Kore 2 (software edition), Kore Player, Muse communications

[mwgilbert]

Interested in finding out information about the new software only Kore 2, Kore Player, and Receptor, I did some experimenting. I then opened a ticket on Plugorama to report the results and see what Muse had to say.

This is what I said, and asked:

"In the spirit of testing, I copied the installer for the Kore Player 2 to the Receptor and ran the installer there. The Kore Player 2 installed correctly, and works.

However, what it does not do is authorize. The legal, free serial number that I obtained from NI displays as incorrect in the version of NI Service Center that comes on the Receptor. So the Kore Player 2 will only run in demo mode.

I should say that (at least in demo mode) it seems to work quite well. FYI the same install on a PC with the same serial number authorizes fine. Any ideas? Are you going to have official support?"

Just FYI, NI's answer when asked was:

"Native Instruments does not provide technical support for Muse Receptor systems. For any questions regarding the installation and activation of NI products as well as performance related questions on this platform, please contact Muse Research directly."

This was the reply from Muse to close the ticket:

"Official support for Kore/Kore 2 player and hardware is not available yet and we have no time frame as to when it will be available for the Receptor.

We do however appreciate any feedback from your experiences."

This is what I replied. I am posting it here as an open communication to Muse, and to the forum:

"Thanks for your response.

Apparently, official support for many VSTi & VST plug-ins is not available yet and you have no time frame as to when pretty much anything will be available for the Receptor.

As an owner of two Receptors, I am frankly very disappointed with the communications between Muse and its user/owner base.

While I am sure you do appreciate any feedback from our experiences, you need to understand that your user/owner base would appreciate information from Muse.

Direct Install so far has been, with two little exceptions, a one trick pony. The fact that Muse never says anything about applications, updates, compatibilities, even in terms of what's in the pipeline and when, makes me feel like Muse either doesn't have its act together or doesn't care.

At some point, I, and I'm sure others, are going to start feeling like it's not worth it in terms of planning projects and the like, to never have any idea when or if anything will be updated or available.

Thanks for your consideration."

[richwhite9]

Last year they debuted Kontakt 5 at AES and Direct Install at NAMM in January.

I don't see them on the AES list of vendors. Best guess the new OS gets introduced at NAMM and some new Direct Install apps. Maybe a new Pro hardware config.

I've still got a lot of thigns to load. Ivory uprights would be a good add

[mwgilbert]

Bump...

How about someone from Muse commenting here?

-MWG

[Rick@MuseResearch]

Nothing I can say for now, we are busy working on various projects but mums the word.

Bump...

How about someone from Muse commenting here?

-MWG

[mwgilbert]

Thanks for (at least) responding, Rick.

However, the nature of your response IS the problem.

And therein is the central issue with a closed or proprietary system. My work style would probably be a better fit with a (second, and third) computer running Windows that was networked to my main host than with the Receptors. Then, I could try out all kinds of new things without having to wait for the glacially-paced official support. (And I only use legal, purchased software, and test legal, released demos...)

I think the concept of the Receptor is a great idea. Having to Receptorize apps to run on it isn't. The subset of things that run on a Receptor is far too small, and not really growing.

Receptors are cool. They are compact, self-contained, and are easy to use. What they aren't is versatile, and in that fact are not as far removed from the dedicated rack sound module as we and Muse would like to believe.

Komplete-in-a-box is, in the end, far less worth it (to me) than any-VST-in-a-box.

-MWG

[AnalogGuy1]

Does anyone have any information about updates to this situation - can we run Kore 2 software edition under Receptor? It's been a year...perhaps something's changed.

I see another user recently asked the same question here, but no one replied (besides a disgruntled former user who didn't answer the question).

[Throbert]

I understand how you feel. I won't open any tickets with plugedOramless any more it's responses are robotic. Like some monkey pressing ctrl C, respond, ctrl V
It has me researching for a good Linux Wine distro.

[AnalogGuy1]

<sigh>

[erschm@pt.lu]

Hi there,

someone posted in a thread that he managed to install the KorePlayer on Receptor and it worked, so I tried the same thing with Kore 2 Software Edition and it WORKED!!!
I didn't try all the functions of Kore 2 yet, but the most important things work, like:
- loading and playing sounds
- changing the Sounds and Effects
- loading multiple Sounds
- loading ohter VSTi's
etc.

The only thing that's not working for the moment is the Kore Controller (I don't know why, because Muse Research said that the Kore Controller is compatible with Receptor... never mind)but I'm working on it.

To Install Kore 2 SE you only need to copy the Installer from the original DVD to the "drop installers here" folder on Receptor. Now install Kore 2 normally. The only thing you need to do after installing is to copy the folder containing the samples (from the DVD) into the Kore 2 path on Receptor (because even if you tell Kore 2 during installation to install the samples, it will not do it, because it can't find them)

I hope this post was helpful

[erschm@pt.lu]

Oh I forgot to tell you that you need to Install the latest NI Service Center to Authorize it. Authorization works the same way as with other NI Products.
My Kore 2 SE is activated and works (more or less) properly.

[AmosG]

I bought the (then) top of the line Receptor specifically to avoid having to buy new, expensive hardware every time I wanted some fresh sounds. That was the entire Muse Research marketing pitch back then (Rev C). I have had your same experience with Muse on several occasions, including a direct communication with their CEO. My conclusion: Get rid of my Receptor and buy a nice, quality rack-mountable PC. You lose the direct DAW integration on some instruments, but that's really not a loss if you can't use the instrument to begin with.

If anybody has found a good PC for music purposes, I'm interested to hear about it.

[Jace-BeOS]

Hi there,

someone posted in a thread that he managed to install the KorePlayer on Receptor and it worked, so I tried the same thing with Kore 2 Software Edition and it WORKED!!!
I didn't try all the functions of Kore 2 yet, but the most important things work, like:
- loading and playing sounds
- changing the Sounds and Effects
- loading multiple Sounds
- loading ohter VSTi's
etc.

The only thing that's not working for the moment is the Kore Controller (I don't know why, because Muse Research said that the Kore Controller is compatible with Receptor... never mind)but I'm working on it.

To Install Kore 2 SE you only need to copy the Installer from the original DVD to the "drop installers here" folder on Receptor. Now install Kore 2 normally. The only thing you need to do after installing is to copy the folder containing the samples (from the DVD) into the Kore 2 path on Receptor (because even if you tell Kore 2 during installation to install the samples, it will not do it, because it can't find them)

I hope this post was helpful

How did you "install Kore 2 normally"? If i drop the installer from the DVD into the "drop installers here" folder on my Receptor, it just fails instantly. The log says it's not a zip package. What version of Receptor OS did you have when you did this?