Kirk Hunter Group Buy - 50% Off REACHED List Prices Reduced as Much as 50% - STILL OPEN

UPDATE: THE HIGHEST DISCOUNT LEVEL OF THE GROUP BUY HAS BEEN REACHED, 50% OFF ALL LIBRARIES
 
Hi All,
 
I just wanted to update everyone on the Kirk Hunter Studios 2014 Group Buy. For those who don't know me, besides being a very long time Cakewalk user, I'm a KHS customer who also consults to KHS. Kirk and I regularly team up to plan out and post during his Group Buys and sometimes on new product ideas (I made suggestions for new offerings that became Pop/Rock Strings and Easy String Arranger). Anyhow, I just wanted to be transparent. Kirk isn't a Sonar user like me, I think he uses Pro Tools, so he doesn't post here. He's mainly on KVR where there's the main Group Buy thread (and he has his support forum) -- so if you're looking to connect with him, that's a great place, otherwise, I'll do my best to share what I know here.
 
We started off the Group Buy in late December, unfortunately when KVR had just started maintenance on their forum and closed most threads, so we had a bit of a delayed start. Consequently, after a number of requests were posted, Kirk decided to extend the Group Buy until Feb 20, 2014. We've now reached 302 people and the 50% off discount level on all libraries. But the reality is, during this Group Buy, KHS reduced their list prices by as much as 50%, so for example, Concert Strings 2 had a list price of $799 USD when the GB started, it's NEW list price is $399 USD and is now at $199.50 USD, so in total, it has been discounted nearly 75% from where it started at the beginning of the Group Buy. 

If we can reach 300 people, which looks very doable at the current pace, everyone will receive a 50% discount (and past customers receive an additional 5% off on top of that). One of the things Kirk Hunter Studios does different in their Group Buys is let you buy and download your libraries now at the current pricing and at the end of the Group Buy gives you back the difference between what you paid and the final discounted price of the libraries you purchased, so you can get the libraries you want right away and still get the lowest price. Here are the specifics:

Spotlight (Solo) Strings is now $124.50 USD
KHS' most advanced and playable string library. For KONTAKT 5.

Concert Strings 2 is now $199.50 USD
4 String Sections in 1 Library - Symphonic, Studio, Chamber and Solo.
For KONTAKT and EXS24.

Concert Brass 2 is now $124.50 USD
4 Brass Sections in 1 Library - Symphonic, Studio, Chamber and Solo for KONTAKT.

Pop/Rock Strings is now $89.50 USD
Built from parts of the popular Concert Strings 2 library, it contains solo and section strings and works with Kontakt's free player.

Diamond Orchestra (a full orchestra) is now $149.50 USD
A full orchestra for KONTAKT.

Solo Strings 1 is now $39.50 USD
The solo strings in Diamond for KONTAKT.

If you're a past Kirk Hunter Studios customer you'll get an additional 5% off the above prices.

The Group Buy has been extended until February 20th 2014. You can sign up now and make your purchase, get your download right away and be refunded the difference between what you paid and the final Group Buy price or you can wait until the end of the Group Buy and buy and download your libraries at the final price.

Group Buy Landing Page:
http://www.kirkhunterstud...potlight_group_buy.php

DISCOUNT LEVELS
Number of GB Participants / Discount
1 - 49: 15% OFF
50-99: 20% OFF
100-149: 25% OFF
150-199: 30% OFF
200-249: 35% OFF
250-299: 40% OFF
300 or more: 50% OFF - CURRENT LEVEL (302 people)

Hi Bapu,

Considering that since the extension we now have until Feb 20th until the Group Buy ends, I feel pretty confident that we can make it to the 50% off discount level.
 
Btw, does everybody here know about the Customer Demo Contest? Here's the info (copied over from KVR)? I'm sorry I haven't posted for a while:

Kirk Hunter Studios 2014 customer demo contest. Win up to $500 USD in store credit and have your song featured on our website!

1st Prize: $500 USD in store credit for any purchase at KirkHunterStudios.com.*
2nd Prize: $250 USD in store credit for any purchase at KirkHunterStudios.com.*
3rd Prize: $125 USD in store credit for any purchase at KirkHunterStudios.com.*
Every entrant that does not place (1st, 2nd or 3rd) who submits a qualifying entry (song) will receive a $15 USD store credit for any purchase at KirkHunterStudios.com.*

- Submit any non-copyrighted song from any genre, either original or public domain.
- Use ONLY Kirk Hunter Studios string/brass/orchestral libraries (using another developer's string/brass/orchestral libraries in addition to ours will confuse listeners about whose libraries they're hearing). The song can be any length or style.
- By submitting your song for entry you agree to let your song and name (or screen name, if you prefer) be featured at KirkHunterStudios.com, in forums and in social media posts. Yes, we want the world to hear your creation!
- All song entries must be submitted to kirkhunterstudios@gmail.com by no later than February 2o, 2013 by 11:59 PST.

*Store credit is good for any purchase at any time, except for Group Buys.

Sy,
 
That's why I'm waiting. On Feb 20th if it's at 45% (or 50%) I'll be in.

I'm getting nervous too. Even though I only spent $300 I still don't like that on my CC bill. I figured it was for the best though, because I don't have any other products and I want to win that contest. At least the extension has already brought things to the next level, so I guess I can't complain about saving money in the long run.

lawajava
I'm in on the Group Buy.

I'll mention again, as I have in other similar posts, that I ran across a link in a KVR post to a piece that a guy did using Spotlight Strings. He's obviously a good composer. That said, it is very nice and interesting to hear Spotlight Strings heavily used in an actual song. It helped me make my decision. Here's the link again:

https://soundcloud.com/cl...an/another-waltz-final

First time ever that Soundcloud will not play for me. The page is there. I hit the play button, it changes to a pause button but just sits there at 0:00.

I have EWQLSO Platinum, which I love. But I took a listen to the KH demos for Spotlight Strings and really like the way they sound. Very delicate passages and then big sounds as well. I can only really afford to get Spotlight Strings or Concert Strings 2. Which of these would complement EWQLSO better, in your opinions, of course.
 
Regards,
Dan
 

Sycraft
I bought Concert Strings 2 to replace EWQLSO since I'm sick of Play and it does quite a good job for that. It sounds good at large stuff, and small. Doesn't have quite as big a setup as some of the EW patches, but still good.
 
Also very easy to control. Very easy to select the style and accent you want. The whole "TVEC" thing he likes to go on about really means "Clever Kontakt script." It does a great job controlling everything liek articulations n' accents n' stuff in a very satisfactory way.

I still love EWQLSO, but I never updated the Play engine to version 4. To date, v3.xx is pretty stable on my system, but I generally load less than 12 instruments at a time in Play. Have you had the chance to take a look at Spotlight Strings?
 
Regards,
Dan
 

This is one I am going to pass.  Not because it is not worth it, but I already own CS2, CB2, and Diamond.  I absolutely love the romantic solo violin in Diamond, and the solo Violin in CS2 is also good.   I have high praise for KH Strings.  I am sure this is a good product, even a great one, but I have my strings "fix" covered for a while.

Need a 119 more people to get 50%.....

lawajava
I'm in on the Group Buy.

I'll mention again, as I have in other similar posts, that I ran across a link in a KVR post to a piece that a guy did using Spotlight Strings. He's obviously a good composer. That said, it is very nice and interesting to hear Spotlight Strings heavily used in an actual song. It helped me make my decision. Here's the link again:

https://soundcloud.com/cl...an/another-waltz-final

Very NICE!  thanks, java!  This definitely did it for me! As I have all his other stuff I was gonna pass but this is quite nice and the new interface is intriguing...Have been spending time on v.i. control and a few other forums and am amazed at the money others are paying for some packages...

@rtucker55 I'm not certain we're still at 181. I put an email into Kirk to have him double check. That count is handled manually and candidly, it's not getting updated (unfortunately, I'm not able to update it or even check it, otherwise, I'd be checking it at least a few times each day). Regarding the discounting on the Group Buy, there are so many discounts going on, it's become confusing. We're now looking at the following discounts GB discount (currently 30%)  + dramatically lowered list prices during the GB + 5% off for past customers.
 
If you look at the library prices from the beginning of the Group Buy until now, some libraries are actually now at a more than 60% discount level from where they were at the start of the Group Buy. It's just not expressed as that discount level because during the Group Buy, all Kirk Hunter Studios libraries list prices were dramatically reduced. For example, Concert Strings II had a list price of $799 USD when the Group Buy began and was at $679.15 USD with a 15% off discount level right before the list price was dropped to $399 USD, 50% off its previous list price, and the new discounted GB price became $339.15 USD. So staying with Concert Strings II, they're now at $279.30 USD and past KHS customers get another 5% off of that.

To someone else's point regarding demos, I can post some MP3s from the last Customer Demo Contest (there's currently a Kirk Hunter Studios Customer Demo Contest going on now with the chance to win up to $500 USD in store credit), but I don't think any audio demo is as valuable as downloading actual library demos. So here are the links to those:

Kirk Hunter Studios Spotlight Strings Free Library Demo
http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/signup_sss_free_trial.php

Kirk Hunter Studios Concert Brass II Free Library Demo
http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/signup_free_cb2_demo.php
 
Kirk Hunter Studios Concert Strings II Free Library Demo
(note: this would also be valuable for those interested in Pop/Rock Strings, as that library is based on a subset of the samples in Concert Strings II):
http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/signup_free_cs2_demo2.php

I'm hoping it hits 50%. If it does, I may go in for Diamond as well. I'd like to have the woodwinds, but there's only so much I can spend.

....but are the sounds any good? What say you Baps?

daryl1968
....but are the sounds any good? What say you Baps?

Hiya Big D!!
I can't speak for Bapsi, but I was certainly impressed with the Diamond collection I got on the last GB. Straight out of the box (well......actually DL), my first impression was WOW!! No tweaking, fine tuning, adding fx etc......just an excellent library.....straight up. It definitely was a pleasure to play the keys........(and I can barely crawl on the keyboard). I also have Miroslav and Garritan P.O........both were not even close to the quality of KHS.
 
So, the answer is YES!! The sounds ARE good.    
 
Is there a listing of libraries that only require Kontakt 4?
 
If this GB would quickly get to the 50% mark, I might be able to grab another library.  

MeshIs there a listing of libraries that only require Kontakt 4?

All Kirk Hunter Studios libraries EXCEPT Spotlight Strings are compatible with KONTAKT 4. Spotlight Strings requires KONTAKT 5.3 or greater.