Reaktor

Now that's tempting.

cclarry

Rain
Now that's tempting.

I don't know if this is NI Exclusive...discounters aren't posting it yet...but could get even cheaper..

I was watching Groove 3 video on Reaktor, but around half way, found this to be too complex for me.
 
Anyone here let go Reaktor simply because it's too complex ?
 
Price is tempting.. perhaps wait for other discounters..
 

Glyn Barnes

tomixornot
Anyone here let go Reaktor simply because it's too complex ?
 
Price is tempting.. perhaps wait for other discounters..
 

well, its complex if you delve deep but loading the factory ensembles and the free ensambles you can download from the users area is as simple as most VSTi synths. Even if you do not dig deep there is a lot of value in the product.
 
 

+1
Reaktor is so powerful,  you can actually build synths with it........but me being just a simpleton, I just use it as a plug n play synth using the ready made ensembles (The Mouth, The Finger, Prism, + what other users have developed etc.....). There's enough factory + user content with Reaktor to keep you busy for a good part of your life.
 
I also got it last year (at $99) and I don't think I've never seen it go much lower than this.   
 
On a different note, I'm getting an error from Reaktor stating it needs an update (when trying to use Prism or any other ensemble), but the Service Center states everything is updated (in standalone mode and in X3).......not sure how to fix this??

Reaktor is well worth getting into even if you don't learn how to build synths. The full version comes with access to the user library which contains thousands of synths, effects, samplers, noise generators, drum machines and many other unique creations. There is nothing else like it. At the very least you should learn how to open instruments, work with snapshots, use the browser and the sample map editor. And then progress into wiring existing instruments together, like connecting a sequencer to a synth, or an effect to a drum machine etc. These few basic skills will keep you interested for years without even getting into the whole synth building area. But if you want to make synths with it, that's even more years of fun. I've spoken to people who have used Reaktor for 10 years and they're still not bored of it.

Just curious, was there a Komplete sale ? ..and what was the price like ? ..since Reaktor is bundled with Komplete.

I guess you could say the same about Lego if you only spent half an hour with it.

yorolpal
No...I quite loved Legos. But ol Reaktor has always had me stumped. It is mighty powerful and mighty deep though. And I'm sure quite fun if you can grock it. But it's not for dimbulbs or the feint of heart.

The thing about Reaktor though, is that even if you have no intention of learning about wiring up oscillators and filters and modulators, it's still an exceptional piece of kit that can keep you going for years. Have you ever browsed through the online user library at length? All sorts of amazing synths, tools and toys in there. Thousands of them! I've had Reaktor for almost 2 years and I've never really managed to build anything, mainly because I've never had the time to sit down and learn it properly. I can just about hook up some oscillators to some filters and arrange the knobs on the screen and maybe wire up a couple of effects and configure the controls etc. But as for the included Reaktor library and the online user library, that's kept me amused every day since I've had it. I don't think I have one single project in which I don't have an instance of Reaktor - the project I'm working on now has six instances. It's such a versatile audio tool. I use it for effects, synths, drum machines, sequencers. It's amazing. 

Yes...I'll try and give it another look too when I have the time. Which will be, unfortunately, on the twelfth of never I suppose. The way my business works I have to be able to turn things around very quickly so no time for it there and I have to use whatever time I have left producing my, and other folks, music projects so I really don't have the time for tinkering. My loss, I'm sure. Sometimes I wish I didn't earn my living from what I love doing. Improbable as that may seem.

yorolpal
Yes...I'll try and give it another look too when I have the time. Which will be, unfortunately, on the twelfth of never I suppose. The way my business works I have to be able to turn things around very quickly so no time for it there and I have to use whatever time I have left producing my, and other folks, music projects so I really don't have the time for tinkering. My loss, I'm sure. Sometimes I wish I didn't earn my living from what I love doing. Improbable as that may seem.

 
I guess many of us are in the same boat, I have to juggle running a business which sometimes throws me odd hours, and of course personal & social relationships, then what's left over I use to tinker with music. The most important thing to me is that I do at least a little every day, even if I only have time for 10 minutes. That way, the only direction you can move is forwards. 

Right Sharke,
 
Key is daily discipline if even for only a few minutes.

sharke
I guess you could say the same about Lego if you only spent half an hour with it.

Nah, lego is intuitive, Reaktor not so for me. Any desire to make music just became mired in trying to figure out what it was supposed to do.

Rain
I've always felt that almost everything NI has put on the market was built upon the technology available in Generator and Reaktor. Whether it's FM7 or B4 or Pro 52 - the components for that stuff were pretty much all available in Reaktor. NI simply repackaged that technology, gave it an appropriate GUI and the rest is history.  
 
Heck, back in the day, the best amp sim I had was in Generator. Granted, it looked a bit weird. :P
 

 
I don't think they're much different from any other plugin company in the respect that all of them have their own code libraries which get used over and over. 

Yep, four of their best synths were made in Reaktor - Monark, Spark, Prism and Skanner XT.

sharke

paulo

sharke
I guess you could say the same about Lego if you only spent half an hour with it.

Nah, lego is intuitive, Reaktor not so for me. Any desire to make music just became mired in trying to figure out what it was supposed to do.

I hate to state the obvious, but did you try just double clicking any of the synths or effects in the browser? You don't have to know how to build anything to use Reaktor, it comes with hundreds of ready made instruments. 

As I recall there were basically 3 synths in the demo version I had. One looked like a bad 80's computer game that just made random non-musical noises on one key only whichever preset I selected, another that made droning pad noises that carried on playing long after I had released the keys and could only be stopped by turning off the audio engine and another uninspiring analogue type synth. Give me lego any day.

Well I don't know what's in the demo version but there are some absolutely amazing synths in Reaktor. There's thousands of them. Every type of synth you can imagine, from basic analog-subtractive to FM to additive to granular to ambient noise generators and everything else. There are some insanely talented synth engineers contributing to the user library and you'll find absolute gems you just won't find anywhere else for free. I discovered an amazingly real string modeling synth the other night. A while back I found a violin modeling synth with a virtual bow you can assign to a controller. It's amazing some of the stuff people come up with when they're not constrained by any commercial limitations. And as far as commercial synths go, Reaktor has some of the best.