Good Bye Reaktor, good bye NI synths

[dune_rave]

Today I've decided to uninstall reaktor. Let me tell you first, I quite like the NI ecosystem, but NI let their synth line stuck in the previous century.
I really like to play cool synths , but in small steps, I arrived to the state where all I appreciate from the komplete bundle is Kontakt and Battery and the effects.
NI abbandoned B4, PRO-53.
They didn't updated Absynth and FM8.
They have made a hybrid monster from reaktor and tried to mimic modular environment, but failed. Now that we have vcv rack in plugin form or voltage modular or other modular plugin reaktor's modular approach looks poor.
What about reaktor synths? I could say some other dev's synths are much better than reaktor.
But wait, Reaktor can control other plugins with its cool architecture... or not?
In 2020 &2021 I tried to use reaktor blocks to control other synth plugins, but not really liked the way I could manage this. For this purpose VCV Rack can be much better.
So what can NI offer in its synth line : only Massive X. /a synth that requires an AVX compatible processor, they had succesfully hidden this info at the time of releasing this synth - a great start!/
Ok, But what about FM8? hmmm you can download the free DEXED that is much better in its sounds. Just see the comparation video of Woody Piano Shack!
What about Absynth? You better go for Brian Clevinger's new synth, that is the updated Absynth sound.
So, NI, thanx for making Kontakt and Battery and FX plugins, they are really nice. Don't waste your time with synths please!
Can you compete with synths like:
-Vital Audio Vital
-UVI Falcon
-Spectrasonics Omnisphere
-Kilohearts Phase Plant
-Refx Nexus
-Gforce Imposcar
-VPS Avenger
-U-he synths
-Xfer Serum
-Lennardigital Sylenth
-Tone2 synths
-Korg Collection synths
-Arturia Pigments
-Arturia V Collection 8 synths
- Rob Papen Predator

No, you can't compete with them.

[vertibration]

Your english is admirable, I know its not easy to have proper grammar and spelling when you live in another country, so kudos to you for the effort.

I understand your frustration with NI. Many feel the same way. I used to have Komplete, but now I never use anything from NI. I find it quite odd actually when you think about why someone decides to move away from using NI......You have valid points, and I do agree with them.

[dune_rave]

hehe, just correcting my wrong letters

[Michael L]

I agree with dune rave.
It also makes sense that NI and iZotope are now One.

[cryophonik]

Yeah, I'm starting to feel the same way. I'm heavily invested in the NI ecosystem, including K13, Komplete Kontrol mk2, and Maschine mk3. Maschine has become that atrocious car that Homer Simpson designed and I find myself hardly even using any instruments or effects from NI anymore, except the occasional Kontakt library. The hardware controllers are good and I feel like I've gotten my money's worth thanks to NI's sales and occasional loyalty deals, but I don't know how much I'll invest in them in the future.

[vurt]

vcv is great, but only compares to blocks. reaktor is so much more than just blocks

but, cool, better we all find what works for us. for now at least reaktor and absynth are a part of my rig, along with vcv and a few other bits on the soft side.

[trusampler]

Native Instruments lost it, they are no longer the innovative company they once we're. Everyone of those other companies has far more to offer then the current NI synth options!

[statue]

I also feel NI have lost their touch and am concerned about their future.
But I still have tons of fun with Reaktor and Maschine Mk 2 and that won’t probably change soon.

[andypryce]

Imagine a Komplete 14 with Battery5, Absynth6, FM9, a gorgeous analog modeling/sampling synth, everything M1 Native
Looks funny but this is what should have been with a company as big as NI. They are yet to have one single product M1 Native and I do not know what is the excuse. Battery update is out after 4 years and yet only Rosetta. Are they understaffed and struggling to find programmers?

[gentleclockdivider]

If you're only using reaktor for it's blocks then vcv is indeed the better choice .
But I can't help thinking you don't really understand what reaktor is and what it's capable off .
Blocks is just a showcase of it's huge potential and exsuisite soundquality
It's my desert island synth -environment .

[jarnold]

For years NI were highly innovative and had an unmatched product portfolio. Sadly they're just a shadow of their former glory.

-Still having to open a wrapper application to open an instrument/effect. Painful.
-So many products haven't been significantly updated in years, ie Absynth.
-Releasing an unfinished MassiveX that still doesn't have a decent patch browser.
-M1 support not even on the radar.

I used to update my Ultimate version regularly, not any more.

[GaryG]

I sold my Reaktor license earlier this year.

Maybe I'm a lightweight but I was forever losing stuff, I found the whole system of saving modifed versions weird anyway. I'd save copies then spend too long routing around next time I wanted to use it. And third party stuff like the Toybox blocks, kept getting 'not found' errors opening racks. The instruments too, despite reinstalling everything and letting it default to whatever paths it wanted, the splash screen would still tell me I had no synths installed. Dismiss it and dig down and there was Prism etc.

I also found I had decent replacements for the ensembles I used to use a lot. Space Master and a lot of the Boscomac ones are still great but I have alternatives that don't involve being shackled to their methodology. I still use standalone NI plugs, driver, replika, raum etc.

From a more philosophical view, I also found I wasted far too much time playing with the factory user ensembles with little to show for it. It's fun letting dron-e or skewell(?) or one of the endless rhythm generators do it's thing but at the end of the day I felt it wasn't my creation, I prefer more hands on methods I guess.

[GaryG]

-Still having to open a wrapper application to open an instrument/effect. Painful.

In fairness the effects don't need Reaktor, driver, raum, replika, freak, phasis etc etc are all standalone plugs. But agreed, I hate having Prism wrapped in Reaktor. Maybe i'll sell it so I can finally be done with even the player.

[Jafo]

Just kinda musing here. I wish I had the skills to fully (or even partially!) utilize Reaktor and Absynth... there's a real investment in time and energy to learn them -- I totally get the appeal of newer, simpler solutions that let you make music easier. Is it better to use somebody else's shortcuts, or try your own, painful, clumsy, slow attempts? Beats the fsck out of me, but you sure don't need anybody's approval!

[Sinisterbr]

Today I've decided to uninstall reaktor. Let me tell you first, I quite like the NI ecosystem, but NI let their synth line stuck in the previous century.
I really like to play cool synths , but in small steps, I arrived to the state where all I appreciate from the komplete bundle is Kontakt and Battery and the effects.
NI abbandoned B4, PRO-53.
They didn't updated Absynth and FM8.
They have made a hybrid monster from reaktor and tried to mimic modular environment, but failed. Now that we have vcv rack in plugin form or voltage modular or other modular plugin reaktor's modular approach looks poor.
What about reaktor synths? I could say some other dev's synths are much better than reaktor.
But wait, Reaktor can control other plugins with its cool architecture... or not?
In 2020 &2021 I tried to use reaktor blocks to control other synth plugins, but not really liked the way I could manage this. For this purpose VCV Rack can be much better.
So what can NI offer in its synth line : only Massive X. /a synth that requires an AVX compatible processor, they had succesfully hidden this info at the time of releasing this synth - a great start!/
Ok, But what about FM8? hmmm you can download the free DEXED that is much better in its sounds. Just see the comparation video of Woody Piano Shack!
What about Absynth? You better go for Brian Clevinger's new synth, that is the updated Absynth sound.
So, NI, thanx for making Kontakt and Battery and FX plugins, they are really nice. Don't waste your time with synths please!
Can you compete with synths like:
-Vital Audio Vital
-UVI Falcon
-Spectrasonics Omnisphere
-Kilohearts Phase Plant
-Refx Nexus
-Gforce Imposcar
-VPS Avenger
-U-he synths
-Xfer Serum
-Lennardigital Sylenth
-Tone2 synths
-Korg Collection synths
-Arturia Pigments
-Arturia V Collection 8 synths
- Rob Papen Predator

No, you can't compete with them.

While I do agree with some things you said, I think you're being a little too harsh. NI's synth (even the old ones) are far from bad or useless.
And yes, I think NI can compete with them.