Hi,
I’m considering buying a used license of Omnisphere 2. I know it’s a very good and complete virtual instrument and sampler. Out of curiosity, do you think it’s still relevant in 2025, 10 years after its first release? There are so many tools out there today, I’m wondering if Omnisphere still have a bright future.
What do you think?
Thanks!
Are a Mini-Moog and all those vintage synths still relevant in 2025? Yet…
Yeah, I understand your point. I guess my question is more about whether a 10-year-old software, which is still being sold at a fairly high price, will continue to be supported long enough to justify the cost of purchasing it. I assume that beyond the software itself, it’s the accompanying sound library that gives it its value.
I’m curious to hear what Omnisphere users think about it, and how they see this instrument compared to more recent similar offerings.
Spectrasonics is a reliable company, I believe. They’ve always kept pace with the evolution of music and computer technology and updated their products accordingly. There’s no sign that they’re struggling or in danger of disappearing.
A friend bought the product about two years ago and hasn’t regretted it; the possibilities are immense.
I know the product from having tried it, but I don’t own it and don’t plan to buy it either. I’ve had HALion since version 3, not to mention Retrologue, Padshop, NI Komplete Ultimate, ROLI Equator, Cypher, Strobe, and a few others from Arturia, and I can’t seem to exhaust their possibilities, so I just update them when the opportunity arises.
If you really think you need it, I’m sure it’s worth the investment.
Thanks a lot Rene, I agree with most of what you say. I probably don’t need it that much because, like you, I have of a lot of good tools at my disposal already.
Have a good day!
What @Rene_L said.
I own Omnishere and it is deep. Loads of really cool possibilities and there have been dozens of updates ever since I bought it 8 years ago. Back then, it was relatively heavy on the performance side - today that shouldn’t be an issue anymore.
Answering your question: Omnishere comes with a different workflow than other synths and offers some really cool features. It can be both inspiring or a potential rabbit hole. Sadly, there is no demo version available.
However, looking into the plugins you already own and get to know them is very solid advice! I would start with that. Afterwards you might be in a better position to judge whether Omnishere can do something for you or not.
Thanks Reco,
It would be nice to have a demo version with a limited soundbank, just to sense what it is able to do. Thanks for your input!
FWIW, on my new studio build, I resolved to only re-install synths that I “needed.” Of course, “need” is kind of a sliding scale, but I’ve been forcing myself to reach for HALion 7 ever since, and though I’ve only scratched the surface, am really impressed with the overall functionality and features of H7. That said, I still get a bit lost as it’s extremely complex and complicated.
Omnisphere was one of the surviving synths on my reinstall. What didn’t make it was Vital, Serum, any of the Arturia synths, any of the HY sequencers or Stepic, Phase Plant, Pigments, Synthmaster 3, Reaktor, Softube Modulars, ANA2, UVI Falcon, EastWest, and only a couple of Native Instruments libraries.
I only say what didn’t make the cut to highlight that Omnisphere still has a solid place in my compositions, sound design, and overall production workflow. It works “differently” than H7 (and others) and I’ve found the sound quality to be fantastic, and maybe “the best” of all of them as subjective as that is. The expansion banks are really nice as well, and very well curated for features and functions within the macro structures.
It would be nice if Omnisphere had a bit of a redesign to better support native MPE features, but the same can be said for H7 and many others.
If you do decide to get Omnisphere, my only advice would be to add in some training time, and not just “YouTube.” I found the 4-hour Groove3 training module to be quite good, and I went through it twice. I could probably use a 3rd go of it just as refresher because it’s THAT in-depth. Visually it may look a bit a dated and Sega Genesis-like, but they are still regularly updating the engine and sound banks - though I would personally like to see more of an investment into professional curator-provided expansions.
I’d buy it again today without question.
Just my buck-o-five.
Great info Thor, thanks a lot!
I’m curious, why Arturia and Phase Plant are not on your go-to list?
For both, it was primarily the sonic quality of both. I’ve always had issue with the thin, tinny audio quality of the Arturia plugins. Sure, I can fix it in the mix, but my overall experience with usability hasn’t been great. Same with Phase Plant - I really like the utility of the general Kilohearts tools, but Phase Plant is too bulky, a bit buggy, and I don’t like the constant phone-home of any of the plugins. None of the KHearts plugins are actually on this new box.
Most importantly, I’ve just not needed them. Constrained use has actually been good for me. HALion 7, Omnisphere (and other Spectrasonics instruments) and my analog external OB-X8 do me just fine 
I agree that most of the time, too many tools are a good way to be lost and to not master the tools that matters.
Thanks for your input!
My conclusion is that as all software is all about the same just one of them will suffice in in this example Cubase more or less they do all the same thing and it will eventually come down to personal preferences
i also have omnisphere and i don’t see the reason for upgrading i find a few things counterproductive such as the thousands of presets i feel better playing with a Roland D-50 it doesn’t exhaust you and it sounds better in my opinion
Ask your self what do you feel about it and not what you think about it .