KVR Audio

monomox · Post by **monomox** » Fri Dec 15, 2017 10:40 pm

Sorry, because I'm sure someone else has already asked this question, but any word combination I tried in the forum's search engine returned too many results.
So, it seems that you can buy an instrument made for the full version of Kontakt but still be able to play it for 15 min in the Kontakt Player, right? Has anyone tried this? Does this always work? Also, is it a licensing thing? Why would a developer not make their instrument available in the free platform?
I see how the 15-min limit could be frustrating, but I don't have $500 for the player. More than that, I don't think I want the whole thing when I don't need or want all the bells and whistles... or maybe one of you can convince me otherwise!

I mean, I already have enough new VSTis to keep me learning for the whole 2018... and $500 seems too steep.
Anyways, I have my eye on a couple of basic and low-price Kontakt percussion instruments that are simple enough to be programmed in a couple of 15-min intervals.
Any thoughts are welcome.

sbj · Post by **sbj** » Fri Dec 15, 2017 10:53 pm

Take a look here:viewtopic.php?f=1&t=441404&p=6887299&hi ... p#p6887299

beely · Post by **beely** » Fri Dec 15, 2017 11:02 pm

monomox wrote:So, it seems that you can buy an instrument made for the full version of Kontakt but still be able to play it for 15 min in the Kontakt Player, right? Has anyone tried this? Does this always work? Also, is it a licensing thing? Why would a developer not make their instrument available in the free platform?

For a developer to make their instrument an official library that works in the free Player, then have to license it with NI and pay a substantial fee. The reason small independent libraries don't do this is the fee they would have to pay NI is more than the income they would get for the instrument.

Larger, professional and higher priced libraries ar more likely to be able to afford to do this, and gain access to a wider market of users.

monomox wrote:I see how the 15-min limit could be frustrating, but I don't have $500 for the player.

- Kontakt Player is free to the end user, but will only play officially licensed libraries (without a time limit)

- Kontakt [full version] is not free, but let's you load and use *any* libraries, including ones you make yourself, without limitations.

Jafo · Post by **Jafo** » Sat Dec 16, 2017 12:17 am

The full version is indeed expensive, but it's worth it. While you save your pennies, you can get a lot of mileage out of the free player -- anything licensed for it is playable without time limits.

Another great option is to use sforzando: it's similar to Kontakt, but it has no licensing issues, and it runs on Linux. It's also much more hackable, if you're of the textual persuasion (I like to use velocity to modulate envelopes and filters). There are fewer libraries, though.

glokraw · Post by **glokraw** » Sat Dec 16, 2017 1:06 am

Komplete Select is $175 with the free $25 Christmas voucher,
and includes two excellent drum/percussion instruments,
in addition to Massive, Monarch, Prism, a Grand Piano, an E-piano,
'and more'.

Zampler is another freebie in a few forms,
and with a nice range of free percussion libraries.

Cakewalk's Dimension Pro LE is bundled with various libraries
and formats, with decent prices and sales.

http://www.digitalsoundfactory.com/

Lots of interim choices while saving for the big kahuna

glokraw · Post by **glokraw** » Sat Dec 16, 2017 1:07 am

Komplete Select is $175 with the free NI $25 Christmas voucher,
and includes two excellent drum/percussion instruments,
in addition to Massive, Monarch, Prism, a Grand Piano, an E-piano,
'and more'.

Zampler is another freebie in a few forms,
and with a nice range of free percussion libraries.

Cakewalk's Dimension Pro LE is bundled with and plays various libraries
and formats, with decent prices and sales.

http://www.digitalsoundfactory.com/

Lots of interim choices while saving for the big kahuna

monomox · Post by **monomox** » Sat Dec 16, 2017 4:41 am

Thanks for the tips and alternatives.
I just installed and activated Drumica. Cross-grade for $250, achievement unlocked!
I see some threads of people getting a discount on the cross-grade, it seems like NI have one those 50% off sales twice every year, don't they? I might as well wait for the next sale and let my wallet recover from the BF-Year-end marathon.

monomox · Post by **monomox** » Sat Dec 16, 2017 4:32 pm

glokraw wrote:Komplete Select is $175 with the free NI $25 Christmas voucher,
and includes two excellent drum/percussion instruments,
in addition to Massive, Monarch, Prism, a Grand Piano, an E-piano,
'and more'.

This sounds enticing, but I just bought AIR's Instrument Expansion Pack 3 Complete, which seems comparable, at least in the number of synths, organs, and electric and acoustic pianos; not sure about the quality. I also have my eyes on U-he's Zebra (I fell in love with the Zebra Orchestra this morning). On top of that, Sonokinetic's Ostinato Strings is on sale!
So I think I'll pass on KS. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

teilo · Post by **teilo** » Sat Dec 16, 2017 5:08 pm

glokraw wrote:Cakewalk's Dimension Pro LE is bundled with and plays various libraries and formats, with decent prices and sales.

Not any more. Cakewalk is no more.

shidostrife · Post by **shidostrife** » Sat Dec 16, 2017 10:26 pm

monomox wrote:Thanks for the tips and alternatives.
I just installed and activated Drumica. Cross-grade for $250, achievement unlocked!
I see some threads of people getting a discount on the cross-grade, it seems like NI have one those 50% off sales twice every year, don't they? I might as well wait for the next sale and let my wallet recover from the BF-Year-end marathon.

They do. Too bad you missed black friday, but there's usually one more in spring or summer.

Kontakt vs Kontakt Player