Omnisphere 3 Hardware Guide

Setting Up the PC4-7

When using the Kurzweil PC4-7 to control Omnisphere, the knobs on the PC4-7 will be assigned to the following Omnisphere parameters:

  • Knob 1 (CC#71) – Global Controls Cutoff
  • Knob 2 (CC#73) – Global Controls Resonance
  • Knob 3 (CC#72) – Global Controls Amp and Filter Envelope Attack
  • Knob 4 (CC#79) – Global Controls Amp and Filter Envelope Release
  • Knob 5 (CC#14) – Global Controls Vibrato Depth
  • Knob 6 (CC#17) – Global Controls Unison
  • Knob 7 (CC#18) – Global Controls Glide
  • Knob 8 (CC#03) – Global Controls Ambience Amount
  • Knob 9 (CC#09) – Global Controls Ambience Length

Although Omnisphere relies on certain default factory settings of the PC4-7, it is necessary to go through a short setup process to ensure the best experience. There are many ways for the PC4-7 to control external gear, but we recommend following the steps below to get you started controlling Omnisphere.

Setup

To control Omnisphere using the PC4-7, you’ll need to do the following:

  1. Connect the PC4-7 to your computer via USB.
  2. Set up the PC4-7 to control Omnisphere.
  3. Enable the PC4-7 as a MIDI input device in the host software you’re using (DAW, Standalone, etc.).
  4. Activate the PC4-7 Hardware Profile in Omnisphere 3 or later.

PC4-7 SETUP

The PC4-7 is primarily designed to control its internal sounds, so we’ll guide you through the process to modify the “PC4-7 Control” Multi template that will be used to control Omnisphere.

First, let’s enable Multi Mode on the PC4-7 and load the Multi template:

  • Press the [MULTI] button and then load Multi #2046 “PC4-7 Control.”

Next, load an empty Zone that will be used to send MIDI to Omnisphere:

  • Go to the “Overview” page, press [EDIT], and change set the program for Zone 1 to “0 None.”

Now, configure the PC4-7 to send MIDI via USB:

  • Select the “Main” page and set the “Destination” to “USB” and switch “EntryProgChng” to “OFF.”

NOTE: By default, selecting a Zone on the PC4-7 will send a MIDI Program Change message. This is useful if you’d like to MIDI Program Learn a specific Patch or Multi within Omnisphere to load when you select the Zone. If you’d like to use this feature then you can set “EntryProgChng” to “ON.”

Activate MIDI CC Mode for all nine knobs on the PC4-7:

  • Select the “Controls” page, then scroll through and select each of the nine knobs one at a time to make sure “MODE” is set to “MIDI CC.” While you’re enabling MIDI CC mode for each knob, make sure the “Destination” of each knob is set to the MIDI CC#s listed at the top of the page.
  • Lastly, press [SAVE] and name this Multi on the PC4-7 so you can load this Multi whenever you’d like to control Omnisphere.

HOST CONNECTION

  • Open your host (DAW, Standalone, etc.) and make sure the PC4-7 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 “Kurzweil > Kurzweil PC4-7” to activate the PC4-7 hardware profile.

TROUBLESHOOTING

Not working? Here are some things to try:

  • Is your DAW receiving MIDI from the PC4-7?
  • Make sure your DAW is configured to correctly route the MIDI output of the PC4-7 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 Zone 1 on the PC4-7 matches the MIDI channel of the Omnisphere Part you want to control.

SUPPORT

Still not working? More questions?

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

Tech Support
888-870-4223 toll free
818-955-8444
Monday – Friday 10AM – 5PM Pacific Time

email: info@spectrasonics.net