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
thanks again dude iam goin for the komplete bundle ONCE AGAINyou helped the sale just needed a birds eye veiw of whAT the deal was wit it i will let u know when i get it might need ur experteez on one or two thingz thanks also couldnt help but notice u have the syntax from v2 how is it an how much i have been checking it from time to time felt it was a bit to much $ is it worth it let me know mabe u can finaLIZE THAT SALE FOR ME AS WELL thanks again dude
I will be doing a review on syntAX I will say I absolutely have fallen in love with vir2 instruments and it’s a big reason I use kontakt so much lol, all of their stuff is in kontakt format 🙂
Glad to help man, I never know who is looking for what so I just go with whatever I like at the time and the things I feel should get some exposure… so I’m glad it helped ya out!
one more thing i already have battery 3 i know probly not but is there a discount if you already own one of there products for purchasing the komplete bundle if not what should i do or what would you do
I’m not sure if there is a discount if you only own one of them, I know there is if you have a previous komplete version.
you may check the website and see what’s good.
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Good stuff Saintjoe. I’m still back on Kontakt 2, but I might need to Look at Komplete too. Those new interfaces are lovely. I always found Kontakt convenient but super dull looking. And i feel you on the re-sizing, I need full screen Guru!(lol) I got that VIone myself, very dope library, got for a bill, it’s only
79 bucks now if anybody here needs workstation style sounds.
very impressed wit vi one, the price you can grab it for is crazy.
kontakt is insane, i’m an NI fanboy lol..not ashamed to admit it either lol
ViOne for $79?! Point me in that direction, I haven’t been able to come across it, a store rep told me that product was being discontinued.
@effone: if I’m not mistaken there’s discount pricing if you own previous versions of Komplete and/or Kontakt, as SJ said you’ll get more bang for the buck by going for K6 even the cross-grade from Kontakt to K6 makes it a no-brainer (just eat PB&J and no dinner/movie dates for about 3wks *lol*-funny but true you’ll be surprised the $$ you’ll save)
A final word for those interested, I’ll share a SamAsh coupon code (I have to locate it) it discounts orders $99/+, this should come in handy for those of us looking to purchase Live Intro or other nik-naks.
Peace & Blessings to all.
Lowest I saw it for was 99 and musicians friend. I will get with my contact at Big Fish/Vir2 and see what he says about it being discontinued.
Yes, komplete 6 is the deal it’s like 50% compared to what it used to cost, I’d go for it if I didn’t already have most of the instruments 🙂 lol.
I just talked to my man at Vir2/Big Fish, he said….and I quote
“Hey JK, VI ONE is definitely NOT being discontinued, it’s selling great and people love it!”
he told me to ask which store it was so they can make sure they get the proper items in stock. He said the store may have been out of stock and not seeing any future orders, but he can take care of that.
So hit me up, or shoot me an email and I’ll let him know.
VI One is here to stay baby! Good thing, all vir2 joint are ill. I’ll be doing some reviews on them shortly.
Thanks for the research, btw here’s that coupon code for all to see:
Sam Ash Music – $20 off orders of $60 or more
Code: 20TJOOSC
It’s not much, but look at it like this “that’s extra for the gas tank for the week” *lol*
It was Guitar Center(Paramus,NJ) where a sales rep. made the comment, in their defense he may have been new (they tend to rotate staff often). No Vir2 plugs even on the shelf at SamAsh (Paramus,NJ)perhaps it’s customer demand.
That’s whasup man, I’ll let them know over at Vir2, it’s easy to get misinformation so I’m sure he was going based off of what he heard/knew.
Thanks for posting that coupon too! lol.
I need a mini keyboard…I may have to use it on that!
No problem it’s the least I could do to add to the platform here. BTW here’s another one:
Sam Ash Music – Free Samsung CM15 Hypercardioid Microphone on orders of $99 or more
Code: FREECM15
Use coupon: http://tjoos.me/383406
I was informed that they will match their on-line pricing in-store as well, so if you have a location in your area print out your shopping cart pg.and you should be good. The site might just let you combine offers like the one above.
that’s whasup bro! Good looking out!
Needless to say Kontakt is dope. I have an instance of Kontakt loaded up on every track! You could make full compositions with just the included libraries and mix right in Kontakt.But of course it can load any library or sample I already have or saintjoe sends me wav, rex, acid, soundfont and the list goes on.It’s just very well done. This is the single best piece of gear I’ve invested in. I don’t know what anybody could be using if not this.
yeah bro! Yo, what host are you using? I’m going to do a video showing how I turn ableton into a 16 track workstation using kontakt… and I use it multi mode so I don’t have to load multiple instances 🙂 Better on the cpu too…it’s stupid lol.
There are some other sampler/workstations out there…but I love how Kontakt is laid out man…very smooth in my opinion.
Ej SaintJoe what kind of program u r using when u make these comercial videos?
Not sure what you mean… but when I record just the software on screen I’m using camtasia, when I record myself I use my own camera and then videospin to edit it.
tha software is pretty nice and the sounds to. TWAIN
Yeah I’m really a fan, and you can constantly update it because many companies produce sample libraries in this format.
good stuff.
Yo, i saw this in the description of Kontakt on Sweetwater’s website: mport and compatibility: EXS-24, KOMPAKT, Akai S-x000/Z8, BATTERY, GigaStudio, INTAKT, Apple Loops, Reason NN-XT, REX I/II, HALion 1/2, REAKTOR, ACID WAVs, Emu EOS/EIV/EIII/Esi/Emax II and more
Does this mean that I can import NN-XT patches into Kontakt????
yes, it will see them. I think there is a specific type, something like un encrypted or whatever…I think they can’t be in a “refill” but if it’s raw nn-xt patches, you should be fine.
you can download the demo and try
Well I don’t know because still Kontakt don’t sample they make Maschine sample and not Kontakt hmm! Ok the truth is E-MU Emulator x3 sounds better than Kontakt and its cheaper and it samples even now the NNXT sample in Reason 5. but like basic samplers of old but it does sample we have yet to see kontakt maybe in Kontakt 5 we will see true audio sampling then you can call it a sampler but for now Universal format player
@Mehdo, samplers were used for more than realtime sampling, many rack samplers, though they did sample, were used as library playback devices. This is what Kontakt and many of the other software samplers do. Emulator X3 may sample, but it just doesn’t have the library support that Kontakt does…you don’t find people developing in X3 format, majority of instrument libraries are developed for Kontakt, theres a reason for that.
When I had standalone samplers, I didn’t sample into them, my akai samplers where used as my own personal rompler, where I filled them up with various instrument libraries i’d purchased. That’s what Kontakt is about in my opinion.
It’s a sampler, it plays back samples lol….even though it doesn’t sample audio into it, doesn’t mean it isn’t a sampler. You can also load your own samples into it, which also…again… makes it a sampler 🙂
X3 is a dope instrument for sure, but my only real use for it is to playback my emu banks within a 64 bit environment since proteus vx won’t work on windows 7 x64.
@saintjoe, I like them both but I like the ability to be able to sample as of yet Kontakt does not have yes it does have major 3rd party and propriatory sound development and Emulator has digital sound factory have you ever paid a visit to them but to me its about sound quality yes Kontakt sounds good but emulator sounds better only problem is they are now so slow with development I think it works on windows 7 I heard it does but I don’t think there will ever be a Emulator x4 but the price now can’t be beat I might just get them both but hey Digitalsoundfactory.com does make the old proteus 2000,mophatt,and all the rest for kontakt 4
@mehdo, digital sound factory is cool, but nothing compared to what kontakt can use. I don’t use the kontakt factory library, but the third party libraries are amazing for it, emu just isn’t in the same league in that regard.
But if you like to sample and make your own stuff, then yes emmulator x samples and it’s filters/modulation is insane!
I see no problem in having both personally, I’ll probably get x3 at some point.