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Do You buy samples for Kontakt only ?

Patryk Scelina

Sonic Atoms founder
Hi there.
I'm curious do you find Kontakt the one and only sampler / player. Do you choose sample library based on sample player or maybe it doesn't matter if sample player is free like UVi or Halion Sonic SE ?

Many developers decide to create for full kontakt which makes it harder to sell 'cause not all users (perhaps beginners) don't own Kontakt so wouldn't be better to use some other platform which is free for end-user like Halion Sonic SE ?

I'm just curious what you think about this matter.
Thank You for sharing your thoughts
 
To me, it doesn't really matter which sampler it's in. I'm more concerned with the quality of the content and what the library can do.

Kontakt happens to be the gold standard right now which is why many people develop for it. On top of being decently designed for developers, it's well known by pretty much everyone and seen as the sampler to use.

I'm not bias though, I use pretty much all of them.
 
I can share some information from the other side you might find useful. Several of the free SFZ instruments I've made open source also got Kontakt versions made by bigcat, and the old free cello also had a bigcat Kontakt version included. Also, Swirly Drums got a Kontakt version, I'm not sure if the dev wants to be mentioned here, but a user here as well.

IME having Kontakt + Sforzando vs just Sforzando boosts sales of lower-cost stuff modestly, but it's not a huge difference - maybe 10% at most. There are people who will not buy an instrument that will require them to use a new, unfamiliar plugin. They exist.

For free stuff, it doesn't seem to matter at all - Meatbass had a separate Kontakt version, and the Sforzando version gets somewhat more downloads in Sforzando than the cello which has with Sforzando and Kontakt in one download. For more expensive libraries it probably matters less because people looking to spend $100 or more on a virtual instrument probably got Kontakt somewhere along the way.

So if you're gonna go Kontakt, do it for the multliple outputs or scripting or built-in effects. Being concerned with users who won't buy something in other formats is IME not worth it.
 
Most of my sample libraries are for Kontakt, though my first real foray into the non kontakt world was the original Synthogy Ivory, which I've since upgraded to Ivory II. Thinking about it, I think I may have had Ivory I before Kontakt ....

I've also bought Hollywood Orchestra, and a couple of UVI products. I also picked up Iconica Ensembles during a sale - which uses Halion. I rather like it.

But my biggest investment in the non Kontakt world was when I got a terrific deal on the VSL Synchronised Special Edition Bundle, which, due to the arrival a 20% discount voucher during their intro sale, I bought for close to half price.

I must admit, I'm only just getting a handle on the Synchron player, and I'm very much liking it so far.

As you can tell, I've got way more libraries than I need now, so anything I purchase now is for giggles rather than any real need. (I suspect that's true for most of us here.)

NI's Kontakt improvements have been glacial. They desperatly need to add some form of indexing/tabbed system to organise libraries into groups/categories.
 
I mostly use Kontakt, but when I like a Lib wth another engine, it is okay for me. I still use some patches from Hollywood Brass and a few Best Service Libs, even if I have the impression that their players always bring some trouble into my DAWs;).
 
I too like to keep my libraries as simple and streamlined as possible. As well as having a huge developer and user base, Kontakt is very efficient, loads quickly, and I find the quickload facility really useful. I have used HALion, Play, VSL instrument and Synchron Player, LABS, and SD3 from Toontrack. With the exception of SD3, I'd be very happy if all their libraries were released in Kontakt format.
 
The only reason why I use Kontakt a lot is because many libraries happen to run in it. If they were hosted in a different sample engine, I can't say I'd care much.

Obviously I do not limit myself to Kontakt. I would be missing out on incredible libraries if I did. Also, in the case of VSL, their own software is far superior for their suff anyway.
 
That's all very helpful. I've been looking for awhile at Halion which in my humble opinion is great platform. To me it's like combination of Omnisphere and Kontakt. Omnisphere has more cool sounding rack FX but still Halion is really great when it comes to sound design.
And since version 6 it also became interesting publishing platform, because it allows 3rd party developers to create sample libraries / instruments for free Halion Sonic SE.
I've been using Halion for my own experiments and I can honestly say it's much faster to make great sounding VI than with Kontakt.

Anyone here uses Halion at all ? :)
 
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Obviously I do not limit myself to Kontakt. I would be missing out on incredible libraries if I did. Also, in the case of VSL, their own software is far superior for their suff anyway.

Petty much this, kind of a no brainer but I will Kontakt you later ;=)
 
Although I will buy in other engines, I tend to forget the libraries and just use Kontakt. Except maybe my Ravenscroft piano, because I just love the sound of it, I remember I have to open UVI to use it. Then it is usually, "Oh wait, I have all these cool libraries here! Why don't I try this instead!" I also use Toontrack stuff, but they have their own player, whereas I forget about Pianoteq most of the time when looking for a piano.

I have to think about opening other libraries. I do also remember the VSL one, though not the Sychron player. I have SE and it runs in the original player. I have a couple of Sforzando libraries, but I never use them. I don't like Halion that much. I think it may be the sounds. I have Cubase, but never use the Halion player.
 
I don't like Halion that much. I think it may be the sounds. I have Cubase, but never use the Halion player.

Well I'm not surprised because those factory sounds of Halion are very outdated compared to most of modern Kontakt instruments. However some time ago Steinberg released new orchestral library made by Orchestral Tools. I haven't try that one yet but demos sounds quite nice.
I think Halion could be much more powerful on the market if some decent developers would give it a shot.
 
I tend to use only Kontakt which I can visually check the mapped sound in each note and extract the original sound.

I believe I can use 100% of all the sounds in the library that I want to use by accurately identifying the original sound source.
 
I rule out most other samplers because of the DRM that comes with them, but even without that I'd have a strong preference for using only kontakt libraries.
 
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