# Cheapest way to get Komplete 12?



## okay (May 27, 2019)

I received an email from NI with a discount code to get Komplete 12 Select for 99€.
If I then upgrade to Komplete 12, it'd cost me an additional 399€.
So basically I'd spend 498€ in total for Komplete 12 instead of 599€

Should I get Select for 99€ and then upgrade or should I wait until Black Friday?
Is it even worth it to buy Select now, or should I wait for Black Friday, too?
What would be the cheapest way to get Komplete 12?


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## Robert_G (May 27, 2019)

Once in a blue moon someone here sells komplete 10 or 11 dirt cheap.....then wait for a half price update sale.

Other then that.....good luck..


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## sostenuto (May 27, 2019)

In past, NI has had major 'Summer' promos, usually offering Komplete libraries at large discounts.
I am owner of K11U and awaiting this promo to update to K12U … perhaps Collector's Edition. 
If you can wait a month or so, this would be ideal. No guarantees 2019 will repeat past tho …..


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## jbuhler (May 27, 2019)

sostenuto said:


> No guarantees 2019 will repeat past tho …..


 Especially since NI is extremely late in delivering Massive X, it wouldn't surprise me if they do something different this summer in terms of sales.


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## sostenuto (May 27, 2019)

if so.
Just purchased Ethera Gold, and _sol_ so far using. K5 won't run it and K6 Player Batch re-save hanging.


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## jbuhler (May 27, 2019)

sostenuto said:


> if so.
> Just purchased Ethera Gold, and _sol_ so far using. K5 won't run it and K6 Player Batch re-save hanging.


Ethera Gold requires the full version of K6. ETA: That's why I'm not purchasing Ethera Gold until KU12 goes on sale.


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## Norhernlys (May 27, 2019)

sostenuto said:


> if so.
> Just purchased Ethera Gold, and _sol_ so far using. K5 won't run it and K6 Player Batch re-save hanging.



Bought it as well and didn't notice that it required K6 before afterwards (my bad). So Im hoping for a sale soon as well :-p


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## Desire Inspires (May 27, 2019)

No, wait.


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## Parsifal666 (May 27, 2019)

jbuhler said:


> Especially since NI is extremely late in delivering Massive X, it wouldn't surprise me if they do something different this summer in terms of sales.



Besides Zebra 3, that's the only synth I'd still be interested in checking out (I have a ton of synths, rarely use them anymore). 

Massive was great imo, love the sound, got used to the workflow, etc.


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## Ryan99 (May 27, 2019)

sostenuto said:


> In past, NI has had major 'Summer' promos, usually offering Komplete libraries at large discounts.
> I am owner of K11U and awaiting this promo to update to K12U … perhaps Collector's Edition.
> If you can wait a month or so, this would be ideal. No guarantees 2019 will repeat past tho …..


From what I understand, he has no version of Komplete yet. So the Summer sale for upgrades is not good if you don't own at least some version of Komplete to start with.


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## MarcelM (May 27, 2019)

look at ebay or kvr marketplace.


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## Alex Fraser (May 28, 2019)

Have you tried logging into your NI account to see if you're entitled to a crossgrade? Sometimes this is possible if you own a "player" library. If NI have a crossgrade/upgrade summer sale, then perhaps you could "crossgrade" to Kontakt and then onto Komplete.
A


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## Parsifal666 (May 28, 2019)

Too bad you couldn't get the old versions like 9 Ultimate. It's the last I bought and nothing at all has convinced me to upgrade since. 

That said, Komplete Ultimate has got some great tools that I wouldn't do without.


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## Alex Fraser (May 28, 2019)

jbuhler said:


> Especially since NI is extremely late in delivering Massive X, it wouldn't surprise me if they do something different this summer in terms of sales.


Quite possibly. Alternatively, they might use the launch of Massive X to add spice to a summer sale and shift Komplete upgrades. I think we’ll find out soon enough!


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## whinecellar (May 28, 2019)

Log into your account to see what their current offer is. Last "Komplete" I got was 6, so I should have had to pay $199 then $599 to get to 12 Ultimate, but they ended up giving it to me for $599. It's also worth an email to them!


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## playz123 (May 28, 2019)

Like many others did or are doing, I didn’t rush to buy K6 when it first came out, but after ending up with new libraries that didn’t work very well in the free K6 player, I finally caved and spent the $99 US. No regrets because I already have KU 11 and have no need of KU 12 AND K 6 also comes with some useful additional libraries such as Hybrid Keys. One could wait and wait until NI decides to offer sale prices, but for me who has so many Kontakt libraries, I felt investing in the newer K6 was a wise purchase. Since then I’ve had no regrets. Each person is different though with different needs. As far as upgrading to KU 12 though, because of cost it may indeed be worthwhile waiting for that elusive ‘summer’ or fall sale.
And re. Ethera Gold, there certainly are numerous warnings on the Zero-G site that K6 is required and that Gold will only work in the Player for 15 minutes in demo mode, so I sincerely hope no one here will miss that. Soundiron’s Adey, which is also a K6 library, does work in the player, but seems to work better in the full version. And an SI “Adey” purchase also provides a way to crossgrade to the full version of K6....or so it states at the Soundiron web site! Just some thoughts.


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## dzilizzi (May 28, 2019)

Okay, I just got an email for 12 Select for $99! Using supplied coupon code. 

Um, the upgrade price is $99 since I have KU11. How is this supposed to be a deal?

Edit: And it doesn't even give me Kontakt 6. So, not worth it.


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## Alex Fraser (May 28, 2019)

dzilizzi said:


> Okay, I just got an email for 12 Select for $99! Using supplied coupon code.
> 
> Um, the upgrade price is $99 since I have KU11. How is this supposed to be a deal?
> 
> Edit: And it doesn't even give me Kontakt 6. So, not worth it.


I think the offer is aimed at those without any version of Komplete. Maybe to get them warmed up for any upcoming summer sale and an up-sell to Komplete full.


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## dzilizzi (May 28, 2019)

Alex Fraser said:


> I think the offer is aimed at those without any version of Komplete. Maybe to get them warmed up for any upcoming summer sale and an up-sell to Komplete full.


I understand that. What I don't understand is why they would send it to the email related to an account that has most of the products mentioned and qualifies for the upgrade price anyway. 

Though something may be wrong with their system as they don't show I qualify for any upgrade at the moment.


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## jbuhler (May 28, 2019)

dzilizzi said:


> I understand that. What I don't understand is why they would send it to the email related to an account that has most of the products mentioned and qualifies for the upgrade price anyway.
> 
> Though something may be wrong with their system as they don't show I qualify for any upgrade at the moment.


I was having the same issue earlier today, but it's now displaying correctly. Do we qualify for $99 upgrade on Kontakt 6 if we own Kontakt through KU11? If so, once we upgrade to KU 12 or higher, would we be able to sell the extra Kontakt 6 license even though it was bought as an upgrade?


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## Goldie Zwecker (May 28, 2019)

jbuhler said:


> Ethera Gold requires the full version of K6. ETA: That's why I'm not purchasing Ethera Gold until KU12 goes on sale.


I also just bought Ethera gold just to not miss the sale (along with the loyalty discount it cost me 63.9$). 
Looking back it seems NI does their "summer of sound" sale each June. So Ethera gold will sit aside for a couple of weeks, and then i'll be able to upgrade from KU11 to KU12 for $199.


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## jbuhler (May 28, 2019)

Goldie Zwecker said:


> I also just bought Ethera gold just to not miss the sale (along with the loyalty discount it cost me 63.9$).
> Looking back it seems NI does their "summer of sound" sale each June. So Ethera gold will sit aside for a couple of weeks, and then i'll be able to upgrade from KU11 to KU12 for $199.


Assuming they do the summer sale that same way. Otherwise you might end up having to sit on Ethera Gold for a good long while.


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## Goldie Zwecker (May 28, 2019)

jbuhler said:


> Assuming they do the summer sale that same way. Otherwise you might end up having to sit on Ethera Gold for a good long while.


It's a gamble. But i checked what happend in the past, and NI seem to be consistent. Summer of 2018, 2017, 2016 all had 50% sale of Komplete upgrades (as well as other discounts).


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## Alex Fraser (May 28, 2019)

Goldie Zwecker said:


> It's a gamble. But i checked what happend in the past, and NI seem to be consistent. Summer of 2018, 2017, 2016 all had 50% sale of Komplete upgrades (as well as other discounts).


Yep, it's pretty regular. And if past dates are an indicator, it should drop in a few days.


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## Manuel Stumpf (May 31, 2019)

bestservice already has the NI Upgrade Summer of Sounds Sale listed (earlier than the NI homepage, lol).


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## Alex Fraser (May 31, 2019)

Manuel Stumpf said:


> bestservice already has the NI Upgrade Summer of Sounds Sale listed (earlier than the NI homepage, lol).


https://www.bestservice.com/deals/ni_summer_of_sounds_50_off_upgrades__updates.html


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## J-M (May 31, 2019)

Hmm, maybe I should finally update to Ultimate. Do I get to keep my Kontakt 5 license or am I forced to upgrade to 6? Really don't feel like redoing everything...


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## Alex Fraser (May 31, 2019)

On the basis the NI offers mirror the Best Service ones...a quick bit of clumsy maths suggests the cheapest way into K12 from scratch would be Komplete Select > Komplete 12 Upgrade.

Strangely, for just a *little* bit more, you could actually get some lower end NI hardware (e.g M32) > Upgrade to Komplete Select > Upgrade to full Komplete from there.

(Edit for fact correction - thanks guys!)


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## Denkii (May 31, 2019)

Bertservice only shows upgrades and updates. Maybe there will be discounts for new customers too over at NI so that select or getting k12 would be cheaper.

If not: the m32 is actually really good but it doesn't come with select, it comes with "komplete start". So you'd still have to upgrade to select and then k12.


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## okay (May 31, 2019)

Alex Fraser said:


> Strangely, for just a *little* bit more, you could actually get some lower end NI hardware (e.g M32) with Komplete Select bundled and upgrade to full Komplete from there.



Unfortunately, Komplete Select is only included with Kontrol S-Series keyboards.


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## Alex Fraser (May 31, 2019)

okay said:


> Unfortunately, Komplete Select is only included with Kontrol S-Series keyboards.





Denkii said:


> the m32 is actually really good but it doesn't come with select, it comes with "komplete start". So you'd still have to upgrade to select and then k12.


You are both, of course correct and will update my post to reflect. It's what I meant to type in the first place but clearly not enough coffee yet.. Factoring a hardware purchase and using that as a springboard to upgrade through the Komplete system seems to add very little to the overall cost.

It looks like a sneaky route for me would be: Komplete Audio 2 > Komplete Select 12 Upgrade > Komplete 12. A lot cheaper than a standard K12 purchase and new hardware to boot.


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## okay (May 31, 2019)

MrLinssi said:


> Hmm, maybe I should finally update to Ultimate. Do I get to keep my Kontakt 5 license or am I forced to upgrade to 6? Really don't feel like redoing everything...



You can and should keep Kontakt 5:

https://support.native-instruments....takt-6-Full-Alongside-Kontakt-5-Player-en-us-


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## okay (May 31, 2019)

Alex Fraser said:


> Factoring a hardware purchase and using that as a springboard to upgrade through the Komplete system adds very little to the overall cost.



Thanks for justifying a new hardware purchase for me, even though I currently don't have any space for it... or money


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## mgpqa1 (May 31, 2019)

okay said:


> You can and should keep Kontakt 5:
> 
> https://support.native-instruments....takt-6-Full-Alongside-Kontakt-5-Player-en-us-


I actually have a question about this. I'm still on Komplete 9, if I upgrade to Komplete 12 (thus getting Kontakt 6) and have both running side-by-side, that's great. However, if I build a new machine from scratch in the future, will I still be able to install the older Kontakt 5? I'm under the impression that Native Access will only have the latest installers within the Kontakt 6.x series (and I'm not sure if upgrading means I surrender my Komplete 9 license/installers).


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## berto (May 31, 2019)

just received it today from Timespace (cheaper than Bestservice)

https://www.timespace.com/products/native-instruments-komplete-12-ultimate?variant=33627126730

https://www.timespace.com/products/...ate-collectors-edition?variant=13269291499633


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## redlester (May 31, 2019)

berto said:


> just received it today from Timespace (cheaper than Bestservice)
> 
> https://www.timespace.com/products/native-instruments-komplete-12-ultimate?variant=33627126730
> 
> https://www.timespace.com/products/...ate-collectors-edition?variant=13269291499633



Just had this myself although I notice they say it will “ship as soon as we have it in stock”. I don’t want a boxed version unless I have to, but if I buy it surely native access will “know” that my account has upgraded and just let me download the stuff? Or is that not how it works?


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## Goldie Zwecker (May 31, 2019)

redlester said:


> Just had this myself although I notice they say it will “ship as soon as we have it in stock”. I don’t want a boxed version unless I have to, but if I buy it surely native access will “know” that my account has upgraded and just let me download the stuff? Or is that not how it works?


I also join the question. It also doesn't make sense - to get the boxed product as an update/upgrade. I can understand the logic if you don't have Komplete at all. But to add a few more instruments and libraries there's no sense in a boxed version. 

By the way - why the different terminology? What's the difference between "update" and "upgrade"?


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## Manuel Stumpf (May 31, 2019)

Goldie Zwecker said:


> By the way - why the different terminology? What's the difference between "update" and "upgrade"?


Update: You come from the same product but older version (for example: Komplete Ultimate 11 to 12).
Upgrade: You come from a smaller product (for example: Komplete 11 to Komplete Ultimate 12).


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## Henu (May 31, 2019)

Manuel beat me by 10 seconds. Anyway, this boxed- thing is really disturbing. I am planning to go from Komplete 11 to Ultimate 12 and the price is 30 € cheaper at T&S than at BS. But there's no info about shipping costs, which can quickly become rather costly.

EDIT: Going to checkout, I found it out. The shipping costs to Finland from UK would be €14.67 standard and FedEx 1-day-delivery is €24.92.


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## Zero&One (May 31, 2019)

Henu said:


> Manuel beat me by 10 seconds. Anyway, this boxed- thing is really disturbing. I am planning to go from Komplete 11 to Ultimate 12 and the price is 30 € cheaper at T&S than at BS. But there's no info about shipping costs, which can quickly become rather costly.
> 
> EDIT: Going to checkout, I found it out. The shipping costs to Finland from UK would be €14.67 standard and FedEx 1-day-delivery is €24.92.


Me too, with NI it's a download option


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## sostenuto (May 31, 2019)

Boxed from T+S is not bad idea with K11U fully installed now ….. but, want K6, Thrill fairly soon, and who knows handling/shipping time ? 
_Greedy_, but NI has a great chance to sell me S-88 if they bundle it with K12U-CE Upgrade from K11U.
So far, so such option …


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## topaz (May 31, 2019)

Best service charging more than NI, naughty that :-(


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## Robert_G (May 31, 2019)

topaz said:


> Best service charging more than NI, naughty that :-(



How do you figure. NI doesnt even have their sale up yet


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## topaz (May 31, 2019)

NI will be £319/2 = 159.50

Best service = 171.95 



Robert_G said:


> How do you figure. NI doesnt even have their sale up yet


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## Robert_G (May 31, 2019)

topaz said:


> NI will be £319/2 = 159.50
> 
> Best service = 171.95



Strange....in CND dollars BS is cheaper than NI.


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## Robert_G (May 31, 2019)

Ok....it turns out NI does not charge Canada in U.S. dollars.....they just give us a rounded up rate of 400 CND for the upgrade from k12 to k12 ultimate...which is much higher than the exchange rate.

Best service wants 276 U.S. which translates to 383.65 CND after exchange fees.

Basically BS is charging me an exchange rate of 1.39 but NI is charging me 1.45. Unbelievable.


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## Henu (May 31, 2019)

Well, it's the same with Cinesamples' -30% discount campaign. They use a horrible dollar-to-euro conversion and add taxes on top of that. I made a couple of calculations and realized that if you bought the products from Best Service, you'd need only 20% discount to match the prices of the current CS -30% webstore prices. 

When Best Service then announced a week later that you can use a separate discount code to get -30% from _their _prices of Cinesamples' products, the deal just became way better and I bought a couple of libraries from BS.


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## Ryan99 (May 31, 2019)

Time+Space can send you the serial by email only if you ask them. They should receive them next week and they offer a Zero-G library for free.


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## J-M (May 31, 2019)

Ryan99 said:


> Time+Space can send you the serial by email only if you ask them. They should receive them next week and they offer a Zero-G library for free.



Really? At that price I'd definitely upgrade...don't need that pesky hard drive. :D


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## okay (May 31, 2019)

Does anyone know if NI ever does a sale for hardware?


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## playz123 (May 31, 2019)

Robert_G said:


> Ok....it turns out NI does not charge Canada in U.S. dollars.....they just give us a rounded up rate of 400 CND for the upgrade from k12 to k12 ultimate...which is much higher than the exchange rate.
> 
> Best service wants 276 U.S. which translates to 383.65 CND after exchange fees.
> 
> Basically BS is charging me an exchange rate of 1.39 but NI is charging me 1.45. Unbelievable.


Unbelievable, yes, and then NI also adds on a "5% tax"...even though they are based in Germany. I've seen this approach before from Izotope (based in the US) as well. Sorry, but have to wonder if the Canadian government ever sees that tax money or can legally require foreign companies to collect taxes for them. Here's what I saw when I upgraded Kontakt for $99 US. Creative accounting indeed.


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## paulmatthew (May 31, 2019)

okay said:


> Does anyone know if NI ever does a sale for hardware?


Yes they do , throughtout the year. I've seen the Keyboards and soundcards on sale already in the past year.


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## Leslie Fuller (May 31, 2019)

poetd said:


> Cheapest route I know of:
> 
> Get and register the free Sennheiser Drumkit https://en-uk.sennheiser.com/drummica
> Crossgrade to Kontakt at half price crossgrade sale.
> Upgrade to Komplete at half price upgrade sale.



I have the Sennheiser Drummica, and it no longer qualifies as a crossgrade product.


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## Ryan99 (May 31, 2019)

playz123 said:


> Unbelievable, yes, and then NI also adds on a "5% tax"...even though they are based in Germany. I've seen this approach before from Izotope (based in the US) as well. Sorry, but have to wonder if the Canadian government ever sees that tax money or can legally require foreign companies to collect taxes for them. Here's what I saw when I upgraded Kontakt for $99 US. Creative accounting indeed.


Yes, they collect taxes for Canada. I live in Quebec and they add the provincial tax on top of the federal tax. In the past, they didn’t charges taxes for Canadian purchases.


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## steveo42 (May 31, 2019)

Has the summer upgrade prices hit the Native Instruments web site yet? My upgrade options from K11U are the same as they were a month ago.


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## Geoff Grace (May 31, 2019)

steveo42 said:


> Has the summer upgrade prices hit the Native Instruments web site yet? My upgrade options from K11U are the same as they were a month ago.


I imagine they'll come online when it's June in the US.

Best,

Geoff


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## redlester (May 31, 2019)

Geoff Grace said:


> I imagine they'll come online when it's June in the US.
> 
> Best,
> 
> Geoff



I assume that will be when it’s June in California? Strange, when they are a German company!

For UK users who can’t wait, Gear4Music have it at the sale prices, and they have it in stock.


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## okay (May 31, 2019)

paulmatthew said:


> Yes they do , throughtout the year. I've seen the Keyboards and soundcards on sale already in the past year.



Do you know by chance how much the S88 keyboard was discounted?


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## okay (May 31, 2019)

Leslie Fuller said:


> I have the Sennheiser Drummica, and it no longer qualifies as a crossgrade product.


Arcane by Embertone works


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## paulmatthew (Jun 1, 2019)

okay said:


> Do you know by chance how much the S88 keyboard was discounted?


I think that model was about $200 off.


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## Denkii (Jun 1, 2019)

Sales will probably hit NI on Monday. Most businesses don't work on weekends there.


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## redlester (Jun 3, 2019)

Still nothing on NI. Seems very strange.


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## Alex Fraser (Jun 3, 2019)

I'm sure the NI sale will be along in due course. I'm assuming they'll be wanting to make a big deal about the launch of Massive X at the same time. Calm before the storm.


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## Geoff Grace (Jun 3, 2019)

I think they're just going low-key this year: _Maybe it's a sale, maybe not. It's cool. You can buy it for this amount, you can buy it for that amount. Like, whatever..._

Best,

Geoff


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## Denkii (Jun 3, 2019)

poetd said:


> I don't do crap at work til I've had my first coffee and a sit down.


Amen


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## Ruffian Price (Jun 3, 2019)

The _My KOMPLETE offers_ page started working for me. Offers upgrade to K12 from Select for 99 euros, so half the price of the boxed upgrade. The voucher for Select, this plus the retailer promo means it's possible to go from zero to K12U CE with €700.

//edit: just had the options change on me mid-refresh so maybe it'll be better to cool down and wait for the official announcement  _My Upgrade_ doesn't look different from the retailer discounts now


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## Alex Fraser (Jun 3, 2019)

Upgrade prices appear to be live on the NI site now (I'm logged in.)

https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/summer-of-sound-2019/software-updates-and-upgrades/

Also, offers on updates available other than Komplete ones.
Edit: And the NI site is knocked over due to traffic!


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## Bluemount Score (Jun 3, 2019)

Goldie Zwecker said:


> I also join the question. It also doesn't make sense - to get the boxed product as an update/upgrade. I can understand the logic if you don't have Komplete at all. But to add a few more instruments and libraries there's no sense in a boxed version.


Maybe some people still have some reeeaaalllyy slow internet.
Or, which would be my case, you get a nice looking box that you can put on your desk and be proud of


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## jonvog (Jun 3, 2019)

I recently bought Komplete 4 for like 50 bucks over at ebay. Now I am able to update to komplete 12 for 99,- to Komplete 12 (or for 500 to CE, though I think I am fine with K12 for now).


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## Denkii (Jun 3, 2019)

jonvog said:


> I recently bought Komplete 4 for like 50 bucks over at ebay. Now I am able to update to komplete 12 for 99,- to Komplete 12 (or for 500 to CE, though I think I am fine with K12 for now).


In my opinion the value from ultimate comes from thrill, damage, action strikes and kinetic toys. When looking at the symphony stuff, I only find drums intriguing but it's not enough to go to CE.


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## jonvog (Jun 3, 2019)

I went K12. Damage is heard too often, I try to avoid it (though it is nice), thrill is nice to have, action strikes is nice for sketching, but I prefer the control I get with a "real" percussion library. can't comment on kinetic toys though... I think I am pretty happy with my $150 Komplete 12 for now.


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## Leslie Fuller (Jun 3, 2019)

Looks like it’s time to throw some money NI’s way, once my account shows what the options are!. 

Until i see my Komplete offers, could someone in the UK or EU advise what the price would be to upgrade from Komplete Select 12, to Komplete 12. Thanks.


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## Alex Fraser (Jun 3, 2019)

Leslie Fuller said:


> Looks like it’s time to throw some money NI’s way, once my account shows what the options are!.
> 
> Until i see my Komplete offers, could someone in the UK or EU advise what the price would be to upgrade from Komplete Select 12, to Komplete 12. Thanks.


£159.50


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## Leslie Fuller (Jun 3, 2019)

Alex Fraser said:


> £159.50



Thank You!


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## J-M (Jun 3, 2019)

Denkii said:


> In my opinion the value from ultimate comes from thrill, damage, action strikes and kinetic toys. When looking at the symphony stuff, I only find drums intriguing but it's not enough to go to CE.



My thoughts, pretty much. The reason for me to buy Ultimate is all the cinematic stuff (well, we can exclude the orchestral libraries) and Massive X. Everything else...a nice bonus.


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## Dewdman42 (Jun 3, 2019)

Denkii said:


> In my opinion the value from ultimate comes from thrill, damage, action strikes and kinetic toys. When looking at the symphony stuff, I only find drums intriguing but it's not enough to go to CE.



That is my feeling as well. I did make the jump today to Ultimate. I don't know if I will regret that as all future updates of Komplete will cost me double what I was paying before to update each version, but for me the main value is all the cinematic percussion stuff that comes with Ultimate. What they add in K13U and K14U will be left to be seen whether it will be worth a $200 summer sale update price each time (versus $99 each time without ultimate). We shall see. But I mainly made the leap to get all the heavyocity stuff, and a few other nice to haves like the acoustic guitar stuff, Alicia's keys might come in handy. 

Regarding the Symphony Series, I really can't justify making the complete leap to CE, and who knows what the annual update price on that would be too. But right now on sale can upgrade Symphony Essentials to Series for $299. I'm not sure its worth the bother for me as I already have EWHO Diamond and most of VSL... so I will probably not even bother installing the Symphony Essentials, but if I didn't have all the stuff I have and I was looking for something to start out with, if I already had Essentials I think I would consider bumping it up to Series for $299, but without going all the way to CE...which also adds a bunch of maschine expansions.


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## Mornats (Jun 3, 2019)

I went from K10U to normal K12. I've not heard great things about the symphony essentials and I'm covered orchestrally anyway. Thrill was the only thing of interest in Ultimate but it's not essential. I did however want Kontakt 6 and the synths (Form, Reaktor 6, Trk-01, Massive X). The expansions are handy too as a Maschine user so I'm happy. Oh, and I got Una Corsa which is a nice addition to my list of pianos


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## Dewdman42 (Jun 3, 2019)

I didn't realize that was an option. Good to know!


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## Ryan99 (Jun 3, 2019)

Dewdman42 said:


> That is my feeling as well. I did make the jump today to Ultimate. I don't know if I will regret that as all future updates of Komplete will cost me double what I was paying before to update each version, but for me the main value is all the cinematic percussion stuff that comes with Ultimate. What they add in K13U and K14U will be left to be seen whether it will be worth a $200 summer sale update price each time (versus $99 each time without ultimate). We shall see. But I mainly made the leap to get all the heavyocity stuff, and a few other nice to haves like the acoustic guitar stuff, Alicia's keys might come in handy.
> 
> Regarding the Symphony Series, I really can't justify making the complete leap to CE, and who knows what the annual update price on that would be too. But right now on sale can upgrade Symphony Essentials to Series for $299. I'm not sure its worth the bother for me as I already have EWHO Diamond and most of VSL... so I will probably not even bother installing the Symphony Essentials, but if I didn't have all the stuff I have and I was looking for something to start out with, if I already had Essentials I think I would consider bumping it up to Series for $299, but without going all the way to CE...which also adds a bunch of maschine expansions.



Not a bunch of Maschine expansions. Now they are simply Expansions, 50 of them included.


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## Dewdman42 (Jun 3, 2019)

Expansions of what?


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## FrontierSoundFX (Jun 3, 2019)

jbuhler said:


> Especially since NI is extremely late in delivering Massive X, it wouldn't surprise me if they do something different this summer in terms of sales.



I hope not. I’ve been waiting around for months hoping to upgrade at a discount.


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## Mornats (Jun 3, 2019)

They're still Maschine expansions but they also work in Battery and I believe (but would have to check) can be used standalone as WAVs. It makes them much more versatile.

This is handy for me as Maschine is a bit clunky when used in a DAW so I can just switch to Battery instead.


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## Alex Fraser (Jun 4, 2019)

Mornats said:


> They're still Maschine expansions but they also work in Battery and I believe (but would have to check) can be used standalone as WAVs. It makes them much more versatile.
> 
> This is handy for me as Maschine is a bit clunky when used in a DAW so I can just switch to Battery instead.


Yep, Wav files. And they can be found in Komplete Kontrol as “One Shots” and “Loops”


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## TomislavEP (Jun 4, 2019)

I am a Komplete user since version 9. I've deliberately went with the Standard version over Ultimate due to the more affordable price and also knowing that I will eventually invest in 3rd party libraries for Kontakt, in accordance with my financial means. But Komplete is definitely one of the cornerstones of my studio. Right now, I'm going to update my Komplete 11 to 12. Although the updates for Komplete Standard, especially if being made between the two adjacent versions, arguably bring the least quantity of new content, there is always at least a couple of new things I'm really exited about. In this case, this is probably the Play series of libraries included with Kontakt 6. I'm also contemplating taking the advance of the given voucher to purchase the newly released Modular Icons library as well. (On the other hand, this will probably be a part of a future Komplete update so I might skip it for now).

In any case, I think that Komplete packages and their updates, especially when on sale, have a terrific value, considering the individual price of the included products. However, strategy-wise, the best option is probably to skip a generation or two (possibly even more) of the package itself and then purchase an update when it's on 50% off sale. That way you'll get the biggest quantity of the new products at the lowest possible price. (Of course, it's often difficult to be patient so long due to the pace by which they're releasing the new interesting stuff over time).


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## Mornats (Jun 4, 2019)

I'm hoping that I keep my K10U and have the extra products from K12 standard on top. I'm sure they wouldn't offer it as an upgrade if that wasn't the case.


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## jbuhler (Jun 4, 2019)

FrontierSoundFX said:


> I hope not. I’ve been waiting around for months hoping to upgrade at a discount.


It’s already out, so no worries.


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## Mornats (Jun 4, 2019)

poetd said:


> If you do it, let us know what happens.
> Thanks.


I've ordered the boxed version so it should be with me soon. The NI website does offer me K12 as an update option from my K10U. I don't know if it's relevant but my path to getting it was K61 keyboard with Komplete Select with an upgrade to K10 which was then upgraded to K10U. I don't know if that means I have both a K10 and K10U licence and I got my update off the back of K10 or if any K10U license let's you update to K12. If that makes sense...


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## Mornats (Jun 4, 2019)

I honestly can't see them taking away licences for the Ultimate stuff so I'm not worried really.


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## vitocorleone123 (Jun 4, 2019)

I acquired Embertone Arcane and then crossgraded Kontakt 6 (from nothing) for $137 USD. I considered then upgrading to K12 for $200 or less, but... I just don't need all that as I already have the synths and effects I want, despite the additional Kontakt libraries being a nice touch. Maybe next year at this time.


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## BezO (Jun 4, 2019)

Mornats said:


> I went from K10U to normal K12...


I was considering going from 11U to 12 as all I really want this time around is Kontakt 6 & Massive X but figured it may burn me in the future.


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## Mornats (Jun 4, 2019)

BezO said:


> I was considering going from 11U to 12 as all I really want this time around is Kontakt 6 & Massive X but figured it may burn me in the future.



Yeah I'm unsure how it would work for me to go from K10U to K13U for example if I have a K12 licence too. I've found NI to be pretty good for customer service before so I'm sure they'd sort it out.


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## Leslie Fuller (Jun 4, 2019)

vitocorleone123 said:


> I acquired Embertone Arcane and then crossgraded Kontakt 6 (from nothing) for $137 USD. I considered then upgrading to K12 for $200 or less, but... I just don't need all that as I already have the synths and effects I want, despite the additional Kontakt libraries being a nice touch. Maybe next year at this time.



I’m in a similar position. I will crossgrade to Kontakt 6, or go to Komplete 12. One of the two!

Not having (Full) Kontakt has definitely cost me work in the past year, and there are parts of Komplete 12 which really would have helped me (Battery, Session Horns and Strings, Discovery Series, Scarbee Rhodes, Vintage Organs etc).

I’ve made do, but don’t know if I can justify the move to Komplete 
12?

Decisions, decisions


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## thecomposer10 (Jun 4, 2019)

I went ahead and took the plunge from KU11 to KU12, mainly for Kontakt 6 and Thrill. Kinetic Toys is really cool though, and I think I will find good uses for it, much as I have with Kinetic Metal. The electric session guitarist library will also prove very useful, I think, for underscores. At the end of the day, I wouldn't think this upgrade is worth $400 from KU11, but for $200, it seems well worthwhile.


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## 667 (Jun 4, 2019)

I upgraded from K11U to K12U Collector's because the price was just too good. I mean I just wanted all the expansions but I also think the full symphonic products are actually under-the-radar good. I mean strings are Audiobro strings with 4 dynamic layers and auto divisi. It's basically LASS 3.0. Well kinda (probably real LASS 3 will be no doubt much more impressive, but I like the idea of them taking what they learned on LASS and applying it to new recordings). The Brass and Winds are Soundiron! Plus Perc. For basically the price of the hard drive it ships on.

Don't know how much I'll use them but for basically free or near-free I figured why not


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## 667 (Jun 7, 2019)

Aaaaand I forgot that when physical things get shipped across international waters you can expect some taxes and such. $60 for PST/GST/Fedex fees. Joke's on me I guess!

Next time I'll skip the hdd and just buy direct download from NI.

Also, based on reviews from people who actually used the Symphonic stuff I probably was over enthusiastic about them.


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## Mornats (Jun 22, 2019)

Yeah I got it today and my K10U instruments are all there still so it did indeed just update my K10 to K12. Remember that I had the K10 first, upgraded that to K10U then updated K10 to K12. So i have K12 and K10U now. Or in other words, it added the extra instruments from K12 to my collection.

I've got a slight issue where my Play Series instruments aren't showing but that seems to be a glitch that's affected a few people so not related to this I believe.


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## Hat_Tricky (Jun 22, 2019)

I'm trying to figure out of my upgrade price si worth it (money is tight) - $500 for me to get Komplete 12 ultimate, seems like a great deal. I'm in need of pop strings, basses, guitars, etc...CSS is good but not quite the sound I need for a lot of stuff I'm working on. 

Getting action strikes and the orchestral stuff is good too, but I already own HZ01 perc ens, Berlin WW, CSS, Albion 1, 2, tundra, and have yet to cash in on my CSSS coupon and CSB coupon.

Argh!

its pretty much either get CSSS and CSB, or Komplete 12 ultimate. DOing a lot of pop production with a singer/songwriter now, but my own stuff is orchestral/hybrid/ scoring.


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## galactic orange (Jun 23, 2019)

thecomposer10 said:


> I went ahead and took the plunge from KU11 to KU12, mainly for Kontakt 6 and Thrill. Kinetic Toys is really cool though, and I think I will find good uses for it, much as I have with Kinetic Metal. The electric session guitarist library will also prove very useful, I think, for underscores. At the end of the day, I wouldn't think this upgrade is worth $400 from KU11, but for $200, it seems well worthwhile.


I've also got K11U, but I'm finding it hard to justify going to K12U even at half price. I should point out that I already have 15 of the 20 expansions offered. Sunburst and Session Strings Pro 2 look nice. I'd like to have Massive X and move up to Kontakt 6 eventually. But it seems to me that the products released since K12 and K12U are so much more interesting, namely Super 8, Noire piano, Straylight, and Mallet Flux.

I think it's a much better deal to pay full price for the K13U when that's available (hopefully in fall 2019). That's likely $400 vs. $200 to do that K12U upgrade now and another $200 for the K13U upgrade next year if that happens, with the benefit of having all the K13U products without having to wait for the summer sale. Still, it's tempting just to get "caught up" with the current product line. I previously skipped K10U and went K9U --> K11U at full price so history might be repeating for me.


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## Desire Inspires (Jun 23, 2019)

galactic orange said:


> I've also got K11U, but I'm finding it hard to justify going to K12U even at half price. I should point out that I already have 15 of the 20 expansions offered. Sunburst and Session Strings Pro 2 look nice. I'd like to have Massive X and move up to Kontakt 6 eventually. But it seems to me that the products released since K12 and K12U are so much more interesting, namely Super 8, Noire piano, Straylight, and Mallet Flux.
> 
> I think it's a much better deal to pay full price for the K13U when that's available (hopefully in fall 2019). That's likely $400 vs. $200 to do that K12U upgrade now and another $200 for the K13U upgrade next year if that happens, with the benefit of having all the K13U products without having to wait for the summer sale. Still, it's tempting just to get "caught up" with the current product line. I previously skipped K10U and went K9U --> K11U at full price so history might be repeating for me.



Yeah, you should upgrade.


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## galactic orange (Jun 23, 2019)

poetd said:


> Choices choices.
> 
> Same thoughts here.
> Tempted to skip upgrading a year, as there will be more next year for the same upgrade price in the summer.
> ...


I don’t think I can hold out until the next summer sale, so it’s either the cheaper K12U now or the full price K13U update whenever that’s out. What to do...



Desire Inspires said:


> Yeah, you should upgrade.


Well, I guess that settles it! Any specific reason why?


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## Ruffian Price (Jun 24, 2019)

Didn't think much of Thrill until I realized how much "hidden" functionality is there. Clusters have their voices recorded separately so you can tune them together and get really cool playable tonal instruments, then apply the Hacker LFO and you've got yourself a pulse generator.


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## Desire Inspires (Jun 24, 2019)

galactic orange said:


> Well, I guess that settles it! Any specific reason why?



Because it is on sale. No need to pay full price.


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## heisenberg (Jun 26, 2019)

Read the thread a while ago... Just checked Timespace. Sold out. Intend to purchase/download K12Ultimate (have K11Ultimate). Looks like NI Site is the cheapest for Canadians at 259 plus 5% GST, in CDN funds and they offer a download option. From those who have already gone through this process, can someone confirm if this is the case, that NI is the cheapest. Thanks!


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## Robert_G (Jun 26, 2019)

heisenberg said:


> Read the thread a while ago... Just checked Timespace. Sold out. Intend to purchase/download K12Ultimate (have K11Ultimate). Looks like NI Site is the cheapest for Canadians at 259 plus 5% GST, in CDN funds and they offer a download option. From those who have already gone through this process, can someone confirm if this is the case, that NI is the cheapest. Thanks!



259 cnd at best service with 0% tax


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