How to make Kontakt great again

[dune_rave]

I hope someone from NI read this, but anyway, I don't mind if nobody gives a shit : )

So it's time to rethink a lot of fundamental things. KONTAKT, the leading product, can still be saved. Why don't they notice the obvious things that would make everyone use Kontakt again? It doesn't matter to me, I haven't spent a dime on NI products for 3 years, but since computer music composition is my hobby, I spent money on products from competitors, such as u-he and Spectrasonics. These are living examples of how products can be polished to perfection over decades. So they don't eliminate something, they improve it.

So I'll tell you right now what I think you should do at NI headquarters if you want to continue to operate in the future. I think you can see that there is a "war" going on in the world on many levels. Times like these demand serious action.

But why should you listen to me? Well, I'll write a few more words about myself, just to establish what I'm saying. Computer music composition has been my hobby since the nineties, and so I'm aware of the entire history of Native Instruments -which hasn't been smooth until now-. I was an NI user for a long time, but at some point I lost my enthusiasm, seeing that only sample-based solutions (meaning: Kontakt and only the expansions within it) make up a significant part of the newer and newer updates. So if one of your users like me decides to prefer the competitor's products (Falcon, Halion, Omnisphere etc.), maybe it's worth thinking a little about what it's all about. And what about those who could be completely new users of yours, because they're just getting into this whole DAW/Plugin world? Well, they can simply choose something else, not you.

But you are damn lucky, because it is still not too late to put them all next to Kontakt. I will write the steps:

1) First, you can gain a lot with one small modification: Modify the Kontakt Player so that it can play all Kontakt libraries, but cannot edit them in more detail. I think you understand the full meaning of the word PLAYER - it plays, but does not edit. Unfortunately, it does not work that way at the moment. I do not know why, but the current operation has developed due to the petty greed for money, which is completely harmful. Stop this harmful tradition and put an end to the bribery of developers who are not willing to pay thousands to NI for the libraries they created!

2) If step 1 works, I think you can figure out what else needs to be done. So I will not list it here any further. You are Native Instruments, solve it! Ask your users - while they still exist. Collect opinions from forums, support requests! Or don't do anything, you know - you've already solved it previously (to a certain degree).

[swilow11]

I like how your basic suggestion to resolve the hundreds of millions of dollars of debt, the accrued technical debt from 30 years of products and the current insolvency crisis is essentially sort out Kontakt Player and then "figure it out".

I'm sure NI now have all they need to resolve this massive problem. Your insight as someone who apparently doesnt even use their products is going to be key to all of this. Thank you on behalf of musicians everywhere.

[ksandvik]

Was the original posting a joke in disguise?

[dune_rave]

I like how your basic suggestion to resolve the hundreds of millions of dollars of debt, the accrued technical debt from 30 years of products and the current insolvency crisis is essentially sort out Kontakt Player and then "figure it out".

I'm sure NI now have all they need to resolve this massive problem. Your insight as someone who apparently doesnt even use their products is going to be key to all of this. Thank you on behalf of musicians everywhere.

My last comment -really- :
Kontakt Player shouldn't be FREE !
It should be a PLAYER as I described above, and if they ask 49 EUR/USD for it, many people would buy it and they would be able to access all the great libraries that are existing and free or commercial.
Bye

[swilow11]

I like how your basic suggestion to resolve the hundreds of millions of dollars of debt, the accrued technical debt from 30 years of products and the current insolvency crisis is essentially sort out Kontakt Player and then "figure it out".

I'm sure NI now have all they need to resolve this massive problem. Your insight as someone who apparently doesnt even use their products is going to be key to all of this. Thank you on behalf of musicians everywhere.

My last comment -really- :
Kontakt Player shouldn't be FREE !
It should be a PLAYER as I described above, and if they ask 49 EUR/USD for it, many people would buy it and they would be able to access all the great libraries that are existing and free or commercial.
Bye

Why?

BTW, I was just kinda f**king with you with my reply. Not trying to be an ass, I just thought your suggestions were amusingly simplistic.

[Download SOphist]

still better than being simplistic without being amusing.

[eLawnMust]

Hell, They went downhill even before they stopped support for 'legacy products' which were way better anyway... Bugging 'Legacy customers' who simply wanted what they paid for to 'work' as intended... It's amazing that corporations-companies MUST turn to shit over time...

I still use Kontakt 2 which sounds great using the old libraries before that encrypted crapola... When that was invoked the old libraries sounded like shit in the newer kontakts, yes,,, I have tested this out years ago...

Let Native Instruments pass... like GAS!

[kraster]

One of the biggest incentives to upgrade to the full version of Kontakt is that it opens up a huge amount of libraries. So suggesting cutting licensing income from player libraries AND taking away the incentive to upgrade to the full version is definitely a take...

Removing that would effectively collapse the economic loop that Kontakt relies on.

There is very little wrong with Kontakt for 99% of users. It's still the pre-eminent sampling instrument.

I've been using Kontakt for two decades. It's a little scruffy when you dig into the UI but there is exceptionally mature and tried and tested tech underpinning it that cannot be replaced by some new shiny contender.

Samplers are very contingent on the underpinning tech and brittle code can collapse very quickly when stressed. All of that stability, resilience and reliability is built into Kontakt. I don't see its over two decade's worth of battle tested code as a liability in any way.

[Echoes in the Attic]

Now that the step by step guide to fix NI has been posted to KVR, I feel better knowing the NI's problems have basically been solved. Though Step 1 I'm not sure about. I think the model kind of makes sense of having full kontakt to play anything, or free player if the developer pays to be able to sell a standalone product to customers without the need to buy a sampler.

Step 2 seems to be the one they missed. I think most likely they just hadn't stopped to say hey let's figure this out.

[martinjuenke]

Native Instruments should prioritize making Kontakt “great again” — meaning revitalizing it as the truly innovative, reliable, user-loved cornerstone of sampling it once was — for several strong business and community reasons, especially given the company’s recent challenges and user sentiment in 2025–2026.
Kontakt remains the de facto industry standard for sampled instruments. Thousands of professional libraries (film scoring, game audio, pop production) depend on it, and most third-party developers still build primarily for Kontakt. Losing dominance here would hurt Native Instruments far more than almost any other product.
However, the platform has accumulated significant user frustration:
• Forced upgrades and compatibility breaks — New libraries often require the latest full version (e.g., Kontakt , while older ones break or demand workarounds. This angers long-time users who feel nickel-and-dimed.
• Performance and stability issues — Complaints about CPU spikes, glitches, slow loading, crashes (especially on modern Macs), and buggy updates persist into 2025–2026.
• Outdated core tech — The engine feels ancient to some (raster-based GUIs, poor high-DPI scaling on modern screens, SQLite database quirks), making high-res interfaces and new features hard to implement smoothly.
• Bloat and confusion — Native Access, Komplete Kontrol integration, and ecosystem sprawl make simple tasks frustrating. Many users describe the whole experience as “insane” or “confusing.”
• Perceived lack of exciting innovation for end-users — Kontakt 8 (and its updates like 8.6 with MIDI tools) added features mostly for beginners or library creators (e.g., Leap for loops, Conflux), while power users see them as underwhelming or redundant compared to competitors.
Meanwhile, the broader company context amplifies the urgency:
• Native Instruments entered preliminary insolvency/restructuring proceedings in late 2025/early 2026 amid financial difficulties.
• Trust is declining — some major third-party developers have left or are considering leaving the platform.
• Competitors (e.g., free/affordable alternatives, in-house samplers from Spitfire, Output, or emerging AI-driven tools) are chipping away at mindshare.
Reviving Kontakt properly would directly help NI recover:
• Restore user goodwill → fewer people abandon the ecosystem or switch DAWs/plugins.
• Strengthen the third-party library market → more developers stay committed, more high-quality content gets made, more sales for NI via Komplete bundles and the ecosystem.
• Differentiate from competitors → Modernize the engine (better performance, scalable UI, modern scripting, native AI-assisted tools, seamless backwards/forwards compatibility) to leapfrog rivals.
• Stabilize revenue → A beloved, actively improved Kontakt drives long-term Komplete sales, hardware integration (Maschine+, controllers), and loyalty — especially critical during restructuring.
In short: Kontakt isn’t dead — it’s still powerful and widely used — but it’s coasting on legacy momentum while frustrating its core audience. Making it “great again” (rock-solid stability, genuine innovation that excites pros, fair upgrade paths, developer-friendly without punishing users) isn’t just nice-to-have — it’s one of the clearest paths for Native Instruments to stabilize, rebuild trust, and thrive long-term.
If NI focuses resources here instead of spreading thin across too many half-baked products, the payoff could be massive for everyone involved.

[IvyBirds]

At this point the best thing for users would be for NI to release installers that just need a valid serial number and no server access so people that own the software can use it as long as they want

Then NI should just fade away. That will create new opportunities for other companies to innovate and bring something better to the market

[Cuauhtli]

Want to save kontakt, find a way to compress the sample content to 1/10th the size.

[Dirk Diggler]

My solution was to rebuild all my homemade Kontakt instruments with Cwitec tx16wx.
Haven't looked back and actually find it easier to deal with on custom made/built sampled instruments.

Actually someone should figure out a way to rip apart the NI locked sample content.

[digitalboytn]

MKGA