Any users of Camel Audio Alchemy ?

[kilon]

Bough this beauty yesterday , costed 200 euros, and I cannot believe how powerful and yet easy to use really is.

Its the most powerful sample manipulator I have ever used or known.

I have been an old Chameleon 5000 fan , but this is just light year ahead of it. At first I ignored it cause I though it was just an omnisphere clone , but yesterday I realised that it was a sequel to Chameleon and much more powerful than omnisphere and anything out there. Only reaktor seems more powerful, but still is worse in the things these beauty does.

I was using solely hardware synth , but alchemy made me come back to software.

Anyone care share his experience ?

[leoelzein]

I picked it up a few days ago,

First impression: I tried importing a sample i recorded, into the granular synth, stretched it, slapped on an instance of Aether reverb after, was instantly transported into pad heaven. That's just the first impression.

I have yet to explore the other engines of Alchemy.

[mac black]

I've been using it, great for all sorts of stuff.

[ckett]

I hear you about Alchemy. One of the best VST instruments available. Powerful, CPU efficient, easy to use for such a complex synth. Great for creating evolving textures. Not too shabby for bread and butter subtractive synthesis. The super saws you can make out this sound as good as the Roland JP8000.

[zvenx]

yet for me despite all is flexibility it just doesn't sound as good to me as omnisphere....Yes taste is very subjective. I only mention omnisphere since the OP brought it up.
I have owned it since it was released, although i am a preset player, which may be why I am not wowed by it as others have.
I am more wowed by sounds rather than features.....
I like it, I even like it a lot, but I can't say I love it or it is even in my top five vsti's.

In a sense it reminds me of how I felt about the Kurzweil VAST system, and the Emu Z filters... I understood the wonders of the features but never quite was bowled over by the 'sound'.

rsp

[kilon]

Originally Posted by zvenx

yet for me despite all is flexibility it just doesn't sound as good to me as omnisphere....Yes taste is very subjective although i am a preset player,

In a sense it reminds me of how I felt about the Kurzweil VAST system, and the Emu Z filters... I understood the wonders of the features but never quite was bowled over by the 'sound'.

rsp

I dont think there is much doubt that Omnisphere is preset heaven. No disagreement there.

But as VAST, alchemy in the end is a hardcore synthesizer.

Lets be sincere , both tools are orientated towards sound designers.

I used to be preset orientated, I have a yamaha motif es6 , which pretty much compete alot easier with omnisphere than Kurzweil can. But in the frame of time , my demands have become so specific that is impossible a preset to satisfy me, and browsing for presets looking for something very specific can be very time consuming. So I came to conclusion that I will still use presets BUT if I could just tailor them to my needs I would do things alot faster than just browsing them.

Thus tools as omnisphere do not impress as much anymore.

So I am now more orientated towards tools , that can give me as much power as I can. I usually never spend more than 10 minutes per sound, I know exactly what I want and inside these 10 minutes is browsing no more than 10-20 presets and of course editing.

So what you say makes perfect sense to me and of course I agree with you 100%.

Nice to see so many alchemy users here. I was thinking beside the usual sample manipulation where I can take samples and enhance them according to my needs, I was thinking of feeding Alchemy with my Andromeda's samples. Anyone else try to use samples from their polyphonic or monophonic analogs ?

[zvenx]

Not sure if I am misreading what you are saying, but you dont' find omnisphere as deep enough for you in terms of editing and customising the presets OR is there just too many of them to search to even begin the customising and presets.

If it is the former, I assume you have seen this:

Episode 10: "Diego Stocco Masterclass on Vimeo

rsp

[kilon]

Originally Posted by zvenx

Not sure if I am misreading what you are saying, but you dont' find omnisphere as deep enough for you in terms of editing and customising the presets OR is there just too many of them to search to even begin the customising and presets.

If it is the former, I assume you have seen this:

Episode 10: "Diego Stocco Masterclass on Vimeo

rsp

Sorry I was bored the first 8 minutes could not watch the rest. Obviously this video is orientated towards total beginners , not someone like me.

Not that being a beginner in sound synthesis is anything bad.

I think its a mistake for someone to think that just because omnisphere has great presets its mainly a rompler not a synthesizer. Omnisphere is a synthesizer offering granular, fm , waveshaper and many other impressive features.

But still Alchemy offers around 100 times the power for a fraction of the price. Its easy to miss additive and spectral synthesis, but both tool can do wonder on samples. Most importantly , both tools are especially made to EDIT samples, not just to create a new sounds . That means for example that is possible to take a cry of a baby in traffic and isolate it. Obviously not an easy task at all , but it shows how precise tool alchemy really is. The level of detail offered by Alchemy compared to Omnisphere is just phenomenal.

Besides Additive and Spectral , both synths are more or less the same.

Of course these type of tools are not anything new, Poseidon from VisSyn offer similar tools , as well other tools by the same company like Cube and Tera.

So I am pretty certain I could create some new amazing sounds with omnisphere but I was more interested on editing samples and omnisphere is just not that kind of tool.

[nishant]

Been using Alchemy ever since it launched. its very powerful for synthesis , easy to use and not a cpu hog.Their new soundpack released few days ago is a very nice addon.
I use alchemy drums a lot.

Even Omnisphere is good, esp with the live mode and the fact that its multi channel , plus the psychoacoustic sounds are pretty unique. it may not have sample import but its editing featueres are pretty vast. the only thing that annoys me is the license agreement- you cannot use it for sound effects.

[zvenx]

Originally Posted by kilon

.......
I think its a mistake for someone to think that just because omnisphere has great presets its mainly a rompler not a synthesizer. Omnisphere is a synthesizer offering granular, fm , waveshaper and many other impressive features.

This was the part I wasn't sure where you were... but had I known this I would not have sent the video to you.....
my apologies.
rsp

[ckett]

The Omnisphere license cannot be used for sound FX? In modern music, it is becoming more of a blur between sound FX/ambience and music.

Strange....

[zvenx]

I am not sure about that, unless you mean it can't be used to create sound fx for a sound effect library.
But you can certainly use it as sound effects in a project that you are working on..afaik.
rsp

[zvenx]

I want to add two things for me that alchemy is better at than omnisphere.......Blending in the background, a supportive role..... To me Alchemy is good at that whilst in general omnisphere has a more 'main actor/character' tone.....you can't help but notice it. Alchemy will be there in your track adding to it without jumping out and shouting at you...
And I find alchemy to be less resource hungry than omnisphere.
of course that is a generalisation. It is why I am happy to have both.
rsp

[nishant]

Originally Posted by zvenx

I am not sure about that, unless you mean it can't be used to create sound fx for a sound effect library.
But you can certainly use it as sound effects in a project that you are working on..afaik.
rsp

I purchased Omnisphere for the sound effects
The license agreement clearly states the product can be used only for "Musical " projects. Send an email to Spectrasonics - they will reply with a similar answer . I have done that .

[zvenx]

there was a long thread on vi about it with different scenarios poised to eric.

let me see if I can find it for you.
rsp

[gsilbers]

yes musical as supposed to using it for other sample libraries. like grab a swoosh sample and re sell that in one form or another. one form might be just exporting some omni sfx patches , put them in a folder and sell them to a video editor saying they are yours. but if u tweak and add stuff to it then yes u can. that would be "musical"

now to alchemy.
alchemy is good... BUT

the patches it comes with suck big ass.. dunno if the those good composers are doing it lightly or are not too aware of the routing. but the patches in the factory and electronic expansion suck big time. but just for those who didnt understand... the synth ROCKS! patches dont.

with that said, the new biomechanical demo sounded neat, but i dunno about getting it. ill keep on doing my on.

[nishant]

Originally Posted by zvenx

there was a long thread on vi about it with different scenarios poised to eric.

let me see if I can find it for you.
rsp

That would be great

[kilon]

Originally Posted by zvenx

This was the part I wasn't sure where you were... but had I known this I would not have sent the video to you.....
my apologies.
rsp

Why you apologize ? I think what you did was appropriate.

Actually you did a good thing sending me this video, I added to my watchlist, and I will watch when I get more free time, to see if I have missed anything on omnisphere.

Does omnisphere still not support sample import ? I thought that was fixed with an update.

I really dont get why some people say the alchemy presets suck. Obviously omnisphere is two grades above, but still the presets are far from bad. Maybe abit too ambient based, and not very fat , but still many unique textures in there. But I guess there is always the element of personal preference.

[zvenx]

Originally Posted by nishant

That would be great

v.i. control forum • View topic - In praise of Spectrasonics [ Guest ]

unfortunately you have to look for it in this four page thread....

rsp

[zvenx]

Originally Posted by kilon

Why you apologize ? I think what you did was appropriate.

Originally Posted by kilon

Sorry I was bored the first 8 minutes could not watch the rest. Obviously this video is orientated towards total beginners , not someone like me.

:-)

[kilon]

Originally Posted by zvenx

:-)

boring ... yes

useless... no



I hope you are not offended, did not mean to .

[nishant]

Originally Posted by zvenx

v.i. control forum • View topic - In praise of Spectrasonics [ Guest ]

unfortunately you have to look for it in this four page thread....

rsp

Thank you for sharing this .good info there by the man himself.

[zvenx]

Originally Posted by kilon

boring ... yes

useless... no



I hope you are not offended, did not mean to .

no we're good :-)
rsp

[zvenx]

Originally Posted by nishant

Thank you for sharing this .good info there by the man himself.

not a problem.
you are most welcome.
rsp

[kkalnasy]

Originally Posted by gsilbers

now to alchemy.
alchemy is good... BUT

the patches it comes with suck big ass.. dunno if the those good composers are doing it lightly or are not too aware of the routing. but the patches in the factory and electronic expansion suck big time. but just for those who didnt understand... the synth ROCKS! patches dont.

I agree. I was impressed with the flexibility of Alchemy, the UI, sound and stability, but the libraries from Camel Audio aren't usable, in my opinion. Lots of beeps and boops and sweeping sounds, but not much that sounds organic. But not to dispair. I found amazing, affordable libraries from Yuroun. I bought everything he has to offer and will continue to do so. Brilliant work. He's restored my faith in Alchemy's ability to do everything I would ever require of a synth. If you're going to buy much from him, it's worth becoming a "gold" member for €9.95, which gives you a 35% discount on his libraries. No affiliation, but a huge admirer.

[mholloway]

I owned Alchemy for a while...and sold it. This is purely subjective and I'm not trying to make any technical points here, but my reaction, rather strongly, is that it's simply lacking in sound quality. I really was excited about it when I first bought it; I loved the UI and the depth. I stuck with it for awhile but I realized that I was trying to convince myself to like it based on the excellent design....BUT..it just didn't sound that good. Everything was a bit thin. The filters are mediocre. The overall clarity of sound makes me think of 90s digital synths...a lot. The feature set is excellent and the interface, also excellent...that is, until you have more than one source modulating a target, at which point their copy of Massive's 'ring' system sort of falls apart, as there is only one ring per target.

As for Omnisphere, well, I own and love it, but really dislike its interface. If I could squash those two together, ahhh that'd by an almighty synth...

-M

[samicide]

Originally Posted by zvenx

yet for me despite all is flexibility it just doesn't sound as good to me as omnisphere

I disagree. even though I love Omni and use it more often than just about any other synth/rompler, it's only because of the incredible sample library, and if it came down to just synthesis then Alchemy sounds better to me, and I'm not even mentioning the flexibility

[zvenx]

and that's the joy of freedom of choice :-).....we can always agree to disagree and my taste is no more correct than yours and vice versa.
rsp