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[Tendou]

For the types of music you mentioned i also recommend ABL 3 and Kick 2 as an addition to Komplete. I don't think you need Serum for its sound, but you will find many presets and tutorials.

I think for techno Kick 2 is too clean. For custom Kicks I think D16 Punchbox fits better

[Dark Fiber]

For the types of music you mentioned i also recommend ABL 3 and Kick 2 as an addition to Komplete. I don't think you need Serum for its sound, but you will find many presets and tutorials.

I think for techno Kick 2 is too clean. For custom Kicks I think D16 Punchbox fits better

Too clean? Inside Kick2 you have the drive knob, the distortion amount, harmonics on the sub part.
Also, you can dirty it up with various external plugins. So i don't see any reason why Kick2 is too clean.

From the perspective of a beginner, maybe a sample pack full of kicks is better.

If you want your kicks real dirty, try Rob Papen's RAW kick

[Dadtronix]

Yeah the more I play around, the more I realize I could go down an endless black hole of plugins or samples. But I'm wondering more and more if, between Komplete 13 (not Ultimate), and Ableton 11 Suite, which I just upgraded to, I might have more than enough to satisfy most sounds I want to emulate. I'm probably awhile away from wanting to craft my own kick sounds, for example, but am happy to start with a kit and then distort it or EQ it or whatever from there, so I might have what I need. Same with synths, it's not clear to me yet, with my limited experience, why I might choose Monark vs Massive vs Absynth in Komplete, but I'm thinking I might actually have all of the possible sounds I could want, just without the clearest organization of presets to start from.

[Dadtronix]

I should add, i was looking at how pros use FabFilter or other effects, and similarly started to understand how I have versions of all of the really necessary ones in Ableton Suite and Komplete already, it's just that some people have preferences of tonal differences in various other products... right? I'm thinking my ear isn't going to be developed enough to really tell the difference between the Ableton limiters or compressors or EQ, versus the 3rd party products. In the same vein, I don't know much about synths yet, so if I'm just starting with presets, I could just do that with Massive and Massive X, and Operator and Waveform, and then see if I hit a wall in a year or two.

[Tendou]

For the types of music you mentioned i also recommend ABL 3 and Kick 2 as an addition to Komplete. I don't think you need Serum for its sound, but you will find many presets and tutorials.

I think for techno Kick 2 is too clean. For custom Kicks I think D16 Punchbox fits better

Too clean? Inside Kick2 you have the drive knob, the distortion amount, harmonics on the sub part.
Also, you can dirty it up with various external plugins. So i don't see any reason why Kick2 is too clean.

From the perspective of a beginner, maybe a sample pack full of kicks is better.

If you want your kicks real dirty, try Rob Papen's RAW kick

it sounds to digital to me, I owned it and it sold it for that reason. clean maybe was not the correct term

[bmv234]

Serum is a must have.

[kvotchin]

i was looking at how pros use FabFilter or other effects, and similarly started to understand how I have versions of all of the really necessary ones in Ableton Suite and Komplete already, it's just that some people have preferences of tonal differences in various other products... right?

Indeed. Though often, it’s more a case of workflow preferences than much else. Between Ableton Suite and Komplete, you have a lot to work with. Plenty.

I don't know much about synths yet, so if I'm just starting with presets, I could just do that with Massive and Massive X, and Operator and Waveform, and then see if I hit a wall in a year or two.

Yep, same again. If you like those virtual instruments, or even just get along with them okay, your plan is a sound one.

[fedexnman]

Ableton 11 Suite and KOMPLETE 13 Standard. . that's plenty enough .....

[Bulbizarre]

You should get another limiter than live's because it really distorts as * past a couple db. Even 3db it's squashing it down unmusically.

[imrae]

You should get another limiter than live's because it really distorts as * past a couple db. Even 3db it's squashing it down unmusically.

Beginners shouldn't really be trying to maximise loudness by themselves anyway. Better to learn how to make a good mix without much limiting. If you have a good track that you think would sell, if only it were absurdly loud, maybe take that one to a professional.

[Bulbizarre]

You should get another limiter than live's because it really distorts as * past a couple db. Even 3db it's squashing it down unmusically.

Beginners shouldn't really be trying to maximise loudness by themselves anyway. Better to learn how to make a good mix without much limiting. If you have a good track that you think would sell, if only it were absurdly loud, maybe take that one to a professional.

I'm not talking about maximazing, my point is even 2db to keep each channel/buss integrity for conflicting with eachother when you're all ITB with plugins and don't have the natural analog round-off thing, it all adds up and the mix will sound lower quality, especially since in general at the master stage you add some sparkle or harmonics (depends on taste, but in general most good mastering engineer will do this I think), so you're re-processing you're bad limiter and it will sound muddy.

BTW the Live's Glue Compressor with minimum attack and the clipper stage can also do limiting, probably more transparently than the limiter.

[Dadtronix]

Do you like the Color Limiter compared to the standard Limiter? I can't tell the difference at this stage.

[Bulbizarre]

Do you like the Color Limiter compared to the standard Limiter? I can't tell the difference at this stage.

I never use the Color Limiter so I don't know. Use something like Fabfilter, voxengo, or melda. Renowned compagnies, and they implement oversampling.

[cryophonik]

You have Battery and it will easily get you the drum sounds you’re after for these styles. Learn to use that (and Ableton and K13) before you spend a bunch of money on other drum samplers or sample packs. You already have far more than you need to make the styles you mentioned, but you’re already falling into the trap of thinking that more stuff equals instant results, and the suggestions here to buy everything under the sun is not going to help you.

That said (and, yes, I may be contradicting myself a bit), there are a handful of synths that are pretty much staples in dance music: e.g., Sylenth1, Spire, and Serum. You don’t need them, but you’ll be hard pressed to find a release in the past decade that doesn’t feature one or more of these synths. So, if you’re dying to spend more money, maybe consider one of those and learn what you have until you can determine where you feel you’re lacking down the road.

My suggestion is work with what you have, and watch for the Groove3’s annual Black Friday sale and buy the full membership so that you can quickly learn the tools you already have.

[Dadtronix]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone. I tend to agree that I have everything I need, particularly for drums and effects, the more I look through everything. I can see myself getting tempted by extra synths but even then, I have an NI keyboard also, so I decided I want to stick with stuff that supports NKS. That knocks out Serum and a bunch of other popular synths, but again I have a lot to start with. Thanks again.