Somethin' like Kontakt, Sampletank? (CROSS PLATFORM)

[8ball]

What other software out there (CROSS PLATFORM) is like Kontakt and Sampletank? One that has a variety of instruments (bass,guitar,piano,organ,brass,strings,percussion,etc.)

Not looking for a DAW that comes with instruments or a free sampler. Just looking to see if there are plugin instruments in one software package to use in multiple DAWs, cross platform.

[CarpeNoctem]

My personal fav: Motu Mach5 v3 ... has a huge library and excellent functions. I also own and use Steinberg Halion 5 .. can suggest that too.

Greetings

Alex

[8ball]

thanks alex.

[mholloway]

Kontakt is so far superior to all the competition it's not even funny... and when you consider the volume of third party content for Kontakt compared to things like Mach5 (about one total company makes stuff for it, UVI, and even then just barely and Halion (basically zero third party support) it's even funnier...

but since you're looking beyond kontakt, I can say -- Halion is weak. The library is weak. If you want multi-sampled pianos, basses, strings, etc. Halion is like a cheap toy. Nothing in there that sounds better than pretty generic bread and butter ROMplers.

Maybe look at Omnisphere + Trillian. Omni is much more esoteric stuff, but it is sample based and is far superior in quality to anything you'll find in Halion.

SampleTank -- well... have you actually heard the demos??? They should tell you all you need to know. Unless your primary interest is composing elevator music for grocery store's in the 1980's.

Mach5 I have no experience with. It lacks any notable third party support other than the enormously over-priced stuff from the UVI company, and all my favorite Kontakt material is NOT the library (though it's pretty good, and certainly better than that of Halion and ST) but rather awesome, highly developed third party content -- or a lot of the extra stuff NI releases for it, which is basically stuff developed by third parties but then sold by NI (for example, Session Horns, The Giant (piano), Rickenbacker Bass, etc). In general I think MOTU is a good company though, so I've always been somewhat curious about M5.

[8ball]

Thanks for that info.
I'm conscious shopping when it comes to pricey software.
Someone mentioned in another forum that Native Instruments is known for having a Summer Sale? I wish I knew when that was so I can wait.

[jlgrimes]

What other software out there (CROSS PLATFORM) is like Kontakt and Sampletank? One that has a variety of instruments (bass,guitar,piano,organ,brass,strings,percussion,etc.)

Not looking for a DAW that comes with instruments or a free sampler. Just looking to see if there are plugin instruments in one software package to use in multiple DAWs, cross platform.

Nexus, although it is mostly dance based, it does come with some decent strings, pianos, horns, and guitars. Most sounds are pretty effect heavy. This is a good contrast to Kontakt stuff which is more natural sounding.

Omnisphere, definitely not bread and butter and more synth based, it does have some good strings and choir sounds, as well as guitars.

Trilian, only focus on basses, but it has some great ones.


Also consider additional libraries for Kontakt. IMO this would probably be the easiest method as you don't need to learn a new interface. Also if you are willing to get your hands a little dirty, you can get plenty of free soundfonts off the web which imports into Kontakt. You will usually have to edit parameters to get the envelopes right, but you can often get some cool sounds this way.

Check out the Scarbee bass guitar libraries for Kontakt. These are the best basses I've heard from a sampler. I love the Rickenbacker and the Jazz Bass ones the most.

[8ball]

Thanks. I just jumped on youtube to listen to a few Scarbee basses. They really sound good.

[doghouse]

IK has a free version of Sampletank and the regular versions are just about always on sale. I bought a copy of IK's TRacks mastering tools a few years ago and they bundeled Sampletank in for free (I never even use it). Shop around, you should be able to find it for $30-40 without too much trouble.

The IK sample library is nowhere as good sounding as Kontakt, but is is cheap.

[8ball]

Oh I should have mentioned that a few weeks ago I downloaded all the free IK stuff and NI's free Kontakt player. That's when I started to shop around to see which one I want to settle with. The IK sample tank is okay but I really liked Kontakt's sound and action. But too pricey for my wallet. That's why I wanted to see what else was available out there.

[db120]

NI did a previous sale on June 28, doesn't mean that'll be same date this year. I'm waiting for it to go down to upgrade to kontakt/komplete.

[8ball]

I think I'll wait too and see if a SALE pops up in the next few months.

[fishmonkey]

NI sales happen so regularly that their normal prices are meaningless...

[Machinesworking]

Vote for MachFive 3. Didn't even really pay attention to Mach5 2, but three added IRCAM time and pitch granular stuff, Oberheim Xpander filters, wavetable synthesis, a unique high end reverb, plus convolution reverb of course, LFO's everywhere.

As far as third party libraries go, Kontakt will be impossible to beat, but as far as the basic sound creation possibilities are concerned, Kontakt is way more clunky and less actually fun to create sounds with, plus the filters and FX sound better in MachFive.

Halion recently won the granular synthesis competition according to Stockhausen, so even if it's got a bad library if granular pitch/time is your thing then it's worth at least listing to.

If you're basically looking at Sample Tank and Kontakt for their sounds, as Romplers, then nobody with that in mind has been disappointed with Omnisphere.

The ones I own are MachFive 3 and Kontakt, I use both, but I don't do much sound design in Kontakt since getting MachFive.

[dredd i knight]

Camel Audios Alchemy is a good sampler too.
It has great expansions and is a very deep synth.
But for natural instruments nothing beats Kontakt, purely because of the great third party support. A sale will be round the corner and you can get a good deal. KVR's marketplace is a good way to pick up bargains too, especially on Kontakt samples.

[kitekrazy]

Wait till NI Komplete goes on sale. Komplete unlike the other NI products allows installs up to 3 machines.