Sorry about the seemingly this vs that sort of question. But I already have Kontakt 3, and while it is very powerful, the interface just befuddles me, for example when I wanted to pipe each output to a different physical output on my audio interface, it took an age, when I used to use Gigastudio it was ever so simple. The bit down the left where all the samples, programmes, multis are listed leaves me confused, the issue with upgrading where ending up with several folders of redundant data seems daft, when I upgraded from Kontakt 2 to Kontakt 3 I found all the stuff in the Kontakt 2 libraries was still there.

I used to use Hypersonic 2, which as far as I know evolved into becoming Halion. I use Cubase 5 and that has HalionOne with it, based on the halion Sampler and that seems so much easier to use, yet Kontakt seems to maintain it's position as the best sampler, why is this when it all seems so convoluted.

To SOS - Halion 4 has been out for a while now, are you not doing a review of Halion 4?

FWIW it's become much simpler to create output mappings in Kontakt 5. I agree that Kontakt's interface is about as infuriatingly obscure as any device I've come across (just trying to find an envelope control seems to require 16 mouse clicks an the opening of multiple hidden panels), but I can now rattle up a multi-output drum kit in a seconds.

I find Halion's library generally uninspiring - I'm prepared to put up with Kontakt's more pvbscure interface for the far better content it provides.

--------------------
An Eagle for an Emperor, A Kestrel for a Knave.

Quote The Elf:

---

FWIW it's become much simpler to create output mappings in Kontakt 5.

---

yes have been looking at it on NI's website and it says there's the new 16 bus routing available, and that seems to be what am looking for.

On top of that it will only cost me about £80 to upgrade which all things considered isn't too bad.

Will I be able to just clean off the old Kontakt 2 and 3 libraries and do a new install of Kontakt 5? I realise I might not be able to access some of the older libraries, but I never used it much anyway, bought it, installed it and it has been sat idle on the PC, the tiny lettering on the interface drives me nuts - well to be honest, my eyesight isn't the best, am not exactly a hawk-eye!

I do want to do some sample mangling so a simple sample player wouldn't be enough, otherwise Halion Sonic would do the trick.

I have tried V Sampler (clunky) Mach 5 - I asked for my money back and got it! First soft sampler was Gigastudio - found that really easy, so I want to settle on a sampler and hopefully stick with it

Quote OneWorld:

---

Will I be able to just clean off the old Kontakt 2 and 3 libraries and do a new install of Kontakt 5?

---

Yes, that's pretty much what I did.

--------------------
An Eagle for an Emperor, A Kestrel for a Knave.

Quote The Elf:

---

Quote OneWorld:

---

Will I be able to just clean off the old Kontakt 2 and 3 libraries and do a new install of Kontakt 5?

---

Yes, that's pretty much what I did.

---

If you were a salesperson for NI, you'd be on your way to collecting commission for a sale, I think I'll go with K5 and make sure I learn it properly. Thanks for the comments

the only redeeming feature of halion 4 i found was that i could drag audio parts from cubase directly into it. Other than that, Kontakt especially with it's realtime timestretch can do everything it can do and a whole lot on top.

--------------------
www.theautobots.com / www.scan.co.uk

I think you've made the right choice. If you think Kontakt's user interface is opaque (and I agree it's not as clear as it could be), then you'd probably think the Halion 4 one was conceived in a parallel universe. I can't make head nor tail of it, and I've been a Halion user since v1.

Kontakt 5 I think is very good value, especially as an upgrade, but they have changed the sample library format from the previous versions (to a compressed format that takes up much less HD space). This means that if you'll ever need to load up projects that use pre-v5 Kontakt, you'll need to have their respective library on your system.

Quote Billum:

---

I think you've made the right choice. If you think Kontakt's user interface is opaque (and I agree it's not as clear as it could be), then you'd probably think the Halion 4 one was conceived in a parallel universe. I can't make head nor tail of it, and I've been a Halion user since v1.

Kontakt 5 I think is very good value, especially as an upgrade, but they have changed the sample library format from the previous versions (to a compressed format that takes up much less HD space). This means that if you'll ever need to load up projects that use pre-v5 Kontakt, you'll need to have their respective library on your system.

---

You make a good point there. I used Halion 2, tried ot import my old .gig files and it was a sod of a job, I ended up buying a sample convertor, but always felt it was better to import directly than go through a sample convertor and then go into the sampler.

Am going for Kontakt, they are doing the upgrade for 99euros - whatever they are these days LOL

I agree with the comment that it is about time SoS reviewed Halion 4, every other music mag has. It would also be useful to include it in the Cubase column to understand better how the two can be integrated

Quote Gaeran:

---

I agree with the comment that it is about time SoS reviewed Halion 4, every other music mag has. It would also be useful to include it in the Cubase column to understand better how the two can be integrated

---

I suppose that's why some products become the 'standard' the manufacturers make sure lots of reviews are done. I don't know a thing about Halion 4 except for what it says on the Steinberg website. I typed "halion 4 reviews" into Google and there's hardly anything there at all, much more for K5. I've bought K5 anyway now, 4 days to delivery :-)

I'll probably end up buying H4 too when my next dollop of money comes in, but have just built new DAW with Win7, and this time am trying to discipline myself, no more bloating my hard drive with software I hardly use - buy the essentials and learn them. If I bought a Gold Top Les Paul guitar it wouldn't make me play any better, I'd still have to learn, same principle applies to software too I suppose.

In case anyone's interested, Kontakt 5 (and other stuff) is half price from NI up until the 7th July

http://www.native-instruments.com/en/specials/10-years-of-kontakt/?page=48 55&type=99

Edited by Ojustaboo (03/07/12 11:52 AM)

Went for a leisurely scroll through SoS............and spent e189.50!!

Ah what the hell. It's a good deal and it would be rude not to at that price

Edited by Dee (03/07/12 07:50 PM)

Quote Dee:

---

Went for a leisurely scroll through SoS............and spent e189.50!!

Ah what the hell. It's a good deal and it would be rude not to at that price

---

Well if it's any comfort, once you've bought and registered the product, the upgrades are relatively cheap, I got the upgrade from K3 to K5 for 99euros which is a bargain I reckon

I do have these issues with K3 and hope they have fixed them in K5

Why can't you stretch the windows like you can with any other Windows app, you can go into properties or whatever and enter values for a chosen window size, but it's a faff

Sample mapping seems such a chore, one would have thought you could select a set of samples, drag them to the sample editor and map them, but I can't figure out how to do more than one sample, if I drag more than one across it complains

When importing programs from other samplers, say Gigastudio, it asks for 2 directories and when I click browse, the Kontakt Browser always defaults to My Computer, so each import means I have to navigate to a folder embedded several layers deep, and that has to be done twice for each import, a right royal pain in the buttster, why can't the path be recorded so each import session takes me to the folder where I keep my samples

It seems as Kontakt is a very flexible piece of software, and my complaints could probably be addressed, but goodness knows how, have read the manual, but sometimes the info is so buried away I just give up and go buy another sampler and find that's just as confusing in so much I have to re-learn everything

Maybe Native Instruments should include a quick get you going booklet as well as the manual that covers the more common FAQs 1) how to import 2) how to map samples 3) how to port the outputs to discreet channels 4) the structure of the sample/program library etc

Way back when I used to use Hypersonic which was essential a sample player, but the structure and use was so simple. Gigastudio was the same, dead easy to work with

It's a bit of a problem with most software - you have to keep adding features so that users buy upgrades, but the software gets bloated with extras that hardly anybody actually uses. Meanwhile the programme gets more and more complicated and less easy to operate for *all* users.

Nobody really seems to have found the answer to adding more while keeping it simple as yet...

Quote Billum:

---

It's a bit of a problem with most software - you have to keep adding features so that users buy upgrades, but the software gets bloated with extras that hardly anybody actually uses. Meanwhile the programme gets more and more complicated and less easy to operate for *all* users.

Nobody really seems to have found the answer to adding more while keeping it simple as yet...

---

yes, the wheel has been re-invented so many times I feel we're just going round in ever increasing circles, how hard can it be to keep things simple?

i would go for kontakt 5

Quote TheParty007:

---

i would go for kontakt 5

---

That's what I went for in the end, the really cheap upgrade option was a bargain too good to miss, especially getting Retro Machines as part of the deal as well. The NI Licensing Centre is working much better than it used to and have finally solved the problem of mapping each output to individual physical outputs, something I simply could not figure by trawling through the manuals, PDFs and forums but came across the solution by way of some excellent user tutorials on You Tube.

I am now setting up templates etc and suspending any music making until I get my head around some of the finer points of K5 and how to use it properly instead of sat here wishfully clicking buttons in the vain hope I might just drop on the solution - ala 'The British Library 999 Monkeys Experiment' - it doesn't work!