Komplete 7 sample content - what to install?

OK, so I got the Komplete 7 upgrade but I don't think I really have enough free disk space for all 90GB of content, even considering I already have a bunch of it from my previous Komplete.

So the question for those of you who have used this stuff is, "Which of these libraries are must haves, and which can I skip without regret?".


In order by space (in MB's) - I left off Battery 3, as I already have it:

Kontakt 4 43,000 MB - I have Kontakt 3, is there anything in K3 not in K4, or can I just delete all the samples in K3 without loading both and checking everything first?
ABBEY ROAD '60's DRUMS 14,000 MB - What's this sound like compared to other drum libraries? Is it really good enough and flexible enough to be worth 14GB?

SCARBEE CLAVINET/PIANET 3,700 MB - I'm not a big Clav fan and not sure about the Pianet, so does anyone think this is worth taking a look at?
VIENNA 3,200 MB - Samples are from Akoustic Piano, which I have (along with the K3 patches). Are the interface updates in the K4 patches worth the trouble of installing and then deleting the duplicate samples?
SCARBEE MM-BASS 2,900 MB - Won't be installing this, as I don't use sampled basses.

BERLIN 2,800 MB - See Vienna above.
NEW YORK 2,700 MB - See Vienna above.
UPRIGHT PIANO 2,600 MB - See Vienna above.
VINTAGE ORGANS 1,400 MB - I already have NI's (sadly discontinued) B4, among other organs. Is this worth adding?
SCARBEE MARK I 1,300 MB  - I already have lots of EP's. Is this worth adding?  

SCARBEE A-200 850 MB - Will probably install this (unless everyone here hates it).

ACOUSTIC REFRACTIONS 385 MB - Already have this one.

Any input you can give me would be greatly appreciated. And I may add some additional drive space in the future, but not imminently.

I haven't done a sound comparison yet of the old vs. the new in Komplete 7, but one difference worth mentioning is that B4II is a modeler whereas its replacement Vintage Organs is sample-based. You may want to install VO to compare. It takes up 1.4GB.

I'm thinking it's time to get another hard drive just for the samples.

As Craig points out... they are dirt cheap these days....

You should have a minimum of 3 drives....IMHO. (internal drives)

one for the OS and the software programs
the second one for your samples
the third one for your project files.


a fourth drive would be cool, either internal or external as a back up for the projects.

always save your downloaded programs to DVD/CD as well.

Guys, I appreciate it, but it's not just a matter of cost when adding another drive - in my studio configuration just getting at the computer to install it is a major undertaking. And I don't really want to add another drive (more noise/heat/power) for the sole purpose of accommodating huge sample sets I'll rarely (if ever) use. I'm sure I'll add more space at some point in the future, but not right now just to install everything in Komplete because it's there.

Plus I'm really trying to get in the practice of limiting what I have - I don't feel it's productive to audition 800 slightly different organ/EP/drum sounds, when I have  already accumulated very good options for most types of sounds. 

Hence I'm really looking for some feedback on whether any of these libraries are "superb", "unique", or "substantially better". If they're just "bigger" or "good, but more of the same", I don't feel I need to waste time on them. I'm already very, very well stocked with sounds.

I really do appreciate your input though.

Drew, I saw this on the KVR forum where a user suggested to keep all your Kontakt 3 & K4 samples in seperate folders and also some other useful tips.

Mesh


Drew, I saw this on the KVR forum where a user suggested to keep all your Kontakt 3 & K4 samples in seperate folders and also some other useful tips.

My impression was they suggested keeping the patches in a fixed location, so any existing projects could find them and keep them straight, but you could delete the dupe samples. Then when you try to open that patch, Kontakt will ask you where the samples are. That's what I intend to do, but I'm never sure quite sure if they took something out in the newer version, so I end up having to go through each sample directory and check if they're the same before I can delete them. 

I just wish NI wouldn't insist on reinstalling the 10's of GB's of samples I've already got. I don't see why they couldn't at least give me a "just install new K4 content" installation option. It takes me forever to install all this stuff - and they have nerve to have the message say "This may take a few minutes".

drewfx1

That's what I intend to do, but I'm never sure quite sure if they took something out in the newer version, so I end up having to go through each sample directory and check if they're the same before I can delete them. 

 

Have you ever tried Microsoft's SynchToy to do a compare and delete the files you don't need?  Here's the link:
 
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=c26efa36-98e0-4ee9-a7c5-98d0592d8c52
 
It might still be time consuming but it would be faster than manually doing a check.  I'm not sure if it will work but that's what I planned to do when I get my next DAWG.
 
Cheers,
 
jayson

jayson

drewfx1

That's what I intend to do, but I'm never sure quite sure if they took something out in the newer version, so I end up having to go through each sample directory and check if they're the same before I can delete them. 

 

Have you ever tried Microsoft's SynchToy to do a compare and delete the files you don't need?  Here's the link:
 
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=c26efa36-98e0-4ee9-a7c5-98d0592d8c52
 
It might still be time consuming but it would be faster than manually doing a check.  I'm not sure if it will work but that's what I planned to do when I get my next DAWG.
 
Cheers,
 
jayson

Thanks,  I'm not sure if I have that one or not, but it sounds familiar. I've got quite a few "duplicate finder" utilities lying around to look at, as there are lots of sample directories to deal with. 

Ohhhh...  You're one of those "productive" types!  LOL! 
 
If, in your organizing efforts, you happen to find a really good utility for finding duplicate samples, can you post what it is?  The only utilities I have that are remotely usable for this are slow as snot.  Well, considering what I've learned during alergy season, let's just say they are much slower than snot and leave it at that!

If you have the space, I'd install the whole lot... and play the sounds a bit.
 
If you already have specific (high quality) libraries for each catagory (ie: Superior 2.0, Ivory-II, Omnisphere, etc)... you may not use much/any of the included content.
The included content is pretty good... but not necessarily the best that you can find.
IMO, the MusicMan bass is pretty good... as are the EPs.  If you're into drum sounds a la Ringo, you'll probably like the 60s Drums.

Just though I'd update this for anyone else in the same boat:

I went in and deleted almost all of the  duplicate samples from the Kontakt 3 library. I didn't bother trying a "dupe finder" utility, but just used a search tool to find all the .wav files under the K3 library and display them next to a window with a search of the K4 library (excluding files newer than the newest K3 file). The libraries are almost identical, but sometimes K4 had more samples, and very rarely K3 had 1 or 2 samples not in K4 (maybe K4 had newer versions of them, but I didn't check). Some K3 instruments also had IR files mixed in with the samples that weren't in the K4 library sample directories, so I left those. As expected, when opening a K3 instrument the "missing samples" dialog came up and if I pointed it to the K4 samples it opened fine.

In terms of the new content I tried in the K4 library, the choir is quite nice. As is the Sitar, but it's only a single patch - no masses of different keyswitched articulations here.

I loaded the Scarbee Clav/EP's and found , (in limited auditioning) that while they seem to be very nicely sampled without obvious transitions or flaws, they aren't super compelling either - or perhaps they're just a bit too clean/tame for my tastes. And except for the Clav, there is only one patch for each, so you only get one version of each EP without much built-in variation.

The Mark I (Rhodes) is perfectly nice, but it didn't really bark as much as I'd like. I have another Rhodes that gets much darker and grittier that I like much better. So I'm not sure if I'll keep this one.

The A-200 (Wurli) has a nice low end, but otherwise seems a little tamer than I'd like. But as I like Wurli's, it's not too big, and my other Wurli's are all flawed in one way or another, I'll keep it. I suspect a bit of processing could make it a lot better for my purposes.

The Pianet is similar to the A-200 with the addition of a "plucking" noise that can be adjusted. I'll keep it, just because it's a little unusual.

The Clavinet is very nice, with several variations (all based on the variations built into the original keyboard). In some ways it's harder to play that your average clav patch because it's responsive enough that you sort of have to learn to play it "right". But I don't really use clavs, so I'm thinking I'll either delete it or move it to an offline drive.

I also loaded the Vintage Organs. I liked this one. It has a good variety from clean to distorted rock organs available. The Performance Views are excellent, with a full featured GUI very much like B4's - drawbars, buttons, Leslie, and amp/distortion. The only real downside I found (in limited use) was that the Leslie effect was flying around the stereo spread (I was using headphones), and they didn't seem to bother to include a control in the GUI to turn this off - easy to fix, but annoying, as it wasn't subtle.


From the NI website pictures, the GUI's for the new versions of the Akoustik Piano stuff looks pretty much identical to the K3 AP patches I already have, so I don't see any point in loading these (unless someone tells me otherwise).

I'm thinking about loading the 60's drums just to take a look. NI's demos make me think that although they might be excellent period drum sounds, they won't be either to my own tastes in drums or versatile enough (unless I decide I want to do a vintage sounding piece). But I'd like to take a look at them as I have this $60 voucher and could potentially put it towards one of the other Abbey Road drum libraries I might like better.

Well I ended up installing the whole lot. Took the better part of Sunday to accomplish it. One of the DVD's crawled along like a floppy disk!
btw- there's a potential flaw on some of the Kontakt 4 disc B that are shipping. In case you haven't gotten the email from NI.