Kontakt VS Kontrol, which to use when you want to play instruments

Otof

Hi,

like discussions below, some people seem wonder if they should use kontakt or kontrol.

I understand kontakt works on the background of kontrol, and kontrol is like a garage for car, if kontakt is A car.

So I want to ask you which you are using to select or play instruments. I think good and bad points are below. I usually use kontrol since it's based on kontakt, however some people use kontakt and I'm just wondering.

Kontrol

good : easy to browse all of your libraries. I can use Kontrol hardware keyboards to browse, and control knobs.

bad : no keyboards show up. Still I can see keyboards in the Edit view, however it doesn't work as kontakt software keyboard.(there' s no mapping)

Kontakt

good : I can see keyboards and key mapping clearly.

bad : I can't use kontrol hardwares. I can't control knobs with those ( or is there any way to control knobs with kontrol hardwares ?). Also, it's little a bit hard to browse.

Before ver.2.9, we could see browse window and plug-in window at the same time, however it's disabled in ver.3.0....

If you're using kontakt or kontrol in a specific reason, please tell me !

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/1701/questions-about-the-komplete-13-ecosystem

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/1861/kontakt-and-komplete-kontrol-difference

jgraham

I like to use both for different reasons!

Most of the time, I am using Kontrol, as it is by far the easiest way for me to audition/select/build my sounds (especially now that I have an mk3 NI keyboard). I love that it pools all of my compatible patches together from NI, arturia, uvi, etc. and gives me previews of each one.

If I know specifically which instrument or sound I want, I will usually just dial up that specific instrument/patch in a track rather than bringing it up through Kontrol. It feels faster and more efficient that way.

Otof

thanks for your reply !

Now I see the reason why you use kontakt. As you said, if you already know what to use, kontakt is the better way.

I want to ask, is it possible to control knobs in Kontakt with your mk3 NI keyboard devices ? I only have M32, so I can only control kontrol software knobs with my device.

If there's any way to do that, could you please tell me ?