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Omnisphere's interface makes the synth's power easy to control.

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Effects and Main Page

Omnisphere's Effects section is comprehensive, as you have the opportunity to apply effects either to Layer A, Layer B or to the shared output, via the 'Common' tab. This means that up to 12 effects can be added to a basic patch, with plenty of options available within each effect type.

There is an assortment of EQs, three reverbs and a fine complement of delay variants. These sit alongside Spectrasonics' own weird and wonderful effects such as Tape Slammer and Tube Limiter.

There's amp simulation, too, which works wonderfully on many of Omnisphere's more organic waveforms, warming these up to create wonderful, earthy sonic hybrids.

The simplest page within Omnisphere is Main, which provides basic controls for a patch's most fundamental controls – the balance between its two layers and their relative pan positions, a short-cut to low-pass or high-pass filter types, plus settings for pitchbend range and velocity response curves.

Omnisphere is multitimbral too, allowing eight layers of patches to be played back simultaneously. To handle mixing duties in such circumstances, the Multi button at the top launches Omnisphere's mixer, which enables level balance between parts, plus set up and control of four auxiliary effects busses, as well as a mastering effects chain.

Additionally, a Live mode enables you to organise and assemble patches ready for live use, while the Stack button lets you layer your multi parts into an all-singing, all-dancing monster patch.

The possibilities are endless – just make sure you've got enough RAM and processing power!

Summary

Omnisphere is a phenomenal instrument. It shows what can be done when the power of real, unusual samples is combined with a powerful, multi-approach synthesis engine.

Omnisphere's STEAM is certainly that, and it also manages to provide users with an interface which is far from intimidating.

We have to applaud Spectrasonics for taking its time and getting this release absolutely right – from the onboard manual, to the video tutorial area on the company website, learning Omnisphere is painless despite its complexity.

Most importantly, however, it sounds extraordinary. It would be easy to dismiss some of the sound sources as novelties, but to do so would be a serious mistake. This is a set of 'real' sounds that can be manipulated in the richest ways.

A box office smash, without question.