second hand software purchase

NativeAmerican
NativeAmerican Member Posts: 46 Member
edited October 22 in Komplete General

There is an auction for Komplete Ultimate 11 upgrade that is preloaded on a hard drive. It is an official Native Instrument product. If I buy the hard drive with the software, will I be able to use the sounds that are on the hard drive? I already own Komplete 12, but it is the basic version.

Best Answers

  • Kubrak
    Kubrak Member Posts: 3,067 Expert
    Answer ✓

    K14U Upgrade from Komplete costs 600, in Sale it would be 300. OK it would cost more, but on the other side you would have much more plugins than in K12U and no problems for sure.

    Hard Drive from NI is installation one, it is not intended to be used in any other way. It is usable just to avoid downloads via internet. But you will need to download anyway as many plugins got updates anyway since the release.

    The drive on its own has near to zerro value. It has the value of the HDD and the enclosure at most....

    What has the value is the Licence Transfer Code (or Licence Code if not registered to account, which would be extremely unprobable...).

    Generally, you do not need that Hard Drive at all, you need just Licence Transfer Code.

  • PoorFellow
    PoorFellow Moderator Posts: 4,894 mod
    edited October 2023 Answer ✓

    Yes , sorry I just noticed myself now that , quote : "One may Upgrade directly from old version, it is not needed to Update first to current version." , learned from studying prices in the "compare page" !

    Quote : "Christmas Sale comes soon" , it is possible that we may maybe also see a Black Friday (November 24 ?/25 ? , Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving Day in the United States (the fourth Thursday of November)) sale depending on Native Instruments attitude that is.!

    @NativeAmerican , Sorry , my bad , it appears as if you can UPGRADE from a previous version lower tier to a higher tier version 14 product directly from a previous version without having to 'Update' first if going for a more expensive higher tier version. And as Kubrak also points out then at sales then prices prior have been rather attractive. So if that happens again (%50 off) then you would do much better by upgrading directly ! (please see compare page price section for present prices)

Answers

  • PoorFellow
    PoorFellow Moderator Posts: 4,894 mod

    I think not, to use a Komplete Ultimate 11 upgrade you would need a qualifying (?) Komplete 11 product. Komplete Ultimate 12 to 14 supersede version 11 so I simply can not imagine that a previous version of an upgrade would work with a present version of a product..

    Also , sounds preloaded on a hard drive is also useless unless you also get a serial , which in this case doesn't matter since you do not have a qualifying product to upgrade ! But if in doubt then contact support , just don't expect them to answer in time before the auction is over !

  • NativeAmerican
    NativeAmerican Member Posts: 46 Member

    Thank You. I wasn't sure about the whole license transfer. Technically the drive is just filled with sounds. You should be able to access them with any version just like you would any other sound you would choose to import. The problem would be if the drive were locked to a specific user account. It would seem that the drive would be useless if that is the case. Just trying to figure out if the drive is useless or not. If it is being resold, it should be able to be transferred just like other software transfers. Seems kind of odd that they would auction off an item that is completely useless.

  • Kubrak
    Kubrak Member Posts: 3,067 Expert

    There are many scams that sell just installation media (DVD/HDD/USB stick) without any Licence Transfer.

    You could install things, but would not be able to use it, or be able to use it only as Demo.... Generally you do not need installation media and may download everything using Native Access. NI even does not provide installation media for Komplete 14 anymore....

    So, if there is no Licence Transfer Code offered, I would skip it. And if seller says that Licence Code is included..... It might work under the condition it is not registered to another user.... Often it is registered and Licence Code is worthless for new buyer... In most cases seller should provide buyer with Licence Transfer Code, by Licence Code only very seldomly (in very special cases)....

    And another question is, whether the licence would be usable even if you get Licence Transfer Code. If it is K11U Upgrade from Komplete it might work for your K12, but it is not sure as K12 is newer than K11U.

    I have tried to get final answer from NI Support whether it is possible use newer product as Base Product for older Upgrade, but have not received any sound answer....

  • PoorFellow
    PoorFellow Moderator Posts: 4,894 mod

    Long story short , don't buy anything 'update' or 'upgrade' unless that you have the qualifying product to use it with. And also always be sure that you are getting a valid serial for the product should you decide to buy anything anyway. Even if you had been able to use the product without the serial then it would have been an illegal or pirated distribution if not accompanied by valid serial and license..

    Also worth noticing , if you buy something directly from N.I. then you can expect that they will try to help you in case you bought the wrong upgrade or update but you should not expect the same courtesy from third-part sellers and especially not from unauthorized sources..

    Finally , if you want an update plus an upgrade for your updated product then you can wait for a sale , and first get an update for your standard and then upgrade that !

  • NativeAmerican
    NativeAmerican Member Posts: 46 Member

    Thank You for your response. I kind of would doubt the upgrade would be transferable, I do question if you would be able to access the sounds if you already own a version of Komplete. Technically it is not really an upgrade as much as simply a drive with the sounds preloaded. You would think that the sounds should be accessible if there is a transfer path, but I do not think there is a transfer path for upgrades, like you were mentioning.. Technically the sounds have most likely already been transferred to another drive and that is why they are getting rid of the original drive. It should be transferable though if the person no longer is using the platform to create music. Thanks again for your response, I appreciate the insight concerning this topic.

  • Kubrak
    Kubrak Member Posts: 3,067 Expert

    The disc is generally almost for nothing unless it is accompanied with Licence Transfer Code (or Licence Code in case SW is not registered - which is highly unprobable for pretty old SW). The samples may be in NI format and so unusable without licence....

    PoorFellow brings good point. Christmas Sale comes soon and Upgrades/Updates are usually 50% off. ;-) Maybe better solution than buying from unknown source with unknown result....

    @PoorFellow

    Finally , if you want an update plus an upgrade for your updated product then you can wait for a sale , and first get an update for your standard and then upgrade that !

    One may Upgrade directly from old version, it is not needed to Update first to current version.

  • NativeAmerican
    NativeAmerican Member Posts: 46 Member
    edited October 2023

    The item is not a Disc. It is an official Native instruments hard drive with the software preloaded with the sound packs on it. I believe this was made an option so that you did not have to install on one PC and you could be mobile with your sounds in case you wanted to work on another PC. There is also an option to install from the Hard drive I believe. The Hard Drive was donated to a Charity that is why I am assuming the previous owner may be willing to do a license transfer. The reason I am interested, is because I could probably get it at auction for around 100 or so.

    I may be wrong about the value of the upgrade, I just found the upgrade for Komplete 13 for 400, but I only have Komplete 12, I would need to update first plus the upgrade. I really have no clue the true value of the sounds. The package shows the sounds are backwards compatible with previous versions, so it would seem to work with a newer version without any issues.

    Most likely I will not bid on the item. I wanted to get more info on what it would be worth for me if I were to buy it. I plan on putting the sound packs on an external drive also, so I thought I could save some time by buying the sounds preloaded on that drive. It would not upgrade Komplete 12 technically, but the sounds are technically all the upgrade really is. The sounds should be accessible without an "official" upgrade pathway to Komplete 12 Ultimate.

  • Kubrak
    Kubrak Member Posts: 3,067 Expert
    Answer ✓

    K14U Upgrade from Komplete costs 600, in Sale it would be 300. OK it would cost more, but on the other side you would have much more plugins than in K12U and no problems for sure.

    Hard Drive from NI is installation one, it is not intended to be used in any other way. It is usable just to avoid downloads via internet. But you will need to download anyway as many plugins got updates anyway since the release.

    The drive on its own has near to zerro value. It has the value of the HDD and the enclosure at most....

    What has the value is the Licence Transfer Code (or Licence Code if not registered to account, which would be extremely unprobable...).

    Generally, you do not need that Hard Drive at all, you need just Licence Transfer Code.

  • PoorFellow
    PoorFellow Moderator Posts: 4,894 mod
    edited October 2023 Answer ✓

    Yes , sorry I just noticed myself now that , quote : "One may Upgrade directly from old version, it is not needed to Update first to current version." , learned from studying prices in the "compare page" !

    Quote : "Christmas Sale comes soon" , it is possible that we may maybe also see a Black Friday (November 24 ?/25 ? , Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving Day in the United States (the fourth Thursday of November)) sale depending on Native Instruments attitude that is.!

    @NativeAmerican , Sorry , my bad , it appears as if you can UPGRADE from a previous version lower tier to a higher tier version 14 product directly from a previous version without having to 'Update' first if going for a more expensive higher tier version. And as Kubrak also points out then at sales then prices prior have been rather attractive. So if that happens again (%50 off) then you would do much better by upgrading directly ! (please see compare page price section for present prices)

  • Jeremy_NI
    Jeremy_NI Customer Care Posts: 13,047 mod

    Any questions regarding this might be better answered by my colleagues here: https://bit.ly/NIsupport_RA

  • NativeAmerican
    NativeAmerican Member Posts: 46 Member

    Thanks for the advice and information. I decided against bidding again on the HDD. The bidding is currently at 156 dollars US. I appreciate the feedback and the information concerning how much the upgrades actually cost while they are on sale. I am new to music production, so I am trying to build my sound library the most cost-efficient ways. I am disabled and on a limited income, so I have to find the most economical way of building a library of sounds to work with.

  • vertibration
    vertibration Member Posts: 3 Member

    Your colleagues arent responding in a timely fashion to requests at this time. Its been days since I had gotten any response from them, very unusual.

  • Kubrak
    Kubrak Member Posts: 3,067 Expert

    @NativeAmerican You may also buy licences secondhand there is Buy and Sell thread at this forum.

  • Jeremy_NI
    Jeremy_NI Customer Care Posts: 13,047 mod

    @vertibration I believe my colleagues just replied to you this morning.

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