SYSTEM

TheSystempageinOmnisphereisauniversalcontrolareathatgovernshowOmnispheres
soundsarestreamed,setsomeuserdefaultsandconfiguresthemodulationcontrols.

SYSTEMMemoryManagement

TheSampleMemoryMenuallowsyoutomanuallylimittheamountofvirtualmemory
OmnispherecanuseforSampleMemory.
ThedefaultisProcesslimit.Todisablememorylimitalerts,useNolimitonSampleMemory
instead.

Selectingavaluefromthedropdownmenusetsthemaximumamountofvirtualmemory
Omnispherewillhaveavailabletouse.
Usingtheupdownstepperswillstepthroughtheavailablevalues

NOTE:OmnisphereSoundsourcescanrequireagreatdealofmemory.Whenlimiting
theamountofmemoryavailabletoOmnisphere,itisagoodideatoalsoapplySample
ThinningusingthePatchBrowserLiteVersionfeature,orthethinningoptionsonthe
SoundsourceZoomEditView.

MemoryMeter
TheMemoryMeterdisplaystheamountofmemorycurrentlyinusebyOmnisphere,alongwith
theremainingavailablememory.ThisdisplaymirrorstheMemoryGaugefoundontheBrowser
Pages.


NOTE:WhenServerMode(Maconly)isenabled,theSampleMemoryMenuwillshow
"NolimitonSampleMemory.ThisiscorrectforServerMode.TheMemoryMeterwill
alwaysdisplayMemoryused0mb,butwillcontinuetodisplayyourremaining
availablememory.

SYSTEMStreaming

ThefirstcolumncontainscontrolsforthestreamingfunctioninOmnisphere.Streamingpermits
samplestolargelyresideondisk.Inthiswayyoucanuselargesampleswitharelativelysmall
amountofmemory.

StreamingMode

StreamingModeengagesordisengagesdiscstreaminginOmnisphere.Ifyoudisabledisc
streamingbyselecting"NotStreamed"yoursoundswilltakelongertoload,takeupmoreRAM,
andOmnispherewillwarnyouwithamessage:

WhenusingOmnisphereonaPCit'srecommendedtoleaveModesetto"Streamed"unlessyou
knowwhatyouaredoing(e.g.havelotsofphysicalmemory)orneedtodisableharddrive
streaming.
OnMac'sthereisanadditionalmodecalled"Server",whichisshortforSampleFileServer.
PleaserefertotheSampleFileServerpageformoredetails.

NOTE:OntheMacversionofOmnisphere,Serverisenabledbydefault.Donotchangeitto
"Streamed"unlessdirectedtobySpectrasonicssupport.

PreLoadMemorySize

Determineshowmuchmemoryisdevotedtosamplepreload.Thehigherthesettings,theless
likelythatglitcheswilloccurduetostreamingproblems.However,turningituprequiresmore
memoryandwillincreasetheloadtimeforSoundsources.
Recommendedvaluesarebetween22,000to66,000,with60,000asthestandarddefault
value.IfpatchesmakeuseTimbreorSampleStart,thisparametermightneedtoberaised
over40,000.

NOTESoundsourcesmustbereloadedwhenchangingthisparameterbeforethenewvalue
willtakeeffect.

Range1000samplesto100,000samples


NumBytesPerRead

Determinesthesizeofeachreadofsampledata.Increasingthissettingimprovesperformance
whenworkingwithasmallnumberoflargesamples.Therecommendedsettingisaround
150,000.ThisparameterisgenerallynotasimportantasthePreLoadMemorySize.Values
smallerthan100,000shouldbeavoided.
Range1000Bytesto480,000Bytes

LockMemory

DeterminesifRAMisdedicatedtoholdingthePreLoadmemory.LockMemoryshouldbekept
onexceptforrarecaseswhereRAMisunavailableforthispurpose(suchasrunningmany
largeapplicationssimultaneously.)Soundsourcesmustbereloadedwhenchangingthis
parameterbeforeitwilltakeeffect.

StreamReadAhead

Thisswitchincreaseslowleveldiscreadaheadsofewerphysicaldischeadmovementsare
neededtoperformseveralconsecutivereadactions.SinceStreamReadAheadimproves
efficiencyinalmostallsituationsitshouldbelefton.

StreamBrake

Thecontrolbalancessystemresourcesbetweenstreamingandotheroperations.Thisisthe
secondmostimportantstreamingparameter,afterthePreLoadMemorySize.Itshould
generallybesettoamoderatevaluearound0.1.Valuesabove0.5mayleadtostreaming
glitchesduetodeferringstreamingreadsinordertogiveprioritytootherprocessing
operationsintheapplication.Turningitdowntozeromaycauseglitchesinotheroperations
duetothestreamingmonopolizingtheCPU.Thereisarelationshipbetweenthisparameterand
theNumBytesPerReadparameter.Whenthatparameteristurnedup,thisparametershould
generallyalsobeturnedup.
Range0.00secondsto1.00seconds

StreamDisplay


LeftnumberThenumberofstreamsinprogress.Shouldnormallybezero,butshouldflash
temporarilytoanonzeronumberwhenanoteisstarted.Ifitstaysnonzeroforseveral
seconds,thatmaybeaproblem,andsoreducingtheBrake(orincreasingthePreLoad)would
berecommended.
MiddlenumberThenumberofnotesinprogress.Shouldbezerowhennonotesareplaying.
Maybea2xor4xmultipleofthenumberofnoteswhendoingvelocitycrossfading,orwhen
therearemultiplelayers.
RightnumberThenumberofsamplesthatare"preloaded"(includingallvoicesinallparts).
ShouldgoupanddownasvariousSoundSourcesareloaded.Itmay"lag"abitbehindload
actions,whichisnormal.
Rightnumberinparenthesisnumberofsamplesloadedin"Streaming=OFF"mode.
ShouldalwaysbezerounlessStreamingisturnedoff.Anerrorisindicatedbythestreaming
statusdisplayatthebottomoftheleftcolumnonthesystempagewhenyouseetwonumbers
attheendofthedisplay

SYSTEMSampleFileServer

OntheMacversionofOmnisphere,theStreamingSwitchisreplacedbytheModemenu,and
providesanadditionalServermodeforloadingsampledata.

NOTE:TheServermodeonlyworksonMac,soyouwontseetheModemenuon
Windows.OnWindows,usea64bithostinstead.

Servermodeisawayofsolvingthe"outofmemory"problemthatcanhappenwhenusing
largesamplesetswith32bithostsandisanalternativetousing64bithosts.TheServermode
shouldbeusedwhenyouarerunninga32bithostonMac,andyouareloadinglargesamples.
IfyouarerunningaMac64bithost(suchasLogic9.1orhigher),itisnotnecessarytoenable
Servermode.

NOTE:TheSampleFileServerusesphysicalRAMtoloadsamples,andaminimumof
6GBofRAMisrecommendedwhenusingServerMode,especiallywhenloadinglarger
KeyswitchMultis.

TheStreamingModeMenucontainsthreeitems:Streamed,NotStreamed,andServer.
StreamedandNotStreamedenableanddisableStreaming.SelecttheServeroptiontoenable
theSampleFileServer.

WhenServerisenabled,anewsystemprocessiscreated(inadditiontothehostprocess)
calledSpectrasonicsServer.ItwillappearintheMacActivityMonitor.Omnispherestartsand
stopsthatprocessautomatically,soyoushouldneverhavetoworryaboutit.

NOTE:Servermodeusesstreaminginternally,sotheremainingstreamrelatedcontrols
intheStreamingsectionarestillappliedandusefulwheninServermode.

SYSTEMMiscellaneousIntroduction

Thisareadeterminesthesettingsformastertuning,theinstrumentsstartuppageand
preferencesforhowtheLayersbehaveintheinterface.

StartupPagePreference

OmnispheresdefaultstartuppageistheMainPage.Thismenuallowsyoutoselectfromeither
theOrb,Visualizer,Info,ControlsorEditpageasthedefault.

StartupDirectoryPreference


FromthismenuitispossibletoselectthePatchdirectorythatwillbeselectedonstartup.Itis
possibletospecifySpectrasonics,Userorthirdpartylibraries.
FromthismenuitispossibletoselectthePatchdirectorythatisloadedatstartup.Hereyou
canspecifyandlimitthestartupdirectorytochoicessuchas"All,""AllSpectrasonics,"
"Projects,""User,"anyoftheSatelliteInstrumentsandLegacyLibraries,aswellasanyofyour
thirdpartylibraries.
Forexample,the"AllSpectrasonics"optionallowsyoutobrowseonlySpectrasonicsPatches,
includingthosefromaSatelliteInstrumentlikeTrilian,andomitsanyUserandthirdparty
sounds.
The"AutoRecall"optionisdesignedforliveuse,loadingasetofpreselectedPatchesand
Browserfiltersatstartup.HavingtheBrowserFiltersloadedonstartupisparticularlyuseful
whenbrowsingfromOmniTR,aseachpartwilldisplayalistofprefilteredsoundsreadyfor
immediateremotebrowsing.

SwitchToLayerUponActivationPreference

TheLayerMIXslidersonthefooteroftheLAYERPAGEShaveactivationbuttons.IfSwitchTo
LayerUponActivationissettoON,thenwheneveryouturnonaLayer,itwillautomatically
switchtheEDITpagesviewtothatLayer.


Forexample,ifLayerAisactivated,butLayerBisnot,andyouselecttheLayerBactivation
button,theviewwillswitchtoLayerB.
ThisisthedefaultbehaviorandthewaythatAtmosphereworked.Ifyouprefertonothave
theautomaticLayerswitching,youcanturnthatbehavioroffhere.
IfSwitchToLayerUponActivationisoff,thenLayeractivationwillnotcausetheLayerpageto
changetotheactivatedLayer.

SyncTabbedPanesTogether

Whenenabled,thisfunctionwillensurethatwhenyouchangefromoneParttoadifferentPart,
theviewwillbethesame.
Forexample,ifPart1hastheFXpageselected,andthenPart2isselected,itwillalsodisplay
theFXpage.IfSyncTabbedPanesTogetherisdisabled,thentheviewswillnotsynchronize
theyllchangedependingwhatPartyouareon.

RoundRobin

Repeatednotesonasamplebasedinstrumentcantypicallycauseamachineguneffect,with
notesrepeatingmonotonously.RoundRobinisasamplingtechniquethatallowsarepeated
notetotriggeradifferentsampled"take"eachtimeitsplayed.Thismakesrepeatednotes
soundverynatural,andeliminatesthemachineguneffect.
SomeSoundsourcesincludemultisampledRoundRobinsamples,whichmeanswerecorded
multipletakesforeachnoteandvelocity.Infact,asingleSoundsourcecancontainahuge
numberofRoundRobinsamples!ThisisparticularlytrueforTrilianbasses.Ifyouareloading
TriliansoundsintoOmnisphereusingOmnisphereLibraryIntegration,thissettingcanbe
especiallyuseful.

TheRoundRobinMenuletsyouselecthowRoundRobinsampleswillbeorderedwhentwoor
moreRoundRobinsamplesareloadedintomemory.
Therearefourplaybackoptionsavailableonthedropdownmenu:NoVariation,Random,
RandomFullCycle,andSequential.

NOTE:TheSampleThinningsettingslocatedinthePatchBrowsersSoundsourceZoom
determinehowmanyRoundRobinsamplesareloadedwiththePatchorSoundsource.

AcceptOmniTRConnections

EnablingthisoptionallowsOmnispheretocommunicatewiththeOmniTRiPadapp.When
AcceptOmniTRConnectionsisenabled,OmniTRwillbeabletoautomaticallyconnectto
Omnispherewhenlaunched.
ForcompleteinstructionsonsettingupOmniTR,pleasevisitourwebsiteat:
http://www.spectrasonics.net/omni_tr_app/

SYSTEMModulation

TheMODULATIONassignmentssectionallowsyoutooverrideandremapthestandardMIDI
messagesusedtheModulationMatrixsourcesinOmnisphere.Simplyselectthedropdown
menunexttooneofthefourteenmodulationtypesandapopupwillappearthatsaysMove
MIDIController.ThenonyourMIDIcontrollermovetheknob,sliderorwheelthatyouwishto
usetoremaptothatModulationsource.
TheUserCCModulationsourceisparticularlyusefulforaddinganadditional,nonstandard
MIDIControllerintotheOmnisphereModulationMatrixwithoutdisruptinganyofthestandard
assignments.

SYSTEMMIDIController

ThechoicesforMIDImodulationsourceinOmnisphereincludeavarietyofstandardMIDI
controllerssuchasWheel,Expression,SoftPedal,etc.Youcanusetheseoptionsonthe
SystemPagetomapthosesourcestootherMIDIcontrols.Thiscanbeusefulifyoudon'thave
aparticularphysicalcontrollersuchasanExpressionPedal.Forexample,ifyoumapWheelto
BreathControl,youcanuseaBreathControllerinanypatchesthatusetheWheelasa
modulationsource.

Toremapanyofthesecontrollers,selectamenuintheMODULATIONcolumnandmovethe
controllerthatyouwanttoassigntomodulationtype.

NOTE:TheremappedcontrolwillonlybevisibleontheSystemPage.IntheModulationMatrix
andModulationSourcemenuoftheEditPagetheoriginalModulationSourcenamewillbe
shown.Forthisreason,itsrecommendedtousetheUserCCsource,sincethatsnotusedin
anyfactorypatches.

SYSTEMMasterTuning

ThisisOmnispheresglobaltuningparameter.Thatmeansanytuningchangeyoumakeon
MASTERTUNINGwillaffectanyothertuningsettingsintheinstrument.Thedefaultis440Hz,
whichisthestandardformostWesternmusic.Forothertuningstandards,Omnispheres
masterpitchcanbechangedtoaccommodateanyofthem.

Range420Hz460Hz