Review: Spectrasonics Omnisphere
Jan 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Jason Scott Alexander
ONE ORBIT IS NOT ENOUGH FOR THIS NEW PERFORMANCE MEGA-SYNTH
HERE, THERE AND EVERWHERE
With 28 sources and 60 possible targets, there are thousands of potential modulation routings in Omnisphere. The Flex-Mod system simplifies connections by providing a quick list of mod sources in a menu when you right-click on a control that you want to make a destination. Most commonly used sources are listed first, and if there's more than one source available of a given type, the next available source will be used automatically.
For example, when “Modulate With LFO” is selected, the next available LFO will automatically route to the target parameter. This means if LFO1 is already a modulation source, then the Flex-Mod system automatically assigns LFO2. This approach saves a lot of time because you can assign routings as a direct extension of the way you're typically handling a given control while tweaking a sound, rather than having to stop, analyze and draft up a chart of unused sources in your mind.
A complete list of all the modulation sources is at the bottom of the Flex Mod menu for you to make manual selections. Once assignments are made, all routing pairs are selectable one at a time under the modulation section's simplified view, which includes sliders for controlling source and destination parameter on each mod pair.
A traditional mod-matrix provides more precise control for the hardcore sound designer. A wonderful mod-matrix secret weapon, the Smooth control, allows you to, for instance, round off the hard edges of a square-wave LFO. The full matrix view presents all 24 modulation slots available on just two pages, but clearly distinguishes those being used in Layer A from those in Layer B through highlighting. Because Omnisphere's modulation can get extremely complex quickly, this makes for an ideal trouble-shooting page.
ARP'N MADNESS
The arpeggiator interface — a very flexible rhythm programmer capable of up to 32-step patterns — is clean, simple and intuitive. Clicking on or click-dragging across any of the steps lights up their vertical velocity drawbars in bright blue and turns on their TR-808-style step buttons below. A slider along the bottom controls pattern lengths. Extending note lengths is as easy as double-clicking on an adjacent step to tie into the previous step, resulting in a longer blue block. Shift-clicking on a block's edge lets you precisely set that note's duration in fractions of a step — great for nudging timing ahead or behind, as well as creating extremely short notes or staccatos.
In the upper-left corner you have selectors for modes, trigger and clock. Notes can be played over ranges of one, two, three and four octaves; and arpeggiate as chords, up, down, up/down, down/up, as played, repeat 2x and repeat 4x. Clock divisions range from whole note to 32nd note (all capable of simple swing), and there are trigger options for legato and syncing to the host. A Length knob shortens all steps uniformly and simultaneously. As with virtually every Omnisphere module, you can save presets of your patterns.
An extremely cool feature called Groove Lock allows any of Omnisphere's eight independent arpeggiators to match the feel of a Stylus RMX drum loop. By lifting the groove from Stylus RMX's browser, you can literally drag-and-drop it into Omnisphere's MIDI file area at the bottom of the arpeggiator. (You can also drop in any standard MIDI file.) While it's a simple feature, it's extremely powerful to apply relaxed, human drum rhythms to typically hard arpeggios, and it inspired boundless ideas for genre-bending remixes.
SKY'S THE LIMIT
Straight out of the box, Omnisphere can sound like the lushest classic analog synth ever made — or never made! It can also be the meanest virtual analog, the dreamiest wavetable pad machine or the downright coolest-sounding hybrid synth you could conceive.
The psychoacoustic sampling that's gone into creating much of the core sound source library is jaw-droppingly cool. Imagine setting an upright piano on fire and capturing its exploding strings and snap-crackling embers, and then being able to play it. That's but one example of the lengths that Spectrasonics went to.
There are also meticulously captured tones and custom patches created on classic hardware like the ARP String Ensemble; Elka String Machine; Mellotron and Orchestron cello, violins, choir and flute tapes, as well as Chamberlin string tapes; Farfisa Combo Organ; Hammond tonewheel organs; Roland Juno 60, Jupiter 8, Super JX, D-50 and JD-800; Oberheim OB-8; Sequential Circuits Prophet-5; Moog Model 55 modular; Korg Z1; Access Virus Indigo; Waldorf Q; and the highly distinctive additive synthesis of the Kawai K-5000.
Combining such a wide variety of vintage synths with Steam's ability to manipulate them with synthesis methods that are close to the original makes it feel like you have a ton of historic hardware at your disposal. But Omnisphere is much more than a must-have upgrade from Atmosphere. It is without a doubt going to be a game-changer in every genre of electronic music and every aspect of synthesis, composition, sound design, production and live performance. This really is an epic synth that breaks completely new sonic ground.
SPECTRASONICS (DIST. BY ILIO) OMNISPHERE > $499
Pros: Sounds like nothing else. Extraordinarily powerful and versatile synth engine. All major synthesis methods covered. Up to 10 oscillators per patch with a dual-filter architecture per layer. Excellent modulation facilities and eight independent arpeggiators. 42 GB core library. Sounds based on unique psychoacoustic and composite morphing. Thousands of killer patches and multis.
Cons: Can be extremely CPU-intensive, especially the multis.
Contact: www.spectrasonics.net
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Mac: G4, G5 or Intel/2 GHz or higher; 2 GB or more RAM; 50 GB hard drive space; OS 10.4.9 or later; Audio Units, RTAS or VST 2.4-compatible host software
PC: Pentium/3 GHz or higher; 2 GB or more RAM; 50 GB hard drive space; Windows XP SP2/Vista; RTAS or VST 2.4-compatible host software
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