Komplete 11 Ultimate Questions and Opinions

[Gamma-UT]

I looked this up for my own edification. I would say no. There are three products, if I've done this right, that are in K11U, that are not in K11 and not in K10U

Emotive Strings
Flesh
Evolve Mutations

Evolve Mutations has been in there for a while.

Replika XT and Symphony Essentials are in K11U and not K01U.

However, those two are maybe one reason for skipping this upgrade. Right now the XT upgrade from Replika (which was free for a while) is only $25 or so. The upgrade cost to Symphony full from Symphony Essentials is the same for older versions of Komplete as for K11U. So, if anyone wants the full orchestral library, updating to K11U from K10U may not make sense to do the upgrade unless you really want Emotive Strings as well.

[ghettosynth]

I looked this up for my own edification. I would say no. There are three products, if I've done this right, that are in K11U, that are not in K11 and not in K10U

Emotive Strings
Flesh
Evolve Mutations

Evolve Mutations has been in there for a while.

Replika XT and Symphony Essentials are in K11U and not K01U.

However, those two are maybe one reason for skipping this upgrade. Right now the XT upgrade from Replika (which was free for a while) is only $25 or so. The upgrade cost to Symphony full from Symphony Essentials is the same for older versions of Komplete as for K11U. So, if anyone wants the full orchestral library, updating to K11U from K10U may not make sense to do the upgrade unless you really want Emotive Strings as well.

Yep, I misread the chart and completely missed Symphony essentials. None of that would change anything for me. I don't think that there's a lot of value difference in the ultimate versions.

At any rate, that chart is there for people to reference. There are pages with cost per product breakdowns as well.

[Gamma-UT]

At any rate, that chart is there for people to reference. There are pages with cost per product breakdowns as well.

UltimateOutsider's chart is very, very handy.

[generaldiomedes]

4. Regarding the content. I'd say that perhaps none of the included libraries are the respective number one in their fields, but many of them are perhaps in the top ten.

This is the #1 problem with Komplete, which just exacerbates over time as other companies release better synths and FX plugins. Right now, I would say Reaktor and perhaps Form are the only NI synths in my top 10 to purchase, and definitely not in the top 5. FX? Not even on the radar.

[totheatom]

To the OP, if you haven't already decided, you may want to take my route (and the one suggested by a few others) and simply go for Komplete rather than Komplete Ultimate.

Also, if you happen to need a MIDI keyboard or drumpads, the Komplete Kontrol keyboards and Maschine units come with Komplete Select, which is both a nice preview and upgrade path. I happened to have purchased both in the last six months, so I waited patiently for the summer sale and upgraded from that for $199. If you have some accumulated Musicians Friend rewards points or a coupon code or something like that, you can knock the price down even further by ordering through a third party retailer. Just FYI - I have been able to combine a MF 15% off coupon in the past with a NI sale, by speaking to a sales rep on the phone.

Lastly, the reason I decided not to go with Ultimate is that I didn't feel there was anything compelling enough that I truly needed in the bigger package and I didn't want to be stuck with the Ultimate upgrade path in the future that is twice as expensive. I have though made a point of upgrading separately to Replika XT and Supercharger GT (those are both half off right now and well regarded). I also picked up a license for Razor here on the forums. Can anyone recommend any other individual components that are worth grabbing piecemail from the Ultimate package?

[kevvvvv]

K11 Ultimate?

> The synths don't interest me. I wouldn't buy any single one of the old fashioned tiny ones if they weren't included. The new synths are fine if you're experimentally minded. If NI are so clever at making synths, why didn't they make Avenger

> Battery is just so useful & effective when needed.

> Reaktor is for geniuses and idiots. I'm neither.

> The fx are great. Verbs, transient, delay, etc. Yes. These were a real unexpected bonus and well worth having.

> The samples are the real meat, as nothing sounds like a sample. Blended with synth sounds I can get uniquely interesting sounds. Or have an orchestra when I need one, or a Rickenbacker Bass, or a world of acoustic percussion. There is so much brilliant stuff to be discovered in the samples. Go see.

I'd buy K11 Ultimate again tomorrow.

Looking forward to K12 as & when.

[ghettosynth]

Lastly, the reason I decided not to go with Ultimate is that I didn't feel there was anything compelling enough that I truly needed in the bigger package and I didn't want to be stuck with the Ultimate upgrade path in the future that is twice as expensive.

This keeps getting repeated, but it's not true. If you upgrade, for example, K9 to K11U, you can also later upgraded the same K9 to K12. You are not stuck on any path unless NI all of a sudden decides to change their upgrade policy which as pretty much been the same forever.

[jancivil]

Can anyone recommend any other individual components that are worth grabbing piecemail from the Ultimate package?

Kontour is... unbelievable.

[ghettosynth]

4. Regarding the content. I'd say that perhaps none of the included libraries are the respective number one in their fields, but many of them are perhaps in the top ten.

This is the #1 problem with Komplete, which just exacerbates over time as other companies release better synths and FX plugins.

Surely this is in the eye of the beholder, no?

I posted this in another thread, but I'll repost it here.

Well, you know, there are 57 products in Komplete 11U that are not in Komplete 9 standard (not counting Reaktor, which I already had, so really, 58). So, if we just do a simple division, then I paid $5.24 for it. The reality is, however, almost all of the products in K11U are worth more than $5 to me. In fact, I can't think of a single one that I wouldn't have purchased if it were put on sale at that price.

So yeah, I don't need any of their products to be the "number one in their fields" when I paid less for them than I pay for lunch.

Many, however, if not most of them, are excellent products. Una Corda? What's better? Then, what's better for the $5 that you spend on it.

I didn't have a Lexicon 224 emulation, RC-24 sounds pretty good. It's a nice flavor. Now maybe Valhalla or UAD offer something better, but not for less than lunch.

The LA-2A emulation by softube seems to be well received, maybe not better than UAD, and well, the Cakewalk version was free, but again, it's a good product for less than lunch and you can't get the Cakewalk version free today.

The Stephen Schmidt synths, Razor, Kontour, Prism, etc., are among the best IMO. They are all really unique and subtle. If you're looking for Sylenth, then they're probably not for you. On the other hand, if you think that there's a more expressive PD synthesizer than Kontour, then I want to hear about it. I kind of blew it off when it came out, I probably should have demoed it. On the other hand, I get value from Komplete by skipping versions.

To me, this "they're not the number 1" seems like a really unfair qualification. I don't think that I own much that's #1 in its respective field. I suppose if you're buying this for orchestral libraries, you might be disappointed. I wouldn't know, I haven't even installed those products yet, I'll get around to it eventually.

I own quite a few bundles and some of them were fantastic value (looking at you Eventide), but with respect to sample content, NI is at the top in terms of value. I wouldn't buy ANY of the sample libraries in singles at the normal retail price, but I'd buy most anything that they put out for $5.

[totheatom]

Lastly, the reason I decided not to go with Ultimate is that I didn't feel there was anything compelling enough that I truly needed in the bigger package and I didn't want to be stuck with the Ultimate upgrade path in the future that is twice as expensive.

This keeps getting repeated, but it's not true. If you upgrade, for example, K9 to K11U, you can also later upgraded the same K9 to K12. You are not stuck on any path unless NI all of a sudden decides to change their upgrade policy which as pretty much been the same forever.

Context, I think, probably applies here to the individual user. For example, if I go with K11 Ultimate, when K12 eventually comes out (and then let's say I wait another year or so for it to eventually go on a half off sale), I'll have a hard time justifying in my mind "downgrading" to standard when I already​ have the more comprehensive package. Therefore, I'll be paying twice the upgrade cost, repeated over however​ many interations I decide to upgrade to over the years. I'm simply trying to temper that mindset at the outset, misguided as it may be. I think the word "stuck" came across incorrectly.

[ghettosynth]

Lastly, the reason I decided not to go with Ultimate is that I didn't feel there was anything compelling enough that I truly needed in the bigger package and I didn't want to be stuck with the Ultimate upgrade path in the future that is twice as expensive.

This keeps getting repeated, but it's not true. If you upgrade, for example, K9 to K11U, you can also later upgraded the same K9 to K12. You are not stuck on any path unless NI all of a sudden decides to change their upgrade policy which as pretty much been the same forever.

Context, I think, probably applies here to the individual user. For example, if I go with K11 Ultimate, when K12 eventually comes out (and then let's say I wait another year or so for it to eventually go on a half off sale), I'll have a hard time justifying in my mind "downgrading" to standard when I already​ have the more comprehensive package. Therefore, I'll be paying twice the upgrade cost, repeated over however​ many interations I decide to upgrade to over the years. I'm simply trying to temper that mindset at the outset, misguided as it may be. I think the word "stuck" came across incorrectly.

Yeah, that's purely psychological though. Not sure if I can help you with that but I'm not a "completist" in any sense of the word.

For me, ALL of these bundle products are purchased on a very simple basis. What is the value to me of all the products that I will use? Is that value less than the asking price?

It's a part of my plan to pick back up on standard upgrades until the ultimate bundle has value again.

[fmr]

Can anyone recommend any other individual components that are worth grabbing piecemail from the Ultimate package?

Kontour is... unbelievable.

Kontour is available in the regular Komplete package.

As is Razor, that someone else mentioned to have bought here in the nerketplace (it wasn't part of Komplete when it was launched, only later was it included, as usual, so maybe he was too impatient to wat).

[recursive one]

Can anyone recommend any other individual components that are worth grabbing piecemail from the Ultimate package?

Kontour is... unbelievable.

Yes, it is a very solid synth with interesting possibilities and great sound.

I wonder why it seems to be basically ignored. Nowhere near the popularity of Massive or even Razor.

[ghettosynth]

Can anyone recommend any other individual components that are worth grabbing piecemail from the Ultimate package?

Kontour is... unbelievable.

Kontour is available in the regular Komplete package.

As is Razor, that someone else mentioned to have bought here in the nerketplace (it wasn't part of Komplete when it was launched, only later was it included, as usual, so maybe he was too impatient to wat).

Razor has always only been in Ultimate.

But that's a valid point, I thought that I did the math earlier in this thread, but, you can easily compute the value of additional items that interest you that are not in standard and gauge their value based on the $200 differential.

I counted well over 20 products that I would make use of fairly regularly so the ultimate only products come in at a slight premium over the standard products, but are still a good value.

The thing is, you don't have to count many before the price is low enough that people will argue that it's no brainer territory. Can you find 10 products in Ultimate that aren't in standard that you will use? Then that's $20 each. I'm pretty sure that not a one of them will have a lower list price and few, if any, will have a lower used price in the market. Razor seems to go for about $50 give or take.

If you don't want at least 10 products or so, then sure, the price will start to creep up. However, when you start looking at actual used prices of those few things that you want, then that number is probably closer to about 5 products. If you want five products from Ultimate that aren't in Standard, then you are probably better of buying the bundle than you are waiting to get them used.

[fmr]

As is Razor, that someone else mentioned to have bought here in the nerketplace (it wasn't part of Komplete when it was launched, only later was it included, as usual, so maybe he was too impatient to wat).

Razor has always only been in Ultimate.

You're right. I stand corrected