KVR Audio

Lomacar · Post by **Lomacar** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 4:08 am

Hello KVR!

Awhile back I bought Kontakt for I think $139 as a deal when I bought some other cheap product first. There are a few things in Kontakt that disappoint me but overall it has definitely been a worthwhile purchase. It is a staple VST anyway so I pretty much had to buy it at that price.

Right now music is just a hobby for me that ideally can pay for itself. I have made back the money spent on Kontakt within a year on Audio Jungle. It would be many years before I paid for my $500 keyboard though.

Perhaps I have been spoiled by the deal I got for Kontakt but I am wondering what I can possibly get that would be comparable in bang-for-buck. I want something that could complement the Kontakt library not just slightly improve on it with a lot of similar instruments. I want something that would be generally useful and offer variety, not some single-instrument library. A string library might be broad enough or a great percussion library. I guess I'm not really asking for something super generic like Kontakt. I am interested in cinematic compositions of any style. I am more interested in sample-based stuff, not synths, but something in the vein of Omnisphere would be OK.

Can anybody recommend a good "next step" purchase for under $200? Or something incredible and indispensable for under $500? Or maybe a set of useful little $20 - $60 Kontakt libraries? Any advice is greatly appreciated!

K-Bee · Post by **K-Bee** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 7:12 am

Lomacar wrote:I am more interested in sample-based stuff, not synths, but something in the vein of Omnisphere would be OK.

Well...it looks like answered your own question then. It would probably compliment the Kontakt library well as they are kind of taking care of different areas but with a fair bit of editing capabilities thrown in.

Now let's see when somebody mentions Sylenth! Usually that's brought up every time somebody is looking for an instrument no matter the type!

standalone · Post by **standalone** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 9:19 am

Yes, Omnisphere would be the best. If you can't afford it...

If you have a vst3 compatible host (Cubase, Studio One or FL):
http://www.steinberg.net/en/products/vs ... start.html

If not, search here for Kontakt libraries:
http://www.zerogdownload.com/store/cate ... -Movie-SFX
http://www.zerogdownload.com/store/cate ... Soundtrack
(Subscribe to their newsletter and wait for an offer, they are very, very frequent)

Or some Alchemy soundset, they come with a free player:
http://www.camelaudio.com/Sound-Sample-Libraries.php

And of course:
http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/ ... egory=1759
(wait for the Black Friday, almost everything goes half price in NI's store)

SoundSonicTeam · Post by **SoundSonicTeam** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 4:17 pm

Why not go down the synth route? If you looking to make cinematic sounds then check out Alchemy by camel audio, it's an additive synth and great for soundscapes and pads but very versitile on the other hand.

forkol · Post by **forkol** » Fri Mar 23, 2012 9:02 pm

Lomacar wrote:Hello KVR!

Can anybody recommend a good "next step" purchase for under $200? Or something incredible and indispensable for under $500? Or maybe a set of useful little $20 - $60 Kontakt libraries? Any advice is greatly appreciated!

If you're in the States, Guitar Center carries VI One, a 20GB Kontakt General Library with a few twists. It's currently $99.99, but there's a current $20 off coupon for $99.00 or more, brining this to $80. A small bit outside your price range, but with 20GB of content, it's worth it.

Note that this will become NFR once you buy it though, so remember that if you ever decide to sell Kontakt.

padillac · Post by **padillac** » Sat Mar 24, 2012 2:26 am

alchemy

demo it and you'll see why

Lomacar · Post by **Lomacar** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 9:22 pm

Thanks guys. Yeah, Omnisphere looks like fun but it is a bit more then I would like to spend right now. It might even be too much instrument at once. Kontakt has a lot of pretty nice sounds. I guess what I want now is to get some libraries that do an exceptional job at something that I could get a lot of use out of. So either something that fills in holes in the Kontakt library or clearly surpasses some of it's content. I like some of the souds I hear from Omnisphere, especially the "psycho-acoustic" stuff. It would be nice to have an Omnisphere "Lite". Would you say that Alchemy is that sort of thing? I got the Alchemy player and I have watched the tutorial videos and it does seem like a very handy synth/sampler. I like a lot of the features it has but I haven't been overly impressed with the sounds I am hearing from it. They seem pretty generic, a little dated. Would you guys disagree?

VI.ONE looks like a great deal but does it really go above or beyond the default Kontakt library? Seems like there is a lot of overlap. I think I might end up going for some smaller libraries on an as-needed basis. Since I can't really afford the top-notch libraries for standard instruments I'm interested in weirder stuff like ethnic instruments and odd manipulated samples. For example http://www.soundiron.com/instruments/ex ... tal/rust1/.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far guys.

standalone · Post by **standalone** » Tue Mar 27, 2012 12:30 pm

Get this freebie too, if don't already have it

http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/ ... ntent=1454

The full version

http://www.native-instruments.com/en/pr ... tor-prism/

awol9000 · Post by **awol9000** » Sun Apr 01, 2012 6:01 am

Lomacar wrote: I am interested in cinematic compositions of any style.

check out samplelogic.com

Waker · Post by **Waker** » Sun Apr 01, 2012 7:31 am

Getting Kontakt is only the beginnig of a long journey. The Kontakt library is ok, but it's the other stuff, which makes it truely great. Check out companies like sonic couture, project sam and cinesample.

soundklinik · Post by **soundklinik** » Sun Apr 08, 2012 10:14 am

The best bang for the buck is definitely REAKTOR 5. Besides the native library, there are 3 000+ ensembles in User Library...
Used one goes for $100-150
So you pay less then 1 cent per ensemble/instrument...

Mechanought · Post by **Mechanought** » Mon Apr 09, 2012 7:32 am

Nexus 2 is a popular choice.

http://refx.com/products/nexus/summary/

Fhangor · Post by **Fhangor** » Mon Apr 09, 2012 8:08 am

In my mind you need only a good synth for Atmospheres (or pads) in addition. You don't have to buy a synth. Use Tyrell, Synth1 or Crystal and learn to use them. And if you really need some Cinematics directly, so buy some additional Kontakt libraries...

Don't drop in the "I must have"-trap like me. Bought so many synths, but I only use 5 of them (The Grand2 for Piano, EZDrummer for Drums, Albino or Hypersonic for Synth and RealGuitar for Guitar (+GuitarRig) and a soundfont "Ultimate Bass Kit" for Bass).

All other synths are quite useless because I will never have time to learn them (Sylenth1, impOSCar2, ACE, Alchemy, Native Intruments Komplete 6, Sonic Synth 2, Surge). And they are not better than Crystal, Synth1 or Tyrell.

maleaco · Post by **maleaco** » Mon Apr 09, 2012 8:30 am

Omnisphere is really comprehensive, and also really expensive!

What VST should I buy next?