OK, only 2 weeks left to make this decision. Remember, this sale is only once a year (that I know of). While it is primarily for those who can update it also applies to Crossgrades (which you can register free products which will qualify you for upgrade pricing). This can result in 50% of regular pricing.
I purchased Kontakt 5 several years ago, so I qualify for the 50% upgrade to Komplete 13 Standard. That means I get Kontakt 6 plus a $hit load of software instruments, libraries, synths and effects for $199.
I am giving it serious consideration. I see one or two duplicates with this new package. Need to see if I can pass on current licenses to others as a result.
It is insane how many instruments, synths, FX, etc. you are going to get for that $199. It is a no-brainer Dan! And I would know...I bought it and I have no brain!
And a nice bonus? It all just works! Smoothly. With beautiful interfaces.
You are quite correct, Dan, and thank you. I did not see that offer from any website, but when I logged onto my Native Access account, I could upgrade to Komplete 13 Standard for $199. Since I had upgraded to Kontakt 6 at a reduced price after downloading a free library, the two discounts have saved me many hundreds.
BIAB 2024 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 6.5 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6; Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus Studio 192, Presonus Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors
Fantastic Matt, glad to hear that. There are websites dedicated to how to get the most bang for your buck on NI products. You just have to jump through the hoops and wait for the annual sale.
JJJ - finally a justification to pick up a handful of pianos THE GENTLEMAN, THE GRANDEUR, THE MAVERICK, THE GIANT, NOIRE and UNA CORDA. Each one goes for a minimum $100 - when on sale! I have looked at all of these but too cheap to buy them prior to this sale. Same with– ELECTRIC SUNBURST and SESSION GUITARIST – STRUMMED ACOUSTIC and many more. All made no sense to buy individually.
Dan, if you have never owned Komplete before you are in for an incredibly delightful surprise!
You get Electric Sunburst, Strummed Acoustic and all of those lovely pianos as you mentioned but you also get a bunch of other instruments for Kontakt like Session Horns and Session Strings 2. Plus you get India, Cuba, West Africa and Middle East from their Discovery Series. Each of these comes with the instruyments as well as ensembles and a library of patterns played by pros on those exotic instruments!
Oh and one more Kontakt instrument I am totally thrilled with is Butch Vig Drums! These are some awesome, fresh drums in a variety of styles with heavy effects on them. And the coolest part is they too come with complete pattern libraries labeled as Intro, Verse, Chorus and Bridge. Building an awesome drum track with this is my very next musical priority!!
And then there is the incredible collection of synths. Start with Reaktor 6 and load up the Rounds synth for hours of delightful musical inspiration! I am so blown away by the variety of synths and the number of presets as well as the ability to completely create your own using these tools.
I've not even skimmed the surface of what is in this collection. Buy the upgrade, download it and tell your family and friends goodbye!
I do have Kontakt free with a good number of free expansion packs, but this seems to be a complete different ball game with Komplete.
I was looking at the different packages, they sure do have a lot of GB in them.
I don't know if any of you use Cakewalk Dimension Pro (think it might be free with Cakewalk by Bandlab) and how it compares to Komplete? I do love the simplicity of using Dimensions.
Windows 10 (64bit) M-Audio Fast Track Pro, Band in a Box 2024, Cubase 13, Cakewalk and far too many VST plugins that I probably don't need or will ever use
--- WARNING ~500G or More Download for Komplete 13 Std--- This is the biggest download you will have ever done. Before hit download be sure to verify where the files will be downloaded and where the apps will be installed.
Quote:
Once you have opened Native Access, log in with your email address and password. Then click the User icon in the upper right and choose Preferences from the drop-down menu:
Under File Locations you can find all the locations for the different components of your installation. If you want to change the location for a particular section click the corresponding
If you look carefully you will see you do not have to download everything all at once.
Cheeze and Crackers - I done messed up and blew up my C Drive. I thought all was good but it weren't. Here is hopefully the fix if you make the same mistake....
Ahh Dan, sorry I should have mentioned how to move your libraries. I have all of the samples on a separate drive and NI's Native Access makes it super easy to move these.
When you get it all going I wanna hear what you think!
Last year I upgraded to the Komplete 12 Ultimate Collector's Edition, so the 13 Collector's Edition only adds a handful of additional libraries. Some I might want, but don't see the need to spend $250 for it.
I feel like I've overextended and bought way more sounds than I can ever use (between this, IK Multimedia, Halion 6, and others).
Tempting as it is, I am resisting temptation this year.
John
Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 2x2TB, 1x4TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 2x1.5TB, 2x2TB, 1x4TB SATA
Fantastic Matt, glad to hear that. There are websites dedicated to how to get the most bang for your buck on NI products. You just have to jump through the hoops and wait for the annual sale.
JJJ - finally a justification to pick up a handful of pianos THE GENTLEMAN, THE GRANDEUR, THE MAVERICK, THE GIANT, NOIRE and UNA CORDA. Each one goes for a minimum $100 - when on sale! I have looked at all of these but too cheap to buy them prior to this sale. Same with– ELECTRIC SUNBURST and SESSION GUITARIST – STRUMMED ACOUSTIC and many more. All made no sense to buy individually.
Dan
The Giant and Una Corda are a couple of my favourites! I also like Massive and FM8. Best part, they all work great directly in Band-in-a-Box (on my Mac at least, I've only tested Kontakt on Windows BIAB).
If you folks had to choose the better acoustic piano for a jazz trio, which of these would you buy?
Matt, your question brought a big smile to my face. This question is like asking me which of my 4 children do I like the best. I am not sure you are really expecting an answer to your question, but here is my try.
While, all these upscale piano VSTs has its own voice based on how it was recorded (the room, the mics), every one also has an array of pre-sets and tweaks which adjust velocity, tuning, tone, reverb, etc which gives you a ton of varied tone. There is almost always a pre-set named "jazzy" which can be bright and a dry for that smoky jazz sound.
I have been very conservative in my piano VSTi purchasing, well at least up to last week. With my recent purchase of the Komplete 13 I now have a pretty sizable collection. Yet finding the right sound to fit into a mix can be a challenge. But there are some standouts to me from those which I have had for a while. ToonTrack has a grand with presets "Swedish Jazz" which is very tasty. Of course for a player, the Hammersmith Pro with a huge number of velocity levels responds magically to keyboard touch. For a real variety, Pianoteq has an emulation for every piano you could be looking for. I still need to audition many of the new Komplete 13 items, but I am sure I will love what I hear.
If I can provide any samples from any of these libraries for you, send me a midi track and I can record and return at any time.
This is helpful; thanks Dan. I’m just starting into software sounds. I’ve always used hardware MIDI synths and have the best Roland makes, but I’m liking software more now.
BIAB 2024 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 6.5 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6; Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus Studio 192, Presonus Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors
The summertime is a great time to purchase software instruments, that's for sure I already have 90 percents of the sounds I need and I am not the next Hans Zimmer ;-) so I don't need something as massive as Komplete but you can get great deals on Kontact (I bought mine last year for 200 euros instead of 400) Even better, I bought a bundle of 6 drum products for 200 euros instead of 600 when purchased separately I think I have enough drums to last until the next century ;-)
Bernard Rasson
BIAB Audiophile 2021, BIAB Megapak 2015 (for midi-only projects), Cakewalk, Roland XV-5080, Roland Fantom XR, Aria AC60 Nylon Strings Guitar, Almansa Spanish Guitar, Fender Stratocaster Japan, two laptops Je parle français
Anyone here using the NI S-Series Midi controller keyboards? I wonder if it's worth bundleing with a purchase of Komplete. I just yesterday downloaded the free Komplete Start/ Kontact Player.
Anyone here using the NI S-Series Midi controller keyboards?
Those keyboards have a lot of competition when it comes to features and cost. Of course they are the only ones which fully integrate with the NI line of VSTs, but you pay dearly for that.
I recently did a pretty thorough assessment and decided upon the Studio Logic SL88iStudio Keyboard.
Windows 10 (64bit) M-Audio Fast Track Pro, Band in a Box 2024, Cubase 13, Cakewalk and far too many VST plugins that I probably don't need or will ever use
If you’re on a Mac, there’s a Native Access bug that makes loading large libraries difficult, or even impossible. It still isn’t fixed, so in this thread, reasons and workarounds are discussed:
Add updated printing options, enhanced tracks settings, smoother use of MGU and SGU (BB files) within PowerTracks, and more with the latest PowerTracks Pro Audio 2024 update!
Download and install this to your RealBand 2024 for updated print options, streamlined loading and saving of .SGU & MGU (BB) files, and to add a number of program adjustments that address user-reported bugs and concerns.
Did you know... not only can you download your Band-in-a-Box® Pro, MegaPAK, or PlusPAK purchase - you can also choose to add a flash drive backup copy with the installation files for only $15? It even comes with a Band-in-a-Box® keychain!
For the larger Band-in-a-Box® packages (UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, Audiophile Edition), the hard drive backup copy is available for only $25. This will include a preinstalled and ready to use program, along with your installation files.
Backup copies are offered during the checkout process on our website.
Already purchased your e-delivery version, and now you wish you had a backup copy? It's not too late! If your purchase was for the current version of Band-in-a-Box®, you can still reach out to our team directly to place your backup copy order!
Note: the Band-in-a-Box® keychain is only included with flash drive backup copies, and cannot be purchased separately.
Handy flash drive tip: Always try plugging in a USB device the wrong way first? If your flash drive (or other USB plug) doesn't have a symbol to indicate which way is up, look for the side with a seam on the metal connector (it only has a line across one side) - that's the side that either faces down or to the left, depending on your port placement.
Update your Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows® Today!
Update your Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows for free with build 1111!
With this update, there's more control when saving images from the Print Preview window, we've added defaults to the MultiPicker for sorting and font size, updated printing options, updated RealTracks and other content, and addressed user-reported issues with the StylePicker, MIDI Soloists, key signature changes, and more!
A few excerpts:
"The Tracks view is possibly the single most powerful addition in 2024 and opens up a new way to edit and generate accompaniments. Combined with the new MultiPicker Library Window, it makes BIAB nearly perfect as an 'intelligent' composer/arranger program."
"MIDI SuperTracks partial generation showing six variations – each time the section is generated it can be instantly auditioned, re-generated or backed out to a previous generation – and you can do this with any track type. This is MAJOR! This takes musical experimentation and honing an arrangement to a new level, and faster than ever."
"Band in a Box continues to be an expansive musical tool-set for both novice and experienced musicians to experiment, compose, arrange and mix songs, as well as an extensive educational resource. It is huge, with hundreds of functions, more than any one person is likely to ever use. Yet, so is any DAW that I have used. BIAB can do some things that no DAW does, and this year BIAB has more DAW-like functions than ever."
Convenient Ways to Listen to Band-in-a-Box® Songs Created by Program Users!
The User Showcase Forum is an excellent place to share your Band-in-a-Box® songs and listen to songs other program users are creating!
There are other places you can listen to these songs too! Visit our User Showcase page to sort by genre, artist (forum name), song title, and date - each listing will direct you to the forum post for that song.
If you'd rather listen to these songs in one place, head to our Band-in-a-Box® Radio, where you'll have the option to select the genre playlist for your listening pleasure. This page has SoundCloud built in, so it won't redirect you. We've also added the link to the Artists SoundCloud page here, and a link to their forum post.
We hope you find some inspiration from this amazing collection of User Showcase Songs!
Our User Showcase Forum receives more than 50 posts per day, with people sharing their Band-in-a-Box songs and providing feedback for other songs posted.
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