How much have you spent on Kontakt libraries?

[BONES]

Bones: Their servers are picky. Under both Service Center and Access, they wouldn't connect with my satellite or WiFi at all. Even our FiOs was a crap shoot. (Maybe 3 out of 10x). DSL is probably at least better than half the time.

But you only need them going to download new versions, you don't have to be on line to actually use the stuff. My only internet access is via 4G so my modem is only on when I am actively surfing the 'net, yet my software works all the time.

Through the years Ive learned how to make my own sounds, but Im actually able to use that knowledge towards making the sample libraries sound more interesting.

Exactly! Very good point, well made. That's why I am much more interested in Kontakt instruments like Substance than simple sample sets. It's also what makes Orion's Sampler and Zampler (both Synapse things) good - the samples are just the oscillator, you still have a full subtractive synth engine to play with.

[BBFG#]

Yes Bones, I'm talking about downloads, updates and the like. And after the update where it de-authorized everything in the library, it started not being worth it.

[Saukar30]

Through the years Ive learned how to make my own sounds, but Im actually able to use that knowledge towards making the sample libraries sound more interesting.

Exactly! Very good point, well made. That's why I am much more interested in Kontakt instruments like Substance than simple sample sets. It's also what makes Orion's Sampler and Zampler (both Synapse things) good - the samples are just the oscillator, you still have a full subtractive synth engine to play with.

Right. For example, i refuse to buy anymore Kontakt instruments that dont include a mkno/poly/legato feature. And Im not talking about me myself adding a script (which is not hard) but if Im paying for a modern sample set, it should unclude this in the Kontakt design. I have a lot that don't, but I was unaware of how many libraries dont include this. Which is why Ive only spent about $300 over about 7 years on that stuff. My most expensive library being Session Horns Pro.

There is nothing wrong with using sampled instruments if you have a goal in what you wanna use it for. I feel if just wanna make music with whatever is around there is enough free stuff to compensate that need. Kontakt is when you want something a little deeper and you know how to coax that deepness out of the samples. That, just like working with a synth, takes some dedication, patience & skill.

[machinesworking]

What always cracks me up, will always crack me up are two absolutely ridiculous talking points that constantly get brought up on KVR:

Pro user vs Hobbyist - coming from the underground rock world it's a weird one. Underground music is a thing, you usually don't make money at it, but almost always it's where trends and new styles start. Only the most shallow of pop musicians looks down at marginally famous groups and musicians, in fact there's a tendency to dislike the truly famous and commercial.
Not so on internet forums with electronic musicians and people who use DAWs to record etc. You could be simply making music for TV commercials or barely able to make rent off of music, but still some will toss out that they're pro etc.

The opposite is true too of course, if you spend X amount of money on your "hobby", you're an idiot etc. Again, hobby? I never considered Fear, Black Flag, The Bad Brains etc. hobbyists because they couldn't sustain a career out of their bands?? It's weird to me that people do this with DAW users and home studio producers in general.

Gear We're really arguing about whether or not Kontakt libraries are necessary? People are bragging about not using Kontakt, why? Does it somehow make your music better that you don't use a sampler with the largest third party library support? What decided that you needed to use samples at all in music? Are you a genius for using another sampler in your mind? It's mind bogglingly stupid to me.

Whole bands and musicians have made entire records using only a sampler, and without any samples at all. For the most part I use Kontakt for third party libraries, I hardly use it as a sampler anymore, but I used to. I use other things these days, built in samplers to DAWs, Falcon, Granite etc. Obviously you can do amazing things in Kontakt though, as the amount of nearly synthesizers in Konatkt is a testimony to.

Again, people spend $10 and $100,000 on their hobbies, or their art, or their job. Who gives a rats ass? Only on KVR.

[Mrfabzzz]

I'm afraid to count ...

[Bombadil]

Hmmmm...

I think anyone who has the disposable income can do with it whatever they please. This seems obvious. As long as it doesn't cross into addiction territory, where there are social/health/financial consequences for the person. One way or another, it's none of my business what people spend on the thing they are passionate about.
There are far more expensive and potentially harmful activities, be they vocations or avocations.

[zzz00m]

Ask me how much I spent on IK sample libraries, LOL!

But other than that it's mostly synths.

[fisherKing]

i've spent zero dollars on kontakt libraries so far, but i expect to double that this year...

[DuX]

I use Kontakt as a sampler, not a sample bank player, or "ROMpler".

Well, I do use it as a ROMpler at times, but with my own samples.

It's a very powerful sampler. Feature wise the most versatile of all the hardware ones I have - A3000, A5000, S3200, S-760, and K2000. Sound wise... it has no sound. And that's sometimes desirable.

[jochicago]

I have only one library, the Mercury Piano, runs on free Kontakt.

I've been meaning to learn more about Kontakt. I see it referenced as a great platform but I seldom encounter someone actually using it, or talking about specific libraries that are outstanding. Not many Kontakt instruments have come up when I'm researching instruments for my use.

I wanted to get started with some free libraries but can't find any of note. If you guys have links to noteworthy free libraries please share. Also, what paid libraries are you using that you'd say are must-have? Most of the great-sounding stuff I've seen is not Kontakt stuff, like for pianos, orchestral, etc.

I'm not putting down Kontakt, I don't have any experience with their pro libraries. Just a bit jaded about package libraries that promise the world and deliver a bunch of sample packs that I end up never using (Collective, Studio One sampler). I don't want to pay to get 10gb or whatever of a bunch of samples I'm going to find wanting and never use. So far I have chosen to buy libraries for specific instruments that sound great to me and will see a lot of use (like Mercury).

[yellowmix]

What kind of sounds are you looking for? I mean, take a look at the devs everyone listed for you and listen to some demos and see if they're useful to you. If you've got an open mind a sound is a sound but if you want to stick to conventional mainstream instruments then you can read reviews, watch YouTube videos, etc.. You also need to be more specific what you're asking for. What's outstanding for one person might not be that useful for your use case.

If you're into nontraditional stuff then look at the free non-synth synth patches from Hideaway Studios hosted over at BPB: https://bedroomproducersblog.com/2012/0 ... ay-studio/ and if you like that they have other instruments along those lines you can buy on Kontakt Hub. I like the Blue Zone collection. If you want more of that stuff then there's a lot more I and other people can recommend.

[Ah_Dziz]

I use Kontakt all day every day for work. I have a dumb amount of “player libraries” many of which are just NI bundle fodder that I never bothered to install. It is an incredibly useful tool for scoring and is pretty friendly to the system resources at the same time.

I also make my own stuff in there quite often. It seems lots of people hate the interface, but I’ve been using it since V1 and it’s still a million times easier than working with my old akai rack out gear and far more flexible.

[ATS]

over $1000 for me because I bought the whole Output bundle a while back. Then I guess if you include all the NI stuff that is with Ultimate and then I also got Lunaris, which is amazing and pretty cheap. Then I got a couple Heavyocity stuff which is extremely overrated in my opinion and overpriced.

[yellowmix]

Yeah a lot of those cinematic pulses etc. are going to be underwhelming to anyone with a clue about sound design. The value proposition there is saving time where you can flitter between presets and get creative instantly as opposed to sourcing a sample and building the modulation out on it for a single one that may not work in context anyway. If you don't have deadlines then the value starts to fade rapidly.

Is a shame the source samples are not open either. They want to keep you sucking on the teat. Love the Kontakt libs that sell you an instrument and a sample set.

[Deep Purple]

$0.00

I mostly play amplified or acoustic instruments, so don't think about using samples very often.