this new update is AMAZING

powerful sounds, amazing effects.. imo starting to think it sounds better than usual suspects virus ti
some patches are very cool for electronic music
the new library is great

 

lovely post Kate, here are some flowers for you

Spoiler: more

 

Last edited: Nov 4, 2025

I tried the new Omnisphere (as I've tried the previous ones), and from a sound design perspective a lot of the sounds are just beautiful, no doubt about that.

But... I personally find OS a tad overwhelming. There's just too much happening and the presets are just too thick. If I wanted to fit these into a mix, be it tunes or a video soundtrack there would be a lot of thinning to do to make them fit.

Still, it's a great piece of software but it's just not for me. But I imagine for Omnisphere fans it's Christmas come early now and next Xmas too!

 

So far, I'm loving it. My only gripe is the omission of the custom "default folder", though the "auto recall" option is rather handy... CPU usage is fairly reasonable, with no audible artifacting. It tops at around and a hair over 30 percent on my i5 iMac, but tends to stay around the 10-20% rage when the preset isn't too demanding! It's kind of like a new car (without the dramatically different redesign, it looks very familiar, the interior looks sleeker, has more bells and whistles, but what's under the hood is what REALLY blows you away. I applaud Spectrasonics, once again!

Edit: Upon further investigation, and yes, it's a new release but some patches do begin to distort badly... Not sure if it's to do with the CPU, because the CPU readings seem to be in a safer range... And the "auto-play" audition feature likes to sustain notes instead of giving me a single 'blip' note in O2. Dunno if that's a bug. Otherwise, this is an excellent start! Really loving the introduction of semi-obscure synths!

 

Last edited: Nov 4, 2025

I noticed that the part volumes are redlining on many many patches, it was definitely not your cpu, check your "Main" tab on the patch and turn the volume down on that if you see red. Definitely looks to be a bug. For now I just turn it down if the patch is too hot.

 

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Last edited: Nov 6, 2025

On cubase that would not work as the vst2 and vst3 share the same plugin ID. Also between omni 2 and 3. Cubase will only show one. But here V3 seems to load old v2 projects fine. Anddddd both will use the same steam folder anyway and they can't load each others library.

 

What about launching one inside Patchwork, Komplete Kontrol or Maschine kinds of wrappers? The library thing would probably not pose a problem on 2 external drives, right? You'd install one, symlink it so that version does not even look to drive 2, then install the other copy and symlink it to the other drive. That way it gets called up by the different volume names with no conflict.

 

Is that why the audio goes berserk and turns into a buzzing, crunching mess? I could've sworn it was something to do with the CPU. Thank you.

 

yes it is, the synth works and sounds beautiful if you are willing to forgive some patches having their part/main outputs about 6db too loud.

 

BTW not going to mention where, but the MacOS version of OS3 just dropped...

 

might you dm me? its not the sister. thats really the only place i frequent.

 

Spectrasonics Omnisphere 3 v3.0.0-TCD || TCD | 11.2025 | 45 MB
Spectrasonics Omnisphere 3 STEAM Core Library || AudioZ | 02 November 2025 | 56.7 GB

Spectrasonics forces you to use version 3; you simply have to overwrite the STEAM or Omnisphere folder.

Using both versions in parallel? That's not possible and isn't supported. The installer overwrites the old version to avoid conflicts (e.g., with VST/AU plugins). If you absolutely need to keep the old version (e.g., for compatibility testing), you could back it up manually and uninstall it, but this is risky and unnecessary.

Spectrasonics Omnisphere v3 Core Library [STEAM] --> (59 WinRar Files) --> Unpacked = 56,7 GB

The New Version 3 "STEAM" subfolder "Omnisphere" looks like this:

Defaults 3.89 MB
Documentation 37.6 KB
Settings Library 2.55 GB
Omnisphere 56.7 GB
Soundsources 51.6 GB
Wavetables 2.51 GB

These numbers aren't 100% accurate because I also have my own sound banks installed.

- First, manually delete the old version 2 "Omnisphere VST3" in C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3.
- You will find the new installation of version 3 in: C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\Spectrasonics

 

Last edited: Nov 5, 2025

1) My guess is they are all contained in "Core Soundsources" which has been reorganized so each source has it's own .db file (vs. combined) but the existing filenames are left as dummy placeholders for compatibility reasons.

Waveforms has also changed. Everything is in ~BundleArchives.db, but ~BundleArchives.db2 (added in 2.5?) is left as 0 bytes too.
~BundleArchives.db had an XML <fileSystem> with byte offsets to the waveform data in Omni2, but that's gone in Omni3 so I think it handles that internally now.

2) There is no setting in the UI (likely buried in the registry or xml somewhere). You have to move the folder, then it will bark at you to locate it when it's missing.

 

And Omnisphere v4 will get a completely new and user friendly directory-category-preset-manager (hope so..)!
I find it actually absolutely terrible. The directory selection menu is so outdated and uncomfortable! Also no good favorites view.