NI are offering Komplete 5 for 399 euros during July. Admittedly, not all the programs are class-leaders but that strikes me as great value and I'm very tempted to pull the trigger.

Includes Akoustik Piano, Elektrik Piano, B4, Absynth, Reaktor, Massive, Battery, FM8, Pro 53, Kontackt 3 and Guitar Rig.

So many sales these days, I don't bother to post them anymore.

But this one caught my eye due to the timing, as normally they update Komplete in August/September, but now it's been two years.

My guess, as the Guitar Rig hardware is also on steep sale, is that a massive (no pun intended) update of Komplete is near.

Oh, this isn't meant to take away from the sale.

It is still economical to buy a blown-out Komplete 5 and pay the upgrade for Komplete 6 (or whatever they call it -- I wouldn't be surprised if they change the packaging and contents this time).

Another reason to suspect Komplete 6 is around the corner is that they are putting the finishing touches on both Kontakt 3.5 and Kontakt Player 3.5, which support 64-bits.

Also, Snow Leopard is due in September. They are probably busily preparing compatibility and wouldn't want to waste a release by having to do a quick followup.

I always found their spellings interesting.

And for $399 here in the US. Such dollar/euro pricing parity is unusual these days.

Best,

Geoff

The spellings are normal. In German, the "C" is rarely used for the hard-K sound. But I think they might go overboard on that. I don't know German well enough to know.

This came up recently regarding the Plugiator, which people thought was an odd name until I looked it up in my German dictionary and found that it is an actual German word and thus not some cutesy marketing name.

That is a great price but I also suspect it means an update is around the corner. I would consider buying a second license of Komplete if not for the soon to come update charge for the next version.

Good grief, I can't believe people are so suspicious anytime there's a low price on anything! This goes back to the marketing slogan that if you price anything below $49 people will assume it's trash and not buy it.

What the heck difference does it make? These are great plug-ins that will STILL WORK after they come out with the next version, and the upgrade price last time around was less than $200, so even if you feel impelled to update IMMEDIATELY upon release of whatever comes next, you're paying well less than half the price of the next product.

If you wait, you have only yourself to blame, because you will have to pay twice as much.

This is a golden opportunity for people to buy into Kontakt and get other stuff for free. People are constantly avoiding buying great sample libraries because they don't want to have to invest in Kontakt. So they cummulatively spend more on inferior libraries (not that only Kontakt libraries are good, but it's the standard right now, except for standalone stuff like VSL and PLAY, so most of the best non-proprietary format libraries right now are in their most advanced state when using Kontakt KSP scripting).

Are they rounding out the package with free copies of '80s Chick Corea albums?

Mark makes a good point here. Even if v6 is just around the corner, it doesn't mean that this version will suddenly stop working, will it?

There's a huge amount of usefulness and enjoyment in there at effectively 30 UKP per item.

Well, I pulled the trigger. Will let you know what I think in about six months time, I expect - there looks a lot to get through.

OK, so I went back and checked it out again.
Was too good a deal to pass on, so I scored it.
Ever since Tascam flushed Gigastudio down the toilet, my libraries have sat idle.
It will be nice to get them fired up again in Kontakt, which I was thinking of picking up for $289 anyway. Everything else is serious gravy, if a little duplication.
As Aidan said, see you in 6 mths.

Yeah, I couldn't resist either. My sound sources currently consist of a Korg TR rompler, a Casio PX-320 that serves mainly as a weighted controller, and only a handful of software stuff (Reason 4 w/ Reason Pianos, EZ-drummer, Lounge-Lizard EP's, various freeware vst's, and... well... that's about it). So I think I'm long overdue for some new sounds to work with and inspire me. Also, I took advantage of the 4th of July sale that guitar center has right now and snagged it for about $360, and that's including the $20 or so tax added. I think that's a hell of a deal, imminent update or not!

It does miracles for their Google-Fu. Kontakt and Komplete are at the top of the list - with Contact and Complete, that's much, much harder.


This is what I did with Komplete 4 and I still got off the hook for far, far cheaper than buying the new full Komplete 5.

As for packaging; I'm wondering what they're going to include. Kontakt 3.5 is just too much for just an EP or Piano, but Kontakt alone doesn't mean much as an upgrade (nothing happened to Massive/Pro53/FM8, and from 4 to 5 Vokator and Spektral Delay were taken out).

Either it'll just be a fluke, or they've kept the lid on the new software really really tight.

As I mentioned already, those are the legitimate German spellings for those words.

I'm guessing we'll see Pro-54 (not that I care since I have a P '08), and an update to Reaktor.

Maybe also some new sample content for Kontakt, or even the Kore software and/or Kore Packs.

Someone else suggested they may throw in the discontinued Bandstand.

Let the GAS begin ... ooops ... scuze me.

Typically NI introduces new soft synths and after some time includes them in the Komplete collection. I am under the impression Kontakt 3.5 will be a free update for 3.0 users. They have not typically charged for .xx updates.

So Komplete 6 could include Kore with or without some Kore SoundPacks or maybe Maschine.

Komplete 5 at $399 is outstanding. BTW, the NI instruments work well live as they can be made to respond to MIDI program changes. The exception would be if you use MainStage which traps incoming PC for its own use.

Busch.

Complete in German is Komplett, not Komplete .

According to my dictionary, it's "komplette", so we're both wrong -- but I simply didn't notice the second "t" in such small print. :-)

Another way of looking at it is that we're both right. :-)

Quatsch!
Complete means "Komplett"
The complete collection means "Die komplette Sammlung"
... so, komplette is the conjugated adjective.

Se German has spoken!

Also, in those cases you can believe the Dutch people. After all, they speak German with a strange accent.
Een prettige avond wens ik. (of zo, weet niet of dat juist was)

Russian is so much easier.

Particularly for drummers

Ooh, now we're getting into those spelling problems again. :-)

Did I say see you in six months? I've been installing it all afternoon and still haven't dragged over the piano samples!

I just ordered it about 20 min. ago

Bill

Man I too am seriously tempted by this. So far I don't have any of the NI stuff (at least legally) and this seems like a mind blowing value. As someone said, this stuff doesn't become obsolete if it still sounds good. I may pull the trigger very soon....

Bill and Bobby, you won't regret it. I've spent most of the day exploring and I'm very happy with my purchase so far. This feedback is not very thorough for obvious reasons but a few observations.

* I'd heard mixed things about Akoustik Piano but so far I'm really quite impressed. All the grands are better than the Art Vista VGP I'd been using before. The Bosie does least for me, but for all three models I think you need to work on them. I found the Steinway a bit harsh out of the box but once I'd rolled off a little top EQ I got a gorgeous sound which, combined with my RD's action, is very addictive! The Bechstein is really good, too. Disclosure: I don't have Ivory to compare, but these pianos don't leave me in a hurry to acquire it.

* Kontakt: Some really impressive sample sets. I'm a sucker for woodwinds so the oboe, cor and ethnic whistles all got good try-outs. Nice. The nylon and jazz guitars also got quite a lot of play time from me.

* Elektrik Piano: Some really good Rhodes sounds, which I prefer to both Lounge Lizard Session and EVP88 (which I have too). Not so sure about the Wurlis, but may just need a bit of tweaking.

* FM8: An unexpected highlight, with everything from classic DX-style sounds to very freaky stuff you'd more expect from Abysnth.

Loads more I haven't tried, so back to it for now...!

Thanks Aidan, still waiting on mine to show.

Thanks for the encouragement Aidan. I actually bought it moments after posting that last night. So it'll be here in the mail in a couple days. I've used the Elektrik piano before and thought it was decent, but with everything else I have no experience. I have Logic 8 and all the great plug ins that it comes with, but I felt like it was time to expand my sonic palette and for this price I couldn't resist.