NI Komplete 8

[darkenedsoul]

Did you see the posts above mine where some foreign site is listing K9? I would have expected to see it at NI's site and a quick perusal last night or this morning didn't show anything on their main/Komplete page.

So could be a) bogus info on that site, b) incorrect listing on that site, or c) NI is slacking on any announcement about K9 due out soon. Didn't see anything specific on a google search either. Then again I picked up K8 not too long ago and am not in any rush to go to K9 since I rarely have been using K8 or K7 for that matter (on other system not updated to K8 yet...don't have 2-3+ hrs to spend on the update just yet).

Mike

[beats me]

Gotcha. Honestly from a basic user standpoint I don’t know what NI could toss into 9 other than more existing expansion packs like they did in 8 to make it attractive. The rev updates to the long existing plug-ins didn’t seem like reason alone to upgrade, maybe for power users of individual plugs but I’d imagine most users aren’t power users.

While I did find the expansion packs included in 8 attractive, upgrading was vetoed by too much damn drive space needed and I probably only use 5% of what I already got in 7.

[UltimateOutsider]

Did you see the posts above mine where some foreign site is listing K9? I would have expected to see it at NI's site and a quick perusal last night or this morning didn't show anything on their main/Komplete page.

So could be a) bogus info on that site, b) incorrect listing on that site, or c) NI is slacking on any announcement about K9 due out soon. Didn't see anything specific on a google search either. Then again I picked up K8 not too long ago and am not in any rush to go to K9 since I rarely have been using K8 or K7 for that matter (on other system not updated to K8 yet...don't have 2-3+ hrs to spend on the update just yet).

Mike

I think the more likely explanation is that NI has given retailers a heads-up that Komplete 9 is forthcoming (as mentioned before, some folks have heard April mentioned as a possible release date), which is common because it gives retailers a chance to think about how to manage their inventories of existing product and budget for upcoming orders. Retailers are not supposed to leak details before vendors make their official announcements, but it happens sometimes.

There are always a few loose-lipped employees at music stores who spill info to customers before-hand, when they have info to spill.

All of this is conjecture until NI makes their formal public announcement. I'm eager to hear what's offered, because I've also heard rumors that some of the Heavyocity stuff will NOT be included in the planned Ultimate release, which would be unfortunate. Here's hoping THAT rumor's false!

[Machinesworking]

Gotcha. Honestly from a basic user standpoint I don’t know what NI could toss into 9 other than more existing expansion packs like they did in 8 to make it attractive. The rev updates to the long existing plug-ins didn’t seem like reason alone to upgrade, maybe for power users of individual plugs but I’d imagine most users aren’t power users.

While I did find the expansion packs included in 8 attractive, upgrading was vetoed by too much damn drive space needed and I probably only use 5% of what I already got in 7.

As a Komplete 6 owner an update to Komplete 9 will likely include at least four upgrades in the lineup for me.
Already Kontakt and Guitar Rig are at later versions, and like I already mentioned, Massive, Reaktor and Battery are long in the tooth. I wouldn't be surprised if all three didn't get upgraded. Plus the massive amount of library material included.

To the negative aspects of all this. NI are a quandary for me, no other plug ins I own have as many issues in the form of minor bugs from release to release as theirs have. In some weird way it's a bit like Logic after Apple acquired it, have such a control over the market than they can undersell everyone which is a mixed blessing to us as consumers. You get a lot, but you're locked in to their choices in the sense that it's much less likely that a person of moderate spending habits with plug ins is going to look at other guitar plug ins, FM synths, samplers etc. Don't get me wrong it's an amazing package, it's just I'm questioning my own loyalty to bundled packages, NI aren't the only company I own a Suite by, Ableton, Nomad Factory and Ohm Force all come to mind. I end up with literally dozens of plug ins I never use.
Not to mention huge libraries of sounds I never use.

That said, I own Rig Kontrol, so Guitar Rig probably isn't going anywhere, and no matter how much I like Machfive 3, Kontakt is the de facto standard in the business of sample libraries; plus Absynth is still the king of spooky creamy pads.

[beats me]

Gotcha. Honestly from a basic user standpoint I don’t know what NI could toss into 9 other than more existing expansion packs like they did in 8 to make it attractive. The rev updates to the long existing plug-ins didn’t seem like reason alone to upgrade, maybe for power users of individual plugs but I’d imagine most users aren’t power users.

While I did find the expansion packs included in 8 attractive, upgrading was vetoed by too much damn drive space needed and I probably only use 5% of what I already got in 7.

As a Komplete 6 owner an update to Komplete 9 will likely include at least four upgrades in the lineup for me.
Already Kontakt and Guitar Rig are at later versions, and like I already mentioned, Massive, Reaktor and Battery are long in the tooth. I wouldn't be surprised if all three didn't get upgraded. Plus the massive amount of library material included.

To the negative aspects of all this. NI are a quandary for me, no other plug ins I own have as many issues in the form of minor bugs from release to release as theirs have. In some weird way it's a bit like Logic after Apple acquired it, have such a control over the market than they can undersell everyone which is a mixed blessing to us as consumers. You get a lot, but you're locked in to their choices in the sense that it's much less likely that a person of moderate spending habits with plug ins is going to look at other guitar plug ins, FM synths, samplers etc. Don't get me wrong it's an amazing package, it's just I'm questioning my own loyalty to bundled packages, NI aren't the only company I own a Suite by, Ableton, Nomad Factory and Ohm Force all come to mind. I end up with literally dozens of plug ins I never use.
Not to mention huge libraries of sounds I never use.

That said, I own Rig Kontrol, so Guitar Rig probably isn't going anywhere, and no matter how much I like Machfive 3, Kontakt is the de facto standard in the business of sample libraries; plus Absynth is still the king of spooky creamy pads.

Fuck, I just realized I don’t know if I’m on 6 or 7. That’s how little I’ve been paying attention or feeling like I’ve been missing out on something.

If somebody is mainly looking for a huge library of tweakable sounds I think I’d recommend Ominisphere (maybe combined with Trillian) over Komplete, if for no other reason than its 1 interface to learn. There’s just too much shit to sift through and get lost in with Komplete. Most of the time when I go to grab a Komplete plug-in it’s just to see what comes out. None of them are my go to plugs.

[Machinesworking]

Fuck, I just realized I don’t know if I’m on 6 or 7. That’s how little I’ve been paying attention or feeling like I’ve been missing out on something.

If somebody is mainly looking for a huge library of tweakable sounds I think I’d recommend Ominisphere (maybe combined with Trillian) over Komplete, if for no other reason than its 1 interface to learn. There’s just too much shit to sift through and get lost in with Komplete. Most of the time when I go to grab a Komplete plug-in it’s just to see what comes out. None of them are my go to plugs.

I think NI lost the plot when it comes to browsing sounds, but that's a whole thread unto itself.
Yeah Omnisphere has a more searchable database from what I can tell. Owning Machfive 3 lately I was surprised at the library. It's not near as "komplete" as Kontakt's, but it makes up for it in quality. Though there you go, Machfive comes with a 45GB library, but half of that is literally in just about 6 sounds, guitar, bass's, drumkit, and electric piano. I actually have the opposite complaint about Machfive, great library, not enough content.

NI definitly have a few goto's for me, mostly Absynth, as nothing else I own sounds like it. Massive is cool, but I think Zebra 2 does what it does a bit better than it, and less CPU hungry. Kontakt is amazing, I'm used to programming/loading samples into it by now, but it's never been a "fun" sampler to use, hence the Machfive purchase.

Reaktor is a blast, though I often think it's main advantage is most of the library force you to create in the "Reaktor way", meaning you end up using it for high tech electronica, and working within the boundaries of the ensemble you're using. <-- happy accidents basically, and going maybe outside your typical writing style.

My main problem with bundles is you really don't end up learning a synth or sampler etc. like you do a piece of hardware. It just becomes a library of presets which may or may not inspire you to write.

[chapelier fou]

Hate presets. Just buying this as i'm working on movie scores...

[Machinesworking]

You know I used to be really anti preset, and to a degree I still am, but if a synth has a hundred or so parameters to tweak, I'll often buzz through the presets to find one with most of the basics set to save time. Absynth is a great example, those breakpoint envelopes and setting one up for an acoustic type sound. Better to start with one almost there and tweak it IMO.

[jestermgee]

Hate presets. Just buying this as i'm working on movie scores...

Ha, and I guess Presets in THIS instance are then useful to save time?

Each is to their own but I think most look at a preset the wrong way. A preset is exactly that: A previous setting of controls, that's it. It's not locked in stone. It "should" help one understand the capabilities of a synth and help to give an idea of what you can achieve. You can go ahead and tweak the preset sound right out of the thing if you want OR start with a basic waveform and start setting up modulation and filters all day to get something similar.

I'm all for creating sounds from scratch, I record sounds, process audio and use synthesis. But when I am fishing for inspiration or something to fill in some audio space the last thing I want to do is start programming from scratch every time. Additionally sometimes a preset sound starts generating ideas and you can jump straight in and start tweaing. But I can understand some peoples opinions that if you use presets, you sound like the next guy.

EDIT: What Machines said...

[chapelier fou]

Oops, drunk typing yesterday night.
Just wanted to say that i usually never use presets, and try to learn everything from scratch. But of course, looking at a preset and try to understand it can be really useful.
In the case of something like Kontakt, presets totally make sense, since it's supposed to mimic real instruments or ensembles. i'm mainly interested in string sounds, precisely because being a violin player, i know very well that you can't mimic a string orchestra by yourself, layering takes...

[darkenedsoul]

I could not pass up the deal when I first bought K2 after having to buy battery just to get the discount price. I then updated to K4, K5, K7 and now K8 last year when 7 and 8 were $114.50. Can NOT beat that price point. And as beats me or others have said, TONS of choices but use very little. I like Kontakt as I can load up multiple instruments on one track and set MIDI channels for them in the others to play each back, make a pattern, put it across them all and then tweak the pattern to they are a bit different, rinse and repeat on additional scenes to build something out. I have yet to komplete this but that's what I am looking to do for my other project which will be more martial/orchestral when I get off my lazy ass to get back to it.

I also invested in Damage, Evolve, Evolved Mutations 1 and 2 packages due to hearing the samples and making me think that they would work for both my dark ambient project and the martial one, esp. Damage/Evolve. Anyone working with those ones and what do you think of them?

In regards to K9, I think I'll wait till it's on sale at the previously mentioned price before I waste any more money on it. If I start making some coin on releases then I may be able to justify the expense, but I've spent so much on little to no ROIC I can't do it. Same with going to Live 9, I like the audio to MIDI thing and a few other things as well as M4L with Suite but not sure yet until I see the pricing. And I invested in Studio One V2 last october which I have to get into using as well with Live rewired (32 bit version for now) which will be interesting and perhaps open up more possibilities for creativity...once I get off my lazy ass.

Mike

[J0n35y]

On sale now per an email I jsut got.

[UltimateOutsider]

On sale now per an email I jsut got.

Yep, the Komplete-9-in-April rumors are seeming more credible at this point.

"Offer runs until March 26, 2013, and only while stocks last!"

[J0n35y]

On sale now per an email I jsut got.

Yep, the Komplete-9-in-April rumors are seeming more credible at this point.

"Offer runs until March 26, 2013, and only while stocks last!"

Im just raging it excludes crossgrade offers! So right now, it is more expensive for me to get Komplete than it was yesterday (crossgrade has been removed)

[chapelier fou]

HA,
just lost 100 €.
Cheers.