IKM SampleTank 3 (ST3) Now Available

[Burillo]

IMO they should just use torrent for distribution. that way, integrity is guaranteed, and their servers handle sudden influx of downloaders way better. come on, it's 21st century already! use the superior distribution methods, god dammit!

[Peter - IK Multimedia]

This is a massive thread so I don't have time to go through it all. A couple of questions.
1 - Can you load your own samples and create your own sound sets? All promotion seems to be about the factory library.
2 Is the GUI resizeable? Is it bigger than V2.5.I always felt that GUI was too small. I have 4K monitor now and many virtual instrument GUIs look even smaller. One advantage of Kontakt is that you can resize the GUI.

Regards
Kraznet

1 - Yes you can import samples, and you have what is available on the Edit screen in the way of manipulating your imported samples. http://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/sa ... ank-3-edit

2 - It is not resizable but is designed to be a vast improvement in size and readability ratio vs SampleTank 2.5

[Peter - IK Multimedia]

Another question or two if I may. Will we be able to download the ST 3 engine on the 24th ? Then download the sample content later after the servers cool down. Do you anticipate the IK servers being able to handle the traffic in the first few days ?

Yes you can just download the engine on release day. We are aware of the exact number of preorders so I anticipate our I.T. staff has done their best to allocate the appropriate amount of resources to handle the load based on that number plus of course any surrounding orders that should come in upon or right before release.

[DocAtlas]

This is a massive thread so I don't have time to go through it all. A couple of questions.
1 - Can you load your own samples and create your own sound sets? All promotion seems to be about the factory library.
2 Is the GUI resizeable? Is it bigger than V2.5.I always felt that GUI was too small. I have 4K monitor now and many virtual instrument GUIs look even smaller. One advantage of Kontakt is that you can resize the GUI.

Regards
Kraznet

Kontakt's gui may be resizeable, but the text in the browser remains tiny, and I still can't read it. The screenshots of ST3 look very easy to read. Only 3 days to go!

[BBFG#]

Another question or two if I may. Will we be able to download the ST 3 engine on the 24th ? Then download the sample content later after the servers cool down. Do you anticipate the IK servers being able to handle the traffic in the first few days ?

Yes you can just download the engine on release day. We are aware of the exact number of preorders so I anticipate our I.T. staff has done their best to allocate the appropriate amount of resources to handle the load based on that number plus of course any surrounding orders that should come in upon or right before release.

[BBFG#]

Kontakt's gui may be resizeable, but the text in the browser remains tiny, and I still can't read it. The screenshots of ST3 look very easy to read. Only 3 days to go!

Kontakt is resizable and more importantly, you can also change the font size. I personally don't like the mixer and effects sections as much as I do in Aria or STank3 though.

[DocAtlas]

Kontakt's gui may be resizeable, but the text in the browser remains tiny, and I still can't read it. The screenshots of ST3 look very easy to read. Only 3 days to go!

Kontakt is resizable and more importantly, you can also change the font size. I personally don't like the mixer and effects sections as much as I do in Aria or STank3 though.

I never managed to do that. I'll have to check the manual again. I have to agree about the mixer & effects.

[anxiousmofo]

Will downloads become available at 12:01 a.m. on 7/24 (presumably EST if in the U.S.)? I'm asking because 7/25 is a (crappy) holiday here in Utah, and I'd love to download the sounds overnight, so I can use ST3 after I wake up for my day off on 7/25.

We don't have a specific time set but it will be opened by our I.T. folks in the Italian office so bear that time difference in mind.

Thanks, Peter.

[bigcat1969]

Me being me, I've definitely been looking at the edit page. I'm sure after trying the sounds for a few minutes, I'll be trying my hardest to import the city piano. I don't have any idea what to expect from simple and complete success to complex angst (my word of the month) inducing failure on attempting import. If I can get it to work (and it sounds OK) and I can share it, you all will have a Baldwin to go with those Steinways and Yamahas by the 25th.

[Elektronisch]

when the preset list will be available?

[basslinemaster]

Did you just post three almost but not quite identical posts including one's quoting yourself each the size of a short story?* Clearly the guy with this kind of organizational skill needs to create Windows 9 himself and save Microsoft from itself. After that please, get NI to allow all third party instruments to play for an unlimited period in the free Kontakt Player, cause I sure would like that, so it has to be the correct decision.

*mod edit - the two almost but not quite identical posts have been deleted

No, I don't remember posting three almost but not quite identical posts quoting myself, and since the mods have deleted them, I can't even see what I did wrong.

[basslinemaster]

Huh? I said right in my post: "it doesn't mean they always make the right call." I never said this decision was without a doubt the right way to go. Big companies make dumb decisions all the time. I never said they didn't. So, I guess that makes that a "strawman argument" on your part--since we're pointing out logical fallacies.

Continuing in that vein, my original post was about how your post declaring the "truth" that selling the player only would make them more money had absolutely no support. It's just your guess, but you declared it as obvious truth. It may be right, but it may be wrong. I just pointed out that I'm sure they at least considered the idea and for whatever reason, nixed it. That could be a horrible mistake....but it could actually be the smart thing to do. I don't know. You don't know either.

Sorry, but I DO know, and so do most of the rest of the people here. Just because you aren't very good at maths and simple thinking, doesn't mean the rest of us aren't.

So, we currently have two potential customers for ST3:
1) ST3 with all content (i.e. the only option we currently have)
2) ST3 player, for a low price

Gee... how many of the people who only want a 64 bit ST2.5 player do you think are going to buy the full price ST3 with loads of content that they can't currently afford/justify buying? This is IKM's strategy, and it's wrong.

How many current ST2 owners, who don't want ST3 content, do you think would buy an ST3 player for under $30? I presume there must be tens of thousands of ST2 owners by now, what with all the sales IKM have had, that's a huge market. Anybody who wants an ST3 player but doesn't want the ST3 content would buy an ST3 player for $30 or under, it's a no brainer. That's probably thousands of current users of ST2. So that's money IKM won't be getting. It's as simple as that.

But LOL at those suggesting I create Windows 9 for daring to think for myself...

[bosone]

So, we currently have two potential customers for ST3:
1) ST3 with all content (i.e. the only option we currently have)
2) ST3 player, for a low price

Gee... how many of the people who only want a 64 bit ST2.5 player do you think are going to buy the full price ST3 with loads of content that they can't currently afford/justify buying? This is IKM's strategy, and it's wrong.

i'm one of those!
with a lot of sounds already in my arsenal, including garritan orchestra and komplete, i don't need ST3 sounds. but as an owner of IK total bundle i have tons of ST2 i can potentially use without that crappy ST2 interface (expecially miroslav).
nothing i could not live without, anyway, so the engine update is indeed optional for me... also because more than half of ST2 sounds are quite bad...

How many current ST2 owners, who don't want ST3 content, do you think would buy an ST3 player for under $30? I presume there must be tens of thousands of ST2 owners by now, what with all the sales IKM have had, that's a huge market. Anybody who wants an ST3 player but doesn't want the ST3 content would buy an ST3 player for $30 or under, it's a no brainer. That's probably thousands of current users of ST2. So that's money IKM won't be getting. It's as simple as that.

yes, i would pay 30$ for just the engine and the possibiliy to import ST2 sounds. i will not pay 100€ (or more, after the introductory price will end) for a huge content of sounds i'll almost never use. if IK does not want this money, i don't know what to do!

i just hope that they will make a decent ST3 upgrade dedicated to miroslav, with keyswitching, legato, expression control, etc. i will think about that...

[Ben H]

Maybe they don't have enough faith in their own product that people would WANT to upgrade after trying the player version.

You may well be right...

Actually thinking about it some more, it's more likely that they expect people are just going to cave and buy the full ST3 anyway.

[samsam]

So summing up some of the _deep_ economic analysis in this thread...

IKM have made a business decision and we, as customers, should act according to whether we feel their offer is a good one.

Hmmmm, interesting.