New Product Announcement: Native Instruments Komplete 8

Native Instruments Komplete 7 was big. You'll likely never discover every sound! Time to be bowled over by the recent Komplete 8 announcement. It's huge! Read on to discover the major new features.  

The Native Instruments juggernaut collection of Audio Instruments & Effects just got even bigger. Native Instruments has announced the all new Komplete 8 and it's bigger than expected. To complete the Komplete 8 package are new versions of Kontakt, now at version 5, Guitar Rig 5 Pro and, a completely new product, Guitar Rig 5 Kontrol.

Komplete now comes in two flavours, Komplete 8 and Komplete 8 Ultimate. The later weighs in at over 240GB and includes over 50 different NI products. In fact, it's so massive (sic) that it comes on a USB 2.0 external drive. Say goodbye hours spent installing from 20 DVDs!

Learn more about the differences between Komplete 8 and Komplete 8 Ultimate here. In this article let's take a brief look at some of the new features and products in both Komplete bundles. 


Kontakt 5

Kontakt 5 has been given what appears to be a significant upgrade. Included are new Pro Effects which are available as separate products, such as the Solid G-EQ, Solid Bus Comp, a Transient Master (can't wait to try that!) and a Tape Saturator. There are also 37 new filters from low pass to formant filters some of which utilise a new adaptive resonance tech. Apparently this prevents unwanted distortion and harshness related to resonance peaks...

Transient Master is also a separate plugin

Transient Master is also a separate plugin.


I'm personally looking forward to getting my hands on these new features: The new vintage sampling modes (designed to imitate the behaviour of MPC60 and SP1200), the new time-stretching algorithms designed for melodic material and the Channel Bus system and MIDI File Support! Imagine creating instruments that can play patterns. Tasty!


Guitar Rig 5 Pro

Native Instruments describe the new update to Guitar Rig as the gold standard for guitar and bass. Of note are two new amps, six new effects (including a filterbank, resochord, and a convolution reverb based on Reflektor).

Reflektor, a convolution reverb unit

Reflektor, a convolution reverb unit.


There's a new multi-effect container which is a great way to create, store and recall multi-effects and custom channel strips. Each container has 8 macro controls designed to give simple control over your sound.

Something to get excited about, beyond the 130 new included presets, is the addition of side-chaining right inside Guitar Rig. The more I consider the benefits of production features like this, the more I start to see Guitar Rig being particularly useful as a stand alone live performance tool for guitarists.


Other New Stuff

In Komplete 8 there are now 4 new products. Studio Drummer (which includes 2500 grooves), Transient Master, West Africa (rhythms and instruments) and Retro Machines MK2. Absynth, Massive and FM8 are all given some love, too, with 1,300 additional sounds over those included in Komplete 7.

Discovery Series: West Africa

Discovery Series: West Africa.

Studio Drummer, with over 2500 professional grooves.

Studio Drummer, with over 2,500 professional grooves.


So, what is the value of Komplete 8 Ultimate over regular Komplete you might ask. The good people at Native Instruments have provided a useful comparison chart to outline the differences. At a glance, Ultimate has everything you could possibly want! 50 included NI products as opposed to Komplete's 27, a sample library more than double the size of its predecessor. Interestingly, Razor is included with the Utimate bundle only, as are the Strings and Cinematic Evolve Mutations 1 and 2 and Session Strings Pro. More Effects, drum and percussion, guitar & bass and piano & keys libraries, too.


Pricing & Availability

And the pricing? Ultimate is RRP $1,099 / €999 (compared to $6,350 / €5530 if all products are bought individually!) while Komplete 8 goes for $559 / €499. If you own Komplete already (from version 2 to 7) you can upgrade to Komplete 8 Ultimate from $559 / €499 or to standard Komplete 8 for $229 / €199.

Expect to see Komplete 8 Ultimate and Komplete 8 available world-wide at your favourite music retailer from September 1st of this year!


Excited? Let us know in the comments below!

Want to learn more about all aspects of the Kurrent (sorry!) Komplete package? Check out these Native Instruments Komplete tutorials '" and there are more in production as I type this!

Rounik is the Executive Editor for Ask.Audio & macProVideo. He's built a crack team of professional musicians and writers to create one of the most visited online resources for news, review, tutorials and interviews for modern musician and producer. As an Apple Certified Trainer for Logic Pro Rounik has taught teachers, professional... Read More

Discussion

everythingbutthegirl
This is outrages,,,,, I struggle with lots of the stuff I already and now NI have added more.

Crazy.... exciting!

As I'm typing this I'm updating to Komplete 8 to marry with Maschine. Just 2 disks to go.

Neat!

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