NI: Kontakt 3, massive price reductions on synths

gearboy · Post by **gearboy** » Fri Sep 14, 2007 11:36 am

JadeLatrell wrote:You might want to install K4 for Spektral Delay and Vokator as it looks like they removed that from the Komplete 5 package.

Babz · Post by **Babz** » Fri Sep 14, 2007 11:46 am

JadeLatrell wrote:You might want to install K4 for Spektral Delay and Vokator as it looks like they removed that from the Komplete 5 package.

Were they updated in K4?

(Otherwise I've already got them as part of my currently-installed K3 package.)

Babz

gearboy · Post by **gearboy** » Fri Sep 14, 2007 12:19 pm

Yeah, they are in K4, as I just reinstalled everything.

I never use Spektral Delay or Vokator, however I'm sure lots of folks do and I know the feeling that I got when Intakt went to the bog ole' software delete button in the sky.

gearboy · Post by **gearboy** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 12:20 pm

Ok, *bump*

Komplete 5 just landed here today. Komplete 3, GR3, and Massive. Looks like some other things may have updates, too, so I am just going to do another Komplete installation (no pun intended) of all of my NI gear, this time to both my G5 and Powerbook G4.

For all of you Komplete 5 users out there...

Massive. How massive is this thing? CPU hog for sure. I suppose that I shouldn't even attempt to install it on my Powerbook (specs below)? Can I run one instance of it alone on the Powerbook, or will it just be too much?

Are there any bugs that I should know about? Will installing Komplete 5 wipe out the Vokoder and Spektral Delay plug-ins? I'm assuming that the answer to this last question is "no".

I use all of this exclusively in DP. Any problems in DP4.61? DP5.12?

Thanks!

Jeff

mhschmieder · Post by **mhschmieder** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 2:44 pm

Mine just arrived today too, but I won't have time to install it until the weekend due to gigs. I was uncertain whether I had to be careful to avoid some of the updates if they are older than recent on-line updates, but I think you have to install everything in order for the products to show up as being registered under the Komplete 5 package for later updates?

I never got around to trying Spektral Delay or Vokator, but seem to recall them being updated earlier this year just for the UB port. For that reason I'm surprised they dumped them after bothering to port them.

mhschmieder · Post by **mhschmieder** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 2:46 pm

I thought I saw an upgrade price for Komplete 3 users at the NI website, hovering around $400 or more. Just my vague recollection.

OTOH, you can upgrade JUST to Kontakt 3 if you want, for somewhere between $100 and $150.

That might not be a wise move long-term, if it shuts you out of other upgrades or requires you to rebuy product you've already paid for.

aizo · Post by **aizo** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 2:55 pm

well i have K4 and i bought massive and battery seperate before getting k4.
so now i have to sell battery 3 and massive before i upgrade. that really sucks they chunked out spektral delay and vokator. whats the point of that?
are they gonna stop working on them. or throw them in a seprate bundle?
i mean the whole point of KOMPLETE...i thought was to have the KOMPLETE KOLEKTION OF NI prouducts. except that dj stuff. but who cares about dj stuff?

gearboy · Post by **gearboy** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 2:58 pm

aizo wrote: i mean the whole point of KOMPLETE...i thought was to have the KOMPLETE KOLKETION OF NI prouducts. except that dj stuff. but who cares about dj stuff?

DJs?

aizo · Post by **aizo** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 3:18 pm

gearboy wrote:
aizo wrote: i mean the whole point of KOMPLETE...i thought was to have the KOMPLETE KOLKETION OF NI prouducts. except that dj stuff. but who cares about dj stuff?
DJs?

what i meant to say is "who cares about dj stuff and djs?"

larryf · Post by **larryf** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 3:39 pm

Massive. How massive is this thing? CPU hog for sure. I suppose that I shouldn't even attempt to install it on my Powerbook (specs below)? Can I run one instance of it alone on the Powerbook, or will it just be too much?

I got Massive recently, and have spent some time testing out the CPU usage issue.

I'm running it on an iMac 2.33, core2duo. I find that most of the preset patches take around 12 to 26 % of a CPU, i.e. 6 to 13 % of total processing capacity on my core2duo. There are a few "show off" stock presets that hit as high as 50 % (or 25 % of my total capacity), but that's just a handful or two out of the 600 presets. Most are around 15-18 %. That is for the polyphonic non-unison patches. Monophon factory presets are not much less and are sometimes more, because though they have 1 voice they tend to be very complex processor-intensive patches, and unison patches are of course more processor intensive, as you'd expect.

I really wanted to get to the bottom of whether Massive chews through more CPU than other VI synths, and the problem is that you really need an "apples to apples" comparison. So I created a Massive patch based on Minimonsta's "RW Babylon", as close as I could get. This is a simple 3 osc (2 square, one triangle), 1 filter, one effect (delay) Wakeman style patch. I ran three concurrent instances within DP, first in Minimonsta and then in Massive. I found they used EXACTLY the same amount of CPU. I think the issue with Massive is that what you can do with it, and certainly what the factory gives you with its show-off presets, is way, way, way beyond 3 osc's and a filter. You could use four osc's each using 82-wave wavetables, plus noise generator, feeding two filters, modified by four LFOs and four envelopes, output through four effects. And every single one of those 8 LFOs and envelopes can be modifying each other and all of the oscs and filters, leading to dozens or even scores of modifiers, within one patch. So that's how you chew through CPU in Massive. But I don't think in generating an everyday, routine analog type of sound that it uses more CPU than any other subtractive.

gearboy · Post by **gearboy** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 5:01 pm

larryf wrote: I got Massive recently, and have spent some time testing out the CPU usage issue.

I guess what I want to do with Massive is be able to run it as a stand alone in the Powerbook, or as the only thing running in DP on the Powerbook, and slave it to my G5. I really want to be able to use both of my computers at once for some stuff in order to get more out of what I have. I have UBs of most of what I use now, which is great, but I am buying a house and don't want to upgrade computers anytime soon. If Massive will run on the Powerbook, that's great. If not, I can always stem some mixes out of a session in DP on the G5, create a new session and use Massive with a few stereo tracks of audio in stead of a big mix. I'm cool with that. I just did this yesterday with a big mix that had about 60 tracks of audio, tons of plug-ins making up channel strips plus two IR-1 reverbs. The CPU on the G5 was running around 70% at 1024. I bounced a stereo mix, created a new session, imported the mix, dropped the buffers to 256 and opened up Akoustic Piano for an overdub, then imported the piano tack back into the main session. Piece of cake. However, with synths and MIDI and evolving programing and composition, being able to use and tweak in DP on the powerbook as a synth in and of itself is a great thing. So I'll need to experiment.

Jeff

HeadMaster · Post by **HeadMaster** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 5:42 pm

Are there no upgrades towards Komplete Synth for us who have one or a few synths in that bundle already?

(FM8, Massive)

?

. . .
HM

MegaDPuser · Post by **MegaDPuser** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 11:15 pm

there is a reason NI can charge $200 per VI synth, in a world of free synths and budget synths. Their synths truly rock.

MASSIVE is in a league of its own; I, for one, do not understand what NI was thinking in all but giving it away for free as part of Komplete.

gearboy · Post by **gearboy** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 7:11 am

MegaDPuser wrote:there is a reason NI can charge $200 per VI synth, in a world of free synths and budget synths. Their synths truly rock.

MASSIVE is in a league of its own; I, for one, do not understand what NI was thinking in all but giving it away for free as part of Komplete.

Well, I can't wait to install it this weekend, that's for sure.

I guess that I can just install Kontakt3, GR3, and Massive, and then update the sample libraries and not have to reinstall all of the other programs?

mhschmieder · Post by **mhschmieder** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 2:29 pm

So is it necessary to reinstall stuff like Elektrik Piano in order for it to be "seen" as being under the Komplete 5 license?

I just unwrapped my box when I brought it home last night, and was shocked to find two DVD boxes this time around.

This could take all weekend, unless I can JUST install Guitar Rig 3, massive, and Kontakt 3.