hi
the thing is since I'm interested in buying Komplete I'm using now the demos of some of its products and am simply blown away.

I've noticed that most of them are incredibly low in cpu usage, something I'm VERY interested in.
But it doesn't seem to be the case with Reaktor.

The thing is, now I'm getting familiar with it, I see the concept of ensembles, and my question is...

every time I want to use one of the synths included in Reaktor, do I have to open a new Reaktor instance?
how does the cpu usage increment? is it rteally that high?

thx

Basically, yes, if you want to use a synth within a host, you'll need one Reaktor instance per synth. Now, you could set up an ensemble that contains multiple instruments and effects, sequencers, etc. You could, for instance, set up several synths to use multiple audio outs within a single instance of Reaktor, and also set up different MIDI channels for the different synths. (You can do this in Reaktor, not Reaktor Sessions.) However, I never do this.

You can control the sample rate for each instance of Reaktor individually, which will increase and decrease the CPU usage of each instance proportionately. Other factors that influence CPU usage include the footprint of each individual ensemble, and probably the sound card settings. I tend to track at 44.1 and bounce at 88.2; there's an appreciable difference in sound quality from 44.1 to 88.2. You can access the sample rate when the browser window is open within Reaktor (if you don't see it, hit the button that looks like this: < on the left hand side of the Reaktor window.

-c

thx I'll try that. it's that cpu usage worries me a lot, since up to now I have only used free synths that waste little cpu.

if you open reaktor, you'll have an empty ensemble. you can then load any ensemble you want. there are some included and some 1.000+ in the user library. (you can create your own, of course). but not only synths, but also sequencers, effects (great reverbs are included).
the CPU-useage depends on the ensemble you are loading. many have low useage, but some can easily eat up the whole cpu.

in my setup, i use a reaktor "synth" plus sampler (in the same ensemble) in one VST-instance, another synth in a second instance and some chained effects in a third.

Actually it's entirely possible to load up multiple instruments at once in a single instance of Reaktor and route different MIDI channels and/or ports to each one. Further, since Reaktor offers 16 audio outs, you can even output the audio to separate channels. Or you can mix the instruments together inside Reaktor and output a single stereo signal. I do this all the time. The trick is to have a host that allows you to send multiple MIDI ports to the same VSTi/DXi, and to support multiple outputs, such as AudioMulch, energyXT, CONSOLE, etc.