Hey Thanks. I thought the 2.0 Firmware was still in beta.
Edit: found the update. Installed. Problem solved! Thanks again.
2 Likes
Yes, there are still bugs, but those may weigh heavier for others than for you. I’m using 2.0.15 without any issue, even though the more reliable calibration procedure had initially detected a hardware issue (octave buttons) that had to be handled in EEs workshop.
How are people liking their Osmoses? Worth the purchase? Expressive enough for you? How are the on-board EaganMatrix sounds? Thinking of buying one for the living room as a standalone MPE synth, but not 100% decided yet.
Osmose is greatly expressive. Just be warned that its key bed won’t replace a piano or a traditional synth action, especially if it comes to fast chord play. Beyond these limitations, the control over sound is impressive and contagious.
However, despite the multi-synthesis engine, Osmose is quite specialised in sound. You will neither find any ROMpler style sounds nor will it replace a (virtual) analog synth. It is specialised in reed, brass, pluck, percussive and experimental synth sounds. The pads are great, though you will want to add a reverb or delay to warm up the sound a bit. Quite a few sounds offer multiple playing styles (eg light touch, percussive, aggressive, etc), which is just amazing.
That said, if you complement it with Roli’s Equator 2 or other MPE capable soft synths, you can greatly enhance its expressive texture without spending too much additional money. If you call modular your own, then there are even great possibilities opening up there.
For me, it was worth the purchase as an early bird, at the cost of having to wait for 3 years to completion of the instrument. For 1.8k it is still worth it because you get a very capable synth engine and key action none to compare, though as a primary synth you would need to consider alternatives depending on your specific needs.
If you intend to use it as a secondary synth or complement it with a piano/rhodes/organ you’ll be delighted. As a primary synth, you will bemoan the complexity of the EaganMatrix and the highly specialised sound and key bed.
3 Likes
Thank you for this fantastic answer! I‘m thinking of pairing the Osmose with a resonator (eg one from La Voix de Luthier) and have it as a living room jam station for gatherings and the like.
Everything you write sounds good to me, I‘m mainly after MPE level expressiveness without having to be tethered to a computer (I have a Linnstrument and a Roli Seablock for those duties). Might just take advantage of their current sale and order one next week.
1 Like
My advice on the voixe de Luther would be to try it if you haven’t already.
1 Like
I‘m gonna next week. Do you have a take on their products? Any experience with any of them? I want a resonator because I want to be able to mix electronic instruments more fluidly with acoustic instruments in a jam session setting. I figure a less directional speaker would aid a lot there.
1 Like
It would be unfair to have a take as such, but my brief first hand with the vioxe in a less than perfect room (small) and chat with a couple of owners was enough to turn me off it - I love the concept but the execution wasn’t quite there for me.
Obviously see how you get on with it, but my advice would be to try it out with sounds through the octaves/frequency range.
1 Like
I love my Osmose.
I was an early adopter, having paid the deposit back in 2019 for a unit, and thus getting an early production unit. It had some issues with the self-diagnostic software and keys. Expressive E eventually had me exchange it for another Osmose. Their customer support is top notch btw.
So my current Osmose has no issues and runs firmware 2.x just fine. It responds well to playing with a light touch.
1 Like
Right now, $1.4K with travel case for Osmose at BH Photo (see hardware sale thread).
1 Like
That’s useful to know about early issues - I was thinking of grabbing used some way down the line, but I’d probably be safer going new and getting the support/warranty experience then.
Incidentally, Lippold Haken was very complementary of their hardware design.
1 Like
Yep, especially if you can find a deal in your region like the aforementioned BH Photo sale.
2 Likes
Fwiw I found the Osmose to be very playable. I was expecting it to be quite out there, but having spent some time with Roli stuff, the Osmose was immediately fun. Still quite synth-like in its action, despite the extra movement/possibilities.
these are on a steep discount for black friday and its super tempting to buy buy buy
I hope this is okay with the Forum moderators, but I am pasting here a response I gave to an inquiry from another user on the Hardware for sale thread because I assume most people interested in buying an Osmose would look here, rather than there, for user feedback (mine in this case) related to the playability of the Osmose:
As you’ve probably read elsewhere (Osmose Thread), the Osmose does not play anything like a regular piano, so if that’s what you’re used to or looking for, the Osmose will not be for you. It is not “hammer weighted” and does not have the “spring-back” feel of most non-weighted keypads. It has more of a (I hate to use this descriptor) soft-squishy feel (I prefer thinking of it as “luscious” or even “sensual”). There is a way in which it feels more natural than most keyboards though. What I love most about it is the incredible sensitivity. The Osmose firmware lets you set it with quite a bit of range and several parameters the levels of sensitivity transmitted by the keybed. I have “threshold” set at ‘0’ which means that it is almost capacitive in it’s touch (it isn’t, but it feels like it is), so when I just barely rest a finger on a key, it sends midi information of a very light touch, and then with soft but slowly resistant feedback to your fingers, sends what seems like continuous midi messages of increased pressure through a fairly deep range until you hit a harder level of resistance which is aftertouch, which you can then push into with a higher level of resistance all the way to the bottom. So, whereas most keybeds are essentially gate on/off switches sometimes with velocity, this is the opposite. It is a ramp, rather than a step, and of course because it is MPE, it does this independently and simultaneously for each key. I consider it nothing short of brilliant and incredibly well-designed.
Edit: I should add, while I’ve been using synth keyboards (weighted and non weighted) for decades before the Osmose came out, I am NOT AT ALL a trained pianist and would not even call myself much of a player–just a hobbyist looking for alternative ways to use various controllers to send midi messages for sound design and musical passages I create and sometimes (rarely) record.
5 Likes
Just received my new Osmose (purchased as a „as new“ refurbished unit via Expressive E‘s black friday sale) and testing it out through our new L‘Onde resonator…very cool device! Still getting used to the interface, obviously, and also getting used to the Haken EagenMatrix‘s sound, but first impressions are positive. Build quality is very good (minus the knobs which feel a bit cheap) and its design and UI is also lovely. Presets so far are a bit on the bright side, sound wise, but are also very expressive and it‘s a pleasure to have an MPE interface that is a standalone hardware unit and not just a midi controller. So overall I‘m excited. As for the sale, my unit is immaculate, no marks of usage at all.
EDIT: ok after playing around with it more I have to say I just don’t gel with the sound of the EaganMatrix — there’s something shrill sounding about a lot of the presets and I’m not really up to the task of programming my own on this one. And as a midi controller, the interface doesn’t quite match the expressiveness of my Linnstrument. So I’ve packed it up again and it’ll go back to ExpressiveE.
1 Like
A new firmware quick fix is available to address a polyphonic pressure glide bug.
5 Likes
Does anyone know if it’s possible to have Osmose start in EXT MIDI mode and loading a custom midi preset ?
I use it mainly as a MIDI controller and I’m kind of bored to have to switch the mode and preset every time I switch it on.
2 Likes
I don’t know, but I’m exactly in the same boat. Let’s send some feature request emails to Expressive E support!
2 Likes
I joined the Osmose club thanks to comments and videos reporting your experience (and the BF’s deal) and man, do I agree with you!
I think a lot of people are underappreciating the incredible level of control that the keyboard gives. It’s like having your own personal envelope on each of your fingers. I spent half an hour yesterday just changing the pressure of my fingers on a single chord and I was totally lost in the little changes of the sounds and how the voices where appearing/disappearing. I felt I could have played a whole piece just on that chord.
I can feel why the Eagan Matrix isn’t for everyone but I would encourage people to dig deeper in the sounds, they often hide different approaches with different ways of playing (a seemingly simple pluck could hide a whole different tone in the aftertouch, a lushoush pad could hide a wonderful plucked if you play it “staccato” etc.).
The arp and the glide are also worth exploring and that is not even touching the expression pedals and the fact that this is a wonderful midi controller (I am working on building my presets for the DN2 and I am getting wonderful results assigning the modulations to the macros).
All in all I feel it has been a wonderful purchase and I can’t wait to dig deeper.
6 Likes