Omnisphere 3 Hardware Guide

Setting Up The MPD226

When using the Akai MPD226 to control Omnisphere, the knobs on the MPD226 are assigned to the following Omnisphere parameters:

  • Knob 1 (CC#03) – Global Controls Cutoff
  • Knob 2 (CC#09) – Global Controls Resonance
  • Knob 3 (CC#14) – Global Controls Filter Envelope Amount
  • Knob 4 (CC#15) – Global Controls Vibrato Depth
  • Slider 1 (CC#20) – Global Controls Ambience Amount
  • Slider 2 (CC#21) – Global Controls Ambience Length
  • Slider 3 (CC#22) – Global Controls Unison
  • Slider 4 (CC#23) – Global Controls Glide

Setup

To control Omnisphere using the MPD226, you’ll need to do the following:

  1. Connect the MPD226 to your computer via USB.
  2. Set up the MPD226 to control Omnisphere.
  3. Enable the MPD226 as a MIDI input device in the host software you’re using (DAW, Standalone, etc.).
  4. Activate the MPD226 Hardware Profile in Omnisphere 3 or later.

MPD226 SETUP

Omnisphere relies on the factory default settings of Preset 1 on the MPD226 for external control. Typically, Preset 1 is active by default when the MPD226 is turned ON.

  • If needed, you can quickly activate Preset 1 by pressing the the [PRESET] button on the MPD226 and then use the [Data Dial] knob to scroll through the available presets until Preset 01 “Generic” is shown on the screen. Press down on the [Data Dial] knob to activate the preset.

HOST CONNECTION

  • Open your host (DAW, Standalone, etc.) and make sure the MPD226 is enabled as a MIDI input device.

OMNISPHERE SETUP

  • Open Omnisphere and from the header, select the HW menu button.
  • From the drop-down menu, select “Akai > Akai MPD226” to activate the MPD226 hardware profile.

TROUBLESHOOTING

Not working? Here are some things to try:

  • Is your DAW receiving MIDI from the MPD226?
  • Make sure your DAW is configured to correctly route the MIDI output of the MPD226 to the MIDI channel assigned to the desired part in Omnisphere.
  • If you are using the Omnisphere standalone host, make sure the MIDI output channel of the MPD226 matches the MIDI channel of the Omnisphere Part you want to control.
  • Are the knobs on the MPD226 sending the correct MIDI CC messages? A simple way to check this is by using MIDI Monitor by Snoize or recording knob movement in your DAW. See the list at the top of the page for the correct MIDI CC#s.

NOTE: If you need to change the MIDI CC#s of the knobs on the MPD226, you’ll need to use the Akai Professional MPD226 Editor application to either restore Preset 1 or manually reconfigure the preset to match the MIDI CC#s listed above.

SUPPORT

Still not working? More questions?

Feel free to contact us directly and we can work with you:

Tech Support
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email: info@spectrasonics.net