Ups for Native Instruments

well-written and thorough hard-copy documentation

You should see the documentation on Reaktor (how good are your math skills)

Well, there are few manuals for Reaktor, the main one being over 450 pages. Full of stuff like,

• A: Hybrid input for signal A to be divided by B. Typ. Range: [ 0 ...
100 ].
• B: Hybrid input for signal B used for dividing A. B is normally an
integer, but doesn’t have to be.Typ. Range: [ 1 ... 100 ].
• Div: Hybrid output for the integer division of A and B. This is the largest
integer smaller than or equal to A/B. Typ. Range: [ 0 ... 100 ].
• Mod: Hybrid output for the modulo of A and B. This is the remainder of
the integer division of A and B. Range: [ 0 ... B ].

And, so on, with far more complex math in another tut that I can't find now for some reason. But, there is a demo (I think) of Reaktor if you want to check it out.

Not to defend NI or anything, but I kind of look at contact with any software company as iffy at best. We live in a world of the user-forum. That's where I look for answers. I sent Cakewalk some e-mails about Sonar user issues and got no reply. On the other hand, a defective DVD as you mentioned should be replaced immediately. That's a drag. Luckily I got Battery 3 installed, so that takes care of that part. Also, I look at price as secondary in comparison to features. Whether I got Battery 3 for $200 or $150 even, wouldn't matter much to me. In the long run it's very little difference.

The thing is that Battery is sort of a unique product. So if you want what it does you have to bite the bullet and go for it. There may be other similar products, but none that have the depth in programming that Battery seems to have.

I'm fast becoming an NI fan. I have Massive, B4 II, and FM8. I can't report about customer service because I have not needed help.

From what I have read, their 1.0 releases can be a little fragile but they seem to get a patch out soon after a new release.

I agree with Nick P that NI seems "very attentive to detail in the little niceties they include to enhance usability".

Even though I said I am becoming an NI fan, I think brand loyalty is unwise and arguments about a brand are a waste of energy. I bought and returned Absynth because I didn't like it. You just have to use what works for you.

I'm glad there are so many companies competing in the soft synth arena. They are all pushing each other to make better products. We all win as a result.

ORIGINAL: Nick P

The thing is that Battery is sort of a unique product. So if you want what it does you have to bite the bullet and go for it. There may be other similar products, but none that have the depth in programming that Battery seems to have.

Actually.....Battery is alot like Fxpansion's DR-008 and Linplug RMIV, so as far as I can see...it's not all that "unique". Stylus RMX, on the other hand....which I have/use....IS unique and the reputation of Spectrasonics is miles ahead of what NI is known for. Over the years, I've been eye-balling a few NI products and although the products on a whole get an "ok" rap....the negatives on the lack of support far outweigh any positives they have. They ain't the only kids on the block eventhough they may think they are.

We have to remember that there are alot of music software companies out there - just go to KVR and look at the VST database....an incredible amount of tools at our disposal. So I would think that in order to differentiate yourself from a competitor, it not only comes down to the quality of the product, but the after-sale support and service as well and unfortunately I see a number of companies falling back on this part of their business and I think that is a grave mistake that will eventually catch up to them. Take for example EastWest....a big supporter of the Kontakt/Kompakt line....have put resources, time and money to develop their own interface. Why?? Probably because they were sick of dealing with the lack of support from NI, so they probably said "fine...f^$k you, we'll build our own!"....and that's what they did. Obviously, that doesn't look good for NI esp. since practically all of their instruments were Kontakt/Kompakt based.

Anyway....I haven't followed any NI support related threads in about a year, but it was pretty bad then, so I'm not surprised to see folks still saying their support sucks big time.

What's this topic got to do with Cakewalk anyhow?? This should be moved over to KVR.

So far so good with Cakewalk, though....ALTHOUGH! every email I get from them is about upgrading to SONAR!!! Cakewalk Staff - I do not own Sonar, I own Dimension Pro ONLY. If you want to email me....email me special offers to buy Rapture, Z3TA, P5 or even Sonar......but not Sonar Jr 2 Sr upgrade offers all the time!

So have you tinkered with Battery 3 now and found that it doesn't work for most people with Sonar? Inexplicable cpu spikes cause the samples to cut off early, and their's no way to disable voice-killing, unlike in Kontakt 2. I've been an NI user for many years -- I prefer their synths (reaktor, fm8, absynth etc.) over their sampling vsts - I've had problems with both battery and kontakt.

I've read a good deal of NI bashing on various forums.

I think Bugs is the main issue.

The stable ones like Battery, Pro 53, B4, Electric and Acoustic Piano are plain amazing though. Reaktor is even suprisingly stable for a program of its size.

Kontakt 2 was a nightmare for me though. It had a bug that would crash Sonar if it couldn''t find a sample. The worse thing was it took like 7 months or so for them to come out with a fix for it.

Absynth also has its quirks.


I like the service center too but NI's copy protection scheme is right at the point of being intrusive. It is basically as close to a dongle you can get.


As far as support they don't compare to Cakewalk synths at all. But to be fair NI has like 10 or so synths while Cake only has a few.

But I can imagine it being a nightmare having to support that much software.