Omnisphere 3

FX Descriptions

There are 93 different internal FX units to choose from in Omnisphere (which can be expanded up to 103 via Sonic Extensions). Below is an overview of each unit. For detailed descriptions of the controls and operation, click on the name of the effect.

DYNAMICS

  • Optical Leveling Amp
    Carefully modeled after the iconic Teletronix® compressors. Choose between two flavors—the warm, harmonically rich tone of the tube-based LA-2A, and the faster, cleaner, transistor-based LA-3A.
  • Multiband Compressor
    Far beyond a traditional dynamics processor, Omnisphere’s Multiband Compressor splits the input into four assignable frequency bands, allowing you to apply different amounts of compression to each.
  • Classic 1176 Limiter
    Based on the iconic Universal Audio 1176. Thanks to its fast FET design it’s great at controlling transients. includes an “ALL” mode, recreating the heavy compression and colorful sound of the hardware. It features recreations of the most coveted hardware revisions and even includes the unique “ALL” mode to recreate the heavy compression and coloration of the original.
  • 1950s Tube Compressor
    Modeled after the Fairchild 670 with added built-in parallel compression, control over low frequencies, and a faithful recreation of the original’s musical envelope, the 1950s Tube Compressor adds instant analog vibe to anything you run through it.
  • Solid State Mix Buss
    The punchy and clear Solid State Mix Buss Compressor is modeled after the classic Mix Buss compressor from the SSL G Series® console, widely known as “the Glue.” Dial in some legendary SSL attitude!
  • Precision Compressor
    The Precision Compressor is super-clean, versatile, and modern-sounding. It’s an ideal hi-fi studio compressor that also works well for mastering.
  • Stomp Comp
    Modeled after the vintage Ross Compressor™ guitar pedal, it has a tough, gritty character and it is useful for lots more than just guitars.
  • Gate Expander
    A traditional, controllable noise gate that also works well as an expander.
  • Legacy Vintage Compressor
    Modeled after the “go-to” compressors from the ’50s and ’60s, this unit has a warm and musical sound.
  • Legacy Tube Limiter
    Both a limiter and compressor—modeled on the fat, warm sound of tube limiters from the 1960s.

EQ

  • Super Channel
    A channel strip with superpowers that brings you the character of the most sought-after analog pre-amplifiers, EQs, and enhancers from API®, Neve®, Pultec®, and Dolby®. Super Channel puts the sounds of the world’s greatest outboard gear at your fingertips.
  • Vintage British Desk
    Painstakingly circuit-modeled after the Neve 1084 Mic Pre / 4-band EQ modules, it lets you inject classic British vibes by adding the same saturation and harmonics as the hardware and extending the original’s capabilities with continuous frequency selection and a second MID band.
  • 1970s Class-A Console
    Modeled after the classic API 550 EQ module from their discrete Class-A consoles of the 1970s and includes its unique Proportional-Q design and an additional Mid band. Perfect for dialing in that API® presence and punch!
  • Classic Tube 2-Band
    Modeled after the Pultec EQP-1—the iconic tube equalizer that has been used on countless recordings worldwide since its invention in 1951. Pultecs are unique in that they let you simultaneously boost and attenuate the same frequency band, creating unique frequency curves.
  • Classic Tube Midband
    Modeled after the Pultec MEQ-5®, it was built to sculpt frequencies between 200Hz and 7kHz. With two boosting and one attenuation band, it adds a unique musical color to anything that lives in the mid-range, like keyboards, guitars, and vocals.
  • Precision Studio EQ
    This clean and versatile 2-band EQ gives you multiple modes for each band and is suitable for mastering.
  • Graphic 7-Band EQ
    Useful for tailoring a full-spectrum audio source with broad control of multiple bands.
  • Graphic 12-Band EQ
    Useful for tailoring a full-spectrum audio source with precision control of multiple bands.
  • Legacy Vintage 2-band EQ
    Modeled after the Pultec™ EQP2-A model tube equalizer, simulating its warm and musical tone.
  • Legacy Vintage 3-Band EQ
    Modeled after the Pultec™ EQP series tube equalizers, renowned for their musical and fat tones.

COLOR

  • Analog Studio Tape+Console
    Recreates the analog signal flow and mixing workflow of a high-end analog studio, including detailed simulations of a 2-inch 24-track tape recorder and three world-class consoles. This special unit brings loads of analog character to anything you run through it.
  • Vintage Enhancer
    Modeling classic Dolby® tape-encoding processors originally designed to remove noise, this effect enhances any source without overproducing it.
  • Tube Saturator
    Choose from three authentic tube-coloration styles to warm up your sound. From subtle coloration to pronounced harmonic distortion, this is a must-have in your sonic arsenal.
  • Tape Slammer
    This fully controllable compressor simulates different types of analog tape compression, tape saturation, and even tape age.
  • Valve Radio
    A unique device that functions both as a dual filter and a distortion device—includes drive control and a gate.
  • Noisemaker
    Noise can be the secret ingredient that makes a sound come alive. Use Noisemaker to add all kinds of retro noises to your sound, from scratchy records and vinyl to analog tape hiss and film projectors.

FILTER

  • Classic Tube Filters
    Modeled after the Pultec HLF-3C, a passive, program filter from the 1960s. In addition to being a great LPF/HPF, you can choose between two tube saturation types and adjust the amount using the Clipper control, which works especially well for adding punch and definition to transients.
  • Envelope Filter
    This FX Unit uses Omnisphere’s filters with an envelope follower to provide a cool, animated-envelope effect.
  • Formant Filter
    A filter based on the characteristics of the human vocal tract, with adjustable Headsize and Vowel controls.
  • Power Filter
    Developed in cooperation with GForce Software and based on their famous and super-musical impOSCar™ filter design. 
  • Wah-Wah
    Modeled after classic wah-wah pedals of the 1970s, with LFO modulation that can be synced to the host tempo.
  • Crying Wah
    This FX unit is modeled after the classic Vox Cry Baby wah-wah pedal, used by Clapton and Hendrix and pretty much everyone else!

DISTORTION

  • Mean Machine
    Rage within the machine! designed specifically for synths, this distortion unit will push things to the extreme.and make anything scream!
  • Tube Overdrive
    Run your sounds through a valve to make them roar with rich analog tube distortion and a choice of three distinctive styles. Push them with Drive and Bias and dial in the perfect tone with LPF/HPF controls. Take your tube saturation to the next level.
  • Multiband Distortion
    Featuring authentic modeling of classic distortion pedals and tube simulations, you can sculpt the perfect distortion sound with 17 distortion types that can be applied to 3 assignable frequency bands.
  • Stompbox Modeler
    This FX unit recreates ELEVEN incredible models of classic fuzz, overdrive, and distortion pedals.
  • Toxic Smasher
    This FX unit combines Omnisphere’s Waveshaper with 4 controllable filter types.
  • Metalzone Distortion
    Modeled after the Boss MT-2 Metal Zone™ distortion pedal—rock tones, galore!
  • Flame Distortion
    Scorch your audio with this extremely versatile distortion and bit-crushing unit.
  • Foxy Fuzz
    This FX unit is modeled after the Foxx Tone Machine fuzz pedal, known for its sustain—includes octave harmonics.

AMPLIFIER

  • Bassman
    This FX unit is modeled after the mighty, mighty ’59 Fender Bassman™ amplifier—many guitarists’ favorite amp. Comes with selectable, high-end mic and preamp combinations. Controls for the head and the cabinet.
  • Boutique
    This FX unit is modeled after the 100-watt Dumble Overdrive Special™ amplifier, with selectable, high-end mic and preamp combinations.
  • Brit-Vox
    This FX unit is modeled after the Vox AC30™ amplifier. This amp led the British Invasion of the 1960s! Comes with selectable, high-end mic and preamp combinations. Controls for the head and the cabinet.
  • Classic Twin
    This FX unit is modeled after the classic (and we mean CLASSIC!) ’65 Blackface Fender Twin™ amplifier—with selectable, high-end mic and preamp combinations. Controls for the head and the cabinet.
  • Hiwattage
    This FX unit is modeled after a custom 100-watt 1974 Hiwatt™ amplifier—Classic Rock tones with selectable, high-end mic and preamp combinations. Controls for the head and the cabinet.
  • Rock Stack
    This FX unit is modeled after the seminal and iconic ’64 Marshall JTM45™ amplifier—with selectable, high-end mic and preamp combinations. Controls for the head and the cabinet.
  • San-Z-Amp
    This FX unit is modeled after the trend-setting SansAmp GT-2™ tube amplifier emulation pedal.
  • Smoke Amp
    A guitar amplifier-modeling effect, with a nice variety of amps and cabinets modeled after hand-made amps from smaller, boutique amp manufacturers.
  • Thriftshop Speaker
    This unit is designed to trash your audio by running it through the old and funky speakers/telephones/megaphones that you might find in a thrift shop.

MODULATION—Chorus

  • Chameleon Chorus
    A versatile effect that features authentic emulations of three classic units: the Roland Dimension-D®, the Yamaha SPX-90®, and the ARP Solina String Ensemble®. With its unique Chaos modulation, drive circuit, and stereo width control, you can bring these vintage chorus vibes into brand new territory.
  • Unstable Drifter
    Bring back the vibe of dusty gear by dialing in noise, pitch artifacts, saturation, and filtering. Unclean Drifter is perfect for adding a subtle touch of nostalgia or turning the cleanest audio into a lo-fi gem.
  • Analog Chorus
    This FX unit is modeled after famous Boss™ and TC Electronics™ chorus pedals that have graced thousands of classic keyboard and guitar Racks.
  • Solina Ensemble
    This FX unit is modeled after the classic “Ensemble” effect in the ARP Solina String Ensemble™.
  • Legacy Ultra-Chorus
    A rich and thick chorus unit that features some unique LFO modulation options.

MODULATION—Phasers

  • Analog Phaser
    This FX features models of the Oberheim Phasor™, MXR Phase 90™, and a custom chorus/phase-shifter with the ability to sync to your Rack.
  • Barberpole Phaser
    The Barberpole Phaser’s hypnotic nature shifts your sounds upwards or downwards in a seemingly endless fashion. It’s particularly good at creating slow, resonant evolutions that never seem to settle.
  • Retro-Phaser
    Classic phaser unit with a vintage, lo-fi vibe, a darker tone, and a “DIRT” switch. Can be synced to the host tempo.
  • Legacy EZ Phaser
    Best suited for classic phaser effects—easy-to-use and understand.
  • Legacy PRO Phaser
    A versatile and rich phaser design—capable of going way beyond traditional phaser effects.

MODULATION—Flangers

  • Analog Flanger
    This FX unit is modeled after the popular classic, the A/DA Flanger™ pedal. You’ve heard this!
  • Retro-Flanger
    Classic flanger unit with a warm, vintage character. Complete with a “DIRT” switch.
  • Legacy Flanger
    Provides many traditional flanging and tuned-resonance effects. Can be synced to the host tempo.

MODULATION—Tremolo+Vibrato

  • Analog Vibrato
    This FX unit is modeled after the vibrato of the once-ubiquitous Roland JC-120™ and of the Shin-ei Uni-Vibe™ pedal, which imitates a Leslie (think Pink Floyd).
  • Vintage Tremolo
    This unit recreates the classic vintage tube amp tremolo effect, in mono or stereo. Think ’60s Surf music and ’70s Soul and R&B.

CREATIVE

  • Flip Backward
    A buffer effect that records up to two bars of incoming audio, turns it around, and plays it back. Always recording and synced to the host, it reverses your audio in fragments based on musical values. Great for trippy effects or glitchy artifacts.
  • Half Speeder
    Captures chunks of audio and plays them back at half speed, based on musical values. Bringing out all kinds of hidden gems that are harder to appreciate at the original speed, Half Speeder is always recording and in sync with your host’s tempo.
  • Warp Shifter
    An EDM secret weapon, Warp Shifter adds intricate motion using unique phase- and frequency-shifted modulations. By dynamically altering the harmonics using Shifter and Warp, you can turn a static sound into a liquid texture, pitch-drifting wobbles, or chaotic harmonic swirls.
  • Ring of Fire
    Ring of Fire taps into the experimental side of sound design with a cascading series of ring modulators followed by a distortion module with 8 distortion types. From classic sci-fi to total sonic corruption, Ring of Fire explores the unconventional!
  • Quad Resonators
    This unit is based on comb filters and adds tuned resonances to any input signal.
  • Innerspace
    Designed to create acoustic resonances, organic textures, and add unconventional ambiences to any input signal by super-imposing the characteristics of one sound onto another.
  • Pump-O-Matic
    Great for instantly adding dramatic movement to anything you put through it, this side-chaining effect lets you create anything from reverse swells and fast wobs, to twisted dynamic manipulations.
  • Pulsar Split
    Turns anything into a pulsing sound by splitting the signal into two assignable frequency bands and applying an independent pulse to each. Dial in unique Rates, Shapes, and Depths on each band to create evolving textures, multiband tremolos, and reverse pulses.

DELAY

  • Swiss Army Delay
    The most versatile delay in Omnisphere—capable of creating a wide variety of delay sounds—from clean ping-pong taps, Bucket-Brigade analog memories to funky tape echoes—it’s truly full of surprises. With LPF/HPF filtering regeneration, Drift, and Ducking, this powerhouse is an essential tool.
  • Magnetic Echo
    This meticulously modeled echo is modeled after the Binson Echorec, which was widely used by Pink Floyd. It can create anything from overdriven regenerations and dark echo taps, to dense reverb-like delay clouds. Arguably the vibiest delay in Omnisphere!
  • Backward Echo
    Combines a reverse buffer effect with an echo—perfect for shaping trippy, spaced-out tones and crafting the ultimate psychedelic vibe.
  • Refraction Delay
    This prismatic unit uses delays and inverted reverbs to transform your audio into rays of sound. Create anything from echo taps with a swelling aftermath to ethereal evolutions. Use the Inverse and Stretch controls to adjust the level and length of the soundbeams!
  • Chorus Echo
    Inspired by the classic Roland Chorus-Echo™ units from the 1970s. Features a modulated delay line that can be synced to the host tempo and includes a vintage chorus mode, as well as a “Dirt” switch.
  • Legacy BPM Delay
    A single, true-stereo delay unit that is always synchronized with the host tempo.
  • Legacy BPM Delay X3
    Triple L-C-R (left-center-right) mono delays that are always synchronized to the host tempo.
  • Legacy Radio Delay
    A dual-mono, BPM-style delay, with the delayed signals passed through Omnisphere’s Valve Radio distortion filter. Can be synced to the host tempo.
  • Legacy Retroplex
    Modeled after the tape echo units of the ’60s and ’70s such as the Echoplex™. Delays and Echos are selectable from the years 1960 through 2000!

REVERB

  • Super Verb
    Easy-to-use, killer-sounding and capable of quickly creating just about any kind of ambience, Super Verb is the most versatile ambience processor in Omnisphere. With a large selection of reverb types and accessible controls, you can dial in anything from warm rooms, lush plates, and rich halls, to shimmering textures.
  • Velvet Verb
    The most sophisticated reverb in Omnisphere, Velvet Verb shines at creating a wide variety of ambiences – from small spaces to lush, Lexicon®-style washes. Featuring two reverbs in series, it gives you a wide range of tone-shaping options, including a Dense mode for ultra-rich textures and a Vintage mode for extra warmth.
  • Solar Shimmer
    Based on a granular reverb, this unit is perfect for dialing in ethereal, shimmering textures. With independent control over coarse pitch and detuning, you can turn your audio into evolving waves of swelling reverbs, pristine, octave-shifted clouds, or thick, disturbing clusters.
  • Inversions
    Tapping into the experimental side of reverb design and is designed for exploring uncharted spaces. Combining a reverb, an inverse reverb, and a Flip module that reverses the audio, you can re-order the signal path, alternating between evolving swells and pulsing, reversed ambiences.
  • Spring Verb
    Faithfully recreates the classic vibe of the spring reverbs of early guitar amplifiers.
  • Legacy Pro-Verb
    Ambience controlled with surgical precision, Pro-Verb is the premier, studio-quality reverb unit in the Omnisphere FX arsenal. Extremely versatile, hi-res, and rich-sounding.
  • Legacy EZ-Verb
    A simple-to-use, basic reverb unit that uses less CPU power, and sounds great!

UTILITY

  • Imager
    A handy device that can be used as a stereo image widener, phase corrector, and more.

SONIC EXTENSIONS FX

  • Twisted Space
    A hybrid ambience processor based on over 100 natural element recordings made from animals, trees, streams, caves, and forests, as well as rich DSP algorithms.
  • Twisted Root
    A multi-band subsonic enhancer effect that adds massive girth, size, and sheen to any sound.
  • Sky Channel
    A Class-A channel strip based on the pristine modeling of highly sought-after vintage consoles.
  • Sky Verb
    The ideal processor for ambient soundscapes and scoring.
  • Unclean Channel
    Unique channel strip for adding wobbly pitch artifacts, tape saturation, radio filtering effects, and noises from all kinds of weird devices.
  • Unclean Verb
    This funky reverb is all about character and quirky, wobbly spaces.
  • Under Echo
    An extremely versatile pitch-shifted ambience processor.
  • Under Fire
    Modeled from rare analog devices for warm saturation, contoured crunch, and vicious distortion.

How many FX units can be used at one time?
It’s possible to have a huge number of simultaneous FX Units active at the same time in one instance of Omnisphere. Any of the FX Units can be put into one of the 4 slots in an Omnisphere FX Rack, plus the 5 Multi Racks. Up to 53 FX Racks can be open at once.

NOTES ON USING THE FX

  • Each FX Unit consumes different amounts of additional CPU power, so the number of simultaneous FX Units depends on the available CPU power of your computer. Some FX, like the Solar Shimmer, can use more CPU power, depending on the settings.
  • To maximize CPU performance in multi-timbral, LIVE, or STACK applications, it’s recommended to Bypass any Part FX Units which can be shared by other Parts (especially reverbs and delays). A good approach is to copy a Part FX Unit’s settings, bypass it and then paste the settings into a free Aux Rack for shared use by the multi-timbral Parts. In other words, the signal from multiple Parts can be sent to one FX unit. Think of a hardware recording console, where the signal from multiple channels is sent through one hardware reverb.
  • Some FX Units have two pages. The second page parameters can be reached by clicking the arrow on the right side of the plug-in. Usually, it’s labeled “MORE” or indicates the parameters found on the second page.
  • You can also use external third-party FX plug-ins with Omnisphere by utilizing the multiple outputs feature of Omnisphere with your host.

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