I'm considering buying the Receptor with Komplete inside, but I've yet to find one comment
anywhere from someone who already has one. Does anyone have any first hand experience with
this unit? Does all the software (particularly Reaktor) work smoothly? Will I get the latest
versions of all these apps, or will I have to spend a week updating everything?
A more general question I have about the Receptor is that I keep reading comments about
how unstable Kontakt has been. Is this a software/OS bug that has been fixed, or is it just
not possible to run Kontakt with a large library in the Receptor and have it work consistently?
Should I just limit myself to 1 Gig or so of samples at a time? Aren't large piano libraries like
Ivory also streaming samples from disk, and if so why do they seem to be less prone to crashing?
My main application is musical theater where there are no second takes if a box crashes. Nothing
else matters if the instrument isn't reliable.
Do these Receptors still come with all the free plug-ins? If so will using those or adding other
plug-ins affect the stability of the NI plugs?
I'm also wondering if the second I buy this NI will release all new versions of everything, but
I've long since learned that there's little point in delaying purchases because of what might
be around the corner. Does NI provide a reasonable upgrade path for purchasers of
Komplete?
Questions before buying Receptor+Komplete
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TechEverlasting TechEverlasting https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=155421
- KVRist
- 119 posts since 13 Jul, 2007
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- KVRist
- 96 posts since 2 May, 2004 from USA
"Reaktor" or many instances of "Absynth or Kontakt" require substantial amount of memory installed in order to go beyond what a PC could ever do 
myspace.com/bekenone
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TechEverlasting TechEverlasting https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=155421
- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 119 posts since 13 Jul, 2007
Is 2 Gig a substantial amount of memory?
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TechEverlasting TechEverlasting https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=155421
- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 119 posts since 13 Jul, 2007
Just an update - I did buy the Receptor/Komplete and I do recommend it based on how great it is to have Reaktor, Kontakt, Pro 53, FM-8 and all those effects ready to go.
However, Akoustik Piano sucks on the Receptor. Unless it's running by itself with a 128 sample latency there are endless clicks and pops as samples fail to load. If a playable acoustic piano is critical for your application you should budget for buying Ivory as well. That's what I'll be doing once my bank account recovers from this initial purchase.
I have heard that the next revision of Receptor will support 64 bit operation and a lot more RAM. I'll just hope for a reasonable hardware upgrade path.
However, Akoustik Piano sucks on the Receptor. Unless it's running by itself with a 128 sample latency there are endless clicks and pops as samples fail to load. If a playable acoustic piano is critical for your application you should budget for buying Ivory as well. That's what I'll be doing once my bank account recovers from this initial purchase.
I have heard that the next revision of Receptor will support 64 bit operation and a lot more RAM. I'll just hope for a reasonable hardware upgrade path.
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TechEverlasting TechEverlasting https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=155421
- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 119 posts since 13 Jul, 2007
At AES.
Are you expecting that once Receptor moves to a 64 bit operating system they will still have a 2GB memory limit?
Are you expecting that once Receptor moves to a 64 bit operating system they will still have a 2GB memory limit?
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- KVRian
- 1116 posts since 22 Apr, 2005 from Nashville, TN USA
I have a RevC (upgraded from B) that I had muse put K4 on, and I have NO ISSUES at all with Akoustik Piano running at 128 with several other things running and/or loaded. No clicking/popping at all. I think what makes it work for me was that I upgraded my HD at the same time to a 400GB, which is apparently quite a bit faster than my 160GB drive.TechEverlasting wrote:Just an update - I did buy the Receptor/Komplete and I do recommend it based on how great it is to have Reaktor, Kontakt, Pro 53, FM-8 and all those effects ready to go.
However, Akoustik Piano sucks on the Receptor. Unless it's running by itself with a 128 sample latency there are endless clicks and pops as samples fail to load. If a playable acoustic piano is critical for your application you should budget for buying Ivory as well. That's what I'll be doing once my bank account recovers from this initial purchase.
I have heard that the next revision of Receptor will support 64 bit operation and a lot more RAM. I'll just hope for a reasonable hardware upgrade path.
That said, I don't find the AP soundset very appealing (they decay too fast for my ears, and I loath the reverb). I use some of the larger SampleTekk pianos under Kontakt2 and they sound/run great (TBO, Seven Seas Grand, Black Grand).
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TechEverlasting TechEverlasting https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=155421
- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 119 posts since 13 Jul, 2007
I find 128 samples to be too much latency for a satisfying musical experience. I'm used to playing on a Roland RD700SX, and I don't feel like I'm directly playing the Akoustic Piano with this amount of latency. it's possible that some of my displeasure with Akoustic Piano has to do with the sounds and effects themselves. It just isn't as much fun to play as the Roland digital piano. My understanding is that Ivory can run reliably with a 32 sample latency.
I had a chance to play the Italian Grand on a Receptor at AES and all I can say is that my poor credit card is in for more abuse.
I had a chance to play the Italian Grand on a Receptor at AES and all I can say is that my poor credit card is in for more abuse.
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- KVRist
- 173 posts since 3 Sep, 2007 from CT
I set mine up today. I haven't had problems yet with Akoustik Piano or anything yet displaying latency or the deaded cracking and popping in preset mode. I went with a Komplete Inside Pro Junior based on some of what I read on this forum.
I will try to see what I can load before it hits the wall tomorrow.
I will try to see what I can load before it hits the wall tomorrow.
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TechEverlasting TechEverlasting https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=155421
- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 119 posts since 13 Jul, 2007
I would be very interested to hear if you can create a "David Foster" acoustic piano/rhodes layer using both Akoustic Piano and Electrik Piano simultaneously with both streaming from disk, and if so at what sample latency this is possible. On my standard Receptor this is only works if I load a "lite" version of one of the electric pianos and turn disk streaming off for that application.
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- KVRian
- 1116 posts since 22 Apr, 2005 from Nashville, TN USA
This is exactly what I do, turn off DFD on EP and use one of the light presets. Seems like multiple NI plugs IN DIFFERENT VERSION OF DFD causes issues.TechEverlasting wrote:I would be very interested to hear if you can create a "David Foster" acoustic piano/rhodes layer using both Akoustic Piano and Electrik Piano simultaneously with both streaming from disk, and if so at what sample latency this is possible. On my standard Receptor this is only works if I load a "lite" version of one of the electric pianos and turn disk streaming off for that application.
I get a more satisfying DF sound using Kontakt2 running one of the aforementioned SampleTekk pianos AND the Colossus CP-80 (loaded in the same instance) and Lounge Lizard EP-3.
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- KVRian
- 1116 posts since 22 Apr, 2005 from Nashville, TN USA
I did some detailed testing tonight on my RevC/400GB/2GB and I have come to the conclusion that Akoustic Piano (or perhaps DFD 5.0 that is uses) is SCREWED UP with regards to working well on receptor. Or perhaps it's the convolution reverb.
I had NEVER tried running ANYTHING at 32, but tonight I did. Sure enough, as reported, AP clicks and pops at this setting. Turn off the reverb and it gets a LOT better, but still not acceptable.
Next I loaded Seven Seas Grand into K2 (the full thing). This is an 11GB piano. (All FOUR AP pianos are only 11GB). It runs flawlessly at 32, and that is with 256 polophony (was running AP at the default of only 50). I turned on a little "hall 1" reverb (non convolution) and it was still flawless. Then I tried some convolution and it made it click.
Lastly I tried loading the "Concertgrand" nki from the AP library into K2 and setting it to 256 polyphony. (as an aside, A/Bing this with Seven Seas is a real ear-opener. I'll never use the AP sounds!). With the reverb off there was still some clicks, though not many (better than running in the AP player with the reverb off). Could this be due to DFD streaming from a "monolith" nks file as opposed to separate WAV files? hmm... Turn on the convolution and it was back to click-world. Yuk.
I'll let you draw your own conclusions here!
Oh and I was able to build up a pretty killer David Foster stack in a single K2 instance. Seven Seas, Colossus CP-80, Nostalia "Airy" pad, and Scarbee KGB CEP 8V. Granted, it would not run at 32, but it did run ok at 64.
I had NEVER tried running ANYTHING at 32, but tonight I did. Sure enough, as reported, AP clicks and pops at this setting. Turn off the reverb and it gets a LOT better, but still not acceptable.
Next I loaded Seven Seas Grand into K2 (the full thing). This is an 11GB piano. (All FOUR AP pianos are only 11GB). It runs flawlessly at 32, and that is with 256 polophony (was running AP at the default of only 50). I turned on a little "hall 1" reverb (non convolution) and it was still flawless. Then I tried some convolution and it made it click.
Lastly I tried loading the "Concertgrand" nki from the AP library into K2 and setting it to 256 polyphony. (as an aside, A/Bing this with Seven Seas is a real ear-opener. I'll never use the AP sounds!). With the reverb off there was still some clicks, though not many (better than running in the AP player with the reverb off). Could this be due to DFD streaming from a "monolith" nks file as opposed to separate WAV files? hmm... Turn on the convolution and it was back to click-world. Yuk.
I'll let you draw your own conclusions here!
Oh and I was able to build up a pretty killer David Foster stack in a single K2 instance. Seven Seas, Colossus CP-80, Nostalia "Airy" pad, and Scarbee KGB CEP 8V. Granted, it would not run at 32, but it did run ok at 64.
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Bryan@MuseResearch Bryan@MuseResearch https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=9067
- MUSEician
- 618 posts since 18 Sep, 2003 from Silicon Valley
Thought I'd chime in here on a coupla things... admittedly we did see some sample load problems with earlier versions of Kontakt (especially 2.0, which NI fixed a lot of bugs in 2.1) and we definitely fixed some sample related bugs in 1.6. Everyone I've spoken to who uses Kontakt 2.1 or later has reported great results, including a Broadway show that uses many Receptors with LOTS and LOTS of samples.
Regarding AP: I personally think some of the pianos are really nice, but I highly recommend that you TURN THE REVERB OFF for best performance. The AP convolutional reverb absolutely sucks up the processor in Receptor (or any host, for that matter) and given the efficiency of Masterverb or even some free reverbs like the Anwida reverb (if you don't have this, DOWNLOAD IT AND INSTALL IT TODAY, its super efficient and its FREE... use the unsupported method) I'm not sure what the convolutional reverb brings you, especially playing live.
Even with the reverb off, its definitely not as efficient as Ivory, but it also sounds very different than Ivory... and I've heard lots of reports from people who really like the way it sits in a track, so even though it isn't super efficient, it definitely has a lot of merit. I was just talking with someone yesterday who said that although he loves Ivory, he is really fond of AP, especially in a band setting.
As for running things at 32 samples, very few plug-ins are efficient enough to run at this... Ivory being a particularly notable exception... I do know that Pianoteq runs at 64 samples on a Rev C, as do many of the VA synths available...
Hope this helps!
Groovology
Regarding AP: I personally think some of the pianos are really nice, but I highly recommend that you TURN THE REVERB OFF for best performance. The AP convolutional reverb absolutely sucks up the processor in Receptor (or any host, for that matter) and given the efficiency of Masterverb or even some free reverbs like the Anwida reverb (if you don't have this, DOWNLOAD IT AND INSTALL IT TODAY, its super efficient and its FREE... use the unsupported method) I'm not sure what the convolutional reverb brings you, especially playing live.
Even with the reverb off, its definitely not as efficient as Ivory, but it also sounds very different than Ivory... and I've heard lots of reports from people who really like the way it sits in a track, so even though it isn't super efficient, it definitely has a lot of merit. I was just talking with someone yesterday who said that although he loves Ivory, he is really fond of AP, especially in a band setting.
As for running things at 32 samples, very few plug-ins are efficient enough to run at this... Ivory being a particularly notable exception... I do know that Pianoteq runs at 64 samples on a Rev C, as do many of the VA synths available...
Hope this helps!
Groovology