Spectrasonics today introduced Omnisphere 3, a major upgrade to their flagship software synthesizer Omnisphere that’s packed with new synthesis capabilities, new effects, Adaptive Global Controls for instant patch customization, curated libraries, MPE support, a massive sound library with thousands of new sounds and more.
The intro video features Spectrasonics Founder and Creative Director Eric Persing, who is one of the most influential sound designers and synth developers of all time. Here, he’s channeling the memory of Steve Job’s iconic product introductions for Apple, down to the the black turtleneck and ‘one more thing’ surprise. And it works.
The Omnisphere 3 intro video is one of the best we’ve ever seen for a synth. It discusses how powerful the new synth is, showcases features that are actually impressive and demonstrates them in use with examples that actually sound very musical. And it takes a ‘put up or shut up’ approach, not layering on a bunch of marketing hype.
Persing is joined by composer Julian ‘J3PO’ Pollack; producer and sound designer James Bernard; and artist Nashi; who each demonstrate key new features with musical demos.
Check out the video intro for a deep intro to Omnisphere 3, and read on for detailed info on what’s new.
Omnisphere 3.0 Features:
Omnisphere 3 offers a massive collection of 18 sound libraries, containing thousands and thousands of new sounds.
- New Curated Libraries – Rapidly find exactly the sounds you need within the highly curated new libraries, carefully organized by type of use.
- Greatly improved Browsing experience with new organization system.
- Unique new deep-sampled sound sources, including Blown Ostrich Egg, Tonal Sand, Nyckelharpa, Celestaphone, Lyre Harp, Magic Wand Metallophones, Sul Tasto Cello, Percussive Snow, Piano Harmonics, Tongue Slap Flute and more.
- Original patches have been remastered and refreshed with the latest v3 features and FX.
- More sounds, same space! With new lossless optimization technology, the complete Omnisphere 3 factory sound library takes NO MORE drive space than Omnisphere 2.
New Adaptive Global Controls
You can quickly customize the overall sound of Omnisphere with new Global Controls that allow easy tweaks to the most important sound characteristics: Tone, Ambience, Filter, Envelope, Vibrato & Unison.
These smart controls analyze the patch automatically – so they always work with musical results, no matter what patch you select.
New Patch Mutations
At the click of a button, Omnisphere 3 can now instantly create useful variations of any patch – from Subtle to Extreme.
Every mutation you generate is automatically saved and you can easily come back to them later.
New Synthesis features:
- Powerful new Quadzone modulation (pictured) for dramatic timbral movement
- Upgraded Filter Section with 36 New Filter Types in seven sonic colors: Classic, Jupiter, Beefy, OB, French, Subtle and Sauce
- New circuit-modeled Filter Saturation
- New Polyphonic Dual Frequency Shifter
- New Oscillator Drift function provides coveted ‘analog instability’
- Oscillators now feature over 600 morphing wavetables
- New Unison Phase Scatter, Mix and Analog features open lush possibilities with Sample Mode
- New Glide modes: OBXA/Minimoog/Odyssey curves, Auto-Bend Up/Down, Glissando
- Granular, Unison and Harmonia can now be blended simultaneously
Vastly Expanded Hardware Integration
Omnisphere’s one of a kind Hardware Integration feature is now extended to work with nearly any kind of MIDI Controller.
Over 300 new hardware profiles are included in v3, with support for popular keyboards and synths from every major manufacturer, including Roland, Korg, Yamaha, Nord, Novation, Arturia, M-Audio, Studiologic, ASM, Alesis, Akai, Behringer, Casio, Native Instruments, Nektar, CME, Kurzweil, Kawai, IK Multimedia and more.
In addition to the hundreds of MIDI controller keyboards that are newly supported, Omnisphere v3 also adds brand new profiles for the following user-requested hardware synth models:
- ASM Hydrasynth
- Moog Muse
- Moog One
- Moog Messenger
- Moog Subsequent 25
- Oberheim OB-X8
- Oberheim TEO-5
- Sequential Trigon 6
- Sequential Prophet 5/10
- Sequential Take 5
- Sequential Pro 3
- Roland Jupiter X
- Roland Jupiter Xm
- Roland JD-08
- Roland JX-08
- Roland JU-06A
- UDO Super Gemini
- UDO Super 8
- UDO Super 6
- Nord Wave 2
- Behringer Wave
- Behringer PRO 800
- Behringer UB-XA
- IK Multimedia UNO
- Novation Summit
- Novation K-Station
- Novation X-Station
- Modal Argon 8
- Modal Cobalt 8
- Modal Cobalt 5
- Arturia Matrixbrute
- Arturia Minifreak
New Expression Features:
- New MPE Mode gives full support for MIDI Polyphonic Expression controllers
- New Adaptive MIDI Scaling mode allows Hardware Control/MIDI Learns to operate seamlessly in live performance
- New smoothing algorithms allow for more analog-like results from MIDI Controllers and give separate smoothing options for Rise and Fall trajectories
Major FX Upgrade with 35 “Next-Gen” Effects
REVERBS
- Super Verb
- Velvet Verb
- Solar Shimmer
- Inversions
DELAYS
- Refraction Delay
- Swiss Army Delay
- Backwards Echo
- Magnetic Echo
CREATIVE
- Flip Backward
- Pump-O-matic
- Half Speeder
- Warp Shifter
- Pulsar Split
- Ring of Fire
MODULATION
- Unstable Drifter
- Chameleon Chorus
- Barberpole Phaser
EQUALIZERS
- Super Channel
- Vintage British Desk
- 1970s Class-A Console
- Classic Tube 2-Band
- Classic Tube Midband
- Classic Tube Filters
DYNAMICS
- Optical Leveling Amp
- Multiband Compressor
- Classic 1176 Limiter
- Solid State Mix Buss
- 1950s Tube Compressor
COLOR
- Analog Studio Tape+Console
- Vintage Enhancer
- Tube Saturator
- Noisemaker
DISTORTION
- Multiband Distortion
- Tube Overdrive
- Mean Machine
Omnisphere FX Rack Plugin
One of the most unexpected and welcome new features in Omnisphere 3 is the Omnisphere FX Rack plugin.
The built-in effects on synths are often now so good that it makes you wish that you could use them with other gear, on vocals, or even as a send effect for your entire mix.
With the Omnisphere FX Rack, Spectrasonics has made this possible, with the included Omnisphere FX VST/AU/AAX plug-in.
Other Spectrasonics Omnisphere v3 Highlights:
- Redesigned Full Browser
- Extensive Implementation of Sub-Categories
- New Directory Tree interface in Full Browser
- New “Hide” feature – don’t show sounds you don’t need
- New Library images for gorgeous presentation
- Simplified Tagging System with Keywords and Moods
- Full backwards compatibility with all previous versions of Omnisphere
Pricing and Availability
Spectrasonics’ Omnisphere 3 will be available on October 21, 2025. Omnisphere 3 is $499/€399, and Omnisphere owners can upgrade for $199.
Just wow. $199 for such giant update. Way better offer than multi/poly, fo example.
If you consider that original users of Omnisphere 1 paid $500 in 2008, then $200 for the upgrade to Omnisphere 2 in 2015, and now this, is Omnisphere 3 worth $900? Also, is it fair that today’s new users get all the current power of Omnisphere 3 for $500? It could be argued that version 1 buyers had the use of Omnisphere for seventeen years, and it is doubtful that many people would pay that much for software they were not going to use to make money. That begs the question did everyone who ever bought Omnisphere make money from it? Obviously Spectrasonics is making money or they would be in some other line of business by now. Image-Line never charge for updates to FL Studio and they are still in business, so both business models work. I simply have to wonder why. There seems to be a contradiction.
The reasonable question would be whether or not being able to use the best synthesis system to create music for 17 years is worth $900. I think most people would think this to be a good deal if you simply consider how much a hardware. synth is, and how you usually can’t add features to those after awhile.
Then one must balance the computational limitation of the computer against that of the hardware synthesizer. If the plugin bogs down the computer then you have not spent enough money for that hardware, and a hardware synthesizer may well have been a better investment. The problem is never simply one of cost but cost per value and utility over time. And even that is over simplifiying it.
How many people make good money out of music? It isnt the manufacturers responsibility to peice their products for us to make money. I would love to see the breakdown of customer types, pro musicians, semi pro, happy hobbyists etc.
900 over 17 years (lets be honest and add another 7 years to this if previous updates are anything to go by) or 24 years is not bad. I paid £249 for my SH101 in 1982 or 43 yers ago. I am not sure what this shows! Image line and Spectrasonics have 2 different business models but also deliver 2 different products. You pays your money etc. You get a high end product here. I know what soft synths i reach for and they are the ones that give me the real value – cost per bleep.
$0.11 a day? Totally worth it for 17 years of Omnisphere 1 and 2
I use it all the time. It led to me getting my first paid gigs which, if you want to get financial about it wound up making me money. Even if it didn’t I would do it all over because there’s nothing like sitting in a dark room in the middle of the night with giant headphones on exploring that thing
I own Atmosphere and Ominsphere 2. Nothing comes for free. They made an extraordinary upgrade (or whatever) to Three. (3) Employers want their salary. Of course they make money. If they don’t you wouldn’t have an Omnisphere 3. Do the maths or think again, if you’re able. Jee…
PS. I made money from it. If you can’t afford it. Look elsewhere. Freebies are all around.
Its a good update, but expensive by todays terms, for example Falcon just got a big update and you an buy it for the first time for 150E and updates are free.
True about core engine and patches. But they have sales upon expansions:
– Omnisphere: 1 update per 5 years for $200 + 5000 patches
– Falcon: free engine update, + $20 per patch banks
I prefer more Cherry, Arturia and NI model more – one big payment per 1,5 years, but one could skip 1-2-3 updates when not interested in it. But when compare Omni VS Falcon, the answer is Omni. I Prefer JD-990 against SY-99.
Omnisphere 2 was released ten years ago. Original Omnisphere was seven years before that.
You could just sample your jd-990 into the sy-99.….but not vice versa;-)
But yeah, Omnisphere 3 is much more synth than I’ll ever get to the bottom of
Hilarious to see Spectrasonics say “Omnisphere is the Most Impressive Synth We’ve Ever Seen” and Eric Persing is the most influential sound designer and synth developer of all time.
The joke appears to be on you, because nowhere in the article does anyone say the things that you’re quoting.
Reading Is Fundamental!
Oh bummer, they changed the headline. No sense of humour!
We did not change the headline, nor did Spectrasonics say the things that you suggested that they said.
We made the statements that this is one of the most impressive synthesizers we’ve ever seen, and that Persing is one of the most influential sound designers of all time – both of which we consider statements of fact. If you’re not aware of Persing’s background, he was Chief Sound Designer at Roland when they were putting out synths like the Super Jupiter, D50, Alpha Juno, etc.
Persing is brilliant, and although I don’t use Omnisphere I appreciate its existence. Some of those demo patches seem to channel the D50 lineage.
The bane of commenting. When your wit is turned against you by the power of system administrator. It’s like the old homily: You meet an enemy after a long journey. What is the one thing you must sure of? That the journey was his.
Just for the number of patches thay are adding, the update price would be fair. But they also add new filters, new effects and integration with the NI controlers (and others), which is something I was waiting for.
Would you prefer the Nexus model?
One of the best synthesizers ever designed gets a major update, at a low price, no matter where you are coming from… new user, first-time updater, second-time updater, or *gasp* Atmosphere VST user. This is the ultimate bargain, hands down.
This should shake the synthesis world to its core, bang for the buck and feature set. Please note, this is spectacular news whether you are an in-the-box-only producer, or an extreme hybrid setup user (hardware synths plus DAW), such as myself… the hardware integration/modeling expansion alone should blow the socks off of any new user. The bar has been (re)set. It’s a brand new day.
Yes, I am a hyper-fan-boy about Spectrasonics’ offerings overall, not ashamed to published that fact publicly. Thank YOU, Eric & Team, for bringing Omnisphere forward again.
(pssst… revamp Stylus RMX next, pretty please)
The new hardware integration will make workstation users (Montage/MODX/Fantom, etc.) who love Omnisphere happy, by the way it is a powerful synergy to combine workstation & Omnisphere.
Tiered or modular pricing would be nice. $500 is a big chunk of change.
I have no complaints about the Upgrade Price. I have a LOT of VSTs. But none of them come close to Omnisphere. I held out buying Omnisphere for some years because of its price, but once I purcheased it, I could kick myself for not buying it sooner. For what it does and how it sounds, it’s the best deal I’ve had and have no reservations about the price of the Upgrade.
Redesigned Full Browser? It looks the same as before, does it at least remember the sorting when we reopen it ? In O2 it is always reset to default
It’s much more efficient
In 17 years of hobbyist composing and recording, I’ve found that when I (eventually) make the leap up to “higher end software”, it demonstrates the classic “Buy nice or Buy twice.”
Omnisphere is very interested but I personally do not like that blue colour “theme”. I do not know coding but is it so difficult to give some other colour options like green, amber or just B&W?
That is the reason why Arturia Pigments 6 is more pleasing for my eyes.
And Pigments also have free updates.
BTW, I saw document about Gary Numan and he was using Omnisphere…
I’m feeling Omnisphere 3 and Serum 2 are now the only two software synthesisers I need they cover so many bases and compliment each other well. Omni 3 for soundscapes, pads and analog stuff with S2 for the patches that require a nerdy level of accuracy and control. You could seriously spend years trawling through the Omni 3 sample library and still find new ideas. Seriously considering selling off my NI and Artiria licenses. The addition of more tools to create analog style content in Omni 3 has me trying to justify keeping my UHE synths as well.
Don’t forget Omnisphere 2.6 was thrown in for free along the way. Mr. Persing is a musical instrument innovator/inventor and sound designer of the most elite kind. As an original Atmosphere owner, I have found the upgrade path price tier through the years entirely acceptable. It has helped me bring my music to its best completion and whether I made a lot of money on it or not, it is worth every penny. Thank you Eric Persing!
Omnisphere can basically do everything. Though it might take you a lifetime to figure out all of its features and go through a million patches. Fortunately it doesn’t take any more space than the 128TB that Omnisphere 2 needed.
I think we’re getting into a golden age of polyphonic aftertouch / modulation / MPE controllers and instruments that support them.
Obviously, money is important, but why is almost every synth discussion about value for money? This is about art after all. I have many vsts (including Diva, some Arturia, Equator 2 etc.) and didn’t think I would buy another. I recently spent the money on Omnisphere 3 and find it to be amazing and a good addition to what I already have. I think it is worth the money as I was already creating beautiful sounds the first night I had it…and the MPE implementation is really good, important to me as I use two Roli Seaboard Ms. I think the focus should be on the quality of the instrument and whether it is a great creative tool. After all, the reboot of the Korg PS-3300 is about $13,000.