KONTAKT 5 PLAYER
Sample Tank
EastWest Play?

I believe that most of you around these parts prefer Kontakt over the others. Is that because more add-on packs are written for one or the other or are the sounds just better?  
Are there any others to look into?


Thanks.
Mike

As a player Sampletank is dated and very hard to read if you do not have 20-20 vision. The content, while not being the cutting edge is good and useful. Sampletank 3 is long overdue.

I am not familiar with the EastWest player, but its limited to their propriatory content.

While there is a vast about of third party content for Kontakt much of it will not work with the player. The will only work in player if the developer has payed a fee to NI, inevitably this excludes the free and low cost content. Requirements need to be read carefully before purchasing.

That said the Kontakt player is very versatile with vast array of built in effects and editing options. Features wise it wins hand down.

Once you have the full version of Kontakt the third party content available is huge. There is some fantastic stuff for free or just a few bucks as well as sophisticated high end libraries.

I've never used Sampletank, but I've got both of the others. Honestly, I don't use all of the features of either. IMO, Play is a little less sophisticated than Kontakt, but they both will do the job. I usually turn off all of the effects and add them back later during the mixing process.

I think the biggest decision for you is to decide what libraries are available that you need/want and make your decision based on that. However, if you already have samples, you'll want Kontakt. IIRC, it can load most any sample, including old Giga samples (that I regret throwing out now).

Regards,
Dan

dcumpian


. However, if you already have samples, you'll want Kontakt. IIRC, it can load most any sample, including old Giga samples (that I regret throwing out now).

Kontakt (the full paid version) will, but not Kontakt player (the free version) will only work in "demo" mode with the other formats 

Of course the full version of Kontakt is far more than a player, it's a fully featured sampler. If you want you can map your own samples, create scripted instruments etc., etc.
 
Here is a another free one that's worth a look http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.aspx?m=2753892
 

Thanks all.
Seeing as I really have no experience with how any of these things work I went with Kontakt.
Well that and the Ric Bass Bapu made me buy in the other thread.

I'm gonna give it a go.
Also it seems like most people here are familiar with K5 that if I have questions I know where to come a hollerin'.

Mike

I picked Kontakt for the exact same reasons - it had the libraries that I want, mainly, Scrarbee Bass. And Session Strings. I'll probably use it a whole lot less when we finally buy a bass. And I won't miss it for a second.

Sampletank doesn't really cut it for me sonically and is a pain to work w/ because of its tiny GUI. The other ST-based instruments like SampleTron and SampleMoog are a different story - these sound pretty good.

Personally, I prefer simple samplers, along the line of the DS864 that was in Project 5 or my trusty EXS-24 in Logic. I'm not into creating and editing über sophisticated multi-layers libraries, so these are more than enough for me.

I've had full versions of Kontakt for years, and I don't think I've ever actually used the Kontakt Player, come to think of it, so I can't comment on it specifically.  If it's anything like the Kore player, then I'd imagine that it's pretty good.  I also have a couple of SampleTank instruments and many EWQL libraries.  Between those two, no contest - the PLAY engine and interface is really nice, but I can't even stand looking at SampleTank and haven't even had it installed for the last few years.

Kontakt wins. I had Sampletank but the sound of it was less than stellar and they haven't improved on the library in years. I saw the TW16 comment and downloaded it just to give it a whirl. If I get some time I will post some comments on my experience. OH, don't forget Independence. I have the free version and it is pretty powerful. You may want to check it out.

Kontakt.

It works great.

I take it for granted.

It never occurs to me to think of any thing else.


Thanks N.I.



best regards,
mike

Independence free version is up and running again @ www.yellowtools.com