eh

Ff you own komplete 5 or earlier or Acoustik Piano you have these new pianos - just install the data from acoustik pianos - they will work in any future operating systems because they are just kontakt libararies and any updates to Kontakt will kontinue to open them

the files in the original ibrary are exactly the same as these packs

If you bought komplete 6 you surely noticed it is cheaper than komplete 5, but doesn't contain some things, basically the discontinued B4 and the changed to a soundpack Acoustik Piano - it is now much more synthesiser orientated

no-one tried to claim otherwise

So how is this dishonest ???? really

No, they're not the same. Akoustik Pianos came with a Steinway, Bosendorfer, Bechstein, and Steingraber pianos - not the same as these new expansions: Also, from the NI Akoustik Piano webpage:



Just a thought, but maybe some of you guys should do a little research before making dramatic assumptions about how NI is out to screw you before getting yourself worked up into such a frenzy???

Didn't say they were dishonest. I did say my view was an assumption. I hold my hand up and admit my assumption (like most assumptions) was wrong. I apologise for any offense caused.

For the record: komplete 6 was $100 more expensive than komplete 5 at the time of purchase.

If these aren't the same as the acoustik pianos, I'll take another look.

Just one of those days I guess

Regards,

John

<cough>









OTOH, I agree thoroughly with ericj23.

Your right - they seem to have gained an upright pinao in the new pack and lost a grand - and any copyrighted names too. It does look like the new pianos use the same material as both the old and new ones talk about 10 velocity layers. But the new ones also have done some morphing things - so they are new edits of the old stuff

So I guess if you bought Akousitk Piano pianos you are missing out on NI's updates, but the new pack is only 169 euro compared to 299 for the old one , so I guess you could call that your upgrade price

We already have - NI have confirmed these are the same instruments so we have them already minus the new skin and a few name changes (which I would hope they will let is have in an update at some point but it's no biggie):

http://www.native-instruments.com/forum/showthread.php?p=600 855#post600855

It is now Kontakt Player 4/Kontakt 4 demo, and is apparently required for the piano releases.

For the record, I am not an Akoustik Pianos owner, and I am not personally upset about anything.

I think some people in this thread were a little over-dramatic about how NI supposedly treated them in this situation, but I do get what people are saying.

As far as I understand it, the AP patches will load in Kontakt but won't give you any performance view, or at least one that gives you the features of the original AP software. These new pianos have the same samples, but give people an interface. So essentially, those who own AP already who want to have the user interface for AP really only need the new patches. They don't need the samples. NI has said that you can still use AP by loading it into Kontakt. This is their official statement when asked about why AP was discontinued. But you lose functionality when doing so.

So I don't think it's unreasonable to at least want a discounted price on these pianos if you own AP.

That being said, it's not THAT big of a deal. NI didn't necessarily screw anyone. AP was a product they didn't want to develop any further. That happens with software. Not the end of the world.

So I see both sides.

Brent

I was just using the old version numbers since that is when they were combined. I wasn't sure if they had updated it yet or not. Though the new pianos have interfaces that couldn't have been done before.

Brent

No you don't - the interface is exactly the same in terms of functionality:





You just don't get the pretty piano picture. Apart from that they are the same as AP as it appears when loaded into Kontakt (as this pictures show) in almost every respect - they just changed the names to something more generic sounding.

A lot cheaper in fact. I wouldn't have purchased 5 at the old price, I only picked it up on the blowout. Of course I knew 6 must be coming out and when it did I was thinking that I should have waited because I could have saved about fifty bucks or so and get the new version as well. I don't use Acoustic pianos much but I do from time to time so I'm glad that I picked up 5.

I noticed that they dropped B4II as well, did they roll that into kontakt?

I haven't upgraded to 6 and I'm thinking that I'll wait for 7. I don't use absynth a lot and the new features in kontakt 4 didn't seem worth the money to me. A reaktor upgrade would have sealed the deal, especially if they licenced technology from Artuira.

For the guitar players here, do you find the new guitar rig to be much better than the old guitar rig? I have so many choices for recording guitar that, even though I thought that I'd use it, I haven't much and I didn't think that it sounded that great.

Now, Pro53, whatever, I'm not even sure that it's currently installed on my machine. There are any number of free or low cost synths that are better.




I don't think it is, they scaled the product back and scaled back the price at the same time. I don't think that the reduced price is just to reflect the ommisions, I think that the competition is heating up a bit.

btw you can get old stock of the old akoustik pianos for cheap. I saw it at DV247 for £60. Way less than the £150 they're charging for the "new" one.

Just a heads up

John

so everything is fine for all Komplete5/6 owners

The pianos seem to be the same, just the names are different. In the internet i found this:

Vienna Concert Grand = Bösendorfer

New York Concert Grand = Steinway

Berlin Concert Grand = Bechstein

Those seem to be the locations of the manufacturers so that's easy.

Yes, they are the same, just the looks are different. I sold my Akoustik Piano for cheap here as I had bought Komplete 5 In various threads in different forums I found many people criticising the 4, whereas I really like the Bechstein and the Steingraeber upright (which is in parts, correct me if I'm wrong, included in Kontakt4 now?). Nice pianos, I would not give my artvista grand (a superb Steinway) or imperfectsamples.com pianos away, but well, lovely ones for my taste.