Gear of the Year 2015 – Best Software Instrument/Library: Spectrasonics Omnisphere 2

Our winning software instrument/library, it comes as no surprise, is Spectrasonics’ awesome Omnisphere 2, improving on a flawless original product…

Best Software Instrument/Library – Spectrasonics Omnisphere 2

Details
Price £285
Contact www.spectrasonics.net, UK Dealer Time + Space

This was by far the most crowded category of our Gear Of The Year awards, not least because it encompasses just about every instrument you can get in software. But there is such a wide range of instruments and libraries out there that we could have sub-divided the list into endless categories (best synth, best piano, best guitar, etc), and then we would have been here all day.

Instead, they all went into the pot, so we had some amazing instruments that didn’t make it and we must throw out a quick mention to personal favourites Era II from MT favourite Eduardo Tarilonte and also Modartt’s Pianoteq, surely the finest piano out there if your ivories need tinkling.

But even though there were a huge number of entrants in this category, Omnisphere didn’t just win, it completely smashed it [never use that expression in this magazine ever again – Ed]. Indeed, both winner and highly commended were like two thoroughbred horses in a race against a bunch of ponies.
Are we surprised?

No. Omnisphere 2 is the eagerly-awaited, seven years in the making follow-up to (you guessed it) Omnisphere and adds a massive 20GB of content, plus the ability to import your own audio into the world of Omnisphere. And it is a complete audio world.

There are elements of Absynth (the synth not the drink), Massive and many other world-class synths; and the results are just extraordinary: 12,000 sounds, 25 additional effects modules (bringing the total to 58) and one of the most powerful audio engines out there means that the only drawback with Omnisphere 2, according to reviewer Mark Cousins, is that “it might take you a lifetime to explore.

While some developers have got close to Spectrasonics’ greatness, there’s little doubt that a revitalised Omnisphere will set a new gold standard for the next five years – an instrument that many developers will seek to emulate, but few will succeed in equalling. Thanks to some genuinely innovative features, not to mention a wealth of extra sonic material to play with, it’s hard to imagine any software instrument delivering the same breadth and sheer sonic excellence as Omnisphere 2.”

Read the full review of Spectrasonics Omnisphere 2

Joel Heatly accepts the award for Spectrasonics’ Omnisphere 2

Be sure to read the complete list of winners in the current issue of MusicTech Magazine and check back tomorrow for another winner…