for those that didn't get the memo yet (i.e., email) NI has a big 50% of sale going on.

https://www.native-instruments.com/en/

Trouble is if you spend all your Christmas money on it and other stuff (XLN, Toontrack, UVI, ...) you'll need to ask mom for more money for BIAB 2020 if and when it comes out or go back to work or sale a guitar or a kidney ... -LOL

Larry

Ha ha.

Good one, Larry.

As much as I need the latest NI, I'll stick with the option of selling the guitar, 'cos I think selling the guitar is probably less painful .

I have the latest Kontakt so thank God I don't have to make a choice. But if I did it would be a kidney. It would be a lot less painful then selling a guitar

Hahaha..... Luckily you can split your BIAB bill into a few payments these days. Did that the last time around and it made my bank account breathe a little easier!

PG needs to move their development and sales cycle up a month.

I see this every year - everybody seems to beat PG to folks'es wallets in early NOV or late OCT. I suspect there are some PG sales that are actually lost because folks see the shiny new "other toy" (can you say .... SQUIRREL ) a month sooner.

Larry

I must admit I’m tempted by the NI offer but am sitting on the fence to see what BIAB has. However, if I get to the date I’ll need to weigh up.

Tony

Seriously, who spends this kind of money on music software - other than a pro studio?
And these prices are half the normal price?

Answer, Very rich hobbyist

Unfortunately I am not one of them

Well I for one would not be going for a Komplete Set but there are some instruments for Kontakt Player I’d like. I think in a lot of cases “amateurs” (non professional studios) build up bit by bit. Over a number of years one can build up a huge collection a lot of which rarely if ever gets used (same could even be said of RealTracks) but it is fun to play with and if ever you need it, you have it.

As far as building up a studio like setup, I think over time one gets closer and can eventually cross grade or whatever at a reasonable cost.

My thoughts
Tony

To be fair the prices you showing are prices for Komplete, and for any version of Komplete the 50% off offer is ONLY for UPDATE or UPGRADE, if you don't qualify for either then you are paying full freight, so hen yes those prices are not 50% off they are just full MSRP

However, most of the other stuff like full Kontakt is 50% regardless of prior ownership of anything (so $199 instead of $399) and folks here generally suggest it as one of the ROMplers to have, especially at that price - because of all the add-on library's available.

Larry

I Just got an email offering Kontakt 12 select 79 gbp ?.

It goes on to say I have an 80.00 voucher I need to use in 3 days time.

I've never purchased anything from NI ?.

While NI does have sales, they don't come around very often, so I would suggest that if you are thinking of getting anything from them, now is the time (I'm not hawking their wares, just stating what I've seen over time).

I've got Komplete Ultimate Collector's (and a few additional libraries that weren't included in the, well "Komplete" package - reminds me of the "EverythingPAK discussions we've had on this forum) , so nothing really for me here (except maybe the Noire piano).

I do love the sounds I get from Kontakt libraries. I don't love that Kontakt itself takes awhile to load, and then the library you want can often take awhile to load. There used to be a way to get libraries to load faster in Kontakt 5 (by re-saving them), but that doesn't seem to really work in Kontakt 6 (after they changed structure).

OK, I think I now better understand the means to the madness of this very large product offering. There are actually some individual pieces I can recommend. I have the Sessions Guitarist - Strummed acoustic 2 and the Picked Acoustic. We have talked about this here in the forum over the years. This has been featured in my music and it is a joy to play with.

So this gets my gold seal recommendation. How about any recommendations from others.

John yea I am going to go for it, and it seems the cheaper upgrades come along now and again.

And thanks for your info on it.

Musicstudent

So half price Strummed acoustic only if you own an Ni product is that correct ?.

NO - you can buy strummed Guitar at half price 49.50 without owning ANYTHING. And I just looked at tech requirements - that library will work with NI's FREE Kontakt player version 5 or higher. So no need to buy anything else.

However, I think some libraries do require full non-free Kontakt so be careful and READ the requirements at bottom of the pages, again this one Session Guitarist Strummed Acoustic only needs the FREE player.


The need to have already owned something was for the "Komplete" packages

Larry

PS John is right NI sales are few and far between so...

Larry

I do have the free Kontakt player, Thanks for the info.

Yea I think ill try stretch the budget to both.

Hi Folks.

I was looking at Session Guitarist Strummed Acoustic 2 for a long time. I tried Ample Sound "Free" version and I still think for the price (free) it is a very neat plugin, however I was never able to get strumming programmed the way I wanted it to sound. Coincidentally I was in conversation with pipeline about another topic. He was super helpful and demoed some patterns from the Strummed Acoustic 2. Fortunately or unfortunately it got me hooked, so I pulled the trigger and got it. Played with it for an hour today. I believe it is totally worth $50. Yes, it has plenty of limitations, but as most of you probably know, it is very hard to get realistic sound of acoustic guitar from plugin, especially strums. This is probably the closest to real thing I tried.

I do not have a lot of time to work on my music projects due to family expansion, but just could not resist this one


Pipeline had this thread posted a while back:
https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=411031


Seems it could do some cool stuff within BIAB when sending chord track to it. I have to find time to set it up right, but even the way it is, it should be fairly straight forward to make decent tracks in DAW.

P.S. NI does not have a return policy, but seems these Strummed VSTs are in demand on secondary market (KVR). Assuming you do not like it, you will most likely will get your money back after the sale is over by selling it to someone who missed the action.

Like Tony said, I have so many already that I don't have time to use. But because I own Komplete 9 (with Kontakt 5) I qualify for the upgrades.

For $49.50 I could upgrade to Kontakt 6. And for $99 I could upgrade to Komplete 12 (standard edition) in order to get Kontakt 6. There are also several libraries and synths in Komplete 12 that I do not have (nor need) but would like added to my collection.

So, here are some questions in case anyone can offer any insights.

I heard there were lots of problems with Kontakt 6 back when it was first release...have those been resolved mostly?

One thing I have always hated about Kontakt 5 is the small window you have to work inside. Have they increased the window in 6?

Also, will I lose any of my current libraries that are working perfectly under Kontakt 5?

Finally, can I run Kontakt 6 alongside Kontakt 5?

I remember the rumbling about this long ago. Don't hear much about it recently



Still small



Both version 5 and version 6 run side by side. I have new stuff which runs only in version 6, so I don't see it in version 5.



Yes

Most all of them have been corrected via updates. There still are a couple left but they do not affect me.

6 is the same as 5. That is you can increase the window size but only to the dimensions that Kontakt allows. The largest window is what I work in all of the time and it is plenty big enough for me.

No, all of 5's libraries work perfectly in 6.

Yes, I kept 5 on my system because any old project that needs 5 will find it. If you delete 5 and a project can't find it you must use 6 and reconstruct what you had in 5.

Good luck and I hope this helps

I also have 5 and 6 side by side and independently they work just fine

Thanks Dan!

Thank you Mario!

Thanks Larry!

I guess I must pull the trigger and get Komplete 12! I compared what I would get to what I have in my Komplete 9 and it looks like quite a lot of new toys for only $99!

Upgrade Kontakt to 6
Upgrade REAKTOR to 6
Upgrade Massive to X

FORM
ROUNDS
KONTOUR
POLYPLEX

UNA CORDA
THE GRANDEUR
THE MAVERICK
THE GENTLEMAN
DISCOVERY SERIES: MIDDLE EAST
DISCOVERY SERIES: INDIA
SCARBEE RICKENBACKER BASS
SESSION STRINGS 2
SESSION HORNS
KINETIC METAL

TRUE SCHOOL
VELVET LOUNGE
DEEP MATTER
HALCYON SKY
LUCID MISSION
NEON DRIVE
QUEENSBRIDGE STORY
MOLTEN VEIL
ELASTIC THUMP
LONDON GRIT

I’ve thought hard and long about it a decided to go with Strummed Acoustic 2 I hope one day I use it but I did not buy it lightly..

The other day I watched this video https://youtu.be/pBOpxuBz2sE and of the various ways it was done in my opinion the Realstyle (BIAB) method was by far and away the best. But that is my opinion.

I purchased Strummed Acoustic 2 mainly because of what I heard done to something I did once by DCCuny whom I respect and he turned a track on its head in 5 minutes (David is of the many truly great guys on these forums who offers fantastic advice and encouragement to others.)

Now, how am I going to use it in earnest! (but a least I got it)..

I once had a sister in law that opened up a cupboard of unused material and told me how much she saved. If I’m honest I feel a bit like this.

Oh by the way I play guitar and have done for years. I have a few good guitars and good mics but find I can rarely record just right. I have a very old Tele which sounds and plays fine. I have a Maton CW80 (also about 50 years old) which most of you folk don’t know but our Aussie compatriot Tommy Emmanuel would understand the qualities of Maton. I also have a semi acoustic Rickenbecker 12 string I’ve not used for years. But I still prefer samples done right.

Tony

Tony, Really enjoyed this video since it is exactly my experience with this plug. It also was a pleasant surprise to hear Una Corda which I thought sounded really sweet.

Those are the full prices. The Komplete bundles are not on sale unless you are upgrading. Also to answer your question many people shell out that kind of money for these because they are one of the best around.

We all have our personal budgets and priorities but as hobbies go stuff like this is pretty cheap. How about joining golf clubs? Or jet skiing, or even snow skiing? RC airplanes? So many hobbies and activities that cost tens of thousands just to get started.

Bob

Well, my new (used, but new to me) travel trailer is definitely pulling me away from music on the weekends, but as with music, it is so good for the soul.

You can always use a lap top to record and take it with you. I would love to hop in an RV and travel while producing music. Maybe someday.