I already told you why I love kontakt 3.5, but I also told you I would follow up with a video showing some of the new features in Kontakt 4 when NI sent it over for review.
So here we are!
The reasons I love kontakt 4 even more than the previous version…
kore like browsing interface is now standard in pretty much every native instrument program…maybe with the exception of battery 3
yes, this categorizes all the tons of sounds in kontakt 4, making it easy to find what you want in their library.
you can also bring in and tag your own sounds for use in their database if you’re feel adventurous.
I like it, it’s simple, it’s easy, and you really don’t have to use the library browser for their internal sounds.
Good move.
It gives you a familiar interface for sound browsing across their entire range of instruments, they are not stupid, they know what they are doing….I smell a take over….hmmm….wonder if there are any subliminal messages hidden in the navigation and interface of their programs!
They also gave each “collection” of instruments a new interface, as well as adding a brand new choir collection, all the sounds from their Elektrik Piano instrument, some solo strings from Vienna, a collection of mellotron sounds in the vintage collection, and other gooodies.
Each one is a nice visual representation of the collections contents.
But it is also functional, allowing you to access all your desired parameters
directly from the front panel.
This is a vast improvement from previous versions, and the controls seem “simpler” if that makes any sense.
Everything you need, nothing you don’t, however you can go as deep as you want if you feel the need to.
They also updated the scripting and added some humanization/dynamic functions that allow for more realistic playing. But I will tell you the truth, I didn’t mess with that much, I’d much rather just let it do it’s job.
My absolute favorite update…and this is the truth…is the new quick load browser!
Basically, you can setup your own “virtual” file system, no matter where instruments and samples are on your hard drive or external drives or even across the network!
You can put them in your own folder structure…and the files are not copied anywhere…it’s basically just links to your stuff. This is very helpful, as the last quick load version just organized things based on how they were on your hard drive.
Now you can set things up exactly how you work…want a folder of sounds for a specific project? Go for it…you can have the same sound duplicated and triplicated lol..if that’s even a word!
I love it…this is my favorite feature and I use it all the time. I have tons of Kontakt instruments and libraries, and I always wanted to organize them MY way…now I can, this is the feature I’m most excited about and thing is the best addition…well, that and the ability to drag the kontakt window to adjust the size 
Is it worth the upgrade? heck yeah… is it worth a try if you’re new to it? Heck yeah! But again…I would NOT buy it alone, at the price it cost just for Kontakt, the better deal is getting Komplete 6… real talk.
4 payments of 124.75 at zzounds is always a good deal for budget musicians lol.
If you just plan to get it all in one swoop, head on over to native-instruments.com
lemme know what ya think about it, any questions, or if you’re using it, let me know your favorite features.
leave me a comment below
