Native Instruments

Love these drums and especially the included patterns. Like other drums in the Play Series these can be very powerfull with lots of customization options.

Check out my walkthrough.

https://youtu.be/lCQH-Zc06NY?si=9zQVXomMsaa3G4r7

This review depends on whether you owned Absynth 2-5 or not.

If you owned old Absynth, and don't care for MPE, this is a 1/5 terrible update. $100 skin with no new features.

If you never used Absynth, this is an amazing revival to the old beautiful synth! 5/5


I've used Absynth 5 extensively both before and after the discontinuation. After demoing Absynth 6, I can confirm that there are basically no changes other than GUI. This update is almost like a very intricate skin. The work flow is the same, but with more graphical features such as replacing number sliders with rotatable knobs. The modulation is still a slow work flow, as you need to swap to the modulation tab and use drop down menus to assign modulation, almost like a modulation matrix.

non-GUI changes:

-You can now create waveforms by drawing them, which is okay.

-Modulation has more features, but the same slow workflow as Absynth 5.

-New "analog filters", but they are basically the same HP/LP/BP/notch that was already present in Absynth 5. Honestly not really a new feature as a user could just use saturation on the old filters to mimic the "analog" feel.

-The MPE support is new and a great feature for performers and Kontakt users! Personally I don't care for this, but if you use MPE, then this is a good update for you.

-Graphical Preset selection, technically a GUI feature, but strikingly different from Absynth 5's old library.

-32 Grain density adds a bit more smoothness to the sound of granular synthesis, the only change involving synthesis.

The real selling point of this synth are the unique effects. Each are very detailed physical-modeling /reverb/echo type effects that add extreme depth and ambience to any sound design. My biggest problem with this was that you could only select 1 effect per instance, and they never fixed this Absynth 6. Still, I would highly recommend this synth to new users just for the effects.

Absynth was always a king of creating ambient sound design, and the update does not take that crown away. If you need a high quality Ambient synth, this is perfect for you. I am happy that the synth has been showed love and revived for new users to enjoy. I am just sad that I cannot justify upgrading my Absynth 5 just for a GUI make-over.

The champ returns complete with a facelift and a clever new trick or two. I will admit the frugal part of me would have loved it if this was included as part of Komplete 15, but the practical part of me recognizes that the $99.00 USD upgrade fee was more than fair and overridden the frugal part. However, I will be the first to admit that this is a 'beauty in the eye of the beholder' principle.

In my opinion, this upgrade did exactly what upgrades should do; it brought the things that the synth did well up to current standards and added a couple of things to compliment an already mature and stable product. The same high-quality synth engine that we all know and love is still there and sounds as awesome as ever. The additions include improving the GUI, overhauling the preset browser, adding MPE, and supporting VST3. In all, I feel this upgrade hits the mark quite well.

Ive owned Kinetic Metal for a few years now, having purchased it as part of (if I recall) Komplete 12. Maybe 13? This review is for the product as it was around 2021 - before NI became a shadow of their former selves post private-equity acquisition.

This product is one of my favorite modern offerings from NI (Ive been their customer since around 2003) in the category of kontakt instruments. This instrument is fun to use and creates many gritty, crunchy, ringing, metallic foley-sounding tonal sequences and textures that range from psychedelic to industrial, and its easy to create movement and transitions using the default macro mappings.

In a sea of uninspired, forgettable, low-value sample instruments, also from Native Instruments and 100s of others, this (along with Kinetic Toys) is an inspired, interesting, useful instrument. Not sure why it just showed up on KVR.

What can I say: the standard - the legend.

I have been using Kontakt since version 6 and alllthough it's been a rough journey, I still love it.

And since the last version is finally stable and faster it's even more fun than ever.

Version 8 has maybe not the most revolutionary new features but it definitely has its charms.

I really love the new chords, pattern and phrases tool (though it really took me some time to figure out their use for me).

And 11 year old past me would have loved Leap.

But the biggest and best new addition is the new browser and sidebar - it just works, uncomplicated and uncluttered.

One of the only bad things I have are the factory sounds which range from good to very bland. Though the Orchestra and choir is done pretty well... and for the rest I suggest to find some stuff on pianobook.

Overall Kontakt really shaped my career as a musician in a lot of ways and I'm pretty great full for that. I still miss the slice function but maybe it will come back and overhauled one day.

And since it's actually become more affordable than ever through sales, it's a must have.

Though I actually pricewise I suggest to buy Komplete Standard, to get even better libraries and useful stuff. But even on its own it has become a steal.

Abandonware. No UI scaling for higher resolution monitors. In normal vsts interface is just becoming small but this is not the case with NI plugins, their UI is being stretched out of frame edges while frame's size is unchanged and 70% of interface is becoming unreachable. No updates for 2 years, 5 months passed since Massive got scalable UI. Paid ensembles themselves by NI are quality, other than ensembles this there is nothing else that this piece of software can do.

Edit: now I think that this piece of software might have been fine before M1 compability update too. I found that "demo" (they are just standalone installers) installers for Supercharger GT and Driver, which also have broken UIs, are 1 version older and these are working absolutely fine. I heard that plugins in OS X cant do scalings asynced from DPI things or something like that. And still, no opportunities to be able to use my ensembles.

the update they did from 7 to 8 and the asking price to update is absurd. and there's nothing significant update to the factory stuffs either and its really frustrating how NI is handling stuffs and now they adding ads in my paid software.

After the demise of Absynth, I'm extremely wary of how long this marvel of a synth will be supported by Native Instruments. Apparently there aren't many - if any - FM-based synths on the market that draw close to FM8's vast possibilities. Whereas 'classic' synths of DX7 pedigree are somewhat limited with a fixed number of available algorithms, FM8 allows for much more complex rigs and as such - much more complex sounds, while the complexity of dialling them up is decreased dramatically. What is more, it can read DX7-related synths' SYSEX patches, and heavily improve them - by the means of stereorizing and applying various effects.

It has minor issues such as occasional hanging notes in Reaper or a bit messy morph matrix, but in the end of the day it is a sonic powerhouse, that I wouldn't get rid of, like, ever.