Kev999

Grem

Kev999
 What do you think Dimension Pro is for? 

Sorry I even bothered you.

I don't use it nearly as often as Kontakt, and I'm not sure I'd pay $99 for it if it weren't bundled with Producer, but I'm glad I have Dim Pro. It's a good addition to any soft synth collection. 

There are many more sample libraries available for Kontakt, including many that are free or very cheap. OTOH, Dim Pro is less resource-intensive so it's more practical to insert many instances into a project. Both are very easy to use if you're just loading presets, and either one makes it fairly easy to whip up a library of your own samples.

I use the presets in Dimension Pro, usually the bass (even though I'm a bass player) and sometimes piano/organ/synth
I find Kontakt harder to work with - though once I load version 5 that may change

Grem

Kev999

What do you think Dimension Pro is for? 

Sorry I even bothered you.

My remark was only intended as a pointer back to the main topic of this thread.  Sorry if you took it the wrong way.

Dim Pro is a valuable part of the Sonar package.  It has a lot of nice-sounding samples that in some cases surpass what's in the standard Kontakt factory library, e.g. Martin Acoustic Guitar.  It's also pretty easy to use compared with Kontakt, and would suit beginners and intermediate-level enthusiasts just fine.
 
HOWEVER, as BitFlipper noted, a whole world of possibilities opens up for you when you have Kontakt.  It's pretty much the industry-standard sampler.  You can choose from not only NI's Komplete suite, but also tons of third-party libraries, many of which are free or very inexpensive.  Example: the Indiginus Acoustic Guitar Collection ($40), which goes far beyond what you'll find in Dim Pro.
 
So, if you're serious about having the widest possible sonic palette, and the most powerful tools, you'll want to invest in Kontakt.  It comes with lots of flexible editing, filtering, and mixing features, high-quality effects, and other goodies.  Did I mention the included sample library?  Lots of great stuff there -- I like the electric guitars, orchestral, and choral groups especially. 
 
I don't think CW will ever try to update Dim Pro to match what Kontakt can do, nor do I think that would be a good use of resources.  As it is, Dim Pro fits in with the Sonar suite very well. 
 
Kontakt goes on sale pretty reguarly -- recently it could be had for $200.  Until then, download the free Kontakt Player to get a feel for how it works.  Have fun!
 
(Note: not affiliated with any of these companies, just a happy customer.)
 
Cheers,
Eddie

Thank you all for taking the time to respond. That really make my day!

DimPro is OK. But, there are much better alternatives. 

I've found it useful here and there but, mainly the way the file system is laid out and non-accessible, after the fact, is ridiculous. It's not very intuitive. 

Still haven't figured out how to edit a patch to suit my needs. The idea of doing it in a txt file is ridiculous. 
So, I get to the point where I'd just rather not bother. 

Haven't tried accessing sounds with the browser. Maybe that would help for auditioning sounds.

I use it a lot but find on occasion it doesn't work when reloading a project. Everything "looks" right but it won't produce any sound. I have to delete it and insert a new one for it to work. This happens so infrequently that I can't determin the cause.
 
 
Steve

It`s free, use it, but it is not in the same league as Kontakt. Major drawbacks:
 
SFZ is a terribly cumbersome and time-consuming method of editing. Not to mention I have demonstrated the editing documentation is flawed and inaccurate at times.
 
The filters are not great.
 
Dimpro will not Import any other Sampler formats as far as I know, Kontakt will Import many.
 
I can`t use DimPro seriously enough, it`s too limited, to even try to compare it`s features to Kontakt.
 
Anyone who is into sampling will likely outgrow DimPro pretty quick.

I love it.  
 
It's one of the few synths I really missed when I switched to Mac, along w/ Zeta, both of which I have now installed.


Though it is sample-based, I don't really think of it as a sampler. I prefer to just tweak existing patches. It would be way too cumbersome to use as a sampler for me, w/ the SFZ editor and all...

OTOH, Kontakt is much too deep for my needs. I like simple samplers, like DiscoDSP High Life or Logic's EXS-24. So even Kontakt I use more as a sample library playback engine.