vocal colors presets do not mach previews

john parker · 2025-06-26T17:32:02+00:00

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When browsing the previews of vocal colors, a lot of them are very breathy or (I'm guessing) mastered. when I select the preset, they sound much smaller and no where near as textured or vibrant as the preview. or in some cases, almost completely different.

three examples: embedded reverse, etheral world and evolving harmonies.

Am I doing something wrong?

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Kymeia

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/232166#Comment_232166

All these patches are very dynamic and depend a lot on how they are played. Since a preview is a static recording made using a short standardised MIDI file printed to wav, then converted to ogg, it can't sound exactly as played for patches like this, although you can get pretty close if you adjust the volume to match the preview volume and play without much expression. Previews just give you an idea of what the sound is like but they are not a substitute for auditioning sounds.

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PoorFellow

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/46208/vocal-colors-presets-do-not-mach-previews

three examples: embedded reverse, etheral world and evolving harmonies.

Am I doing something wrong?

No , you are doing nothing wrong. You are not the first with such an observation though maybe the first with this Vocal Colors library.

The explanation most often given I think is that the presets are played with full velocity but also sometimes the presets illogically are tweaked in the Kontakt settings compared to what is loaded when you the user loads preset.

I tried the "etheral world" and to me it sounded a lot more like the preset when I slid the sliders at page bottom to the right (in particular the Global)..

john parker

This is messed up. I should get exactly what I heard. it's like bait and switch with their own presets. it makes no sense. it makes me not want spend any time with these instruments at all if the previews are not honest. I mean, what's the point of browsing anything?

Kymeia

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/232166#Comment_232166

john parker

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/232177#Comment_232177

Then what's the point of having previews? Look, I'm not coming at this as someone new. I've been in the music business for a long time. If you are going to have previews that are that in your face, the preset out of the box should reflect that. Omnisphere doesn't have this problem. what you hear in the preview is what you get. Yes, it is prob just playing a note but with your sound libraries, you should just do the same thing. I feel like I am being gaslit by this library, hand to god.

Some of these presets sound nothing like the previews. I'm not talking about the phrases, the sound in general. What I expect (as I'm sure most would too) is that I don't have to work to get the sound to sound like what I was presented.

It's a reasonable ask.

Kymeia

Omnisphere is a completely different case - it is not a plugin host so the preview it is giving you is not a static recording, it is playing back the actual patch. For KK to give you actual playback type previews it would have to load the plugin for each patch, which in some cases would take too long and you might as well just be auditioning them manually anyway. I think your expectations are unrealistic - in most cases previews sound close enough to give people a reasonable idea of what to expect, for the library you mention where the sound is very dependent on how the patch is played it is always going to be less close than something simpler like a Monark or drum patch. Every preview is made with the same standardised MIDI file, same velocity levels etc (except for things like drums or generative synths where the MIDI file needs more of a pattern), so those that are very dependent on things like aftertouch and expression (which these do) may well sound more different to instruments that work better with fixed velocity and no aftertouch.

PoorFellow

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/232190#Comment_232190

Sorry I can only try to assist. I am not a N.I. employee and I do not have any say. If you have any grievances that you want to take up with N.I. then please contact Kontakt support through : N.I. Support (all)

In case that you need guidance contacting support : How to contact NI Support and How to get in touch with our Customer Care

john parker

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/232205#Comment_232205

I don’t think they’re unrealistic at all. Yes, the way Omnisphere presents. previews is different. That being said they are accurate.

this sample library is the first time I have come across previews that are essentially disingenuous. Every other sample library from Native Instruments has accurate previews in my opinion unless I’m missing something. This one though, I won’t even bother using it. The presets are a total let down in comparison to what’s presented.

Kymeia

Ok just out of curiosity I tried generating a new set of previews for this library but with db set to 0 instead of the default -6

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/vnyukyrb5tns7yje5jnua/Vocal-colors-alt-previews.zip?rlkey=k53afhe4vpen135sbuotoptl8&dl=0

Just drop these in the snapshots folder replacing the original (backup first) - you need to have invisible folders made visible

john parker

I appreciate the gesture man. It's more than just volume. I'll upload an audio file showing the preview and what the preset actually sounds like. It's way more than just volume.

Kymeia

The point this illustrates is that what the preset actually sounds like depends on how you play it - feed in a standard MIDI file for them all and you get what the previews sound like - there is no doctoring of the sound afterwards to create a false impression.

john parker

ok. thanks for all your help!

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