Native Instruments Komplete 15

Kontakt remains at the heart of Komplete 15 and NI introduced some significant improvements in Kontakt 8 including a revised UI, the new Tools functionality and Conflux, a powerful new hybrid instrument.

Can NI make Komplete even more complete?

I reviewed the impressive update to Native Instruments’ Kontakt in last month’s SOS December 2024 issue but, alongside the move to Kontakt 8, Komplete has also been refreshed. Available in multiple versions and at different prices, each Komplete bundle includes Kontakt alongside differing selections of virtual instruments, plug‑ins and expansion packs, some NI branded and others supplied by various NI partners.

Komplete updates operate over a regular two‑year cycle and SOS last reviewed it in the December 2022 issue. Even version 14, by the time you got up into the top two tiers of the product, represented an amazing range of sounds, spanning virtually every musical genre you could imagine. For busy media composers, sat alongside your DAW of choice, Komplete 14 could easily be the ‘one‑stop shop’ for all your virtual instrument and sample needs. All of which begs the obvious question: two years on, just what can NI add to make Komplete 15, well... more complete?

The Komplete Range

There are three main versions of Komplete 15; Standard, Ultimate and Collector’s Edition. The tiers go from 95+ instruments and effects/50+ expansion packs in Standard up to a whopping 165+ instruments and effects/120+ expansion packs in Collector’s Edition, and the tier pricing reflects the different level of content.

There is, of course, upgrade pricing for existing Komplete users and, similarly, upgrade paths between the various tiers. NI also offer the introductory Komplete 15 Select and this is now available in three genre‑flavoured versions — Beats, Band and Electronic — each of which provides a compact selection of instruments, expansions and plug‑ins to suit productions within their respective musical styles and can be used alongside the free‑to‑download Player version of Kontakt 8. Incidentally, NI also offer a three‑tier subscription model with their 360 option, which also includes a free trial period. If you want to explore NI’s sonic world without a significant initial outlay, there are therefore multiple ways to do so.

First, Kontakt

While last month’s dedicated Kontakt review covers the main details of what’s new in Kontakt 8, given that it is an integral part of the three main Komplete tiers, there are a number of key headlines that bear repeating here. First, Kontakt itself has undergone a UI refresh, delivering some obvious workflow enhancements. Second, under‑the‑hood advances to Kontakt’s synthesis features have enabled NI to include a new instrument — Conflux — as part of the Kontakt 8 package. NI describe this as something of a first for Kontakt as it is a hybrid engine, combining both sampling and synthesis technology. Media composers will love it.

Third, Kontakt 8 adds a new feature called Tools, two of which — Chords and Phrases — are included within this first iteration. These can be thought of as MIDI performance utilities offering easy triggering of complex chords and full melodic phrases from a single key press and are available to use with any Kontakt instrument/library. Fourth, Kontakt 8 has a further new instrument called Leap. This provides a ‘sampler within a sampler’ option, allowing the user to trigger both loops and one‑shot samples in a very creative (and rather Output Arcade‑style) workflow. New Leap Expansions are offered to support the instrument but, rather wonderfully, you can also drag‑and‑drop your own samples into Leap and make use of samples within NI’s long‑standing Expansions (those aimed primarily at Maschine), many of which are included within each of the Komplete tiers.

Finally, it’s worth noting that all the under‑the‑hood scripting that provides the new functionality described here is also available to Kontakt’s third‑party developer community. Expect to see this exploited in new ways and in new instruments very soon.

New To Komplete

Aside from those offered by their many third‑party partners, NI produce a regular flow of their own individual new instruments and expansions in between Komplete update cycles. Selections of these then make their way into the various Komplete tiers when Komplete itself is refreshed. While these may not be ‘new’ (and some users may have purchased a selection of them as individual products), they are new to Komplete.

With over 40 new instruments and expansions over the last two‑year cycle, this represents a lot of potential ‘new to Komplete’ content. To avoid filling the whole issue, I’ll therefore focus on the headline instrument additions within each of the three main Komplete tiers. However, if you need to confirm the status of a specific instrument, expansion or plug‑in within a particular Komplete tier, NI’s website does have a very comprehensive comparison list that is well worth consulting.

Raising The Standard

In terms of those instrument addition highlights, the Standard edition gets some very good new offerings. For example, two new Session Bassist titles are now included; Icon Bass and Upright Bass. Both of these follow the usual ‘Session’ instrument format, offering a collection of style‑based performance patterns that will follow your root note/chord triggers, and a ‘melody’ option with a compact selection of performance articulations that allow you to play it like any other conventional sample‑based instrument. Upright Bass is particularly characterful, but NI’s Session instrument series has been around for quite some time and the capabilities and sonic quality have continued to improve. For anyone needing a genuinely solid, professional‑sounding, bass line — pretty much in an instant — these are both great options.

Komplete 15 adds two new Session Bassist titles; Upright Bass (shown here) and Icon Bass.

Also new to Standard is Karriem Riggin Drums, which provides some jazz‑flavoured hip‑hop drums and related...