multiple "Kontakt's" in VST menu (WHY?)

Each has a certain number of outputs. 8, 16 and 32 I believe. 

John
Each has a certain number of outputs. 8, 16 and 32 I believe. 

OK, I've been confused on these exact #s... I think the above is correct if you're using it as "mono" outputs (assigned within the 16 midi channel framework)... 4, 8 & 16 if stereo...even though it'll still have unusable Left, Right, stereo listings in the pull down in the audio tracks pull down input assign thingy on the "audio" portion of the audio/midi tracks.  If you have the "32" version up, it'll say "out of outputs" or some such after you assign 16 stereo instruments... it is a bit confusing when you mix the two, for example, if you have several "mono" sounds on the same channel you can exceed 16 tracks but if using some stereos, as at some point you'll run out of outputs... 
 
did I manage to make sense with the above?  am I confusing something beyond the confused issue postulated above? I ask as that is how I've interpreted what is happening when I try and add beyond sixteen stereo tracks (as 32 mono LorR/stereo are listed).  I'm curious if I've misinterpreted what is happening. 
 
At any rate, as I seem to always use "stereo" outputs I labled mine 4, 8, & 16/
 

williamcopper
The Kontakt manual suggests that using different versions of the VST (different number of outputs) in the same project "...can seriously confuse your host and lead to unexpected behavior..."    

Furthermore, I read that there is no CPU savings using the smaller one. It is only there for compatibility with certain DAWs that can't handle that many outputs.

I generally use the large one...have an empty template set up and several setups, like an orange tree guitar set up template. I just delete unused tracks and use the batch safe feature ( I'm mobile at the moment).

The large 16 outputs WILL use more memory/cpu if you use more instruments. I generally use 4 to 8 per instance to spread the load among my 6 cores using multiple kontakt instances

Trevor... Save ur good setups as templates...it'll save you all that time you spent getting it working correctly the next time! Takes 30 seconds to load a template that may have taken you hours to create!

Craig... Fantastic link... You are SO helpful...and the reservoir of knowledge you wield is priceless... That link should be a sticky given how much people are confused yet rely on kontakt...

Anderton

williamcopper
Edit -- oddly, it is 16 stereo output tracks, or 32 mono tracks, but for some reason Sonar inserts 32 tracks for the largest version and 8 for the medium version.     Probably just another bug.

You can educate yourself with this explanation, which I think is the best one I've seen on how Kontakt handles its defaults, how the mixer you define relates to the outputs, and what Kontakt reports to the host. 

I'm guessing this is an alphabetical arrangement of sorts.  "32" comes before "8," right?

I just went to Utilities > Cakewalk Plugin Manager the selected VSTi Instruments, scrolled down to the first Kontakt, and noticed that its file name ended in 16.  I clicked on Properties and added "(16)" to the name Kontakt.  After repeating this for (08) and (16), I was done and now all my Kontakts are sorted by the number of outputs and listed in my browser with the channel numbers.  Voila!
 
Rick

I just wanted to add a little to what was covered in that link that was posted about understanding some of the Kontakt dll choices and such:
 
Whenever I DO pick one of the module choices for Kontakt, and I load up 4-5 instruments into a single instance's multi-rack, I always display the Output Section and click on the Batch Functions option that will clear out all of the output channels and will set up a separate audio channel for each loaded instrument.  So if I have 4 instruments loaded, Piano, Strings, Organ, and Flute, for example, once I click on that Batch Function, that instance of Kontakt will get 4 separate stereo output channels, with each instrument routed to its own channel.  
 
I then will double-click on the name of each channel (it will try to name each output channel with the instrument name associated with it), and I change each channel name to something much shorter, so instead of it being named some squished up New York Grand Piano, I change its name to simply be Piano, or Flute, or whatever).  By doing this, it really makes making the audio track routing assignments easy, so when I am setting the Input for my audio track for piano, and I expand the available outputs from that instance of Kontakt, I will see the nicely named outputs for each of my instruments, and picking the correct one is super easy on the eyes and on the brain, and is nicer to read when looking at it in the channel strips or in the track inspector.
 
I hope the above is of help - sorry if I didn't make any sense - my brain went to bed a couple of hours ago.
 
Bob Bone
 

ricoskyl

icontakt
I used to use this method to rename plugins, but, IIRC, removing all scanning records (by clicking the Reset button in Preferences -> File -> VST Settings) also initialized all the custom plugin names I created.

It would probably be best to save and recall custom layouts, but I haven't found that setup very intuitive. Tips would be appreciated!  Wouldn't that all you to merely recall the custom plugin names after the scan reinitializes them?
 

 
I have one custom plugin layout for effects and another for instruments, but I hardly ever edit the plugin names, because, the renamed names don't appear in the FX Rack.
Sadly, many people seem to be ok with it. See this FR. Only two people have voted for it (so far). I'm one of them. 
http://forum.cakewalk.com/Have-option-to-show-plugins-friendly-name-in-FXbin-FX-Chain-etc-m3336733.aspx