rtucker55


I've had The Old Lady and Emperor since 2005, it was PMI productions back in those days.

Is there anything that I am really missing from SampleTekk's sale? Really only interested in using it for Jazz tunes.

Also have Alicia's Keys and Art Vista grand piano in samples and a Korg Oasys and Kurz K2661 that have some pretty good piano sounds that sit well back in a mix.

Kind regards,
Rick

Take a look at the White Jazz demos (White Jazz and White Jazz II and also Stella) on this page:  http://www.sampletekk.com/wgresource.php.  I like the way the White Grand sounds for jazz.  Granted it does not sound as warm as Alicia Keys, but it does not come across nearly as brittle as a Yamaha C7.  The White Grand seems pleasant, although clear without being harsh (at least to my aging/vintage ears).   However, these adjectives are always a matter of individual preference.

Where are the sale prices indicated? Don't see 'em

Discounts are calculated when you check out. If you're a previous customer, there is a discount code that brings the discount up to 60%.

oH hECK!     I bought the new SampleTekk Black Refined for Kontakt and did not noticed that it is of course refined for Kontakt 5.  Oh Heck!  It will run on the Kontakt 5 player.  So NI sucked me into their trap.  I will have to be careful, but I think I can run Kontakt 4 and simultaneously run Kontakt 5 Player.  I was waiting until Komplete 9 came out to get that upgrade.  I tell you, these vintage eyes are not what they use to be--can't read the fine print, or in this case even the regular print which said made for Kontakt 5.


At least the White Grand/White Sister will run on Kontakt 4.  I am still downloading them.

I was unaware that Sampletekk had any products that required Kontakt 5. This is something new. And it sucks because there's no frickin' reason for it, no Kontakt 5-specific feature that any piano library needs. Just part of NI's plan for global domination, I guess.

Mmm, a sinister plan, indeed, Bitflipper. Global domination. And everyone has to receive the mark of Native Instruments on their foreheads in order to use and validate their music software. Simply diabolical. What is the alternative? It seems like all of the desirable software is headed for Kontakt 5 and its glorious Time Machine Pro.

There doesn't seem to be any competitor emerging against Kontakt.

bitflipper

I was unaware that Sampletekk had any products that required Kontakt 5. This is something new. And it sucks because there's no frickin' reason for it, no Kontakt 5-specific feature that any piano library needs. Just part of NI's plan for global domination, I guess.

Yeah--I agree.  Here is the link to their new piano that requires Kontakt 5: http://www.sampletekk.com/proddetail.php?prod=STDELIVER-039-KONT.  You know, I just looked at that page again and can't find where it says Kontakt 5 specifically.  i found out when I tried to load it and it gave me a warning that it requires a new version of Kontakt; so i read the pdf file and it said there that it uses Kontakt 5.   Also surprising is that it is actually only 1.29 gigs in sample size, which is pretty small compared to other piano products SampleTekk sells.  Supposedly it uses the new Kontakt 5 scripting and smaller/refined samples to produce a version of their Black Grand that is more flexible, more tweak-able in tone, resonance, etc....  But I did not really want to go to Kontakt 5 right now.  I will now have to be careful and keep the Kontakt 4 and Kontakt 5 libraries separate.

I can't see why any software would actually have to have Kontakt 5, specifically, as Bitflipper rightly pointed out in another thread some time ago. But many times, K4 or 5 are specifically mentioned because of the "Time Machine" audio stretching technology.

Indeed, NI is fast becoming a major contender in the sample library kingdom, and I've had to spend a lot of money to get into the game, myself, or be left behind.

The reason its is K5 specific is it dose not need a full version of Kontakt. As a Kontakt (4) owner it would have been better for me if it did require the full version of Kontakt. But it makes it useable for non Kontakt owners.

I can understand NI only licencing new products for the latest player. I do find it annoying that they have made all Native Instruments old products K5 only however.

So the player is free, whats the problem?  Well what sucks is K5 is offically Windows 7 only. It runs fine on my Vista PC and happily coexists with the full Kontakt 4 - BUT! I am reluctant to spend money on products that are not supported on my DAW 



On the potential upside, for a non Kontakt owner there is a possibility that NI will run a cross grade offer where this product will entitle you to a discount on the full version of Kontakt. I got a big discount a while back because I had bought Steven Slate drums in a No Brainer.

You've explained the pros and cons very well, Glyn.