Super 8 vs Super 8 R2?

shenrei · May 2023

Noticed I have both Super 8 R2 installed and Super 8 available for installation. Anyone know the difference? I thought Super 8 came with Komplete 13 back then but I can't really remember.

Paule · May 2023

The newer one is an Reaktor instrument. The same as in the beginning of Super 8. The other was an extract as vsti.

Monochrome · May 2023

I've once posted it, but to reiterate:

Super 8 was originally a Reaktor-only synth. In 2019, NI eventually decided to create a dedicated VST plug-in for it: Super 8 R2. However, sales of the plug-in version weren't that great and so the decision was made to cease development on it (source). The focus is now back on the Reaktor version.

You can still use Super 8 R2, but it won't get any new updates. Both are virtually the same, although some Presets seem different.

Paule · May 2023

The newer one is an Reaktor instrument. The same as in the beginning of Super 8. The other was an extract as vsti.

Monochrome · May 2023

I've once posted it, but to reiterate:

Super 8 was originally a Reaktor-only synth. In 2019, NI eventually decided to create a dedicated VST plug-in for it: Super 8 R2. However, sales of the plug-in version weren't that great and so the decision was made to cease development on it (source). The focus is now back on the Reaktor version.

You can still use Super 8 R2, but it won't get any new updates. Both are virtually the same, although some Presets seem different.

LostInFoundation · May 2023

Ooooops…once refreshed the page I see that Monochrome already answered 👍🏼

LostInFoundation · May 2023

And now after another refresh I see that also Paule did answer…is the forum having some kind of hiccups? Those answers weren’t there before…

diamondgeeza · November 2023

Is there anyway to load the old super 8 standalone presets into the reaktor ensemble? they seem to have a different file extension?

noumansaeed · November 2023

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/106929#Comment_106929

Do mention me plz if you get the answer

iNate · November 2023

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/73072#Comment_73072

The newer one is the VST3. The REAKTOR-based Super 8 is actually the old one. It is missing a ton of presets that are in the R2 release (the VST3 version). And honestly - for me - the presets are probably the only reason to care about it, since most DAWs have perfectly usable VA Synths bundled.

Super 8 (REAKTOR Ensemble): 350+ Presets

Super 8 R2 (VST3 Plug-in): 550+ Presets

It's also less "convenient" to use as a REAKTOR Ensemble, since you have to host it within REAKTOR 6 or Komplete Kontrol (which hosts REAKTOR 6 to host the Ensemble...). This also means it can be "indirectly broken" where the instrument is broken by virtue of the host platform being broken - after OS or DAW updates, etc.

If on Windows, I would bias heavily toward the Super 8 R2 release (VST3).

On macOS, the REAKTOR Ensemble is pretty standard since the VST3 is not M1-Native and will force you to run a lot of DAWs under Rosetta 2 to access it.

If you're still on an Intel Mac, though, you can ignore the Ensemble version and use the VST3 Release.

I think Apple Silicon probably played a big role in them deciding not to maintain the VST3 version. They didn't want to invest in updating it for Apple Silicon, so they simply rolled it back to Super 8 R1.

Unless you're on macOS, I can't see any benefits to using the old (REAKTOR-based) version of Super 8 - or reason to do so.

This is one of those weird cases where a company actually rolled a product back to the "worse iteration" simply because it's "cheaper than updating the better iteration."

Lionzinio · October 2024

So, because this feels really complicated.

Super 8 v2.1.0 is now no longer developed or supported. Although it does still appear in the Native Access main panel, which allows you to install it. (It should be indicated as a no longer supported legacy product). It's a VST3 plugin but despite this it won't work in any DAWs on Silicon Macs because it requires 'activation' and the activate button doesn't do anything (despite the product being active and registered in the Native Access app).

It also doesn't appear anywhere in Komplete Kontrol (v2 or v3), either in the left hand Library selector or the dropdown instrument selection menu, because it's not an actual 'product', it's just a VST

So fundamentally it's an unsupported software brick.

Meanwhile…

Super 8 v1 is currently being sold at £89 a pop, albeit with far fewer presets than the now-dumped R2. Miraculously, it does work in Komplete Kontrol 2.9.6 (hurrah) but still doesn't show up in the Komplete Kontrol v3 Browser. Even as a Reaktor ensemble I would expect it to show up here in the same way Monark or Prism or Rounds or Skanner or Razor or Polyplex do. But no.

You can just about find it buried in the depths of Reaktor 6, assuming you are really familiar with how that works. But that's going to be about 1% of the NI customer base.

Is there anyone at Native Instruments who thinks this is remotely acceptable?

It's a real shame because Super 8 is a great little gateway softsynth, with an easy to follow interface (unlike Massive X), and is ideal for musicians who want to learn how adaptive synthesis (and/or FM synthesis) works. It's got enough controls to make a useful variety of sounds, without everything being too complicated.

It's just really disappointing that NI can't be bothered to implement this effectively. Everyone involved in not resolving this should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.