What is a Hardware Profile?

Omnisphere Hardware Profiles convert the supported MIDI devices into hands-on controllers for Omnisphere. When a Hardware Profile is loaded, Omnisphere is instantly linked to that hardware device. By translating MIDI messages from the hardware, you can trigger sophisticated interactions from a single touch of a knob, having Omnisphere automatically switch to the correct interface page. Depending on the device, you may be controlling Global Controls, recalling FX units, moving multiple scaled parameters, and even creating complex modulation matrix routings on the fly.

Profiles for MIDI Controllers

When creating Hardware Profiles for MIDI controllers, we tried to achieve a balance between efficiency and ease of use. For most devices, we found that utilizing the default settings of the first bank of controls provides a concise layout that is easy to memorize and offers quick control over the most useful Omnisphere parameters, with no page/bank switching and minimal setup.

Profiles for Hardware Synthesizers

When creating Hardware Profiles for synthesizers, we make decisions that balance faithfulness to the synth’s operation with creative use of its panel to maximize Omnisphere’s power. For instance, the Moog Sub 37 lacks Unison and effects, so we repurposed controls on the Sub 37’s panel to control Omnisphere’s Unison and FX send. The Moog Voyager is a classic monophonic synth, but by using a control on its panel, you can switch between playing Omnisphere monophonically or polyphonically. You can even use the Voyager’s Touch Surface to control Omnisphere’s Orb for radical sound manipulations not possible in the Voyager.

This process required us to develop many features to adapt Omnisphere to operate like hardware synths. These range from adding a Shared Signal Path, to creating State Variable Filter types for use with the OB-6. We even added over 100 new Wavetables modeled after some of the supported hardware synths, and for some models, we created patches specifically tailored to that device. Hardware Profiles not only allow you to control Omnisphere but also permit Omnisphere to capture a surprising amount of the sonic character of the hardware.