There are improvements to routing and modulation set-ups, new time-stretching and pitch shifting algorithms and the player now offers a total of 92 built-in effects modules - enough to keep even the twitchiest sonic tweaker happy. While the complexity of new instruments requires ever greater processing power, Kontakt 6 has maintained quick load times and efficient DSP usage. I’m totally fine with this lack of new bells and whistles although the ongoing lack of a GUI re-sizing option will irritate some. The new Kontakt 6 player is a subtly enhanced continuation of previous versions and operates in more or less identical fashion while maintaining the old look.

NI’s reputation for rock-solid coding, the wide variety of great sounding instruments and large field of third-party sound library partners means any upgrade needs to be carefully implemented, and the company errs on the conservative side in terms of tweaks to its basic platform. Native Instruments Komplete with its Kontakt sample player and instrument library system has been the biggest platform in this sector for many years. I chose the Ultimate version that includes some interesting new instruments and effects, as well as 20 expansion packs. My version of Native Instruments’ Komplete was getting pretty long in the tooth so I was happy to upgrade to the the newly-released Komplete 12 version and see what new sonic treats were in store. Along with new features, layouts and graphic design eye candy, major updates can often sabotage long-favoured ways of working, make certain workflows harder to implement and altogether delete features that you thought were irreplaceable.Īudio software developers are by no means immune to the latter so it’s always with a combination of excitement and trepidation that most of us embark on major updates to our mission-critical audio programs. Anyone who’s recently had their email or bank website ‘revamped and improved’ will tell you that change isn’t always for the better.

Komplete ultimate 11 with key