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Orchestral Tools Ark 1, 2 & 3 free upgrade

Jerry Growl

Composing Music in the Plastic Dark Ages
Hey everyone,

Like many of you I just received this e-mail from Orchestral Tools:


...we are happy to give you a new update for Metropolis Ark 1!

This is a feature update coupled with a small maintenance update, introducing the following changes:
- the Capsule script was updated to 2.7.0
- support for the Native Instruments NKS standard (if you have compatible NI hardware)
- miscellaneous small fixes

______! ! ! ! ! ! !_______
Important:
This update requires Kontakt Player 5.8.1 or higher. After installation the collection will NOT work with any earlier version of Kontakt!
Now that's what I call service! :)

I wish other libraries did the same instead of sending promises on this very forum that they ever will...

Let this be a lesson for those devs with sloppy customers care ! Yes it's important, and yes we care!

Best,

Jerry
 
This is great news, props to Orchestral Tools for looking after their customers.

One question though, does this mean we have to download the whole 75gb again or can it be patched over?
 
Is this the Ark 1 version that all the people who bought it in the NI sale already have? If so then it still contains a couple of bugs (I'm not listing them again, I've reported all I've found in the sale threads in December, most were related to the "niente" option in Ark 1).
 
EDIT: It's confirmed--folks who bought Arks 1&2 during the recent NI sale should already have these updates. (Ark 3 buyers may not, however.)

I tested a couple reported bugs in Ark 2 and it seems that they were addressed.

Kudos to OT for doing the update. I've recently been critical of the way they handle sales, particularly with BWW Revive's limited upgrade period and the way they keep people in the dark during pre-release ordering periods for new products.
That said, I want to give them credit where credit's due, so cheers to OT for this update. :2thumbs:
 
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As stated in the email, these updates mostly just bring NKS support and a more recent version of Capsule, and I'm pretty certain those who bought during the December sale already have this update.
 
As stated in the email, these updates mostly just bring NKS support and a more recent version of Capsule, and I'm pretty certain those who bought during the December sale already have this update.
Yes, recent buyers should have the updated version already. But many of us have been using the libraries a bit longer... and there were some minor issues (as in all libraries out there) throughout the Ark libraries that are hopefully solved now. As Mr. Whitewasteland prompted, a list of fixes would be nice.
 
I didn't get an update email yet and I bought during the recent NKS sale. So I'm guessing we got the current version they are offering?
 
Yes, recent buyers should have the updated version already. But many of us have been using the libraries a bit longer... and there were some minor issues (as in all libraries out there) throughout the Ark libraries that are hopefully solved now. As Mr. Whitewasteland prompted, a list of fixes would be nice.
Given what some of the new buyers were reporting, a number of issues long identified and reported remain unfixed in this latest update.
 
The updates also address "miscellaneous small fixes" but they are, in my opinion, sometimes not so small.

The mid string tails in Ark 2 are a bit improved. They're not 100% smooth like the other sections, but they're better. The room noise buildup issue in the Ark 2 piano has also been improved. There are other things that just kind of feel a bit tighter - certain brass transitions, etc. The mid string fast tremolo does still have some clicking/popping noise but maybe it's not quite so intrusive as before.

They have fixed the issue in Ark 2/3 where editing anything in the multi articulations menus would drop samples out of capsule - something I assumed was an issue with Capsule itself.

I may be crazy but some of the percussion in Ark 3 sounds clearer to me - like a little less woofy. Especially the taikos? I don't know maybe I'm just nuts.

Also, I am pretty positive (or totally insane) that various round robin issues in the percussion of Ark 3 were fixed. There were several ensembles that had bad round robins (weird phasing issues, odd stereo field glitches, odd attacks on the sample, etc) and I'm not hearing them now as I play through. One of the issues that I think was addressed was how releases are handled on articulations such as crescendos and decrescendos if you release the key early. Before, they would kind of drop out and the release sounded really stark. It's a lot smoother now.

Unfortunately there are still noise issues on many of the repetition patches in Ark 3. I don't use them really, but if you hold the notes long enough you reach loop points and they're just not edited very well. Maybe in a really busy mix you wouldn't notice them but they stand out otherwise. And the faster the repetition, the more noise there seems to be. The release timing does seem to be a little bit tighter but due to noise issues I likely won't use them.

Ark 1 high string unison spiccatos are still really rough on repeated notes - I daresay they actually don't function well at all. The 4th round robin is atrocious as the slight attack on the sample causes a hiccup, and getting rid of it starts to engage machine gunning. So I just won't use them in that way - trailer-esque repeated stuff just doesn't work. It's a shame this wasn't fixed.

Overall, there are some fixes that I think went over really well. And then there's stuff where OT could have probably done a better job at addressing. So we'll see when the next one comes around.
 
Thanks OT! I can’t seem to get MA 1,2 & 3 to show up in Komplete Kontrol. I’ve restarted KK after the installation (several times) and it showed that it was scanning MA1 but nothing is in the library. MA 2 & 3 didn’t even seem to scan. Have reinstalled twice but no joy....
 
Hi
Can someone confirm the total size and files for MA1?I got 2 files total 308mb.Capsule container and metropolis ark 1 instruments 1_2.Thanks and very happy about this forum one of the best!!
 
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Ark 1 high string unison spiccatos are still really rough on repeated notes - I daresay they actually don't function well at all. The 4th round robin is atrocious as the slight attack on the sample causes a hiccup, and getting rid of it starts to engage machine gunning. So I just won't use them in that way - trailer-esque repeated stuff just doesn't work. It's a shame this wasn't fixed.

I’ve noticed this with almost every MA1 short patch I have tried, not just the hi string unis. Honestly makes me feel a bit insane, because people very rarely mention this, or they are aware of it but still vigorously defend the library because “nothing is perfect”. I am not saying it’s a bad library, but I find I can’t use quite a few of the short patches at all, because of varying attack on different RRs. It’s honestly pretty disappointing for such a highly praised library, as it just feels a bit sloppy and overlooked. I would love to have the extra oomph for my fast short phrases but find I often simply can’t do it with MA1. (I have the NKS ready version purchased thru NI sale)
 
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