Spectrasonics Intros Omnisphere 2

spectrasonics-omnisphere-2

At the 2015 NAMM Show, Spectrasonics has introduced Omnisphere 2.

They note that ‘This is the first v2.0 of any Spectrasonics instrument and it’s truly a gigantic one!”

Here’s the official video introduction from Spectrasonics Founder and Creative Director, Eric Persing:

omnisphere-2Here’s what’s new in Omnisphere 2:

  • Vast New Synthesis Possibilities:
    • Audio Import – Use your own audio file as a soundsource in Omnisphere
    • Over 400 New DSP Waveforms for the Synth Oscillator – an increase of 100X
    • Wavetable Synthesis – Each Waveform is now a Morphing Wavetable
    • Powerful New Granular Synthesis algorithm
    • Deeper FM/Ring Mod capabilities for aggressive timbres
    • 8 New Filter Types – New Power Filters, Vowel, Resonators
    • New Unison Drift models Analog Polysynth behavior
    • Expanded Modulation with new sources and many more targets
    • Polyphonic LFO and Modulation Envelope options
    • Soundsource Reversing
  • Now includes over 10,000 sounds
    • More than 3,000 New patches and soundsources from acclaimed Spectrasonics
    • Sound Design Team
    • New Omnisphere EDM library with cutting-edge, modern sounds
    • New Exclusive Soundsources from Diego Stocco’s Custom Built Instruments
    • New category of Phrase-based Soundsources for granular synthesis
    • Hundreds of new Circuit Bent Soundsources
    • Many Innovative new Psychoacoustic Soundsources
    • New Melodic Cave Stalactites Soundsources
  • New Interface:
    • Redesigned Wider User Interface with many improvements
    • New Show Modulation pane opens modulation routings/sources on left side
    • New Mini-Browser available at all times
    • Larger Full Browser Design
  • Enhanced Browsing Experience:
    • Sound Match feature instantly locates any related sounds in the library
    • Sound Lock allows endless useful variations by locking sound aspects while you browse
    • Easy Sound/Project Sharing for collaborators and third party libraries
    • Greatly Improved sound organization system
    • Fast Progressive Loading allows rapid auditioning
    • Browse Patches by Mood
    • Expanded Genres
    • Browse by Oscillator type
    • Boolean search options
  • New Arpeggiator Features:
    • Note transposition for step seq-style patterns
    • Arp pattern lock while browsing
    • Speed Offset control allows slow down/speed up effects
    • New modulation capabilities
  • 25 New FX Units:
    • Innerspace
    • Quad Resonator
    • Thriftshop Speaker
    • Classic Twin
    • Bassman
    • Hi-Wattage
    • Rock Stack
    • Brit-Vox
    • Boutique
    • San-Z-Amp
    • Stompbox Modeler
    • Metalzone Distortion
    • Toxic Smasher
    • Foxxy Fuzz
    • Analog Phaser
    • Analog Flanger
    • Analog Chorus
    • Analog Vibrato
    • Solina Ensemble
    • Vintage Tremolo
    • Envelope Filter
    • Crying Wah
    • Stomp-Comp
    • Precision Compressor
    • Studio 2-Band EQ
  • Flexible New FX Features:
    • 16 FX units per patch
    • Full matrix modulation of every FX slot
    • New Aux FX rack per patch with Pre/Post fader sends
    • Hundreds of New FX Presets and Racks
    • Lock FX while browsing
    • Improvements/Special Features:
    • Live Mode with key splits
    • Enhanced Orb with Attractor mode
    • Tweak Trilian Custom Controls Interface inside Omnisphere
    • Global Clock Speed (Halftime, Doubletime, etc

Omnisphere 2 is expected to be available April 30, 2015.

67 thoughts on “Spectrasonics Intros Omnisphere 2

      1. You guys gush over this thing. I own Omnisphere 1 and a number of other vst synths. Alchemy had import of your own audio and granular synthesis years ago and they are going out of business. I did not hear anything that NI Massive couldn’t do and you could get that for $299 at Christmas with a Maschine Mikro and some other VST’s. There are just so many other synths out there with these features, it is as if Omnisphere missed the boat. Other VST’s have drum samples for complex construction sets with rhythm. There is nothing really new here, Wavetable or modulating sample loop point has been around since Ensoniq EPS. They were late to the game making Dubstep and EDM sounds, people who do that kind of music use other vst’s. There are vst’s that do EDM much better.

        For me, it was a disapointment. There is really no good upgrades here. You are getting an upgrade sample pack, a few features that are already old news, Sorry, this is the old unit with a minor tweek and and an upgrade sample pack and they are asking 250 from their loyal customers who bought the original. Just not much here, for me.

        1. Nice! : ) Well, this might be a case of parallel realities mismatch..

          I won’t say a word about your perception of Omnisphere, you are experiencing the sound world through your own set of ears, as other people do with their own, but it might be nice to be a bit more respectful toward Camel Audio. I don’t know them personally, but I can imagine them being a group of talented people that most likely invested a huge amount of energy, time and personal commitment. The connection between a set of features and whether a company is still in business is misguided. If only things were that simple…creating and mantaining a company is a lot a work and whoever tries, putting passion and talent on the table, in my opinion deserves respect.

          1. I think you misunderstand my criticism. I own and like omnisphere 1. I own and like Alchemy. I think they are great products the way they are right now, though I am disappointed I cannot get any more presets/samples from the Alchemy library.. There is no disrespect to either. My point was that import audlo and granular syntheses did not keep Alchemy around, and it is old tech. Wavetable and modulated sample loop point are old tech.
            This to me is not “Vast New Synthesis Possibilities” … These are seen in other vsts and older hardware. Nothing new here. The interface had no update… sorry the mini browser is not a big update feature.
            They have upgraded sample pack which is a good idea, and hopfully sound good.. I don’t know because we have not heard them.. But if they are good, I should have been able to get it for 40-60 dollars, instead they are marketing this as a major upgrade for 250 dollars. Sorry, to me it is not a huge upgrade. Omnisphere sounds great without the new samples or feature. It is a minor upgrade that should have cost us nothing, and they could charge 60 dollars for the samples and presets. My point was there are other vst’s out there for 250 dollars or less that give you as much or more especially in the analog/fm area. If you don’t have Omnisphere, then this upgrade brings the aging vst up to date and is probably worth the 500 dollars for a new synth buyer. But for an upgrade it is minor and IMHO and to me is just not enough to make upgrade. I do like what I have now and who knows, maybe when minor updates 3 and 4 come out, maybe they will total up to be a major update that would cause me to upgrade. As I said before, there is just not enough there to make me want to upgrade, there is no single feature or combination of features that prove to me this is a major upgrade. It IMHO is a slight warm over with a sample pack thrown in. This is not disrespect, this is pretty much a fact. If you think these features are a major upgrade worth 250 dollars, You may be the type of person that is a fanboy and will pay whatever they ask no matter how little they do to the aging vst. No thanks, at least not this time around. Hopefully it will be better. If more people are like me and don’t upgrade, then they will be forced to put out a good upgrade. If most people are like you and will buy anything they put out.. well, expect more of the same of these minor updates with an added sample pack and presets. There will be no major upgrade.

  1. Impressive lost of weight, Eric!
    It seems, that all of your excessive body mass has been successfully transformed to an even more powerfull synth.

    1. As strictly true hardware conservative, I always had noting but respect
      for Eric’s creation, because he come from the boot sides of Hard/Soft power.

      Eris is looking good, healthier then ever, and supplied with another great
      and creative environment.

      But, could anyone please elaborate on enigma control keyboard, Eric is using in
      this video?

  2. my only “problem” with the old version was the hours i wasted with it listening to all the sounds. it was just too much fun to explore all the sounds in that program.
    10,000 patches in Omni2 oh no…

      1. Hi Diego: If I import a .WAV sample for example, there’s any way to map the wave in a specific keyboard range or Omni will do this automatically ? if so….how can we use multi-samples to create a String patch for example importing our sample files. ?, thanks again Diego

        Axl from Buenos Aires, Argentina

  3. Man, I have been hemming and hawing over putting out the money (which I really don’t have) on a hardware synth or whatever else…well, this kinda put that idea on ice. Shit, I wish this came out sooner than the April release date!

  4. Any word on multi-core support? The current one is ace but only uses a single core/thread (as an AU at least) so was always a bit of a hog particularly when using Multis.

        1. Well, I admit it was a joke, I have Omnisphere 1.5 and it sound so good and has more possibility than any hardware synth can dream to have… the only weakness of this Oversynth is that you can spend so much time searching and tweaking sounds that you can lose your creativ flow

    1. I just had to reply to this… seriously. I bet you are new to synthesizers. How can you compare let’s say steak with an apple, dude? Mono analoque synths serve their purpose and do that well. You then have virtual analogue synths and VST reproductions of analogue synths which may not sound as good as the real thing, granted.
      BUT Omnisphere 2 is another ball park. With Omnisphere 2, one would create atmos, large pads, digital leads and all kind of warped sounds based on your own personal sample library. Now you can go on and compare a glass of wine with a glass of orange juice…. that would make no sense at all.
      Cheers from Hamburg

    2. Please clean out your ears, as it seems you really have no idea.

      Some of these new Plug-Ins make incredibly rich and exceedingly complex sounds that an Analogue mono synth can’t even begin to duplicate.

    3. Trolololololol! Keep playing with your little toy analog monosynth in your mom’s basement, chuckles. Meanwhile the rest of us will be making money with our VST instruments.

    1. Then you missed all the new things we did to address this issue in v2. Sound Match, Sound Lock, the new organization system and the instant loading features all make a HUGE difference in finding sounds fast and keeping the flow going. v2 is a major improvement in this area.

  5. its a beast alright, my only reservation is the learning curve for such things, ohh and the price as well i don’t recall number 1 being too cheap.

  6. i was waiting for this since ages and from feature side it looks very promising but i`m really dissapointed that they kept the GUI almost the same. way to many pages!! of course it`s impossible to fit on one page but if you look at for example the arp or the granular page…… why do we need so much blank space everywhere???

  7. I can see how this would appeal to a lot of people, but outside of the granular synthesis and wavetable engines, theres nothing of interest for me. I just don’t see enough control or power… or modulation matrix? idk, never used Omnisphere

    1. actually I take all that back, this is no more a synth than the Yamaha Motif is a “synth”, but at least its not a stone-cold ROMpler… okay, Its far more a synth than the Motif nvm.

    2. I think you need to look a little closer. 🙂 remember that this demo is just showing a couple of the new features very quickly. A lot of the existing features are much more extensive than you realize. Omnisphere has one of the most powerful mod matrix of any synth. The FM and advanced Ring Mod capabilities are new too. You also have polyphonic wave shaping, 57 extensive pro quality FX that are integrated into the modulation matrix and synthesis engine….etc, etc. Trying to show all if what Omnisphere is in a single demo is impossible. I’d encourage you to check it out further. 🙂

  8. Being able to drop your own WAVs into a system causes your focus to shift. Its more labor-intensive, but it rewards you by opening some big doors. You get to make your own clay. In an instrument this comprehensive, it adds weight to not seriously needing anything else. Sure, you might want a dedicated additive synth or some fringe Kontakt oddity, but its hard to find any lacks here. All you need is one of those “Limitless” pills so you can retain the manual.

    1. Fungo’s lingo is important and true. Being able to sculpt your own unique sounds is the advantage of digital synthesis. True, Mirage did it in the 80s & Kronos now, but compare them with Metasynth, Iris, Alchemy… and now Omnisphere. Those tools have changed how I listen to the world.

    1. Not sure what you mean? Atmosphere customers have always been able to upgrade to Omnisphere and this is still available at Spectrasonics.net. In fact, now the Atmosphere upgrade will go straight to Omnisphere 2 for the same price.

  9. Omnisphere has always been special to me. the depth of the sounds have no comparison in my personal library. It appears to me they addressed some of the biggest problems with workflow by doing, what i can only imagine was a ridiculous amount of programming by a lot of talented individuals. The new features look very interesting. is $200 to steep? The market will decide that. But look at it like this. If you wanted someone to build something like this for you. How much would you have to pay for it? It is clearly worth more than $200. For the people who already invested in Omnisphere, took the time to learn it and create their own sounds, this update will breath new life into the synth and speed up and expand their workflow. It looks like a win to me. If you don’t own it, or own it and prefer to use something else then this update is not aimed at you. Thank you Eric and team. Looks like an awesome product to me.

  10. Omnisphere and Trillian are still the best sounding Software synths I own. I go back to them for almost every track, even owning Alchemy, Tone2 stuff and all the NI instruments. So even if they only have improved the browser, added the ability to use your own soundsources and added some presets, I’m way beyond happy. But looking at the list, they have done a LOT of other work too… and honestly, I have yet to be disappointed by a Spectrasonics product, so take my money already…

  11. I assumed Spectrasonics were dead, but they weren’t , no for sure they weren’t.
    They went silent and created this beast.
    F*cking crazy.

    30 april FTW !!

  12. I love Omnisphere 1.5 and this is a mind-boggling upgrade that I will certainly buy. Nice touch by giving a discount to owners of all their great products. I guess it wouldn’t be fun if their weren’t a few complainers, but I own Massive and several other synths and the comparisons don’t make sense to me. They all have a raison d’etre, and Omnisphere definitely has a lot of unique sounds and features.

  13. As a VIP, the $200 is no big deal for a great sounding synth well endowed in sound… Omni and Tril are my go to for accurate sound reproduction and creativity… Regarding Stylus RMX, I would love to see an up-date/grade adding Acoustic and newer modern kits or if anything, new expander packs adding more natural acoustic stuff… I know it’s RMX… but acoustic rock/pop, etc… would still be a nice addition.
    Great work Spect team!

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