How do I convert my Proteus X libraries into Kontakt 4?

Sorry - I have seen fragments on this but haven't found an answer all in one place.

I own most if not all of the Proteus X libraries (Composer, Mo Phat, etc.) and while I used to use Emulator X2 to play the sounds it does not seem to work on Windows 7.

So, I would like to convert all of these 1500 to 2000 sounds to work in Kontakt 4. I do know that they are all available for purchase, but since I already paid for these once, I would just like to be able to import/convert or whatever to get them to work in Kontakt 4.

Can someone please point me to info on how to do this?

Thanks SOOOOO much

Robert Bone

 

Perhaps try with Extreme Sample Converter 3 or something.

 

yep, extreme sample converter is probably the only way as I don't believe Kontakt can read proteus x files, I wish it could because I have some I'd like to use in there as well.

For the price of extreme sample converter you could probably just get the kontakt versions from digitalsoundfactory.com

 

True. Could also look at Chicken Systems Translator (though I haven't checked to see if they support X2).

 

i've looked at all of them lol, extreme sample converter seems to be the best, of course I only used the demo but...just sayin lol. It was the only one that could actually read them.

 

Robert, I assume you have a 64-bit version of Windows 7. E-mu hasn't upgraded Proteus to work with that, and I've heard of others who are having problems getting it to work there, even though other 32-bit VSTis work fine.

E-mu has just (as of April 5) released beta versions of 64-bit drivers for most of their sound cards, so who knows what their plans are for Proteus.

It would be a shame if you had to buy the sounds all over again, but while you weigh the pros and cons of buying something you've already bought once, you might want to take into consideration your time. Right now, E-mu is offering the Proteus Pack for $149. That's $100 off list, and it includes "the Proteus 2000, Mo' Phatt, Virtuoso Strings. Virtuoso Wind, Brass, & Percussion, Xtreme Lead-1, Planet Earth, and Vintage Pro" (according to their Web site). That's less than $.10 per patch for the 1500 you have!

I don't know about you, but for $150, I'd rather not try to convert 1,500 to 2,000 samples when someone else has done it for me (and probably did a better job configuring them with Kontakt than I would have done!).

All in all, I'd like to see E-mu step up and update Proteus for Windows 7. The samples are "native" to it (moreso than any other player), and unless they completely recreated the patches for Kontakt (and incorporated Kontakt's effects and other peculiarities), you'll probably end up playing samples of Proteus samples!

 

no doubt...I'd def look at getting the kontakt versions, and I doubt they are samples of samples, but rather the same content from the modules just optimized for the kontakt format...

same thing he did for structure, dimension, soundfont, etc....

he's working with the original sample content and was one of the main if not THE main engineer on those modules...I'm sure they are awesome.

kontakt is already 64 bit...and it looks like he put a bunch of the same controls from the modules into the kontakt scripts.

 

That's good to know. E-mu doesn't say much about how the sounds were created (at least, I couldn't find anything on the site), so I wasn't sure. For only $149, these would be a great deal then.

Unfortunately, this won't help you much if all your songs point to the Proteus plug-in. But, if E-mu isn't going to update their software, you don't have much choice.
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I just noticed E-mu and Digital Sound Factory are giving away some Proteus patches in Dimension and Kontakt (and SoundFont) formats. I'm going to check them out to see if there are any noticeable differences.

If anyone wants to get some (otherwise) free sounds, check them out here: http://www.digitalsoundfactory.com/dsf_examples.php Registration is required, and be warned: they ask for your phone number...though not your area code (wink, wink).

 

Proteus & E-mu sounds ported to Dimension aren't the same

Well, after an informal test, I'm a bit disappointed to say that the Proteus sounds that Digital Sound Factory are selling for Dimension simply are not the same as the sounds that were in Proteus.

I downloaded DSF's "Dimension E-mu Proteus Pack Examples", which they're offering for free on their Web site right now. Where possible, I compared those Proteus sounds with the ones in Proteus VX.

Here's what I found:

• 
  The sounds are a bit quieter than the ones that were in Proteus, and they all seemed a bit "softer" overall.

• The sounds don't take advantage of any of Dimension's killer envelopes, filters or effects. Basically, they're all "static" samples. Sounds that are similar in Proteus already have the effects programmed into them. In Dimension, they ALL have the same "Mid Room" reverb.

• The sounds don't appear to be multi-sampled.

• Sounds that are the same in Dimension and Proteus (for example, "Grusty"), are not the same. In Dimension, Grusty is a thin, slightly bright acoustic guitar sound with a noticeable loop. In Proteus, the sound is a bit darker, warmer and more full-bodied. You don't hear the loop, but you do hear a bit of fret noise--which to me makes it even better. In Proteus, Grusty also has a nice reverb. In Dimension, the patch has the same generic reverb that's on all the "repurposed" Proteus sounds.

• Sounds that are the same in Dimension and Proteus don't have the same velocity sensitivity or articulation. In Proteus, the sounds get brighter and louder. In Dimension, they just get a bit louder.

• The previous two points are even more obvious on "Huge Brass" and "Miami Grand". Proteus' filters, effects and velocity sensitivity are so much a part of these sounds that the static samples in Dimension sound like General MIDI patches by comparison.

I could go on, but I think you get the point. I love Dimension (and Proteus), and these sounds probably could have been great in it, but it appears Digital Sound Factory didn't take the time to re-create them properly, and that's a shame. On the "plus" side, this made me appreciate Proteus' sounds all the more!

I don't know if these issues would be the same with the Kontakt sounds, but I have no reason to believe they wouldn't. I think it's time to petition E-mu to update Proteus for Windows 7!

 

I don't know IDK about the Dimension Pro proteus samples, since Dimension is a fairly featureless sampler. But here is what Tim had to say RE: The Kontakt Proteus pack:

Hi,

The Proteus Pack for Kontakt contains the original hardware ROM samples. We matched the Kontakt instruments as close as possible to the hardware using the Kontakt engine parameters. The only parameters missing are E-MU 14 pole filters and the arpegiator.

We set up the interface to allow users instant control over parameters and make changes on the fly! In other words, if you do not completely like the patch, turn the knobs and customize your own sounds.

Thanks for checking.

Best Regards,

Tim

Thread: http://www.native-instruments.com/forum/showthread.php?t=107324

 

True, as a sample player, Dimension doesn't have as many features as Kontakt, but it's not really in the same league, either. It costs about half of what Kontakt does, but it's also used by more people, I'd bet, since the it comes with many versions of SONAR (either in an LE version or as the full product).

The Kontakt sounds might be better; I'll check them out tonight (even though I'd already deleted them all).

I just don't see why they'd go through all the trouble to make the Kontakt patches sound great while leaving the Dimension ones relatively "bare"--especially if they're charging the same price for them.

 

Same problem with the Kontakt patches

Ben, I don't know if you checked this for yourself, but the Kontakt samples that DSF is giving away suffer from the same problems the Dimension ones do. I compared Kontakt/Proteus patches with the Proteus sounds themselves, just like the first time. They're simply no better than the Dimension ones.

The Kontakt patches are different than the ones they're giving away for Dimension, but they all still have the same generic reverb, no filters or envelopes to speak of, and they're all pretty "dull".

This isn't to say that the patches DSF is selling are bad...but since they're giving these away as a teaser/demo, I seriously doubt they made them this bad on purpose.

I encourage others to test this for themselves. Or, I can upload a short example sample , if anyone would like.

I have nothing against DSF. In fact, I was considering buying the Proteus sounds once I found out they were on sale.

 

Hi Steve,

No I didn't actually check. I don't own the HW modules to do a comparison, I just thought that they might be more in the ballpark than the Dimension Pro versions.

It doesn't surprise me that they do not sound the same as their hardware counterparts, as Emu hardware has a very distinct sound about it.

Maybe if an IR could be taken from the hardware units and then applied to the Kontakt instruments you could get closer? IDK.

Please put up your comparisons though, as I'm sure many people are interested in this.

 

Digital Sound Factory Proteus/Kontakt sample test

Here are the results of another quick, informal test of DSF's Proteus 2000 sounds "converted" (my term) to Konktakt format.

Proteus VX and Kontakt 4 VST instruments were loaded into SONAR 6.2, with all settings at "default". No extra processing was applied. The audio file was saved as a 24-bit/44.1kHz .WAV file and converted in SoundForge to a 320kbps .MP3 file using highpass triangular dithering. (Sure it's overkill, but at least no one will be able to say the .MP3 conversion ruined the test!)

The first sound is "PrettyLushEP" from the Proteus VX, and consists of a short run and a quick chord stab.

The second sound is "PrettyLushEP" from the Kontakt 4, with the same short run and quick chord stab. The patch came from "DSF Kontakt Proteus Pack Examples" available here: http://www.digitalsoundfactory.com/dsf_examples.php

According to "Tim" from DSF, "The Proteus Pack for Kontakt contains the original hardware ROM samples. We matched the Kontakt instruments as close as possible to the hardware using the Kontakt engine parameters. The only parameters missing are E-MU 14 pole filters and the arpegiator [sic]." In an earlier test, I found that Dimension Pro patches from the same Web site sound just as bad as Kontakt ones do in this example.

I do not post this to disparage DSF in any way. I post this so that others may make their own conclusions as to the quality of these sounds before they spend their money. There may have been a serious error in the files that were posted on DSF's Web site as "demos" of what the company is selling for $149/$249 (depending upon the sale). I'd like to give them the benefit of the doubt, but having tested the Dimension and Kontakt patches, I'm convinced the problem is not with the sample players.

View attachment 18558

Enjoy!

 

That sounds very different. Lack of effects programming into the Kontakt version, yes?

 

PlanetEarth thanks for the research. I have quite a few modules in proteus vx, I'd love to be able to use them when I move to my new 64 bit machine lol. I'm hoping they will code an update!

Has anyone contacted Emu about this? I love that the Proteus VX sounds just like the modules, keyboards, and command stations I had from Emu.

 

No problem.

I'll admit the Proteus VS wasn't my "go-to" synth when I first got it. I liked some of the patches, but they weren't quite the style I was doing at the time. Since I started looking into it deeper though, I've really come to appreciate the work they did on the patches, and I'll be using them more. (Of course, this puts me in the same boat as the rest of you when I finally go to Windows 7!)

And the ones from DSF make me appreciate the original patches all the more, to be brutally honest. It's not that the DSF sounds suck--it's just that the subtle nuances (of filters, envelopes and effects) that were lost in the translation were what separated the Proteus patches from being just another bunch of (almost-monophonic) stale, lifeless samples.

I really hope E-mu is working on this, but I doubt it would be a priority. They finally came up with beta versions of 64-bit drivers for their sound cards, so they're obviously in no rush.

And I hope DSF finds out there's something wrong and posts the correct patches on their Web site--if they have better ones.
---

It's not just that, Evil (mind if I call you "Evil"? I like to think we're all on a first-name basis here).

If you listen closely, you'll hear that they sampled the Proteus electric piano patch with its effects. Unfortunately, since they narrowed the stereo width on all the patches I heard, you almost can't hear the stereo ping-pong delay on the original Proteus patch. It's there, but not as loud or obvious as in the original, and it's all but mono.

In the Kontakt and Dimension patches I reviewed from DSF, they put a standard medium-room reverb onto every patch, regardless of what was on the original Proteus patch. They applied no filters, effects or envelopes that I could see, except on one Dimension patch. All the other Dimension patches suffer from the same problems as the Kontakt patches.

From what's stated on their Web site, and what "Tim" said about the conversion process, I have to/am trying hard to imagine there's just something wrong with these patches. Unfortunately, since they've been out there for a while, I'm pretty sure that's not the case.

 

I think the issue here is, Proteus VX is a direct representation of the hardware engine, it has all the filters and everything, when I downloaded it ( couldn't believe it was free) I immediately recognized the layout and features as they were identical to all the emu hardware I had sold lol.

They can try, but without the same engine I just don't think it will sound as good. For those that haven't tried proteus vx or never owned any emu gear, they probably won't notice the difference because they samples still have the similar "sound" they just don't have all the character of the originals.

I love what dsf is doing though, it allows you to get the classic emu sounds into your own environment, where most people will tweak them in their own favorite sampler. Plus, it allows you t use them in a 64 bit setup lol

 

True, the Proteus VS might be a more direct representation of the original hardware engine. They could have ported most of the original programming, I'd imagine.

And I'd be (relatively) fine if these were "close" approximations--like the hundreds of Moog and Prophet samples out there that don't really come close. But Tim stated:

To me, that's a bit misleading, since it's pretty obvious that the Kontakt patches are just samples of the Proteus sounds. They're not synthesized. They don't evolve. They don't breathe. They're snapshots of the original Proteus patches, condensed down to (almost) mono.

I was excited about getting all those Proteus sounds for $149, too! But you're right: while they sound similar to the originals, they don't have the character of them.

At any rate, I think we've scared off the original poster. This might have been more info than he wanted!

 

Since there's no space between Evil and Dragon (which means that "EvilDragon" is my first, middle and last name, kinda? XD), you can call me ED for short, since that's how a lot of people is already accustomed to on all the other forums I inhabit