Omnisphere 2 Vs Alchemy
on Jan 08, 2017 in Synths & Sound Design 4 comments
1. Spectrasonics Omnisphere 2
Nov 29, 2017 Omnisphere 2 is an 8-part multitimbral VSTi, meaning you can play up to 8 different sounds at once with one instantiation. Serum can only play one sound at a time, so if you want to play more than that, you’ll have to have to use a different instantiation for each different sound you use from it. Aug 26, 2015 Alchemy is a powerhouse synthesizer offering multiple types of synthesis in the same plug-in. Choose and combine up to four of the synth engines, which include additive, spectral, formant.
Omnisphere is one of those synths that would probably turn up on just about everyone’s lists. Like many of the synths on this list, Omnisphere (currently Omnisphere 2) combines a number of synthesis techniques, including both oscillators and sample-based source material (including user waves), wavetable synthesis, granular synthesis, and even FM. Combining a huge factory library with comprehensive programming options, the emphasis is on heavily processed sounds of all kinds, from traditional synth tones to dense swirling pads to arpeggios to shifting, chugging, twinkling soundscapes and musical noises that defy easy description. Playability includes nice touches like the Orb, a real-time joystick-type controller that can simultaneously vary many parameters. Omnisphere has been around for quite a while, and has certainly earned its place on a list of soft synths that hardware synths really can’t touch.
Web:https://www.spectrasonics.net/products/omnisphere/index.php
Review: https://ask.audio/articles/review-spectrasonics-omnisphere-2
Courses:https://ask.audio/academy?nleloc=application/omnisphere
2. NI Massive
Native Instrument’s Massive is another synth that’s been around for years, and its popularity and sound pretty much guarantee it a place of honor. Massive follows a traditional subtractive synthesis models, with oscillators (three, plus noise) filters (two), amplifier, modulation (LFO), and effects. But there’s much more to it than that simple description suggests.
Massive’s oscillators are more than just simple analog waves (like sine, square, sawtooth, pulse, etc.)—they’re Wavetables, which, besides those basic, traditional shapes, also include a large collection of richer and more complex wavetables to use as raw material, making for a much wider range of possible sounds. The overall subtractive architecture is familiar enough to be accessible to most synthesists, yet it offers extra levels of flexibility, accessed from the various programming tabs in its center panel, like the Routing panel, where you can view and tweak the signal flow of the various modules that make up a patch, and the drag-and-drop icons that make quick work of building up modulation patching. All in all, Massive’s combination of accessibility and flexibility have made it a perennial favorite among synthesists of all stripes.
Web:https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/synths/massive/
Courses:https://ask.audio/academy?nleloc=application/massive
3. NI Reaktor
Another entry from Native Instruments, Reaktor (currently Reaktor 6) is not really a synthesizer per se—it’s potentially every synthesizer you could imagine. Reaktor is an object-oriented programming environment for building your own synthesizers, and it’s one of the most powerful tools available for those who want ultimate control over their instruments. But you don’t have to have a degree in computer programming or DSP to use Reaktor—while it does contain a daunting set of under-the-hood tools and building blocks, it also comes with a large collection of finished synthesizer designs—called Ensembles—and there are many more available from third-parties as well. Some of these are available as separate, stand-alone synths, like NI’s own Razor (an additive synthesis design), Prism (a physical modeling instrument), and Monark (a well-regarded take on the venerable Minimoog).
But the real power of Reaktor comes when you go behind the front panel, and delve into the nuts & bolts of synthesizer architecture. Taking full advantage of everything the programming environment has to offer may require a significant investment in time and energy, but for inveterate tweakers it’s well worth the effort, going well beyond even the possibilities available from assembling your own modular synth in the real world.
Web:https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/synths/reaktor-6/
Omnisphere 2 Vs Alchemy 5
Review: https://ask.audio/articles/review-native-instruments-reaktor-6
Courses:https://ask.audio/academy?nleloc=application/reaktor
4. Rob Papen Blue II
Rob Papen offers a number of popular synths (like Predator, Blade, and others, including the now-discontinued Albino), but Blue (currently Blue II) is probably the flagship of the line. Utilizing when Papen has dubbed “Cross-Fusion Synthesis”, Blue II combines FM, Phase Distortion, Waveshaping, and Subtractive synthesis, to create one highly flexible and great-sounding instrument. No less than six (!) oscillators freely combine all the different methods of sound generation in a single patch, and the graphic display makes routing and processing relatively easy for a synth with so many options. The helpful graphic displays include features like a straightforward FM matrix and graphic envelopes, along with sequencer and arpeggiator pages, and make Blue II’s programming power readily accessible, making it easy and efficient to tweak sounds—far easier than twiddling hardware knobs blindly.
5. LennarDigital Sylenth
LennarDigital’s Sylenth has become a very popular synth of late. Unlike many of the other entries in this list, it’s not a be-all, do-all, end-all design. Sylenth is designed to do one thing—emulate classic analog synthesis—but do it exceptionally well. It’s a dual-layered design, with 4 traditional analog-style oscillators, and a classic subtractive synthesis architecture. All the virtual analog components were carefully designed to offer the rich sound of their real analog counterparts, with alias-free oscillators, and filters that include nonlinear saturation and self-oscillation options.
A comprehensive set of envelopes, modulators, and an arpeggiator is rounded off with a full array of audio effects—everything needed to achieve classic analog synth sounds with the warmth and edge of traditional hardware synths is included. A faux LCD panel helps simplify programing the more tweaky features, and flexible routing allows for the two oscillator layers to cross-feed the filters, making for an especially nice bit of analog character in the digital world.
Web:https://www.lennardigital.com/sylenth1/
Course:https://ask.audio/academy?nleloc=topic/sylenth
6. U-he Diva & Zebra 2 & Repro 1
U-he is not a synth, it’s a company—actually it’s software developer Urs Heckmann (plus a small staff), who’s come up with many excellent and characterful synth designs (and effects plug-ins) over the years, many available as freeware (like the popular Zoyd synth, and the unique Triple Cheese, which uses comb filters to generate/process its sounds). The U-he line includes several synths, but I want to focus on two of the most popular, Zebra 2 and Diva.
Urs describes Zebra 2 as a “wireless modular synthesizer”—it incorporates many types of synthesis, including subtractive, additive, and FM, along with an equally versatile array of sound-modifying tools like comb-filtering (physical modeling), all freely patchable. Only modules used in a particular patch are displayed, reducing front-panel clutter, and making for a more streamlined interface. The centrally-located modulation grid offers an easy way to connect modules, and helps visualize signal flow in complex patches. And for performance, Zebra 2 offers a “Perform” panel, with no less than four (!) programmable and assignable X/Y pads.
Diva, on the other hand, is a more dedicated analog-style synth—it models the sounds of various classic analog synth modules. But two things set it apart from other analog modelers. The first is that you can mix and match components/modules inspired by different synths, creating hybrid designs. The other is Diva’s cutting-edge approach to modeling analog circuits, which promises to achieve the next level in emulating the nuance of real analog instruments. This faithfulness to real analog sound brings with it a bit of a CPU hit, but users have embraced it, so this Diva may be worth her high-maintenance ways.
Web:https://www.u-he.com
Review: https://ask.audio/articles/review-uhe-repro1
Course:https://ask.audio/academy?nleloc=application/uhe
7. AAS Modeling Collection
As I said earlier, lists like this typically combine entries that are on everyone’s top-10 with choices of a more personal nature—this last entry probably reflects my interest in physical modeling techniques. AAS—Applied Acoustic Systems—makes a variety of virtual instruments and “sound banks”—their instruments are based on physical modeling, which, as you may know, is a method of creating a sound by emulating the physical way that sound is created in the real world. So instead of traditional oscillators, filters, and envelopes, you’ll typically find exciters, disturbers, and resonators—simulations of different vibrating materials, striking, plucking, bowing, and blowing techniques, and complex resonances and timbral responses.
AAS’s modeling collection includes instruments that put these kinds of tools to use emulating strings, guitars, electric pianos, and even analog synth circuitry, but the two I want to mention are Tassman, a general-purpose physical-modeling synth, and their latest, Chromaphone, which is dedicated to modeling all manner of percussive sounds. Both of these instruments let the user synthesize highly realistic sounds, thanks to the physical modeling of acoustic sound-generation, but those sounds don’t necessarily have to emulate actual instruments—for more creative applications, the modeling tools can be used to create very acoustic-sounding instruments that don’t—maybe couldn’t—actually exist in the real world, but sound (and play) like they do! Physical modeling technology is widely used nowadays for processing—component modeling is routinely employed to simulate the circuit path of classic analog hardware, including synth components like oscillators and filters—and it’s gradually being applied more to instrument design.
Wrap-up
Like with any list, there are plenty more great synths I could have included but didn’t, for one reason or another (I decided to limit my choices to separate plug-ins, eliminating obvious possibilities like Alchemy and Sculpture, which are exclusively built-in to Logic). I also didn't include any audio examples—how can you boil the characteristic sound of synths that each offer so much variety into a few seconds of one or two patches? There are plenty of audio demos available online, along with trial versions of most, if not all, of the synths I mentioned, and I think the best approach for anyone who wants to get to know what particular models are capable of is to go ahead and try ‘em out yourself—a little homework that, for once, should actually be a lot of fun!
Related Videos
Omnisphere and serum: Two giants of the software synth world.
We’ve all wondered how they compare to each other, and today, after thorough analysis of both, we will come up with a winner.
It is, however, important to note that this article isn’t an attempt to determine which one of these beastly VSTs are ‘the best.’
What is actually the best is far too subjective for any one person to ascertain.
What you are about to read is merely a comparison of 2 industry leading virtual instruments in order to help you understand the differences and similarities between them.
If you’re on the fence about purchasing either one, or if you own both and struggle with which one to use for a particular task, you could benefit from the information in this article.
If you’re not familiar with either of these, we strongly recommend checking them out.
You should also check out splice, where you can try out serum and other plugins for free for 3 days and then pay a monthly fee starting at 4.99$.
We’ll start with the most obvious differences, then we will break things down into various sections:
Obvious Differences
Omnisphere 2 is an 8-part multitimbral VSTi, meaning you can play up to 8 different sounds at once with one instantiation.
Serum can only play one sound at a time, so if you want to play more than that, you’ll have to have to use a different instantiation for each different sound you use from it.
Spectrasonics hasn’t provided a demo of Omnisphere 2 yet, so there is no way to test it out unless you buy it. A demo version of Serum is available with Splice.
To get more acquainted with each synth, please check out the links below:
Oscillators
Omnisphere Vs Serum
Omnisphere 2 comes withover 400 new waveforms each of which is a morphing wavetable.
Ethnic instruments and unusual sound sources like a burning piano are also included and can be used as oscillators.
Additionally, you can add your own sounds and use those as oscillators or mangle them in the granular synthesis section.
However, when compared to other dedicated granular synths like Mangle or PadShop, Omnisphere 2 falls a bit short in terms of editing features.
Serum on the other hand, comes with 144 wavetables and also gives you the ability to draw waveforms or load your own sounds and use them as oscillators.
Aside from being an “advanced wavetable synth”, Serum is also capable of performing additive and VA synthesis with classic waveforms (saw, square etc.) + a sub oscillator + noise oscillator.
Because of the array of waveforms and synthesis techniques that can be applied in both synths, they both could very well be referred to as modern hybrid synthesizers.
Filters
Serum has a variety of filter types. All the filters from Xfer’s LFOTool are included in addition to some new ones like Flangers, Phasers and the dirty sounding French LPF.
There are also Dual Filter types allowing you to morph between filter types.
Omnisphere 2 boasts a more flexible filter engine and 8 new filters giving you the ability to create your own filter sound with stereo control, drive and a host of other parameters to further customize your filters.
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Also, it now includes all of the filters from GForce Software’s virtual synth, “impOSCar”.
Modulators
Personally, my favorite thing about Serum’s modulators is how easy it is to drag and drop a modulation source to a destination.
This makes for a much faster workflow when creating or editing complex a patch.
Omnisphere 2 Vs Alchemy 3
Then there are the drawable LFOs, Envelopes and Macros which, depending on your preference, are more fun to play with than mousing around with percentages or virtual knobs.
Omnisphere’s Modulation Matrix is unbelievably massive and flexible!
Almost every parameter can be modulated and there are a plethora of modulation sources and targets.
Buy Omnisphere
All 4 Effect Racks’ parameters, all the granular parameters, all the FM parameters, numerous parameters in the arpeggiator and envelopes can all be modulated by a multitude of sources.
But with all this modulation power, there is no drag and drop ability.
Effects
In addition to Serum’s classic synth effects and advanced effects such as a multiband compressor, Serum can be used as a dedicated FX processor as well.
Off the top of my head, the only other synths I can think of that have this feature are Native Instruments Absynth 5, FM8 and Reaktor 6.
The results of running an audio source through an effect with synthesizer parameters can be extremely inspiring and a lot of fun!
Omnisphere 2 has a wider variety of effects.
Vintage effects like echoes, choruses and compressors as well as various reverb types are included.
And remember, all of the parameters in each effect can be modulated. This does come at the cost of higher CPU usage, however.
I’d be curious to see what kinds of sounds could be generated if Omnisphere 2 was able to be used as a dedicated FX processor, but that feature isn’t available.
Overall Winner
I think Omnisphere 2 has a better sound library and is well-rounded as far as sound selection thanks to some of the best sound designers of our time, Eric Persing and Diego Stocco. Therefore, it takes the prize.
Serum may have a more flexible wavetable engine and deeper sound design capabilities with the wavetable editor, formulas and additive engine.
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