Ableton Forum

After following carefully all the instructions provided by Native Instruments, I can't launch the Komplete Kontrol software from Ableton Live 10.1 Intro.
Even after dragging the Komplete Kontrol VST from the instrument rack, a blank instrument popped up. Managed to figure it out thanks to other users posts and reading through youtube videos.

Apparently this is the solution:
Go to Options > Preferences and on the File Folder Tab, Turn on "Use VST Plug-In Custom Folder" and browse for where Komplete Kontrol put your VSTs.

But in my Ableton Live intro version I don't have this options at all. I can't turn on "Use VST Plug-In Custom Folder" because this option doesn't exist.

My question is: does this option appear on upgraded versions such as Standard or Suite?

Thank you so much , hopefully I can solve this problem, because I'm stuck right now.

You need to use the standalone (desktop) version of Komplete Kontrol to setup your paths and scan your database before using the VST part.

jestermgee wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 06, 2019 8:58 am

You need to use the standalone (desktop) version of Komplete Kontrol to setup your paths and scan your database before using the VST part.

Thank you so much for your quick reply , I have the standalone version, but what I want is to launch this software straight from Ableton Live. I have watched many videos and it is possible.

How can I use my standalone version with Ableton Live? I really don't know. I followed the instructions provided by Native Instruments to no avail.

You need to SETUP your VST paths and scan the plugins and NKS library as per the instructions for the keyboard (page 11)

https://www.native-instruments.com/file ... h_0419.pdf

Then once that has been completed and you have plugins available you can use it in Live tho only NKS plugins will be initially usable...

If you have 3rd party VSTs that are not NKS by default (Omnisphere, Sylenth, Nexus etc...), check my signature for NKS libraries that can be added for a large range of instruments.

jestermgee wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 06, 2019 10:12 am

You need to SETUP your VST paths and scan the plugins and NKS library as per the instructions for the keyboard (page 11)

https://www.native-instruments.com/file ... h_0419.pdf

Then once that has been completed and you have plugins available you can use it in Live tho only NKS plugins will be initially usable...

If you have 3rd party VSTs that are not NKS by default (Omnisphere, Sylenth, Nexus etc...), check my signature for NKS libraries that can be added for a large range of instruments.

Thank you

I already did this. Everything seems ok. The Komplete Kontrol VST.adg appears inside the instrument rack, but it doesn't launch or work.
It's empty.
I'm a complete newbie, and this is discouraging me so much. I'm about to return the NI midi controller .
Ableton Live Standard looks so different from the available Ableton tutorial videos, they are not updated at all and are not really usefull.

All I want is to use KK with my Ableton DAW

Dunno about the other stuff but "Use VST Plug-In Custom Folder" is present on all Live versions (Lite, Intro, Standard and Suite).

It is on "Options > Preferences > Plug-Ins".

kiusa wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 11, 2019 3:52 am

Thank you

I already did this. Everything seems ok. The Komplete Kontrol VST.adg appears inside the instrument rack, but it doesn't launch or work.
It's empty.
I'm a complete newbie, and this is discouraging me so much. I'm about to return the NI midi controller .
Ableton Live Standard looks so different from the available Ableton tutorial videos, they are not updated at all and are not really usefull.

All I want is to use KK with my Ableton DAW

If you have the instrument rack available but it loads empty then your Komplete Kontrol VST plugin is not detected by Ableton Live and you need to set the custom VST folder so Live will detect your installed VST plugins.

If you are a complete Newbie and you do not already have knowledge of VSTs, how they work, how DAWs and plugins work then you need to make allowances for yourself that not everything is "plug-n-play". It takes some time to learn and understand how things work and that could mean hours/days/weeks of persistence.

The core function of how Live works and the videos that would demonstrate the core fundamentais, including settings and preferences, have not really changed in 15 years. Hell the GUI hasn't really even changed that much in that span of time either.

Maybe this will help with the VST issue you have:

https://help.ableton.com/hc/en-us/artic ... on-Windows

kiusa wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 11, 2019 3:52 am

I already did this. Everything seems ok. The Komplete Kontrol VST.adg appears inside the instrument rack, but it doesn't launch or work.
It's empty.

I think this may be calling for a really simple “fix”. Now that you have Komplete Kontrol in the instrument rack, click the wrench icon in the title bar of that Komplete Kontrol instrument. It’s the very small but extremely important circular button on the upper-left of the title bar of the instrument, just next to where it says Komplete Kontrol. This wrench button is what shows the VST instrument/effect’s custom window.

pottering wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 11, 2019 6:02 am

Dunno about the other stuff but "Use VST Plug-In Custom Folder" is present on all Live versions (Lite, Intro, Standard and Suite).

It is on "Options > Preferences > Plug-Ins".

I'm afraid it's no longer available.

This is how my Ableton Live looks like. I purchased and downloaded Standard version yesterday in the hopes I'd find "Use VST Plug-In Custom Folder" , but it's not there either.

It's in spanish, my mother language, but anyway, there's nothing similar to it.

It is right there, "Usar Carpeta Personalizada VST2" is the "Use VST Plug-In Custom Folder" option.

The option below it, "Carpeta pers. plug-ins VST2" setting should be pointed at your VST2 plugin folder, the folder that holds ".dll" files ("dll" is the VST2 file extension), not the User Library.

ADG is just a Ableton preset file, not the plugin.

You can find out where a NI plugin was installed looking at the Native Access app:

https://support.native-instruments.com/ ... n-Windows-

https://support.native-instruments.com/ ... it-Systems

pottering wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 11, 2019 7:05 pm

It is right there, "Usar Carpeta Personalizada VST2" is the "Use VST Plug-In Custom Folder" option.

The option below it, "Carpeta pers. plug-ins VST2" setting should be pointed at your VST2 plugin folder, the folder that holds ".dll" files ("dll" is the VST2 file extension), not the User Library.

ADG is just a Ableton preset file, not the plugin.

You can find out where a NI plugin was installed looking at the Native Access app:

https://support.native-instruments.com/ ... n-Windows-

https://support.native-instruments.com/ ... it-Systems

Thank you so much, I can't believe it . It finally worked, I managed to launch the KK software straight from Ableton Live.

Some plugins cant be found, but I guess I have to rescan, or find the path.

It's a great step for me.

Thank you all so so so much.

.

To anyone wondering what I did, this is the folder that worked for me, I hope it is usefull for anyone having troubles :

Open Ableton Live

Go to Options- preferences - File folder- USE VST Plug In Custom Folder or its spanish version in my case "usar carpeta personalizada plug ins VST2"

this is the path that will you to open KK straight from Ableton Live C:Program Files\Native Instruments\VST Plugins 64-bit

In case some plug ins do not load, it is necessary to rescan or even delete the "plugin64.data" and launch Komplete Kontrol again in order to restore them.

C > User > *User name* > App Data > Native Instruments > Komplete Kontrol.

(note that app data is hidden )

I hope that helps other people with the same issues.

And thank you all for being so nice and supportive.

Or better still is to take note where you install VSTs into same folder........

Great thread, thank you!

The biggest "gotcha" for me is that the Native Instruments plugsins are VST2, not VST3, which really surprised me. The default for most of their plugins are at /Users/Shared. You will need to use the Finder application, and click 'Go -> Computer' to see them since Mac hides system folders by default.

For anyone wondering you can find the paths for all Native Instruments in the Native Access application, click on installed products > click product > installation path. But I've learned over the years porting VSTs from PC to PC or PC to mac that most times it is easiest to just let the installers pick the default locations!