11/16/2023 0 Comments Native instruments kontakt logoThe main Kontakt window contains no familiar Load and Save options on its drop‑down menus, and you can't even resize it in the normal way by dragging the sides or corners. Doing this will help Logic Audio users who want to add individual plug‑in effects to different Kontakt instruments, since versions 5.1 and earlier don't support outputs from multiple VST instruments. Kontakt can play back up to 256 voices simultaneously if your computer can handle it, but if even this isn't enough you can launch multiple instances of Kontakt (again, CPU permitting). Finally, for multitimbral use, multiple Instruments can be assigned to different MIDI channels to form a Multi‑Instrument. Multiple Zones are then associated with a Group, where you can add articulation, modulation, and effects, and one or more Groups form an Instrument. The simplest element in Kontakt is a Sample, and once you drop one of these into the Mapping Editor (of which more later) and define a keyboard range, volume, pan, and tune settings, you're dealing with a Zone. A large incentive for users to register is that they can then download extra Kontakt instruments and samples - three collections were already available when I looked ('Chord Pads', 'Fat Pads', and 'Full Pads'), each at around 4.5MB, and more were expected within a few weeks. I used Windows 98SE for this review of the PC version, initially of version 1.0, although after a few weeks version 1.02 was released, so I downloaded the 2.6MB update from the NI site. Support for DirectX 2.0 multiple outputs is apparently already being worked on, but was not ready during this review. You can also run Kontakt as a VST or DX Instrument plug‑in inside a suitable host such as Cubase, Nuendo, Logic, or Sonar, or in DirectConnect or MAS formats inside Pro Tools and Digital Performer respectively. PC owners have the choice of MME, DirectSound, or ASIO 2.0 drivers, and when the Mac version is released later this summer it will provide Sound Manager and ASIO 2.0 options. I had no problems at all during installation, and the various audio and MIDI device selection dialogues used in the stand‑alone version are identical to those in every other NI product. There's also that generous 3GB sound library (on five CDs), as well as a well‑written 120‑page printed manual in English, German, French, and Spanish. Like most recent NI products, the Kontakt installation CD‑ROM has a couple of drilled holes to discourage copying. It runs either as a stand‑alone software sampler, or as a VST or DirectX Instrument, and also imports Akai‑ and Giga‑format libraries, as well as coming with a 3GB one of its own. Kontakt boasts a potential 256‑note polyphony, up to 32 outputs, and 16‑part multitimbrality, along with a semi‑modular 'virtual rack' architecture, real‑time granular time‑stretching and resynthesis, and many built‑in effects including 17 filter types. Now it's here - and it looks as though it was worth the wait. Perhaps because of this, many musicians have been holding out to see what a dedicated Native Instruments software sampler would be like. These were impressive, including a superb implementation of granular synthesis, but Reaktor's totally open‑ended design isn't as efficient in programming terms as a dedicated sampling application, which isn't good news if you want to achieve high polyphony. Can it make headway in what has become a crowded market?ĭespite being one of the last major music software companies to release a dedicated software sampler, Native Instruments have had experience in this field since 1999, when they added a range of sampling options to Reaktor, their modular software‑synthesis package. With 16-part multitimbrality, integrated effects, and flexible modulation capabilities (shown on the lower right here), Kontakt is certainly a fully-featured software sampler.Īlthough NI's Reaktor has offered sampling options for some time, it's taken the company a while to produce a dedicated software sampler: Kontakt.
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