NI VST's

[Derpageddon]

So Massive and a few other of their pieces of software are half off right now. I know that this forum and pretty much every other EDM musician on the Internet loves Massive. But what about their other stuff? Specifically these
http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/ ... -invaders/

[the4thImpulse]

Thanks for sharing, my opinion on NI vsts; if you are interested in a couple of them than buy one of their "komplete" packages because you will save a LOT of money and will get far more vsts (many of which are really good).

Razor is really tempting at $40.

[NewWorldMare]

Massive for $99? Thank you for cluing me in on this!

[Legion]

Thanks for sharing, my opinion on NI vsts; if you are interested in a couple of them than buy one of their "komplete" packages because you will save a LOT of money and will get far more vsts (many of which are really good).

Razor is really tempting at $40.

So would you recommend Komplete 8 over this package? I was looking at Komplete (just since I'm looking at Kontakt), but I'm tempted to grab the 200$ deal here.

[the4thImpulse]

Thanks for sharing, my opinion on NI vsts; if you are interested in a couple of them than buy one of their "komplete" packages because you will save a LOT of money and will get far more vsts (many of which are really good).

Razor is really tempting at $40.

So would you recommend Komplete 8 over this package? I was looking at Komplete (just since I'm looking at Kontakt), but I'm tempted to grab the 200$ deal here.

The deal is good and if you can't afford komlete than get this one while it lasts, but if you are interested in any of NIs other plugins (those that come with one of the komplete packages) than get komplete as it is still a better deal.

[Whitetail]

Like it's already been stated multiple times if you're interested pick up Komplete
It has like literally everything, and even if you're not going to be using half the things I'd suggest picking it up (basically it's like getting just about everything for the price of just under 2 of their flagship plugins) - it comes with so much content.

I picked it up a few months ago and I still haven't explored everything to the fullest, I was mainly interested in getting a few of the synths but I've found myself using Kontakt more than anything else.



As for NI as a whole they're products are all rather high quality, though some may be a bit overboard on the price, but getting Komplete kinda destroys that anyways.

Kontakt - if your orchestral sounds atm suck it's definitely an improvement, but honestly I'd look into investing in some better libraries for that sort of thing to use in Kontakt, the sampler's great but the factory library isn't all the most impressive - definitely passable but it's not like amazing, you're mainly paying for the sampler here. It has a free version but it kinda limits which libraries you can use in it, I've noticed most are actually limited more with the cheaper libraries (the more experimental ones) less than the big omgamazing quality ones - I'd look into this site for some libraries if you do pick it up: http://www.soundiron.com/

Massive - honestly?
I think it's overrated
It's a good synth but it's not like the penultimate electro synth, be prepared to do a lot of post processing to clean up things you make in it if you want to make the dirty electro sounds, really it's main strength there is it's performer Envelope controller. This thing gives you massive control over envelopes to just about everything so you can craft some really intricate sounds out of it if you mess with it enough.

FM8 - aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa how does this even work these presets don't show me all that much I'm not impressed but messing with it this thing is really powerful now if only I could figure out how it works.

FM8 will get you some massive impressive sounds if you know how to use it, but that being said it's FM synthesis and FM synthesis can take a bit of work figuring out, not as bad as additive but it's still a bit complicated. Definitely rewarding though if you can figure it out, and like I said most of the presets don't really show it's capabilities much at all.

Absynth - honestly I had considered it like THE trance synth for a while

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsOppMF_7p0 - and then I saw this

I hadn't really explored it much but it's got a shit ton of synthesis options to it, this is probably the deepest synth NI offers.

Battery - :I
The built in sounds suck, most of the drum kits would take quite a bit of work to get many good sounds out of - some of them are neat but honestly I think I'm missing the focus here if I'm paying to much attention to the sounds themselves.
For a drum sampler it's pretty powerful, and not to mention pretty CPU light too so it's easy to just through sounds in if I want to edit the drums easily or get velocity control on something that's just a 1 shot sample.
I personally wouldn't buy it on it's own since most of what it does can be done manually, but getting it on Komplete I'm not complaining.

Reaktor:
Forewarning - anything in this eats up double the CPU similar standalone plugin would.
That being said it's a powerful synth construction platform..... if you don't mind the extra PC load, I wish I knew how to work it better.

--Spark - ......they're charging money for this? Jeeze I'd just include this in the factory bundle the only reason I even have it is Komplete and I've never been very enticed to explore it much since it just seems like a glorified subtractive synth, not very special in tone heck a ton of the sounds you can get out of Carbon 2 which comes with the free version of reaktor.

--Razor - fat juicy basses, razor sharp leads and some awesome format and vowel filter controls....... and it eats up CPU like none other, it has to be the most CPU intense plugin I have which sucks really because I love the tones it makes, just putting one in my tracks makes my program like 10 times glitchier so I have to resample it all the time to make it usable.

--Prism - have my babies this is like my dream synthesizer
Well really it's an awesome acoustic modelling synth so don't expect much usable in like any generic genre but if you like surreal bell and string tones it's great. The free version Mikro Prism is nice in it's own right too and can pretty competantly hit most things I've gotten in the full version so if you're not getting Komplete I'd just pick up the freeby and be done with it.

--Other stuff the full version comes with - it has a ton of synths, many of which I haven't fully messed with but it's loaded with plenty of things on hand (probably like around 20 or so synths and effects). Most of the sounds aren't all that special but they're definitely usable, more than just the average free plugin. I do really like Green Matrix which gets some pretty nice Acid sounding synths.


--Guitar Rig - it has some pretty sweet effects in it. That being said I haven't explored it all that much and unless you're doing like a ton of guitar work you'll find most everything you need in the free version.

--Traktor - an effects collection for Guitar Rig that came with Komplete
Honestly I don't find much of it useful to the point I'd use it over the native effects for Pro Tools, I use the overdrive every now and then but most of the effects don't strike me as anything all that special, I wouldn't buy it on it's own.




Hope this helps!

[Derpageddon]

^^ Wow thanks

[K3WRO]

[quote=Whitetail]
Massive - honestly?
I think it's overrated
It's a good synth but it's not like the penultimate electro synth, be prepared to do a lot of post processing to clean up things you make in it if you want to make the dirty electro sounds, really it's main strength there is it's performer Envelope controller. This thing gives you massive control over envelopes to just about everything so you can craft some really intricate sounds out of it if you mess with it enough.
[/quote]

Oh, I thought you were going to say it was overused, I can agree with that, kids pirate that thing EVERYWHERE and attempt to make dubstep or some shit out of it, but I'll stop here, I don't want to cause a flamewar, I'm just here to express my opinion.

Well, I wanted Massive a while back, it seemed useful, lot of "famous" guys use it, but after a few times of listening, I kinda gave up on it, I went for Harmor instead

I'm thinking of getting Razor by the way

[Conduit]

Whitetail basically covered everything, but I would have to disagree on Massive being overrated. In the month that I've had complete I've been able to create almost every sound that I need within massive. It may not be the best synth out there, but its really easy to learn and you can create your own sounds right when you need them.

Fm8 is also pretty good, and while I haven't spent any time making my own patches in it, there is a function where you can edit the presets to fine tune them too your needs just with a few clicks. It definitely worth the money, and I honestly wish I could do more with it.

Absynth is great, I use it mainly for pads, but I'm sure you can do a ton more with it. I just haven't had the time to dig into it.

As for Battery, I find it one of the most helpful tools included in Komplete despite the crap default kits. It makes it super easy to layer drum sounds, and to tweak and improve samples with basic effects such as reverb and chorus. It's not worth the money to buy on its own, since you can get almost the same effect using Abletons drum rack (Not sure about how other DAW's handle drums).

Reaktor: From what I hear its really powerful, but I can't even begin to figure out how I'm supposed to work it. Until I get some spare time to find out its just siting on my desktop looking pretty.

Guitar Rig has to be my favorite part of Komplete. As a guitarist, I have incredible amount of fun just playing around with the different amps and effects. If you are recording any style of guitar I highly recommend it. You can get any tone you want with just a few clicks, or go into much more detail and build up amps yourself.

As for Kontakt, Whitetail summed it up perfectly.

I hope this helps out at least a little bit.

[HMage]

I gave in and bought the whole pack for $200.

Let's see how well they fit into my workflow.

[natsukashi]

I'm getting their soundcard, so if I don't miss this offer I'll get Razor for about 10 bucks. (They provide an e-coupon on 30$)

Also, I would not say that Massive is overrated. It's more like, you usually have a problem with a crappy fanbase (yes, massive has one!) and instead you blame the product. I myself am inclined to do this quite a bit, but yes, knowing why you dislike something helps you direct your energy towards what's actually bad. (Like the fact that Massive has lousy options for arpeggios with next to no real notation control. Or the fact that you can't choose to install only the x86 or the x64 plugin, and that you can't save time by installing them in the same folder. Those are the pet peeves I can think of now.)

[senntenial]

I'm getting Razor.
I can finally afford one of these NI synthesizers.

I know! I wanna get Razor too. Already got massive (which I've gotta disagree, it's really awesome) but Razor has some neat stuff to it too.

[itroitnyah]

definitely picking up Massive today ^.^ finally won't have to use the demo version

[Indigo Spectrum]

Oh man, Razor looks reeaaally good for 40 bucks, might just get it.

[senntenial]

Is razor any good for harsh stuff? Or just liquidy wubs?

[qJesse]

>everybody throwing out dosh for these great deals
>I have no dosh

The amount of sad on my face...

[senntenial]

Just bought Razor. Gotta say I'm a bit disappointed. The sounds you can make are very limited... it's more of a toy to me than a tool. Also since I don't have Reaktor full, I can't save, even though I've bought the Razor program... Kind of silly if you ask me. Feels like I paid 40 dollars for a demo.

[Seven]

Feels like I paid 40 dollars for a demo.

I recently bought the bundle, and I'm quite happy with Razor.

Still, I'm new and just setting up my gear, so my standards might be fairly low.

[senntenial]

Razor is alright, just not really anything suited for the type of music I do, and I feel as though its limited. Mainly I'm upset at fact that I can't save presets.

[HMage]

Alright, some time has passed, I'll sum up my impression so far:

The only thing I enjoy listening to is FM8 from the bunch.

[Seven]

So, it's been a while, hugh? I haven't bought anything since, so this is how I've worked with my bundle.

At first, Razor was definitely the synth I used the most. Sound were fairly easy to make sound good in it, and thus, I used it a lot. Being the CPU hog it is, I eventually had to give up on most of my use, unless I really needed that Razor sound.

Somewhere along the line, FM8 became the more used. I didn't know much of frequency modulation when I began, but what I managed to put together did sound cool, so I continued using it. It was a fairly easy process, with two or three operators and standard waveforms. I built from there.

Now, FM8 is my second most used synth. The interface is really simple, and while it might not have the capability and variety of Sytrus, it's still really useful.

This leaves me with Massive as my n1 synth, but only as I began to understand it recently. I was frankly confused by it for a long time. I still am in some aspects of it.

I'm really satisfied with my purchase of the bundle, but as I'm planning on buying Kontakt in a near future, purchasing Komplete would be what I'm going to do instead. This will give me 'double' sets of the bundle, and essentially rendering my money for it; wasted...so the "near future" will be when I'm much more musically evolved. (And when they come with updates for Massive and/or FM8. I don't wanna buy updates)

[Lavender_Harmony]

Why on earth did you necro this? Locked.