my 2 cents:
I chose Spitfire Mural String Ensemble. I bought the strings library and just received the download link email. It turns out that the string library requires the full version of NI Kontakt to run. I've never owned a version of Kontakt so I'm starting from scratch. I looked it up and it's $399 for standalone Kontakt 5! So I thought, maybe they bundle it into their larger products. At least that way I'd get more bang for my buck! I found that Kontakt 5 comes bundled with Komplete. Kool.
All the NI stuff goes on sale at least once a year, but not at the same time every year, and not always for the same discount - but you can count on some kind of 50% off upgrades / cross grades etc. at some point during the year.
You have to research what is included in Komplete vs. Komplete Ultimate and whether its worth the extra money to get the bigger package for you. For me it was, but I also got is several years back when they had several 50% upgrade / cross grades so I was able to cross grade Kontakt player to Kontakt full version as I had a LASS LIBRARY ALREADY and that was $199. There was then a 50% cross grade to Complete Ultimate 8 that I think was $499. SO I ended up paying less than the full version of Komplete Ultimate but still a lot.
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Here's the tricky part:
Native Instruments JUST announced Komplete 11, available for pre-order, officially coming out Sept. 1. They've removed all traces of Komplete 10 from their site, so even if I wanted to buy 10, I'd have to go through a 3rd party. Not the end of the world, but why buy 10 when 11 is right around the corner... right?
again. research what is included in K11. In K Ultimate 11 there are some string and brass and ww libraries that are cut down versions of their current symphony series. I haven't used or seen what the cut down articulations are in the lite versions but it might be that you could hold off on the Spitfire strings for a bit. There are also other libraries included in the Ultimate version like Damage, which although it has been used to death by everyone still has some really useful sounds. There are a lot of other things as well in the Ultimate package.
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So my question is this. Do I have to just sit on this string library for a month and not touch it just so I don't have to shell out $400 for the standalone Kontakt? According to the download email I got from Spitfire, it will only work with "Kontakt 5" and won't work with "Kontakt Player 5" which is the free version.
This may or may not be reality. In the past anytime you loaded up a Kontakt patch meant for the full version in the player, you got 20 minutes to work with it before it times out and goes into demo mode. Which for a lot of things could work fine if you can work quickly and commit your MIDI to audio. Or Just save and shut down your session and reopen it - with the caveat that usually any customization you did in Kontact player would not necessarily be saved.
but I know I can't submit things I've been writing with cheesy sounding instruments.
what have you been using up to now? for pizzicato strings like in dramedy, just about any package can be pressed into service. For the other genres I understand.
