ARP Omni Mk 1

ARP Omni 1 Image
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Omni Mk 1 (1975-77)

The Omni is an analog synth with preset Orchestral String sounds. It has polyphonic Violin and Viola waveforms as well as monophonic Bass and Cello waveforms. It is split into 3 sections: Strings, Synthesizer, and Bass synth - all simultaneously available. It has traditional and simple VCA, VCF, and LFO controls for contouring your sounds as well as a nice chorus that really thickens up the string sound. It has no program memory.

ARP Omni 2 Image

Omni Mk 2 (1978-81)

ARP later released the Omni Mk 2 (pictured above). It was basically the same machine as its predecessor, except for a few minor enhancements and a cosmetic Orange & Black color-scheme upgrade. And it did have a much more advanced triggering system for the VCF and VCA for more expressive results. The Omni has been used by Tangerine Dream, The Cars, Joy Division, Kraftwerk, Trouble Funk and New Order.

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Demos & Media

ARP Omni-2 Demo
by
officialmikethompson

Specifications

Polyphony - Divide-down architecture
Waveforms - 4 preset sounds: Violin (polyphonic), Viola (polyphonic), Cello (monophonic), Bass (monophonic)
LFO - One variable speed LFO for string section with Sine wave shape
Filter - Model 4075 4-pole, 24db lowpass with its own ADSR & Omni 2 added LFO control to VCF
VCA - Omni 1: AR only; Omni 2: ADSR
Keyboard - 49 keys
Arpeg/Seq - None
Control - CV/Gate
Date Produced -
(Mark 1) - 1975 - 1977
(Mark 2) - 1978 - 1981

Resources

Omni 1 image from The Terry Collection at Old Tech - Vintage Synthesizer Site.

Omni 2 image from Audio Playground Keyboard Museum.