SYSTEM

The System page in Omnisphere is a universal control area that governs how Omnisphere’ssounds are streamed, set some user defaults and configures the modulation controls.

SYSTEM ­ Memory Management

The Sample Memory Menu allows you to manually limit the amount of virtual memoryOmnisphere can use for Sample Memory.

The default is ‘Process limit’. To disable memory limit alerts, use ‘No limit on Sample Memory’instead.

Selecting a value from the drop­down menu sets the maximum amount of virtual memoryOmnisphere will have available to use.

Using the up­down steppers will step through the available values

NOTE: Omnisphere Soundsources can require a great deal of memory. When limitingthe amount of memory available to Omnisphere, it is a good idea to also apply SampleThinning using the Patch Browser Lite Version feature, or the thinning options on theSoundsource Zoom Edit View.

Memory Meter

The Memory Meter displays the amount of memory currently in use by Omnisphere, along withthe remaining available memory. This display mirrors the Memory Gauge found on the BrowserPages.

NOTE: When Server Mode (Mac only) is enabled, the Sample Memory Menu will show"No limit on Sample Memory”. This is correct for Server Mode. The Memory Meter willalways display “Memory used 0 mb”, but will continue to display your remainingavailable memory.

SYSTEM ­ Streaming

The first column contains controls for the streaming function in Omnisphere. Streaming permitssamples to largely reside on disk. In this way you can use large samples with a relatively smallamount of memory.

Streaming Mode

Streaming Mode engages or disengages disc streaming in Omnisphere. If you disable discstreaming by selecting "Not Streamed" your sounds will take longer to load, take up more RAM,and Omnisphere will warn you with a message:

When using Omnisphere on a PC it's recommended to leave Mode set to "Streamed" unless youknow what you are doing (e.g. have lots of physical memory) or need to disable hard drivestreaming.

On Mac's there is an additional mode called "Server", which is short for Sample File Server.Please refer to the Sample File Server page for more details.

NOTE: On the Mac version of Omnisphere, Server is enabled by default. Do not change it to"Streamed" unless directed to by Spectrasonics support.

Pre­Load Memory Size

Determines how much memory is devoted to sample pre­load. The higher the settings, the lesslikely that glitches will occur due to streaming problems. However, turning it up requires morememory and will increase the load time for Soundsources.

Recommended values are between 22,000 to 66,000, with 60,000 as the standard defaultvalue. If patches make use Timbre or Sample­Start, this parameter might need to be raisedover 40,000.

NOTE ­ Soundsources must be reloaded when changing this parameter before the new valuewill take effect.

Range ­ 1000 samples to 100,000 samples

Num Bytes Per Read

Determines the size of each read of sample data. Increasing this setting improves performancewhen working with a small number of large samples. The recommended setting is around150,000. This parameter is generally not as important as the Pre­Load Memory Size. Valuessmaller than 100,000 should be avoided.

Range ­ 1000 Bytes to 480,000 Bytes

Lock Memory

Determines if RAM is dedicated to holding the Pre­Load memory. Lock Memory should be kepton except for rare cases where RAM is unavailable for this purpose (such as running manylarge applications simultaneously.) Soundsources must be reloaded when changing thisparameter before it will take effect.

Stream Read­Ahead

This switch increases low­level disc read­ahead so fewer physical disc head movements areneeded to perform several consecutive read actions. Since Stream Read­Ahead improvesefficiency in almost all situations it should be left on.

Stream Brake

The control balances system resources between streaming and other operations. This is thesecond most important streaming parameter, after the Pre­Load Memory Size. It shouldgenerally be set to a moderate value around 0.1. Values above 0.5 may lead to streamingglitches due to deferring streaming reads in order to give priority to other processingoperations in the application. Turning it down to zero may cause glitches in other operationsdue to the streaming monopolizing the CPU. There is a relationship between this parameter andthe Num Bytes Per Read parameter. When that parameter is turned up, this parameter shouldgenerally also be turned up.

Range ­ 0.00 seconds to 1.00 seconds

Stream Display

Left number ­ The number of streams in progress. Should normally be zero, but should flashtemporarily to a non­zero number when a note is started. If it stays non­zero for severalseconds, that may be a problem, and so reducing the Brake (or increasing the PreLoad) wouldbe recommended.

Middle number ­ The number of notes in progress. Should be zero when no notes are playing.May be a 2x or 4x multiple of the number of notes when doing velocity cross fading, or whenthere are multiple layers.

Right number ­ The number of samples that are "pre loaded" (including all voices in all parts).Should go up and down as various SoundSources are loaded. It may "lag" a bit behind loadactions, which is normal.

Right number in parenthesis ­ number of samples loaded in "Streaming = OFF " mode.Should always be zero unless Streaming is turned off. An error is indicated by the streamingstatus display at the bottom of the left column on the system page when you see two numbersat the end of the display;

SYSTEM ­ Sample File Server

On the Mac version of Omnisphere, the Streaming Switch is replaced by the Mode menu, andprovides an additional Server mode for loading sample data.

NOTE: The Server mode only works on Mac, so you wont see the Mode menu onWindows. On Windows, use a 64­bit host instead.

Server mode is a way of solving the "out of memory" problem that can happen when usinglarge sample sets with 32­bit hosts and is an alternative to using 64­bit hosts. The Server modeshould be used when you are running a 32­bit host on Mac, and you are loading large samples.If you are running a Mac 64­bit host (such as Logic 9.1 or higher), it is not necessary to enableServer mode.

NOTE: The Sample File Server uses physical RAM to load samples, and a minimum of6GB of RAM is recommended when using Server Mode, especially when loading largerKeyswitch Multis.

The Streaming Mode Menu contains three items: Streamed, Not Streamed, and Server.Streamed and Not Streamed enable and disable Streaming. Select the Server option to enablethe Sample File Server.

When Server is enabled, a new system process is created (in addition to the host process)called SpectrasonicsServer. It will appear in the Mac Activity Monitor. Omnisphere starts andstops that process automatically, so you should never have to worry about it.

NOTE: Server mode uses streaming internally, so the remaining stream­related controlsin the Streaming section are still applied and useful when in Server mode.

SYSTEM ­ Miscellaneous Introduction

This area determines the settings for master tuning, the instrument’s startup page andpreferences for how the Layers behave in the interface.

Startup Page Preference

Omnisphere’s default startup page is the Main Page. This menu allows you to select from eitherthe Orb, Visualizer, Info, Controls or Edit page as the default.

Startup Directory Preference

From this menu it is possible to select the Patch directory that will be selected on startup. It ispossible to specify Spectrasonics, User or third­party libraries.

From this menu it is possible to select the Patch directory that is loaded at startup. Here youcan specify and limit the startup directory to choices such as "All," "All Spectrasonics,""Projects," "User," any of the Satellite Instruments and Legacy Libraries, as well as any of yourthird­party libraries.

For example, the "All Spectrasonics" option allows you to browse only Spectrasonics Patches,including those from a Satellite Instrument like Trilian, and omits any User and third­partysounds.

The "Auto Recall" option is designed for live use, loading a set of preselected Patches andBrowser filters at startup. Having the Browser Filters loaded on startup is particularly usefulwhen browsing from Omni TR, as each part will display a list of pre­filtered sounds – ready forimmediate remote browsing.

Switch To Layer Upon Activation Preference

The Layer MIX sliders on the footer of the LAYER PAGES have activation buttons. If Switch ToLayer Upon Activation is set to “ON”, then whenever you turn on a Layer, it will automaticallyswitch the EDIT page’s view to that Layer.

For example, if Layer A is activated, but Layer B is not, and you select the Layer B activationbutton, the view will switch to Layer B.

This is the default behavior and the way that Atmosphere worked. If you prefer to not havethe automatic Layer switching, you can turn that behavior off here.

If Switch To Layer Upon Activation is off, then Layer activation will not cause the Layer page tochange to the activated Layer.

Sync Tabbed Panes Together

When enabled, this function will ensure that when you change from one Part to a different Part,the view will be the same.

For example, if Part1 has the FX page selected, and then Part2 is selected, it will also displaythe FX page. If Sync Tabbed Panes Together is disabled, then the views will not synchronize –they’ll change depending what Part you are on.

Round Robin

Repeated notes on a sample­based instrument can typically cause a “machine gun” effect, withnotes repeating monotonously. Round Robin is a sampling technique that allows a repeatednote to trigger a different sampled "take" each time it’s played. This makes repeated notessound very natural, and eliminates the machine gun effect.

Some Soundsources include multi­sampled Round Robin samples, which means we recordedmultiple takes for each note and velocity. In fact, a single Soundsource can contain a hugenumber of Round Robin samples! This is particularly true for Trilian basses. If you are loadingTrilian sounds into Omnisphere using Omnisphere Library Integration, this setting can beespecially useful.

The Round Robin Menu lets you select how Round Robin samples will be ordered when two ormore Round Robin samples are loaded into memory.

There are four playback options available on the drop­down menu: No Variation, Random,Random Full Cycle, and Sequential.

NOTE: The Sample Thinning settings located in the Patch Browser’s Soundsource Zoomdetermine how many Round Robin samples are loaded with the Patch or Soundsource.

Accept Omni TR Connections

Enabling this option allows Omnisphere to communicate with the Omni TR iPad app. WhenAccept Omni TR Connections is enabled, Omni TR will be able to automatically connect toOmnisphere when launched.

For complete instructions on setting up Omni TR, please visit our website at:http://www.spectrasonics.net/omni_tr_app/

SYSTEM ­ Modulation

The MODULATION assignments section allows you to override and remap the standard MIDImessages used the Modulation Matrix sources in Omnisphere. Simply select the drop­downmenu next to one of the fourteen modulation types and a pop up will appear that says “MoveMIDI Controller”. Then on your MIDI controller move the knob, slider or wheel that you wish touse to remap to that Modulation source.

The ‘User CC’ Modulation source is particularly useful for adding an additional, non­standardMIDI Controller into the Omnisphere Modulation Matrix ­ without disrupting any of the standardassignments.

SYSTEM ­ MIDI Controller

The choices for MIDI modulation source in Omnisphere include a variety of standard MIDIcontrollers such as Wheel, Expression, Soft Pedal, etc. You can use these options on theSystem Page to map those sources to other MIDI controls. This can be useful if you don't havea particular physical controller such as an Expression Pedal. For example, if you map Wheel toBreath Control, you can use a Breath Controller in any patches that use the Wheel as amodulation source.

To re­map any of these controllers, select a menu in the MODULATION column and move thecontroller that you want to assign to modulation type.

NOTE: The remapped control will only be visible on the System Page. In the Modulation Matrixand Modulation Source menu of the Edit Page the original Modulation Source name will beshown. For this reason, it’s recommended to use the ‘User CC’ source, since that’s not used inany factory patches.

SYSTEM ­ Master Tuning

This is Omnisphere’s global tuning parameter. That means any tuning change you make onMASTER TUNING will affect any other tuning settings in the instrument. The default is 440Hz,which is the standard for most Western music. For other tuning standards, Omnisphere’smaster pitch can be changed to accommodate any of them.

Range ­ 420Hz­460Hz