WAVETABLE MENU
Click the down-arrow to the left of the Waveform display to reveal a drop-down menu listing Omnisphere’s DSP wavetables.
ANALOG
The ANALOG control allows inconsistency to be introduced into the pitch and phase of the oscillator, which makes Omnisphere behave more like a vintage analog instrument. When the ANALOG control is set to 40% or lower, it destabilizes the phase of the oscillator. At values higher than 40% it will also destabilize the pitch. As the control is increased past 75% the Pitch will become heavily detuned.
PHASE
The PHASE control will only have an audible effect when it is heard combined with another layer, as phase changes can only be perceived in relation to another audio signal. The best way to understand the PHASE control is to set up a SYNTH sound on Layer A (with the ANALOG control to zero). Then, from the UTILITY menu select the Copy Layer option and select Layer B and select the Paste Layer option from the UTILITY menu. With two identical Oscillator Layers, changes in the Phase can easily be heard.
If the PHASE control is at minimum, then the Oscillator will be triggered at the start of the waveform. As the value is increased, the point in the waveform where the Oscillator will be triggered will be moved and it will be out-of-phase with the other Layer. When the horizontal slider is set to maximum, it will be 180° out-of-phase with the other Layer’s Oscillator.
Many interesting composite waveforms can be created with the PHASE control this way, and this technique is particularly useful for Synth Bass sounds.
DRIFT
DRIFT simulates the pitch movement that occurs naturally in analog synthesizers.
SHAPE
The SHAPE control is unique to the SYNTH Oscillator in Omnisphere. Moving this slider sweeps through the waveforms on the selected wavetable, and depending on the wavetable, can create subtle or dramatic changes. The waveform display will dynamically change as the slider is moved. SHAPE is modulatable.
NOTE: For the NOISE waveform only, SHAPE becomes a complex filter control, which varies from White Noise (all frequencies) at the minimum setting, to Pink Noise (exponentially-reduced high frequencies) at the maximum setting.
SYMMETRY
SYMMETRY varies the span of the waveform and is most commonly used for Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM). This is especially useful when SYMMETRY is used as a Modulation Target, as it adds shifting tone color and movement to the sound. The waveform display will dynamically change the Waveshape as the slider is moved.
NOTE: For the NOISE waveform only, the SYMMETRY slider acts as a morphing filter that sweeps through four different types of filters. Starting at the minimum setting with lowpass to a notch filter, then to a highpass and finally to bandpass at maximum setting.
HARD SYNC
Hard Sync was a feature on some analog synthesizers which gave the timbre a “throaty” diphthong type of sonic characteristic when swept. Hard Sync was popularized on synthesizers like the Prophet 5 and the early Oberheim synthesizers for a more metallic and aggressive timbre, and is especially useful for lead sounds. Hard Sync is achieved by using two oscillators, one which is the “master” and the other the “slave.” The slave is forced to restart its waveform when hard-synced with the master oscillator and the master controls the pitch. Any changes in the slave oscillator’s pitch will not change the pitch of the master—they change the overtones and harmonic structure instead.
In the past, an oscillator would need to be sacrificed to get the hard-sync effect, but Omnisphere has a hidden, dedicated oscillator just for hard-sync. The Hard-Sync Oscillator becomes the slave and the Oscillator’s waveform is the master. The waveform display will dynamically change the waveshape as the HARD SYNC slider is moved. HARD SYNC is modulatable.
NOTE: For the NOISE waveform only, HARD SYNC control acts as a stereo width control that is mono at the minimum setting and gradually spreads the noise into both right and left channels towards the maximum setting.
Range 0.0 to 1.0
START FADE
These are mode switches that control the shape of the start point and the duration of the fade-in. This can be useful for eliminating clicks that might happen depending on the Wavetable and the setting of SHAPE, SYMMETRY, and HARD SYNC.
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