# Reason(s) to move to Kontakt 4 Player from Kontakt 3.5 (full version)?



## JohnG (Aug 25, 2010)

Hi all,

Is there a benefit to moving from Kontakt 3.5 (full version) to Kontakt 4 Player? I thought I'd read that the main improvements to Kontakt's streaming were already present in 3.5, and that gives one all the effects and editing of a full version of Kontakt.

I don't use those capabilities all the time, but sometimes one needs a little something or other.

Maarten Spruijt of Project Sam suggested it, so I'm definitely going to listen to him, but he didn't explain in detail his reasons.

What do you guys think?


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## Rob (Aug 25, 2010)

hi John, the fact is that the player only reads those libraries that were made for the player, at least that's how I know it, I may be wrong... so it's very limited, I wouldn't want to switch


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## stonzthro (Aug 25, 2010)

But using it on a host machine w/o needing to buy another Kontakt license seems like a pretty good deal to me.


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## JohnG (Aug 25, 2010)

Well, one thing is that it definitely loads my existing Kontakt-compatible libraries, so that's a correction to what Rob wrote.

My concern is that I have paid for at least six Kontakt 3 licences and I don't want to end up somehow having to buy six more for Kontakt 4 some time down the road.

My main question is whether there is a benefit -- smaller footprint, superior streaming, better release of memory or better memory handling -- that kind of thing.

Thanks!


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## stonzthro (Aug 25, 2010)

I believe it is the exact same engine as 4 so you would have the same benefits (background loading, 64-bit being the two greatest benefits to me). That's the direction I'd go, and since it is free you could at least try it to make sure it is working for you.


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## JohnG (Aug 25, 2010)

Thanks, stonzthro

3.5 is already 64 bit, at least on a PC

I didn't know about the background loading, however.


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## Coil (Aug 25, 2010)

JohnG @ Wed Aug 25 said:


> Well, one thing is that it definitely loads my existing Kontakt-compatible libraries, so that's a correction to what Rob wrote.
> 
> My concern is that I have paid for at least six Kontakt 3 licences and I don't want to end up somehow having to buy six more for Kontakt 4 some time down the road.
> 
> ...



it will load your sounds but you can use them only for a few minutes (i think it was 30 minutes) in demo mode.


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## Rob (Aug 25, 2010)

JohnG @ 25th August 2010 said:


> Well, one thing is that it definitely loads my existing Kontakt-compatible libraries, so that's a correction to what Rob wrote.
> 
> ...



good for you, but I could in no way load those libraries that don't appear on the left, but were installed, like Cinematic Strings or Hunter libraries, just to name two...


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## JohnG (Aug 25, 2010)

Rob @ 25th August 2010 said:


> good for you, but I could in no way load those libraries that don't appear on the left, but were installed, like Cinematic Strings or Hunter libraries, just to name two...



I couldn't either, at first. Here's what Maarten sent me -- it worked but I had to reauthorise my Symphobia and LASS libraries as well. (I assume that was owing to my having replaced the OS with Windows 7 from Vista, however, so that part may not apply to others.)

Here's what Maarten wrote:


Hello John,

On a 64-bit Windows we would strongly advice you to use Kontakt (Player) 4, not 3.5.

Nevertheless, please try the following:

- Open Kontakt
- Remove Symphobia by clicking its small icon and selecting Remove library
- Restart Kontakt
- Add Symphobia again by selecting Add Library from the top-left corner. Browse to your Symphobia folder, select it and confirm
- Close Kontakt and start the NI Service Center
- Verify that Symphobia is listed there and activate it if necessary

Please let us know if this helps.

Best Regards,

Maarten Spruijt


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## gmet (Aug 25, 2010)

Biggest difference for me in K4 has been the batch saving in NCW format which has significantly reduced the amount of memory, buffer/pre-load and sample loading times. Multi scripts are also already proving to be very useful.

Hope this helps,

Justin


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## JohnG (Aug 25, 2010)

Hi Justin -- what's NCW format?


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## gmet (Aug 25, 2010)

This is NI's new sample format. There is a thread on it here on the forum:

http://www.vi-control.net/forum/viewtop ... hlight=ncw

Regards,

Justin


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## JohnG (Aug 25, 2010)

But do you need full-blown Kontakt 4.x to get that? By contrast with the player only?

Does look cool -- thanks Justin.


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## gmet (Aug 25, 2010)

John,

I mis-read the title - you are asking about the player!
I see no reason why you shouldn't go for the full fat K4 rather than semi-skimmed!

Justin


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## JohnG (Aug 25, 2010)

semi-skimmed -- ha!

It's on seven computers, that's why. Unless it's a pretty important step-up I would rather buy some (more) Tonehammer!


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