Omnisphere review

Omnisphere - Spectrasonics' new multi-timbral 'power synth' - bears a striking resemblance to the company's previous synth, Atmosphere.

Yes, it does contain the entire Atmosphere core library. True, there is a direct upgrade path from Atmosphere and the company itself might well refer to Omnisphere as its 'successor' to Atmosphere. However, this is most definitely not Atmosphere 2.

The reasons are numerous. Instead of the licensed UVI engine that powered Atmosphere, Omnisphere enjoys brand-new state-of-the-art technology for real-time synthesis developed in-house by Spectrasonics - the Steam engine.

There's also Omnisphere's plenitude of synthesis capabilities (FM, granular, waveshaping, chaos envelopes and more), a terrific, mesmeric arpeggiator section, extensive multi-layering capabilities, and all the effects devices from Stylus RMX, plus a few new ones for good measure.

There is also simple mathematics at play: Omnisphere's core library is 10 times the size of Atmosphere's (more than 42GB) and can host eight different parts, each comprised of two layers, per instance. It's like eight Atmospheres in one, and then some. All told, it's clear why Spectrasonics considers Omnisphere to be both its flagship instrument and an entirely new product in its own right.

And with good reason: it's superb. Where Atmosphere was great for spooky synth beds, evolving dream-like pads, filmic soundscapes and other esoteric aural weirdness, Omnisphere does all this in spades while adding a vast amount of additional sound options - everything across the octaves, from bass lines to screaming leads.

Spectrasonics uses phrases like 'organic synthesis' to describe the creative process behind its sound library and, in a sense, Omnisphere delivers the often fascinating, other-worldly results of a wealth of experimental recording techniques without the user having to learn any of them.

That's not to say that Omnisphere's sound palette is boxed as a fait accompli: far from it. There are so many editing options, effects and possible patch combinations that it will be years before you exhaust the library.

By then, Spectrasonics will probably have updated Omnisphere to allow the import of user samples anyway (a feature currently missing), which would open other doors into other worlds.

In the meantime, user experimentation is actively encouraged within the program, with tips in the Multi Browser pane, such as 'Modulation wheel remixes the elements'. It's surprisingly addictive being able to fade one layer in or out while other layers keep playing. You can also turn off or adjust the balance of the layers in any patch and, using the new Stack section, you can also shape the sound across your Midi keyboard to determine which notes trigger a patch and how much of that patch it triggers at any given octave. The same principle applies to velocity.

There's also Omnisphere's new Live mode, a similar concept to Logic Pro's MainStage, in which parameters are stripped to the bare essentials with a bigger, simpler interface for ease of identification in darkened environments.

Omnisphere's Groove Lock sync integration with Stylus RMX is another big plus, along with drag and drop of any Midi file to sync in the Arpeggiator. It seems that Spectrasonics has literally thought of everything.

Well, almost. A dedicated standalone version would be the icing on the cake, so hopefully that may come in the future.

Also, as everything in Omnisphere's world is heavily treated, if it's a pristine grand piano sound you need, then Spectrasonic's Omnisphere is probably not the answer. However, Omnisphere is unquestionably a captivating, complex, beautiful, expressive synthesiser. Considering this is only version 1, the future of Omnisphere is looking really good.