Kontakt 5 - Seems like no BIGGIE

What's up with NI lately... all kinds of major updates.  I read the feature list of K5 and it seems like there isn't enough there to justify upgrading again.  It seems like just a few months ago that K4 came out?

I guess they are trying to generate some cash flow.

What do you think?

Jim

Their freaking web site is so slow, I couldn't go there if I wanted to. And I kind of do want to go there.

What's the difference between Kontakt 5 and the free Kontakt 5 Player?

Also, you don't get all the libraries. With the full Kontakt (I have 4, you get a ton of great sounds)That is the major upside to the full product besides what Jim said
I also see nothing in Kontakt 5, nothing at all.

Ah. Ok. Thanks for the info Jim and stratman.

I have the free Kontakt 5 Player, and it comes with plenty of stuff for me. I also have the free add-on called Prism. Between those and the stuff that comes with Sonar, it's way more than I'll ever need. :)

it's way more than I'll ever need. :)

Famous last words.

John

it's way more than I'll ever need. :)

Famous last words.

So true. :)

I just got a nice little tube mic preamp and a new mic. I swore to my wife I wouldn't want anything else for a long time (or at least until I got a job LOL!).

Now I got my eye on a nice little tube compressor to go with the mic preamp and I just gotta talk myself out of it.

It never ever ends. :)

NI's version manipulation really annoys me. They're apparently on a new fast-track release schedule, speeding up the intervals between versions. We'll still be talking about whether or not K5 is worth the upgrade price when K6 comes out in less than a year's time, perhaps even before the end of this year.

This kind of aggressive release schedule is never good for customers. Products get pushed out the door on some arbitrary schedule regardless of stability. Instead of fix releases, users are required to purchase an upgrade to get bug fixes.

This new policy just adds insult to NI's already questionable practice of tying every Kontakt library to the version of Kontakt that was used to create it. For example, a library created under 4.2.3 cannot be played with Kontakt 4.2.2.

In fact, it is impossible to create a Kontakt 2- or 3-compatible library using Kontakt 4, so any library vendor who's late to the game and doesn't own previous versions will be shut out of that part of the market that hasn't upgraded yet. Consequently, vendors unwittingly become co-conspirators with NI by releasing products that cannot be used by anyone who hasn't paid their annual (soon to become bi-annual) dues to NI.

And now they're reduced to adding a few refinements to existing features and calling it a "major" release. Apparently, the current scam isn't bringing in the money fast enough. I, for one, have decided to opt out of that game. K4's the end of the road for me for the foreseeable future.

audiyo


I agree. I'm not too excited. Owell, I need to be careful with money right now anyway.

As far as NI's website, it is indeed painfully slow and buggy.

I bought 80s drums (download) last week and have yet to use it because their links always resolve to the german installers, regardless of selecting english, usa.. etc.. After using 3 different browsers with three links given to me by NI's tech support office in California, I'm now waiting for the Berlin headquarters to sort it out. I shoulda ordered the cds.. DOH!

Edit: I should note that I do like NI in general.. They just seem to be having a lot of issues lately.

Welcome to FLASH land.. I can't understand why still use FLASH? All the flying fancy functions can be programmed in new HTLM5 code directly without using any buggy flash.

A nice time stretching algorithm is all I see . The filters woop e who cares..
 I will be passing on this one.. 
 Flash and adobe should never be used anymore.. Way too slow .. There site indeed sticks

This kind of aggressive release schedule is never good for customers. Products get pushed out the door on some arbitrary schedule regardless of stability. Instead of fix releases, users are required to purchase an upgrade to get bug fixes.

What companies (mostly bigger ones) aren't doing that.   Including Cakewalk.   Once a year release schedule for the top line.

The economic factors (even if not stressed) dictate everything else.

In a fit of forgetfulness (as to its need or usefulness) I will upgrade to Komplete 8 (for $199 from audioMIDI.com).

Then I'll hate myself in the morning.

Jim Roseberry

Time to refocus on stability and useability...
 

I guess that developers don't see that as a big $$ incentive.


I'd hesitate to use the words NI and focus in the same sentence. I can't see anything that could lead me to believe that they have any sort of long term vision besides profit. 


Case in point - their newly announced SSL emulation, which, like their compressor, will require Guitar Rig (or the free Player) but, incidentally, are also included w/ their new Studio Drummer. Now why would you NEED Guitar Rig to run these? It's like they're just throwing out stuff and attaching it w/o much thought to one of their 3 remaining bigger shell products.

I don't know. If I want to load an EQ, having to first load a shell then the plug-in I want doesn't make much sense. I already have a host.

Rain

Case in point - their newly announced SSL emulation, which, like their compressor, will require Guitar Rig (or the free Player) but, incidentally, are also included w/ their new Studio Drummer. Now why would you NEED Guitar Rig to run these? It's like they're just throwing out stuff and attaching it w/o much thought to one of their 3 remaining bigger shell products.

On a side note ... owners of Guitar Rig 4 have to download a 340MB update just to be able to even load the new Compressor package they are offering.

Bub

On a side note ... owners of Guitar Rig 4 have to download a 340MB update just to be able to even load the new Compressor package they are offering.

Update: I finally got to the GR4 Update download section. It's been running since 2:30ish (It's 5:40 now) ... I'm only at 18% of a 340MB download. Doh! Talk about slow. :(

It said there were some things fixed as well as the ability to add that new Comp but it didn't give specifics so I figured I'd try to download it.

@Bapu ... +1.

NI has been screwing up (and down) alot lately. Anyone who owns Kore 2 surely knows that by now, as NI has discontinued it and is replacing it with Maschine, kind of. They don't care at all about their customers and are losing alot of them to this decision. I have been a HUGE supporter of NI in the past but I don't see myself buying from them again anytime soon.