Buying a Load of Software (1300ish Euros) - Advice Please

JC Biffro

JC Biffro

New member
Hey ya'll,

So I've decided that now is the time to start taking this seriously and for that, I need some new sounds. I was looking at copping:

* Ik Multimedia Total Workstation XL (240 euros)
* Spectrasonics Omnisphere (380 euros)
* Komplete8 Ultimate (700 euros)



It's a long shot, but I remember in November last year, there were huge discounts on pretty much all the plugins. Realistically, I do have enough sounds to last me until November, but does anyone remember if any of the 3 were significantly cheaper in November? Or am I likely to be paying that much regardless?

Thanks people.
 
You seem to be paying abut the going rate for each (and whilst the discounts were heavy, I don't think that you are wasting your money buying now, may even qualify for some ehftily reduced upgrade costs if they a new version in the off)
 
If you have any of these or not, just saying this in case you don't. In this order.

1. A powerful computer. No.....powerful. Quad Core or better. 8 gigs of ram or better. Up to date hard drives that can handle music production. If you do have a great hard drive (like a 500 gb) then cool. But I would go for a 200 gb or more solid state drive that is as fast as you can get. Your computer is the most important right now, so if it is not extremely powerful, then those instruments won't be as fun....will cause headaches and unnecessary file bouncing which may affect creativity.

2. Midi keyboard. This is just person pref though....since people would argue (lol) that Lex Luger and other well known producers only used a mouse. Me...I would rather have a midi keyboard controller than some high dollar sounds. You can have good quality sounds to start with. Komplete Elements is like $60.....good enough to hold you. Plenty of sounds out there for free that will hold you til you ready again. It just feels better to hit play than to click, tweak a sound with a knob than using a mouse.

3. IMO Komplete Ultimate is a waste....why not get Komplete for $400 and add sounds to your N.I library as you feel the need? Komplete has enough sounds to hold you til you get specific and want a certain type of bass sound, live drum sound, ect. Komplete comes with Kontaktm which means your not limited to just N.I sounds. And there are some high quality stuff out there for Kontakt that's free. Reaktor.....woah....Komplete by itself is overkill. lol! Then Battery 3.......that's why I say Ultimate is a waste. For that extra $300 they throwing in a few sounds you may not care about that much....and you can always add them later anyway....like when they have those big sales again or when you feel the need for a specific sound. That's $300 you can use towards...a midi keyboard if you don't have one....some headphones or monitors...you girlfriend something nice for valentines..ect.

Just my 2 cent.
 
901_Rice_Street said:
If you have any of these or not, just saying this in case you don't. In this order.

1. A powerful computer. No.....powerful. Quad Core or better. 8 gigs of ram or better. Up to date hard drives that can handle music production. If you do have a great hard drive (like a 500 gb) then cool. But I would go for a 200 gb or more solid state drive that is as fast as you can get. Your computer is the most important right now, so if it is not extremely powerful, then those instruments won't be as fun....will cause headaches and unnecessary file bouncing which may affect creativity.
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Im not sure a solid state HD is going to help him much with the stuff he is buying. Let alone getting one as fast as he can get... Might be better to read the specification for Omnisphere. As for komplete, none of it is that power / storage hungry is it?

I agree about Ultimate, all you get is a massive pile of samples and some processors that you can only use effectively if you have experience with compressors and EQ (otherwise they would do the same job as a DAWs processors.) Omnisphere will provide all the sounds that the sample packs with Komplete could give you. With Komplete you get FM8, Massive, Absynth and Reaktor... to go out and buy those, and get omnisphere all at once, youll just spend 19 months wading through presets. Komplete is a good thing to buy early on I think. Get it and learn its synths and FX. Then later, buy Omnisphere if you think you are missing something.

Then, as Rice Street says, you can spend that money on a midi keyboard or some monitor headphones.

Final thought: Make sure you get demos first! Especially with DAWs. If the DAW makes sense during a time limited demo, its the one to pick.
 
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yeah, I have to say that my reaction to the SSD recommendation was bewilderment - for the OS yes, go for it. For applications and libraries waste of time. Also having an audio spec'd hdd for a scratch disk is where it is really at; otherwise get 1tb drives for system/applications and another for projects, with a blu-ray burner for offline storage writing.
 
Sorry, I guess my initial post was a bit misleading.

I'm not a noob or anything, I have a decent computer, audio interface, MIDI keyboard, MPC, monitors, 4 pairs of headphones etc etc, I was looking to invest in some more expensive software. For example, I use VSTs like Purity, FM8, Kontakt (free version), Nexus etc, but see the software in my initial post as 'Elite' so to speak.

Regardless, thanks for the comments. I don't want to fit in the hat of 'The Preset Guy', but until I properly learn synthesis, 19 months worth of presets sounds very appealing to me right now. :p
 
Still wouldn't buy everything at once - buy one of those (if you take Komplete, carefully estimate whether or not the stuff in Ultimate is worth the extra $), see what it has to offer, then choose the next one to patch up what the first one's missing.
 
krushing said:
Still wouldn't buy everything at once - buy one of those (if you take Komplete, carefully estimate whether or not the stuff in Ultimate is worth the extra $), see what it has to offer, then choose the next one to patch up what the first one's missing.
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I don't suppose you know whether there's an actual difference between the free Kontakt and the paid Kontakt other than you get more sounds with the paid Kontakt? That may sway my decision as I must admit, I'm leaning more towards Omnisphere out of the 3.
 
JC_Biffro said:
I don't suppose you know whether there's an actual difference between the free Kontakt and the paid Kontakt other than you get more sounds with the paid Kontakt? That may sway my decision as I must admit, I'm leaning more towards Omnisphere out of the 3.
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There's a big difference - the free version is, well, just a sample playback machine; it doesn't really allow any editing or scripting, while the full version...well, there's a reason why it's the industry standard. The feature list is huge (up to a point where many would say it's starting to be very bloated), and there's basically no limit to what you can do with it. There's a comparison chart here, but it's a bit of an understatement in regards to what phrases such as "extensive instrument editing" and "Kontakt script processor" actually mean. The free version doubles as a time-limited demo of what you can do with the full one, so that's the best starting point of digging into it. "More sounds" is just scratching the surface :)
 
krushing said:
There's a big difference - the free version is, well, just a sample playback machine; it doesn't really allow any editing or scripting, while the full version...well, there's a reason why it's the industry standard. The feature list is huge (up to a point where many would say it's starting to be very bloated), and there's basically no limit to what you can do with it. There's a comparison chart here, but it's a bit of an understatement in regards to what phrases such as "extensive instrument editing" and "Kontakt script processor" actually mean. The free version doubles as a time-limited demo of what you can do with the full one, so that's the best starting point of digging into it. "More sounds" is just scratching the surface :)
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stillfunkin said:
i own all three of these products... and would not buy them all at once... instead of making music you will be flipping thru sounds/patches... with that said... i would start out with komplete and not the Ultimate... there is a lot material in the komplete package... and go from there...

another point... instead of thinking in line of how many sounds/patches/instruments you have... you should start categorizing them... i.e. synths, drums, percussion, piano, electric piano, horn, strings, woodwinds, guitar... i say this because if you have komplete which includes Reaktor, Absynth, Massive, FM 8 there is no need to purchase omnisphere at the same time... they are all synths...

in my opinion... purchasing IK Multimedia Bundle is taking a step backwards when you are talking about Komplete and Omnisphere in the same sentence... there is no comparison in quality...

last point... it sounds very impressive to own tons of vst/instruments... but it makes no sense to have all that stuff if you are not going to use them... as i said earlier... i do own these products... but started with komplete 1 and "now" i am on komplete utlimate 8... before getting omnisphere... i spent years with atmosphere... take your time and purchase one item at a time... learn that product to the fullest... then go to the next item/product... but to purchase a ton of stuff at one time is a "waste"... i.e. no music will be written!!!!

good luck!!!
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Cheers for the advice fellars. The Komplete 8 standard edition will be from where I start. :)

---------- Post added 02-12-2013 at 01:31 PM ---------- Previous post was 02-04-2013 at 04:43 PM ----------

Just bought the Komplete 8 standard edition - cost me £351 in the end, which is incredible value for what's on offer.

Can't wait for the damn thing to arrive now!! :)
 
im not saying your doing this but alot of people think that because they spend the most money on gear that theyll make the best music. im not saying this is cool but i havnt paid a cent for ANY of my daw's or vst's and i definetly take my music serious. i have however upgraded my ram to 16 and have some midi controllers and hardware that i paid for. and to be honest all those vst's is just going to take up space. it would be better to make sure u have ram and a good commputer a good daw with maybe ozone or some professional program for mixing and three or four vst's. i know komplete 8 has hella so its like why you need all those extra vst's when it takes months just to be really fluent with ONE. not tryna tell you how to setup your shit if you can afford it go ahead. but dont be another sucker that makes these companies rich and you end up not using or needing half the ish you bought. peace
 
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