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

It’s time for another native experience, taking a look at some dope software from native instruments.

Today I’m taking a look at Kontakt, their flagship sampler they sent over for me to review.

You can’t be around software instruments, sampling, and production for long before you come in contact with Kontakt.

Whether it’s because some sample company says they support the kontakt format, or a sample library comes as a kontakt player instrument, you’ll see it everywhere.

And for good reason.

Kontakt has become pretty much the standard cross platform sampler for everyone from sound designers and composers to electronic musicians and producers.

It’s a replacement for that huge rackmount sampler you have sitting there… you know, the akai s whatever or z whatever…the emus, all that.

Some may argue it won’t sound the same, that’s fine…at times it may not. But as far as functionality, features, and universal compatibility is concerned, Kontakt is a dream come true.

Why I love Kontakt

Coming from hardware, I was looking for a big replacement.  I needed something to replace the sampling functions of my mpc 4000. It is a full sampler, meaning I had collections of samples in various akai, roland, and other formats.

I need to be able to use all the instruments and kits from my mpc, which are in akai format.

I also want something that I can easily expand, well into the future. Basically something that is both backwards compatible with my hardware sample library, as well as future proof by being able to be constantly expanded.

Kontakt covers both. It not only reads my akai format samples and programs with ease, it is also expandable by the thousands of sound design companies providing samples and libraries in native kontakt format.

This allows you to put together your own custom sound workstation. If you just need better guitars, you can find the best for your music, and bring those in, if you need pianos, strings, bass, whatever…it’s out there and ready to load into kontakt.

The sounds and content

The sound library is good, I like it, it’s extensive, but again, it’s open.

With my fantom, or a motif, triton, etc…you can only expand so much.

After you fill all the card slots, that’s it, no more expanding.

With kontakt, that’s not the case, you can just keep expanding it well into the future.

Of course there are tons of sound design tools inside, but as I said, for me…it’s more used as a huge sound module, and it fills this job easily and effortlessly.

The user interface

With a sampler this powerful, you may expect to get lost, and many are intimidated and never give it a chance.  Let me tell you, this thing is as easy as it can be.

Open it up, load a sound, and play. Each sound you load after that will automatically be set to the next midi channel, making it easy for multitimbral playback.

There are a few features that make it easy to browse your sounds, including the “library view” which gives you a graphical box representing all the kontakt libraries you have installed.

Not all kontakt sounds are actually a library, libraries are made by companies that license the kontakt player. So if an instrument or sample collection says “powered by kontakt, or kontakt player” then Kontakt will see it, and give you a box that shows your library.

From there, you can browse the sounds easily by clicking the browse button on the box, and you get a normal file structure that has your sounds. It’s very quick, and I loved this addition in the 3.5 update, it wasn’t there in Kontakt 3.

But, even with sounds that aren’t actually Kontakt libraries, you can scan them into the database, which then allows you to browse for them easily via a drop down menu.

I just love it, period.

Bottom line is that I’m in love with this sampler. It does everything I need it to, it let’s me use all my sounds from my hardware gear, and let’s me customize the sound library to fit exactly what I want to do.

The fact that so many companies support the format is huge, just like the akai format was in years past, kontakt format is the universal language that many sound and sample providers speak.

That’s great news.

They have recently released version 4 of Kontakt, it has more enhancements, includes a kore style sound browser, some new sounds, including all the presets from their electrik piano instrument.

It also has a new choir, some more strings, and other little goodies. As soon as I upgrade, I’ll do a follow up and show you what’s there in version 4.

If you’re like me and you need a good replacement for a hardware sampler that can use what you have as well as expand well into the future, checkout Kontakt.

Why you should NOT buy Kontakt…

Usually right here I’d tell you to go pick it up, but I gotta be real with ya.

With the recent price changes over at NI, you’d be better to pick up komplete 6 instead of just getting kontakt 4.

Kontakt 4 by itself is 399, well worth it, but when you can get komplete 6 for 499, which includes kontakt 4, it just makes more sense.

Over at zzounds.com you can get komplete 6 for 4 payments of 124.75 no credit apps or anything.

I love these payment plans and once again zzounds.com comes through with the best price for it.

Being able to get Kontakt, the best software sampler around, plus 6 other dope plugins like absynth, fm8, reaktor, massive, battery, and guitar rig, it just makes more economical AND creative sense.

So if you’re looking for an all around sampler/sound module like I was, then Kontakt is what you want. Check it out at zzounds.com

let me know what you think, or if you have any questions.

leave me a comment below.