Absynth3, Kontakt2 and Battery2 are out
 

check them out at http://www.nativeinstruments.de

Battery 2 and Kontakt 2 are must-haves. Especially Battery 2.

i used to work with Battery1 and then moved to HALion. Battery was very heavy for my CPU. i hope they fixed that in the 2

I know that Battery is a good drum sampler but is it much different than using the Redrum in Reason (I generally bounce the audio tracks out of reason and fatten them up with T-Racks). Does it have any special effects that can be applied to the drums that you can't do in Reason? I'm looking into getting it but if Reason can do the same why spend the money, ya know.

well ReDrum is one of the best drum samplers i've ever played with, but i prefer working in SX rather than Reason, and i don't like to rewire it because it is a waste of RAM, having reason running with cubase at the same time is painful for any CPU :S

Understood but what I do sometimes when I am bored is lay down a bunch of different drum tracks in Reason for future use. Trust me when I say it saves loads of time down the line.

The samples of Battery 2 is alone a good enough reason to get one. And in addition who's so insane that would prefer Reason over Battery 2. ?hih.

Please explain the key features of Battery, please.

The samples of batt2 are outstanding, Esp those afro-cuban section and timpani. :) It allows all kinds of samples to load, additional filtering, EQ, compressing, looping, tuning, panning, saturation. $200.00 is a bargain for this softy.

Indeed. Definetly one of the best software around. Light and effective. Battery 2 and DFH Superior would be a set that would have all the drums one would need (except Storm Drums if one is in majestetic soundtrack stuff).

Thanks for the link I was just being lazy. Sure looks tasty though.

I read a bit about Kontakt2 the other day - sure looks great! Need a huge machine to run it properly though. :cry:

Yep! even Kontakt1 used to eat a lot of CPU, btw, i don't know how it goes for u, but i don't like sophisticated modules too much , i mean, Kontakt2 is really great and offers a lot but i'd like to have a sampler with basic stuff (layering, envelopes, loops...) then add filters or other FX seperatly, that's why i prefer HALion which is lighter than Kontakt and simpler.

Err... Kontakt works exactly that way. The init patch only has an amplifier module.

I have Battery 1 which is where most of my percussion happens, I love it. Is it possible to upgrade this to Battery 2 though?

Yes, goto the NI site for all the details. Assuming you registered battery1 with NI, goto their shop on their website and buy battery 2 upgrade.

If I hold a picture of Kontakt infront of my Celeron 800 it turns itself off! This latest software though is really making me re-think my machine though. As a harddisk recorder it's fine, but adding software like the latest stuff around is a no go situation.

Won't be long though. :wink:

Battery is not even on the same planet as kontact. I used battery & after learning kontact & what it can do there is no reason for battery. I used absynth as well & do not any more after I got my virus. Kontact is not a cpu hog. I use Kontact for all my re-sampling. Bounce my sounds that I have recorded in cubase "usually made with my virus" & run them with the filters in Kontact using the lfo's to control the sweeps. Most everything is automatable as well. I'm using an athlon 2500 with 1gig ram & very littlle prob's. I'm still using Kontact 1.06 though.

Logic EXS24mkII sampler for drums here. Easy on the cpu, and nice sounding filters and modulation routings.

I just tried FM7 and Kontakt for the first time and I'm afraid that I'm going to have to buy em both. I had no idea softsynths sounded this good. Absynth was interesting, and I'd probly buy it if I was into making movie scores and ambient type stuff. Does the DX7 actually sound that good? If so I might have to go out and get one. Those demos made my day. Thx :)