern re. now adding long-desired 'Keyscape' _ having no hardware synths, and $400. expense for 1,400 new Omni2 Patches.

No clue now as new Sonic EXtensions available for comparable cost.
 
davidson said:
I'm not a fan of the UI. I don't know why but I can't get on with it at all. I think it sounds amazing though!
Click to expand...
The UI is a bit of a frankenstein thing at this point, since it has a legacy going back ~20 years.

I'd love for them to give the whole thing a complete makeover for V.3, although I suspect they might not want to alienate long time users.
 
sostenuto said:
Hmmmm ..... concern re. now adding long-desired 'Keyscape' _ having no hardware synths, and $400. expense for 1,400 new Omni2 Patches.

No clue now as new Sonic EXtensions available for comparable cost.
Click to expand...
Haven't played with the sonic extenstions yet, but let me clarify about Keyscape, it's my personal favorite part of Omni, but certainly not the only good thing about Omni, and you don't need it to appreciate those other things I mentioned.

If you do try out an extension, feel free to post your thoughts here, I'm still trying to gather more info about them before I pull the trigger

Cheers
 
shponglefan said:
The UI is a bit of a frankenstein thing at this point, since it has a legacy going back ~20 years.

I'd love for them to give the whole thing a complete makeover for V.3, although I suspect they might not want to alienate long time users.
Click to expand...
I swear I must be crazy, because it seems like I'm the only person around here who actually likes the
Omni UI compared to the vast majority of VST synths 🤷
 
TonalDynamics said:
I swear I must be crazy, because it seems like I'm the only person around here who actually likes the
Omni UI compared to the vast majority of VST synths 🤷
Click to expand...
It's not terrible and they have made some updates over the years (like finally getting rid of the goofy faux-handles and cheesy brushed metal). But it's got a weird mix of inconsistent design elements that reflects different parts of the interface being designed at different times.

This is why IMHO they need to overhaul it and make it more unified and modern.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom