# Reaktor vs Kontakt



## Truthtrader (Jun 14, 2022)

Would love some thoughts on this from you guys.

Is reaktor used as much as kontakt inn the commercial composing world.
Or is it more seen as a "modular" type set up which puts it into a different catagory of production.

There some pretty awesome ensembles like the stuf from twisted tools that looks like it has a place
in game audio.

Thoughts?


----------



## Crowe (Jun 14, 2022)

I gotta be honest, I don't really understand this question. It's apples and oranges. Kontakt is a sampler. Reaktor is a modular synthesizer and synthesis platform.

Both see a lot of use in their respective fields.

But Kontakt is where the orchestral libraries live, so it's naturally seeing more use in the 'commercial composing world'. Again. These are two different things.


----------



## Truthtrader (Jun 14, 2022)

Crowe said:


> I gotta be honest, I don't really understand this question. It's apples and oranges. Kontakt is a sampler. Reaktor is a modular synthesizer and synthesis platform.
> 
> Both see a lot of use in their respective fields.
> 
> But Kontakt is where the orchestral libraries live, so it's naturally seeing more use in the 'commercial composing world'. Again. These are two different things.


I understand your point, which is exactly what i am asking.

Kontakt is a sampler, but its a composing tool, All the different kontakt instruments serve different purposes. You have simple string libraries but also things like damage, rise and hit etc.

Reaktor is a modular synth, but there are unique "instruments" such as the twisted tools stuff, alot of different synths/effects.

What i am asking is do composers use reaktor as much as they use kontakt, which i know is no.

Im just trying to get an idea if its used by film composers at all


----------



## Maarten (Jun 14, 2022)

Truthtrader said:


> <snip>
> 
> Im just trying to get an idea if its used by film composers at all




Is one composer good enough?


----------



## TomislavEP (Jun 14, 2022)

The main strength and appeal of Kontakt, at least for us who are primarily the end-users, lies in the abundant ecosystem of 3rd party libraries that work on this platform. As an engine, Reaktor is incredibly deep and powerful, but it doesn't have such a vast ecosystem of ensembles and libraries in comparison. From my relatively limited experience, I only know several high-profile commercial developers of Reaktor-based instruments besides NI themselves. It is a completely different situation with Kontakt.


----------



## Truthtrader (Jun 14, 2022)

Maarten said:


> Is one composer good enough?



This is awesome thank you


----------



## Pier (Jun 14, 2022)

Truthtrader said:


> What i am asking is do composers use reaktor as much as they use kontakt, which i know is no.
> 
> Im just trying to get an idea if its used by film composers at all


I don't know, but I'd be surprised if Reaktor was anything but niche in the composing world.


----------



## el-bo (Jun 14, 2022)

TomislavEP said:


> The main strength and appeal of Kontakt, at least for us who are primarily the end-users, lies in the abundant ecosystem of 3rd party libraries that work on this platform. As an engine, Reaktor is incredibly deep and powerful, but it doesn't have such a vast ecosystem of ensembles and libraries in comparison. From my relatively limited experience, I only know several high-profile commercial developers of Reaktor-based instruments besides NI themselves. It is a completely different situation with Kontakt.


There are currently over 6100 ensembles in the Reaktor User Library. A huge number of those are synths and effects. I'd certainly suggest that to be a very vast and diverse ecosystem, albeit hosted in one space.

And while I'd agree that it might not be considered essential, there’s no reason why anyone working in the industry shouldn’t look to Reaktor as a powerful resource for their work.


----------



## TomislavEP (Jun 15, 2022)

el-bo said:


> And while I'd agree that it might not be considered essential, there’s no reason why anyone working in the industry shouldn’t look to Reaktor as a powerful resource for their work.


I wasn't suggesting that; Reaktor is a highly capable and polished platform, as is Kontakt, and IMO the rest of the Komplete series. I always thought that Reaktor is often underestimated as a synth sounds source in comparison to many more talked about solutions, including those from 3rd parties and NI themselves. Speaking about the diversity of available content, Kontakt definitely has an edge, which is understandable due to the very nature of the platform.


----------



## el-bo (Jun 15, 2022)

TomislavEP said:


> I wasn't suggesting that; Reaktor is a highly capable and polished platform, as is Kontakt, and IMO the rest of the Komplete series. I always thought that Reaktor is often underestimated as a synth sounds source in comparison to many more talked about solutions, including those from 3rd parties and NI themselves. Speaking about the diversity of available content, Kontakt definitely has an edge, which is understandable due to the very nature of the platform.


Agree about diversity of Kontent going to Kontakt. It's the nature of samples, I guess. And agree about Reaktor being underestimated, or at least seeming that way. I'd say that NI's top-shelf ensembles (Form, Kontour, Prism, Monark, TRK, Rounds, Razor, Molekular etc.) can hold their own against the competition in any of their specific arenas.

I know NI get a lot of stick, some of it is definitely justified. But viewed in its entirety, it's an unparalleled music making environment. It's looking that I will be upping my Komplete game, which I'm quite excited about


----------



## doctoremmet (Jun 15, 2022)

Reaktor is in many ways an unparalleled modular synth platform. 

For physical modelling for instance I could hardly name a platform that has rendered better sounding instruments (“ensembles”). There is a plethora of incredible wind instruments and more creative plucky stuff that is all free.

And beyond that, if you are just looking for a good “Eurorack” software alternative Reaktor is still one of the best alternatives. Maybe not in terms of sheer workflow, but in terms of sound and options? Absolutely. My go to for that type of stuff is Voltage Modular because I am kind of a sucker for skeumorphic pseudo emulations of real hardware, and I like the workflow… but the Unfiltered Audio and Toybox blocks for Reaktor are really affordable, have TONS of great applications and utilities that would cost tens of thousands in the hardware realm, and to be honest… to my bad and old ears Reaktor sounds best in class. Better than Softube Modular, Voltage Modular and VCV Rack.

I highly recommend it and I think NI are among the very best software synthesizer designers out there, on par with the likes of U-he, because of having developed Reaktor alone.


----------



## telecode101 (Jun 15, 2022)

Truthtrader said:


> Would love some thoughts on this from you guys.
> 
> Is reaktor used as much as kontakt inn the commercial composing world.
> Or is it more seen as a "modular" type set up which puts it into a different catagory of production.
> ...


Reaktor and Kontakt two different things. I think Kontakt is probaly more popular. Reaktor is modular sound synth tool.






Build







www.native-instruments.com





They also have a big community around it. Not sure how relevant it is anymore given how old Reaktor is and how cheap s/w synth products are these days. But good learning resources for sure.






REAKTOR User Library







www.native-instruments.com


----------



## Truthtrader (Jun 15, 2022)

TomislavEP said:


> I wasn't suggesting that; Reaktor is a highly capable and polished platform, as is Kontakt, and IMO the rest of the Komplete series. I always thought that Reaktor is often underestimated as a synth sounds source in comparison to many more talked about solutions, including those from 3rd parties and NI themselves. Speaking about the diversity of available content, Kontakt definitely has an edge, which is understandable due to the very nature of the platform.


My instinct is that it may have a decent footing in the game audio space. 

But what interests me is that the new komplete control intergration might open it up to more users


----------



## TomislavEP (Jun 15, 2022)

el-bo said:


> I'd say that NI's top-shelf ensembles (Form, Kontour, Prism, Monark, TRK, Rounds, Razor, Molekular etc.) can hold their own against the competition in any of their specific arenas.


Without a doubt. I must say that Massive X became my main virtual synth and go-to choice, but all of these are incredibly powerful in their own right. Maybe the fact that they run inside Reaktor and are not standalone VSTs put some off, but I find Reaktor quite stable and not all that resource hungry.



> I know NI get a lot of stick, some of it is definitely justified. But viewed in its entirety, it's an unparalleled music making environment. It's looking that I will be upping my Komplete game, which I'm quite excited about


Komplete Standard is one of the best investments I've made. The quality of included content and discount it offers is IMO unbeatable. For some categories of sounds, I never had a reason to look elsewhere.


----------



## el-bo (Jun 15, 2022)

TomislavEP said:


> Without a doubt. I must say that Massive X became my main virtual synth and go-to choice, but all of these are incredibly powerful in their own right. Maybe the fact that they run inside Reaktor and are not standalone VSTs put some off, but I find Reaktor quite stable and not all that resource hungry.


When I come to reinstalling my system, I'm going to base it on Komplete Kontrol. Even though there are still some issues with it, it just makes so much more sense to me to search by sound, mood etc. That way, all of these instruments and libraries can come into play, when normally one wouldn't automatically think to call upon them. For instance, even though I know that O.G Massive, Absynth an FM8 still have really useable sounds, I never look to them due to the non-2022 sized interfaces, along with the feeling that I have much better synths. But ultimately, the right sound for the job is the right sound, regardless. And these have the advantages of also being a bit lighter on the CPU than the modern counter-parts that might be 'first call'.



TomislavEP said:


> Komplete Standard is one of the best investments I've made. The quality of included content and discount it offers is IMO unbeatable. For some categories of sounds, I never had a reason to look elsewhere.


I didn't feel the same way, because I'd built up dribs and drabs over many years. Selling those off helped pay for ;Standard', and now I'm in the same position again i.e Selling off certain odds and ends from NI should get me close to 70% of the way towards the 'Ultimate' upgrade, which I think is the sweet-spot. 

But I'm going to be trying to sell off more stuff to see if I can get to CE. The orchestra, quartet and Arkhis for the extra $200 seems like a winning deal to me. Once on the top-tier, those (bi) yearly upgrades seem easier to consider, and it's already clear that the CE upgrades will get that 'One' library that we all dreamed would be in 'Ultimate'. This time it was Arkhis. Next time, Lores?? 

Anyway...We'll see. Still a couple of weeks to decide...


----------



## X-Bassist (Jul 21, 2022)

My question is how many people use the full Reaktor 6 instead of the free Player? Kontakt 6 yes, but Reaktor 6? It is difficult to find any 3rd party instruments for it that are worthwhile (unlike Kontakt), so the free player really gets you all you need (unless you like building from scratch).

All the decent libraries for it seem to be from NI (see above) and all work in the player fine.

Unless you want to build your own instruments from scratch, I'm not sure how useful the full version is.
I had purchased the full version of Reaktor 5 to play some 3rd party libraries, but I haven't seen any for Reaktor 6. Am I wrong? I keep looking because it's a great basis for some cool synths, but perhaps 3rd party developers are not as encouraged as they once were.


----------

