Kontakt 6 - any rumors about release?

[tdm]

No prob. Now you can go back through all your posts and edit them with BBCode enabled

Yeah! I will try to do that as time allows.

Hey ED, I've been following your posts here and there for years; you are a very knowledgeable guy. Given that my desire is to use Kontakt 5.5.1, running on OS 10.8.5, well into the future, do you know the answers to the following questions?

• 1) Will Kontakt 5.5.1 always be able to be activated using the OS 10.8 compatible version of Service Center?
  2) As my hard drive and/or computer will fail at some point, will Native Instruments obsoleting of Service Center make it impossible to activate Kontakt 5.5.1 and my protected libraries on a new drive or computer running 10.8.5?
  3) If the answer to question #2 is yes, do you know of any way around this? Will installing an exact image of my existing drive on a new drive or a new drive in a new computer get around this problem?

My suspicion is that I'm screwed due to the the activation procedure using something unique to each piece of hardware. This really blows as this means that NI not only has the ability to force me into using a new OS I don't need, but also ultimately buying new hardware I don't need.

Any info or ideas would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
tdm

[tdm]

also, as someone who does mac support for a living, I think you're painting yourself in to a corner sticking to 10.8 - too many applications now require 10.9 or later - 10.10 is generally considered solid so I'd think hard about maybe upgrading to that (though Apple makes it really tricky updating to the 'older' release as they really want you to go to 10.11 - easiest is to find someone who saved the 10.10 upgrade installer and grab a copy off them)

The difference in our viewpoints is that you make your living dealing with computer problems. I do not make my living dealing with computers or music. Music composition for me is a serious hobby; a computer to me is just a tool. I like my paints and brushes static, thank you. How many great pianists would there be if they kept obsoleting 5 year old Steinways?

I am not asking companies like NI to support old hardware with new software, just to support what worked if someone like me is satisfied with a certain level of functionality and wants to get off of the computer merry-go-round; i.e. stopping the waste of time and money needlessly upgrading software and hardware. (Not to mention the environmental impact of trashing working hardware.)

I do not need the latest "shiny objects".

I feel the need to make one thing clear: I am not putting anyone down who decides to keep up with the latest computers and software. That is their choice; I just resent being forced to do it.

[trusampler]

So another year before we see Kontakt 6. Thanks NI

[Kalamata Kid]

So another year before we see Kontakt 6. Thanks NI

My prediction is less than one year.
K12 will be the Kontakt 6 version.
Kontakt 6 will be the only addition.
But I suspect that Kontakt 6 will be
be a grand version. Spectacular
possibly.

Then K13 will bring Absynth 6 or
Massive 2 a year later.

[EvilDragon]

No prob. Now you can go back through all your posts and edit them with BBCode enabled

Yeah! I will try to do that as time allows.

Hey ED, I've been following your posts here and there for years; you are a very knowledgeable guy. Given that my desire is to use Kontakt 5.5.1, running on OS 10.8.5, well into the future, do you know the answers to the following questions?

• 1) Will Kontakt 5.5.1 always be able to be activated using the OS 10.8 compatible version of Service Center?
  2) As my hard drive and/or computer will fail at some point, will Native Instruments obsoleting of Service Center make it impossible to activate Kontakt 5.5.1 and my protected libraries on a new drive or computer running 10.8.5?
  3) If the answer to question #2 is yes, do you know of any way around this? Will installing an exact image of my existing drive on a new drive or a new drive in a new computer get around this problem?

My suspicion is that I'm screwed due to the the activation procedure using something unique to each piece of hardware. This really blows as this means that NI not only has the ability to force me into using a new OS I don't need, but also ultimately buying new hardware I don't need.

Any info or ideas would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
tdm

1) Yes.
2) Service Center is still remaining active for authorizing older products. Native Access is only going to be used for products within Komplete 10/11 and onwards. You will probably need to update to something newer than 10.8.5. eventually in order to have Native Access running.

[Jace-BeOS]

What the heck is Native Access? Please tell me it's not more complex than Service Center and doesn't require dongles, drivers, or services to run.

[EvilDragon]

It's simpler, no dongles. NI is pretty much against that.

As for drivers, that depends - if you're using a NI hardware product, you do need them along with NI's hardware communication service as well. If you don't, then you don't. This has nothing to do with NI's authorization programs (SC and NA).

[Jace-BeOS]

Good to hear, thanks!

[tdm]

Hey ED . . . do you know the answers to the following questions?

• 1) Will Kontakt 5.5.1 always be able to be activated using the OS 10.8 compatible version of Service Center?
  2) As my hard drive and/or computer will fail at some point, will Native Instruments obsoleting of Service Center make it impossible to activate Kontakt 5.5.1 and my protected libraries on a new drive or computer running 10.8.5?

1) Yes.
2) Service Center is still remaining active for authorizing older products. Native Access is only going to be used for products within Komplete 10/11 and onwards. You will probably need to update to something newer than 10.8.5. eventually in order to have Native Access running.

Thanks for the info, ED.

[Mystic]

So another year before we see Kontakt 6. Thanks NI

My prediction is less than one year.
K12 will be the Kontakt 6 version.
Kontakt 6 will be the only addition.
But I suspect that Kontakt 6 will be
be a grand version. Spectacular
possibly.

Then K13 will bring Absynth 6 or
Massive 2 a year later.

They will likely release Kontakt 6 on it's own first. As with Reaktor, it's about money. People who need/want it will pony up the cash for it to have it right away then I'd say a good 35% of those people will also upgrade to the newest Komplete when it comes out. It means more cash flow for NI because they will get those initial sales from the release of a single product, then more sales from those same people for Komplete plus the sales of those who waited for Komplete.

Smart marketing. Pretty scummy to try and double dip your clients (because I believe they all had to pay the same upgrade/crossgrade fees) but smart.

[Kalamata Kid]

So another year before we see Kontakt 6. Thanks NI

My prediction is less than one year.
K12 will be the Kontakt 6 version.
Kontakt 6 will be the only addition.
But I suspect that Kontakt 6 will be
be a grand version. Spectacular
possibly.

Then K13 will bring Absynth 6 or
Massive 2 a year later.

They will likely release Kontakt 6 on it's own first. As with Reaktor, it's about money. People who need/want it will pony up the cash for it to have it right away then I'd say a good 35% of those people will also upgrade to the newest Komplete when it comes out. It means more cash flow for NI because they will get those initial sales from the release of a single product, then more sales from those same people for Komplete plus the sales of those who waited for Komplete.

Smart marketing. Pretty scummy to try and double dip your clients (because I believe they all had to pay the same upgrade/crossgrade fees) but smart.

I predict that NI will release Kontakt 6 both as a single item or with Komplete 12 so that
K12 = K11 + Kontakt 6
so that K11 owners need not purchase Kontakt 6 when released as a single item and 6 months later purchase K12 and end up with two copies of Kontakt 6. Are they aware of this? They could have done something similar when Reaktor 6 was released.

Apparently to "double dip your clients" is profitable. Sadly NI thinks and acts this way.

[noiseboyuk]

To release Kontakt 6 ahead of Komplete 12 would be the normal way of things, and nothing wrong with that. Everyone knows the deal with NI by now, and you just factor it into your buying decisions.

Shame K6 is going to be delayed for another year, though I'm still a little fuzzy about exactly what's involved with the UI refresh in K5.6 - it would be nice to have a freshen up of the Library pane for example (it's phenomenally slow to move stuff around there). Aside from these kinds of niggles, there's not a whole lot wrong with K5, and not a compelling reason to be over-anguished at the wait for K6.

[aMUSEd]

So another year before we see Kontakt 6. Thanks NI

My prediction is less than one year.
K12 will be the Kontakt 6 version.
Kontakt 6 will be the only addition.
But I suspect that Kontakt 6 will be
be a grand version. Spectacular
possibly.

Then K13 will bring Absynth 6 or
Massive 2 a year later.

They will likely release Kontakt 6 on it's own first. As with Reaktor, it's about money. People who need/want it will pony up the cash for it to have it right away then I'd say a good 35% of those people will also upgrade to the newest Komplete when it comes out. It means more cash flow for NI because they will get those initial sales from the release of a single product, then more sales from those same people for Komplete plus the sales of those who waited for Komplete.

Smart marketing. Pretty scummy to try and double dip your clients (because I believe they all had to pay the same upgrade/crossgrade fees) but smart.

I predict that NI will release Kontakt 6 both as a single item or with Komplete 12 so that
K12 = K11 + Kontakt 6
so that K11 owners need not purchase Kontakt 6 when released as a single item and 6 months later purchase K12 and end up with two copies of Kontakt 6. Are they aware of this? They could have done something similar when Reaktor 6 was released.

Apparently to "double dip your clients" is profitable. Sadly NI thinks and acts this way.

This is not what is happening, NI have always released products as standalones first, then later in the update to Komplete. Komplete is not NI's only product. This gives people who wish to be early adopters the option of buying early and later if they choose to get Komplete they can always sell it again.

[spinettim]

Still no news about it? I thought it should have been out by now.
Hope they jump on the VST3 train with it.
EastWest did it with Play (the only real competitor IMO).

[EvilDragon]

Play is not a real competitor until you can build your own instruments with it.