Ahead of SynthPlex 2019, Spectrasonics has released Omnisphere 2.6 – a significant update of their flagship software synthesizer.
Omnisphere 2.6 includes 600 new patches, expanded hardware synth integration, and arpeggiator upgrades such as new Pattern modes, step dividers, pitch slides, and the ability to alter chord voicings and inversions per step. The Omnisphere 2 NKS Library is a preset pack for browsing Omnisphere 2 presets from the Komplete Kontrol / Maschine software and hardware. This library contains over 7500 factory presets for Omnisphere 2 that can be loaded and browsed directly using the Komplete Kontrol / Maschine software and hardware. The point is hardware control of Omnisphere, from a growing list of existing hardware, with very accurate and detailed mapping of knobs and buttons to corresponding Omnisphere parameters, in some cases one hardware knob may alter several Omni params at the.
With version 2.6, Spectrasonics has added major new enhancements to Omnisphere’s Arpeggiator and has dramatically expanded the Hardware Synth Integration feature, with full support for over 65 hardware synths. The update more than doubles the number of profiles and adds support for such iconic synths as the Roland Juno-106, Super Jupiter, Alesis Andromeda and the Roland D-50.
The v2.6 update also adds 600 new patches.
We talked with Spectrasonics head Eric Persing earlier this year, and he gave us an in-depth look at the new features in Omnisphere 2.6:
Here’s what they have to say about the new features:
Major Arpeggiator Update
Omnisphere’s renowned Arpeggiator has received a major update in v2.6 with all new creative tools, making it one of the most flexible arpeggiators ever. The many innovations include inspiring new Pattern Modes, Step Dividers, Pitch Slides and the unique ability to have altered Chord Voicings and Chord Inversions per step. Also included is a new Arpeggiator Preset Library that showcases all the creative possibilities. Best of all, Omnisphere 2.6 can now capture the MIDI data of the arpeggiator as a standard MIDI file, which can be dragged to any DAW for further editing!
Expanded Hardware Synth Integration
Omnisphere’s ground-breaking Hardware Synth Integration feature bridges the physical experience gap between software and hardware, giving users intuitive control of Omnisphere by using the familiar layout of their hardware synth. With the new 2.6 release, many requested hardware synth profiles have been added, including support for over 65 popular hardware synthesizers from Moog®, Sequential®, Roland®, Korg®, Novation®, Nord®, Behringer®, Access®, Studiologic® and Yamaha®. The supported hardware synths cover a wide array of form factors and price ranges for different types of users.
New Sounds
Omnisphere 2.6 features a newly expanded “Hardware Library” with 600 new patches created by Eric Persing and the acclaimed Spectrasonics Sound Development team. Notably, the update takes Persing’s classic sound design work from the original 1987 Roland D-50 into completely new sonic territory with Omnisphere’s vast synthesis capabilities.
The new Hardware Synth Profiles added in v2.6 include:
• Roland Juno-106
• Roland D-50/PG-1000
• Roland MKS-80 Super Jupiter
• Alesis Andromeda A6
• Behringer Deepmind
• Virus Indigo 1
• Virus Indigo 2
• Virus C
• Virus TI
• DSI Pro 2
• DSI Prophet 08
• DSI Mopho
• Roland JP-8000
• Roland JP-8080
• Roland Gaia
• Roland JD-Xi
• Roland SH-201
• Nord Wave
• Nord Lead 3
• Nord Lead 4
• Nord Lead A1
• Nord Stage 3
• Moog Minitaur
• Moog Sirin
• Korg MicroKorg
• Korg MicroKorgXL
• Korg Minilogue XD
• Korg MS-20i
• Korg MS-2000
• Novation Mininova
• Yamaha Reface CS
Omnisphere 2 Pc
They also shared a video introduction to Hardware Synth Integration:
For a complete list of supported synths, see the Spectrasonics site.
Omnisphere 2.6 Review
Pricing and Availability
Omnisphere 2.6 is available now as a free update for Omnisphere 2 users. Special upgrade pricing is also available for Omnisphere 1 users.
600 new patches, enhanced arpeggiator & hardware synth support included in free upgradeAnnouncing Omnisphere v2.6 from Spectrasonics...
Registered users of Spectrasonics' soft-synth Omnisphere 2 can now claim their free upgrade to version 2.6. Along with adding 600 new patches and a revamped, fully-featured arpeggiator whose output can be captured as MIDI data, v2.6 also significantly broadens the number of hardware synths that can be used as control surfaces for the software to 65 in total. Alesis's Andromeda, Behringer's Deepmind, Roland's D50, Juno 106 and Super Jupiter and various modelled analogue synths from Access, Clavia and Korg are among those for which support has been added.
Omnisphere 2. 6 Hardware Support List Of Store
The hardware synth integration feature makes Omnisphere more approachable by reconfiguring the software to resemble the connected hardware on-screen, and make the software instrument respond to adjustments on the real synth just as the hardware does — so if you know your hardware synth inside out, you can drive Omnisphere immediately. And of course, when operating via these profiles, Omnisphere adds many features that the original hardware synths didn't always have, like polyphony when being controlled from monophonic synths, or extra LFOs and modulation facilities not present on the original hardware. The full list of supported hardware can be found at the link below. That's what we call an upgrade, especially as it's free — perhaps Spectrasonics should rename it Omniersphere...?