Komplete VSTi (or similar ??)

Thanks Jaslan,

So i could buy this product and play/use it within Cubase Artist 7 as you would do normally with any regular VSTi ?? And overall, are you saying that it would provide me with what i need plus more ?? i can see there is a lot included but i am not sure if its got enough in terms of the Orchestral and Jazz Big Band genres ??

Or would you buy something like two seperate dedicated Jazz Band and Orchestral packages ??

Best,

Paul

I am no expert… But I would say that Kontakt by itself (which does include orchestral and jazz instruments), or even Komplete (which gives you some more libraries for Kontakt) is PROBABLY not worthy of being called a fully professional jazz and orchestral package. Maybe in the intermediate range (there are a good range of articulations and adjustable parameters, options, etc.)

What you DO get with Kontakt is a great choice of professional third party libraries (which will cost more).

I do hope that someone who is familiar with East West as well would offer some opinion/advice.

J.L.

I have and often use Komplete. I forget what version I am on. Only gripes I had was phasing out a few instruments which they moved into kontakt. Session recall no more. Had to print the tracks after loading earlier version for archiving.

Ta Jaslan,

For £399.00 it looks like a pretty comapct library of sounds. From the demonstrations i have heard, the instruments sound very realistic.

There seems to be 3 main packages which are priced at around £399.00, £799.00 and £1,199.00.

Paul

But the quality of the samples are all good ??

What do you think of the Komplete at £399.00 ?? Do you think it would suit my needs ??

Ta mate,

Paul

It is a rarity that I would use solely one instrument for a sound. There were times I had used a sole patch and I found the quality good. You have to know though that I am hyper critical of sound. If it sounds artificial in a way I don’t like, I will move onto something else, but that being said, I find most sample libraries to sound fake, especially programmed drums. Can’t stand programmed drums.

Anyway, I think kontakt is good. A loooooooot of people use it and there is a lot of additional libraries available for it. I think you want it but just need a nudge to pull the trigger. I don’t think you will be dissatisfied, I wasn’t and I would tell you if I was. Just what I wrote above.

Cheers Tom,

It is a rarity that I would use solely one instrument for a sound. There were times I had used a sole patch and I found the quality good. You have to know though that I am hyper critical of sound.

Thats interesting to here your experience with it. And i will be checking out some of your music !!


__

Anyway, I think kontakt is good. A loooooooot of people use it and there is a lot of additional libraries available for it. I think you want it but just need a nudge to pull the trigger. I don’t think you will be dissatisfied, I wasn’t and I would tell you if I was. Just what I wrote above.

So am i correct in that you can buy Komplete and then ADD extra NI Libraries to it later down the line ??

Ta,

Paul

If you buy Komplete, you can add libraries to it later (both NI and third party). If you buy Komplete Ultimate, you will get the ENTIRE line of NI libraries for Kontakt AND Reaktor. Of course, the third party stuff is all separate, which is probably where the HIGHEST quality libraries are.

I notice you have HALion Sonic. The Kontakt libraries are similar to Dark Planet, Hyptonic Dance, Triebwerk, etc., in that they are “expansions” to the basic instrument that can be added at any time.

Ok Jaslan,

Gotcha.

So what i am trying to distinguish is that with Komplete 9, do you get EVERYTHING which in is Kontakt 5 ?? Or just a selection ?? i think that there might be all i need in Kontakt 5 :-

Kontakt Factory Library: Instruments, sounds, & effects (the last Demo Track FUNK GROOVE is very good !! :wink: ).

LIBRARY

Over 1000 instruments and 43 GB of samples

The KONTAKT 5 library is a a vast, ready-to-use musical toolset, containing more than 43 GB of high-quality samples and well over 1000 production-ready instruments. The palette spans from world music instruments and big band sounds to legendary synthesizers and contemporary club sounds. From fuzz tone guitars to orchestral instruments, and from realistic acoustic drum kits to the latest hip-hop loops.

The library contains numerous exclusive instruments that you won’t find anywhere else and many instruments use NI’s Authentic Expression Technology®, which provides an unparalleled degree of responsiveness and realism. What’s more, everything is completely editable.

Download the Library Documentation for a complete list of all instruments and presets.

The library is divided into eight Instrument Collections: Choir, Band, Orchestral, World, Synth, Vintage, Urban Beats and the new RETRO MACHINES MK2.

Yes. If you buy Komplete, you will get everything you would get if you bought Kontakt (i.e. the all the factory content) PLUS several more add-on libraries (pianos, Vintage Organs, MM Bass, Retro Machines, Studio Drummer, and others).

Mmmmmmm, so surely everyone is just going to spend the extra £99.99p and purchase KONTAKT 9 ?? i mean if you get all those extra bundles for another mere hundred quid !! :confused:

That’s pretty much how most people do it. And it is just about sale time, so a good time to get in.

Hi folks,

i really do appreciate the advice given by members of this forum in helping me decide which VSTi(s) to purchase for my needs. i have since looked around and enquired online to various supliers but everyone says something different (and obviously i am dealing with SALESMEN here !!). But anyway, i do now have a much clearer idea of what i am lookin for.

So, i came up with a fairly small handful which slightly exceed my budget of around 500GBP, but i think it would be worth paying the extra. i just wondered if anyone on here has had any experience of these following products ?? They are all from the ‘TIME-SPACE UK’ website. As you can see, i am now really looking for INDIVIDUAL DEDICATED VSTi’s instead of ‘multi instrumental packages’. i thought long and hard about the Kontakt and Komplete packages and while they do sound very good and are moderately priced, there is so much on there which i would never use etc.

i think the two i like best (from the demonstrations etc) are the vir2 MOJO HORNS and the PROJECT SAM ORCHESTRAL ESSENTIALS.

Thanks very much indeed in advance for any kind help offered. If i can narrow my choices even further then i have a few more ‘tech specific’ questions that i will definately need expert help with.

Best,

Paul Seaman



VSL (Special Edition) Collection :-

Project SAM Orchestral Essentials :-

Vir2 Mojo Horns :-

Garritan Brass (3rd Edition) :-

Chris Hein Best Service :-

(RE : above)…

Or what if i was to pay the extra and chose BOTH paths !! ??

So, purchase one of the Kontakt/Komplete AND (say) the MOJO HORNS and PROJECT SAM ORCH ESSENTIALS ?? i have spoken today to a couple of expert collegues who say that NATIVE is (and will always be) the way forward and so is something i will always use now and in the future.

And then, as suggested on here, purchase 3rd Party VSTi’s as and when needed. i have learned that a lot of the 3rd Party VSTi’s i am very interested in require the FULL (not the FREE) version of Kontakt 5 to be able to play them. In other words, if i can only use 3rd Party VSTi’s which utilise the FREE Kontakt player then i will be limited in my choice of plug-ins.

Is that roughly correct ??

Cheers,

Paul

Basically, I agree with this. It is a great toolbox of stuff. I don’t know what will happen in the future, but I believe the Komplete (particularly Kontakt, Guitar Rig, and Reaktor) will continue to be popular and well supported for a while.

Yes. Think of the Kontakt Player (the free version) like HALion Sonic SE. It will play the library but the editing capabilities are very limited or non-existent. The paid Kontakt is like HALion in that you can fully edit the instrument. They LOOK the same in the GUI but one allows more editing of the instruments.
HTH
J.L.

Thanks very much Jaslan,

Sorry, what does GUI mean please ?? :confused:

(Not DUI ?? !! lol).

Ta,

Paul

GUI = Graphical User Interface (The part of the program you see)

Kontakt player and Kontakt LOOK nearly identical, you just can’t get to the fancy controls when using Player.

I have VSL libraries and for sample orchestra, it is untouchable IMO. The sheer number, quality and unique articulation behaviors is staggering. It comes with a complexity cost however. Very expensive. Very complicated. But, when you get your head wrapped around their player which they call “Instrument”, it is VERY VERY powerful. You can probably accomplish the same things in the scripting engine of Kontakt. But, no way do you have the same level of control with the out of the box LASS for example. Just my 2cents.

Also, to really use their products effectively you need to upgrade to the Pro player. This is back to them providing a FREE general sample playback engine, or an advanced PAY version. A lot of the larger sample library manufacturers are going to their own sample player and usually have a FREE and PAY version of that play back engine.


I have some of the SAMs free stuff from ages ago, and I converted from Garritan to VSL. All of those products are good. They all come with pros/cons. It’s hard to say which ones would bug you, or that you couldn’t live without. I chose the expense/complexity finally. Now that I have it rolling, I don’t regret it for a second.

I have Komplete 8 and plan to upgrade to komplete 9 ultimate …soon. Their library of sounds is quite extensive and after a year I am still discovering more sounds that I have yet to try out. Within Kontakt factory librabry they have their sounds sorted as Band. choir, orchestral, world, synth, vintage and urban beats plus in the orchestral they have their legacy instruments in there as well. Then there are the add on libraries such as Abbey road drums, Berlin Concert piano ETC you can chose not to install those libraries. Personally I think that Komplete Ultimate 9 is probably the best bang for anyone’s buck, huge sample librbary, VTI synths FM8. Massive, Absynth, guitar rig plus the plug effects plug packages of Solid Mix, EQ and Comp and the Classic reverbs bundle… there is a lot there.

I’m not sure what differences Komplete 9 vs Komplete 9 ultimate are for samples, but regardless of what you get you are probably going to have more than you need and will either will find the jazz stuff meets your needs or leaves you wanting just a bit more which would mean looking for a specific sample library that might cost has much as Komplete does. You can buy specific add ons indiviaully and install them as well.

Newman / JMCecil,

Thanks a lot for your extremely helpful replies guys.

i have spent all afternoon going through everything that i can on the various options/packages. A lot of things i am still not totally sure about (mainly stuff like terminology and specs) because i am relatively new to this medium. But having thought long and hard am am a good 90% sure i am going to purchase :-


‘vir2 Mojo Horns’ (for JAZZ BAND)

http://www.timespace.com/product/MOJO-1/6/mojo_horns/vir2_instruments_mojo%3a_horn_section.html



‘Project Sam Orchestral Essentials’ (for CLASSICAL)

‘Sound Iron Oympic Elements’ (for CHOIRS)

It was a very tough decision but i think this is the correct way forward for me. Yes, Kontakt and Komplete are excellent and offer fantastic value for money, but at the end of the day i really want/need dedicated VSTi’s instruments which are genre specific. This may be a more expensive way of doing it but at the end of the day (hyperthetically speaking) i would much rather have TEN sounds that i use all the time rather than TEN THOUSAND that i seldom use. i am a good ‘all round’ musician but ultimately i am planning to use Cubase to generate Classical and Jazz music for the most part. i looked thru many of the add-on VSTi’s offered by Native Instruments and again, while they are all excellent, i am anticipating that most of the packs i will be purchasing in the future will be dedicated 3rd Party ones.

Ta,

Paul

In comparing all available audio demonstrations, i can honestly say that the three packages mentioned above sounded superior to the Kontakt/Komplete libraries (of these three particular instrumentations). Personally, i think i would much rather pay the extra bucks and have a smaller library of sounds of which i am completely satisfied with and which are tailor made to fit the style(s) of my compositions and arrangements.