Some thoughts on Native Instruments...

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groggy1
Posts: 466
Joined: 10 Jun 2015

02 Dec 2017

So I used to buy "Complete" - I think I stopped around Komplete 7.

I think over time, I've gotten less and less enchanted with NI plugins. But first, here's what I do like:

-Love Reaktor 6 and Blocks! Couldn't be happier, since Blocks is sort-of a middle-ground since it's a great playground for audio, but less complex than previous versions due to Blocks.
-Love FM8 - I still haven't found an FM synth that is as close to DX7, and I used to play on a DX7 so I miss it

Now, here's what I don't like about the "Komplete" series:
-Why did they change the FM7 color-scheme to the almost UNREADABLE gray color-scheme in FM8? And what sort of company makes this kind of change without letting me pick the color-scheme skin?
-They deprecated Pro53 long ago. Shame on them
- My favorite synth is Reaktor, and I had to wait how many years between Reaktor 5 and 6?! I wish there were big steps forward every year
- It's just too much. My head explodes when I think of all the synths and sample libraries they throw at me - who has the time to go through it all? And are they all "A" class? Absolutely not. So you end-up spending half your time just exploring, and having your GAS consuming you. I decided that I just like Reaktor and FM8, so now I just pay for them separately to have the latest version, and that's it.
-The install is a nightmare. Yes, they now give you an external HD to install. But *even* with that, it's a pain. When I previously tried uninstalling the older version of komplete, I've hit errors at-least twice. And each time, I had to manually clean stuff up.


Anyway, what do others think? Personally, I just don't love the direction NI has taken. For others it might be great, but for me I'm just not willing to put up with the whole "Komplete" thing anymore.

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MikeMcKew
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02 Dec 2017

I bought Komplete 8 Ultimate, upgraded to K10U, then K11U. I think of it kind of as an all-in-one deal, where you basically have everything you would ever need right out of the box.

Personally, I use multiple instances of Kontakt in every one of my productions. I'm not sure what I would do without it at this point. It's my drum kit, piano, organ, string section, etc... As a guitar/bass player, Guitar Rig has also been a huge part of my workflow.

As for the synths, I don't always reach towards Massive, FM8, or Reaktor first, but there's no denying they are high quality.

The effects are another thing. I've never heard NI talked about as a high quality effects plugin maker, especially with all the other options out there. I never use them, but they are there.

I agree that the installation process is ridiculous. It's gotten a lot better though, and its admittedly hard to coordinate such a massive download and installation over the internet. It took me three days to install K11U! I may have something messed up though...

All in all, I love it and I don't regret my purchase(s) at all.

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QVprod
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03 Dec 2017

Installation process is a lot better over the internet. The hard drive is pretty pointless unless you just want a hard backup. Also now that they've moved from using service center to Native Access, It's even simpler to manage. I use Kontakt all the time for drums, Piano, and sometimes the stock VSL strings (I have K10 standard). The 3rd party stuff for Kontakt (even some free stuff) is stellar. Truthfully I only wanted Kontakt 5, but at the time Komplete 10 was only $100 more than Kontakt by itself. Only made sense I bought the whole thing.

I use Reaktor, sometimes for Monark and but most times for a tape sim I got from the Reaktor User Library. I never use Absynth or FM8 as Absynth goes over my head and seems to lean towards weird sounds, and I rarely need FM type sounds nor can I program an FM synthesizer... so I guess that's over my head too :lol:

I use their fx. They may not be highly spoken about but they're useful. I use Transient Master and Replika quite a lot. I'll use their SSl Bus Compressor when I'm mixing in Studio One. Sounds about as good as the one in Reason though a bit more tweakable. As a bundle, Komplete is quite amazing for what you get. Though I share sentiments with the OP, there's no need to upgrade every version. Nothing about K11 really appealed to me so I stuck with 10

groggy1
Posts: 466
Joined: 10 Jun 2015

03 Dec 2017

MikeMcKew wrote:
02 Dec 2017
I bought Komplete 8 Ultimate, upgraded to K10U, then K11U. I think of it kind of as an all-in-one deal, where you basically have everything you would ever need right out of the box.

Personally, I use multiple instances of Kontakt in every one of my productions. I'm not sure what I would do without it at this point. It's my drum kit, piano, organ, string section, etc... As a guitar/bass player, Guitar Rig has also been a huge part of my workflow.

As for the synths, I don't always reach towards Massive, FM8, or Reaktor first, but there's no denying they are high quality.

The effects are another thing. I've never heard NI talked about as a high quality effects plugin maker, especially with all the other options out there. I never use them, but they are there.

I agree that the installation process is ridiculous. It's gotten a lot better though, and its admittedly hard to coordinate such a massive download and installation over the internet. It took me three days to install K11U! I may have something messed up though...

All in all, I love it and I don't regret my purchase(s) at all.

Yeah, I hear you that it's a good "all in one" deal. That's exactly how I used to feel when I bought Komplete. It's good stuff, I just think they are going in a different direction than what I wish (they're focusing on content instead of the synths I happen to want more upgrades to :)) But that's OK, I'm sure they have their reasons.

Anyway, good for me to hear others' opinions, so thanks for replying.

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esselfortium
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03 Dec 2017

I love Kontakt, but I have a hard time seeing myself investing hundreds in the Komplete bundle. It's probably a solid bundle if you're just getting started, but to me it seems like it would just be a few maybe-interesting things and a lot of bloat I'd never actually reach for. I already have more high-quality synths and effects than I know what to do with in Reason and a solid collection of third-party Kontakt libraries that I think have filled the vast majority of my instrument needs more satisfactorily than what Komplete can do.
Sarah Mancuso
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sirmcp
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Joined: 16 May 2017

04 Dec 2017

I have Komplete 8. I bought it as a cross grade when I purchased maschine. I had just gotten Ableton but not the version with sampler and operator so I thought komplete would be my vst rack for Ableton. Now I rarely open maschine but I use kontakt, battery, reaktor, and the synths. For under 300 usd it’s a steal and it gives you so much. I do agree with the op as I don’t need the extra kontakt library stuff and don’t have it installed. Native has focused a lot on kontakt/maschine content which is why I haven’t updated it yet and probably won’t for years to come. I don’t really need battery 4 or reaktor 6 right now. But I like komplete. Fm8 can be programmed like a subtractive synth also and absynth isn’t that bad once you get used to the interface. I’m very satisfied with it right now 8 is still so good I don’t need to upgrade.

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Re8et
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30 Dec 2017

The installation of NI stuff is a punch in the stomach, for they do not ask you where to install stuff, and that is not nice.

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Re8et
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Joined: 14 Nov 2016

30 Dec 2017

groggy1 wrote:
02 Dec 2017
ur time just exploring, and having your GAS consuming you. I decided that I just like Reaktor and FM8, so now I just pay for them separately to have the latest version, and that's it.
-The install is a nightmare. Yes, they now give you an external HD to install. But *even* with that, it's a pain. When I previously tried uninstalling the older version of komplete, I've hit errors at-least twice. And each time, I had to manually clean stuff up.
Uh, I spent one full day before being able to reinstall the new Reaktor, because some files were missing.... a true nightmare...

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tumar
Posts: 385
Joined: 17 Jan 2015

31 Dec 2017

Since I upgraded to latest Komplete Ultimate I lost sense of GAS, there is nothing more I can buy from NI lol :) Maybe Machine?

I would like to see new synths (or upgrades), not only extensions for Reaktor.

I love NI sales and upgrades policy, never paid full price for any their product.

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selig
RE Developer
Posts: 11685
Joined: 15 Jan 2015
Location: The NorthWoods, CT, USA

31 Dec 2017

groggy1 wrote:
02 Dec 2017
So I used to buy "Complete" - I think I stopped around Komplete 7.

I think over time, I've gotten less and less enchanted with NI plugins. But first, here's what I do like:

-Love Reaktor 6 and Blocks! Couldn't be happier, since Blocks is sort-of a middle-ground since it's a great playground for audio, but less complex than previous versions due to Blocks.
-Love FM8 - I still haven't found an FM synth that is as close to DX7, and I used to play on a DX7 so I miss it

Now, here's what I don't like about the "Komplete" series:
-Why did they change the FM7 color-scheme to the almost UNREADABLE gray color-scheme in FM8? And what sort of company makes this kind of change without letting me pick the color-scheme skin?
-They deprecated Pro53 long ago. Shame on them
- My favorite synth is Reaktor, and I had to wait how many years between Reaktor 5 and 6?! I wish there were big steps forward every year
- It's just too much. My head explodes when I think of all the synths and sample libraries they throw at me - who has the time to go through it all? And are they all "A" class? Absolutely not. So you end-up spending half your time just exploring, and having your GAS consuming you. I decided that I just like Reaktor and FM8, so now I just pay for them separately to have the latest version, and that's it.
-The install is a nightmare. Yes, they now give you an external HD to install. But *even* with that, it's a pain. When I previously tried uninstalling the older version of komplete, I've hit errors at-least twice. And each time, I had to manually clean stuff up.


Anyway, what do others think? Personally, I just don't love the direction NI has taken. For others it might be great, but for me I'm just not willing to put up with the whole "Komplete" thing anymore.
I've been on and off with Komplete since it was introduced. Just recently got back on board with 10, then 11. The difference between the DVDs and the internet installation process is night and day. Now it's more like Rack Extensions, and thus better than any other software I've used over the years. Yes it helps to have fast internet, but if such a large library of sounds is a useful part of your work you've probably also found fast internet to be a useful part of your work! ;)

I do miss Pro53 and B4, don't mind the color scheme of FM8, but find the orchestral, percussive, and misc libraries (Rise and Hit, Kinetic Metal, Damage, Action Strikes, to name a few) for Kontact to be extremely useful. I also love Absynth and to a lesser degree, Massive and Battery.

But most of my work is with Reaktor and Kontakt, which I find useful additions to my Reason workflow since VST integration was introduced.

As far as the vastness of it all, as with any library of sounds it's part of the process to go through and find what works and what doesn't work, so that when inspiration hits you know where the "good stuff" is for your work.
Selig Audio, LLC

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United South
Posts: 151
Joined: 27 Dec 2017

31 Dec 2017

I just upgraded from ultimate 10 to 11 for the 3 new orchestra instruments in Kontakt I think I paid $199 no too bad. I use Razor and Kontakt the most. As far as fx Replika,Supercharger GT and Transient master get the most use. I found the folder for all the drums for Battery and keep them on a usb stick. I don't use ABSYNTH or FM8. I think Komplete ultimate is a good deal with a lot of tools to keep the juices flowing.

kitekrazy
Posts: 1036
Joined: 19 Jan 2015

31 Dec 2017

Re8et wrote:
30 Dec 2017
The installation of NI stuff is a punch in the stomach, for they do not ask you where to install stuff, and that is not nice.
You should be use to it since you can't choose where to install the Reason factory banks. As for NI you can change where to install.

keysperson
Posts: 13
Joined: 04 Dec 2017

01 Jan 2018

I think what confuses people about the installation process' is that NI expects you to Install the instruments first than run the service center. For me I did it backwards and that is what gave me some issues. Had I installed it first I wouldn't have had such a headache. All of the products from NI are excellent. You have to learn how to create something that shares the correct space with the intended sound. I also think Arturia V collection is really good. I hope that helps.

keysperson
Posts: 13
Joined: 04 Dec 2017

01 Jan 2018

There are also Youtube videos' that explain how to install it and they helped too.

33db
Posts: 71
Joined: 26 Nov 2017

02 Jan 2018

Love Komplete, been using it since 7 and I update when they drop the price prior to releasing a new version.
Yes installing the entire package in one go is tedious and sometimes error prone.

I notice people mention what they don't like more often than what they do like.
So I am curious what constitutes a high quality software instrument to you? Because the stuff I use from Komplete is some of the best stuff I've heard coming out of software, at least at that price range.

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