Best Purchasing Route? (Question about Kontakt)

holonology

Hi! So back in 2022, I strongly considered Maschine as a way back into electronic music. Due to issues with M1, I decided to learn Ableton and I'm really happy with my setup, which consists mainly of Ableton & a few select synths, effects and general creative plugins.

Now that M1 native support is here, I started to think about where Native Instruments might fit into the direction I've gone in. For the most part, I am happy with the handful of VSTs I've selected. The one area where I think Native Instruments could still have a role is in the Play series of Kontakt instruments (I love the sound of Ethereal Earth), and Kontakt libraries more generally. Specifically, I like the look of the Heavyocity instruments, and perhaps Exhale by Output. What I'm specifically interested in is vocal libraries and playable instruments that are not easily replicated in a synth or just by layering samples. A lot of the Heavyocity demos don't sound like anything you'd get on Splice or Loopcloud if you follow my drift.

I'm wondering what the best move is here. I know there are many, many ways to buy Native Instruments stuff, and buying one thing sometimes opens up a crossgrade to another product. This feels a bit like Arturioa where if you buy Pigments, you get a very good discount on V collection, which in turn gives you another steep discount on the FX collection. But of course, this is all only useful if you actually want some of the included content. So given that I already have a basic sample library for most stuff, it's the sampled instruments that I'm really interested in.

If I'm considering the libraries that I mentioned above, is the best move to buy Komplete, Kontakt, or just wait for the individual instruments to go on sale for a more minimal setup? I'd be interested to hear from others if there's an advantage to choosing a particular approach and if you felt over/underwhelmed with your choice.

Thanks! 😊

Vocalpoint

If it's about the cash - the best option is to always consider a bundle approach. It is by far the best value. However - if you are dead set on just buying Kontakt 7 retail and then adding libraries to it - be prepared to pay as the costs will quickly outpace the bundle approach dependant on your choices of course.

There are Kontakt instruments for 59 dollars and then there are ones for 499 dollars (and beyond).

I played this game a few years ago and then finally settled into a Komplete Standard bundle and then moved to Ultimate with v14.

There is so much going on in there that I am definitely in the Overwhelmed camp where I am certain it may take me years to try it all - but I really wanted K7 and several other instruments that easily would have exceeded the cost of my K14 ultimate upgrade.

Cheers

VP

Vocalpoint

If it's about the cash - the best option is to always consider a bundle approach. It is by far the best value. However - if you are dead set on just buying Kontakt 7 retail and then adding libraries to it - be prepared to pay as the costs will quickly outpace the bundle approach dependant on your choices of course.

There are Kontakt instruments for 59 dollars and then there are ones for 499 dollars (and beyond).

I played this game a few years ago and then finally settled into a Komplete Standard bundle and then moved to Ultimate with v14.

There is so much going on in there that I am definitely in the Overwhelmed camp where I am certain it may take me years to try it all - but I really wanted K7 and several other instruments that easily would have exceeded the cost of my K14 ultimate upgrade.

Cheers

VP