Native Instruments sale

[Scramble]

Native Instruments are having a sale on at the moment, so products like Kontakt 5 are really cheap (even cheaper if you already own some NI stuff).

I'm not saying this because I'm a great NI fan, but if you have the full Kontakt then you can get things that are great, like Hollowsun's instruments and sounds.

[hollowsun]

if you have the full Kontakt then you can get things that are great, like Hollowsun's instruments and sounds.

How very kind of you to say, Scramble

[Richard Graham]

Thanks Scramble. Just upgraded to Komplete 9 for a mere 65 quid. Looking forward to Abbey Road 60s drums and Studio Drummer, especially.

[oggyb]

60s and studio drums are wicked, but are not for every project.

I'm eying the upgrade to K9U but can't *quite* justify it still!

[Stingie]

My visa card just scorched my hand.9U is very tempting.

[Richard Graham]

My visa card just scorched my hand.9U is very tempting.

I've had my eye on the k9 upgrade it for months, glad I held off now!

[Ron Snijders]

For 75 euros, I couldn't resist upgrading from K8 to K9 and getting Battery 4 and Monark The rest is just a nice bonus.

[oggyb]

For 75 euros, I couldn't resist upgrading from K8 to K9 and getting Battery 4 and Monark The rest is just a nice bonus.

I was hovering over the upgrade button, but then, I actually thought the extra 5 doohickeys wouldn't make much difference to me over K8.

[Richard Graham]

I upgraded from 6 - it's a big deal for me!

[Shambolic Charm]

I was hoping to get an upgrade deal on the Komplete Essentials that came with my Audio 6 card but no deal!

[Dr Huge Longjohns]

Anyone using Logic 9 and Kontakt? How would you compare Kontakt 5 to Logic's own EXS24 in terms of quality of sounds, ease of use, frequency of use? Is it a Must Have or a Nice To Have? I'm generally doing rock, indie and acoustic/folk kind of stuff. I use Analogue Drums a lot which are essentially mapped for Kontakt but have so far got by by mapping them into the EXS24 where you lose functionality and it's a PITA. Cheers.

[hollowsun]

Anyone using Logic 9 and Kontakt? How would you compare Kontakt 5 to Logic's own EXS24 in terms of quality of sounds, ease of use, frequency of use? Is it a Must Have or a Nice To Have? I'm generally doing rock, indie and acoustic/folk kind of stuff. I use Analogue Drums a lot which are essentially mapped for Kontakt but have so far got by by mapping them into the EXS24 where you lose functionality and it's a PITA. Cheers.

EXS24 and Kontakt are chalk and cheese - a bit like comparing a ukelele with a Gibson Les Paul through a pile of really quality pedals (for want an analogy ... and no disrespect to uke players). You can do just SO much more with Kontakt. But then, in fairness (and to continue the Uke/Gibson analogy), EXS24 is easier to use because it is (by today's standards) so basic ... not much of an advance an Akai S3000. That said, you don't HAVE to use Kontakt's extensive facilities - just because you can insert 50 or 60 filters in there and countless insert and send effects doesn't mean you have to!

Quality of sounds? There is just SOOOOO much stuff out there for Kontakt, some free, some cheap, some affordable, some not too outrageous (and of course some that's stupidly expensive) - it's the most widely supported sampler out there and there's some belting stuff out there (and EXS24's support for sound library is largely conspicuous by its absence)

Ease of use? For basics (mapping out some drums, whatever), no more complicated than EXS24. It can get quite deep though.

Frequency of use? Depends I suppose. It's all I use here (obviously).

Must Have or Nice To Have? Only you can decide. Personally, I think its essential for anyone working with samples. But you're only occasionally working with them, EXS24 may well be sufficient.

If drums is your thing, there are squillions of kits out there for Kontakt, again free to stupidly priced. And many are scripted with control over close and room mics, drum balance and other attributes. And scripting is really what sets Kontakt aside from EXS24 - people are doing very clever things with it such that you don't have to have to delve into the guts of the beast - it's all (or should be) there on an easy to use panel.

I do not work for NI, BTW, neither do I have any affiliation with them - just a (generally) happy customer.

If nothing else, there's the Kontakt Demo you could try to see if you could get on with it. Best not hang around though - not sure when the NI sale ends.

[Dr Huge Longjohns]

Thanks very much HS, that's an excellent appraisal. Horrible feeling the credit card might be rearing its ugly head again!