Kore 2 Alternatives

With my purchase of Komplete 11 Ultimate, I am finally thinking about reducing my dependency on Kore 2, and possibly eliminating the software and devices from my systems.

Am I on the right track here? I have two hardware devices and all the software, plus the old Kore packs from the Great Death to Kore Fire Sale. But I must admit that outside of testing it to make sure it works with OS upgrades, I really haven't powered it up in over 18-24 months. And now that K11U is so far away from the Komplete versions that worked with Kore2, I'm thinking of looking at either the Akai Advance or starting some research to see what else is out there, with the idea that I can possibly eliminate this software and hardware, thereby reducing the complexity of my environment.

I do have Komplete Kontrol S49, but have kind of been out of the game, so I don't really know if KKS would provide some of the old Kore functionality by now or not.

Does anybody have any experience with this, or...on the flip side of the argument, can anybody tell me if they think I should try harder to hang on to Kore 2 for a few years longer?

If you have suggestions for alternates, I'd love to hear them.

 

http://www.mutools.com/mux-product.html
https://www.image-line.com/plugins/Tools/Patcher/

 

Thank you for the links. I'll look at them, but I really would like your input too. For example,

Are you a user of these, or are you just aware of them?
If you're a user/customer, why do you like these?

Thanks!

 

...no, I'm not a user - these are just two that came to mind, that may be able to provide similar things that Kore does. However, it would depend on how you used Kore - as a workstation/instrument layer or as a sound design framework/effect rack. For the former I use Maschine now and for the latter I still use Kore (especially for its morphing capabilities). I still hope that some of these features might be reintroduced in the future within an NI framework - either within Maschine/Komplete Kontrol and maybe Guitar Rig.

I just saw that Patcher might only be for FL Studio, which is weird, as I'm pretty sure, that I used it as a VST, while I was also looking for alternatives for Kore. But I didn't look at it for long, as I decided to keep on using Kore for as long as I can (I have some Kore soundpacks, too, but I mainly use it as an effect rack).

 

I'm so glad you added your thoughts. That's the kind of thing I was looking for; what you've chosen to do and your reasoning behind that decision. Thanks, and I'll still look at your links later.

Edit: I think instrument makers might need to make license payments to Steinberg if they want to make plugins to the VST standard. Steinberg owns the license to that. So depending on how FL Studio is being marketed these days, the makers may have decided to stop licensing and just employ their own plugin methodology. If my guess is correct, then that would come with pros and cons, of course.

 

there are many software alternatives to Kore nowadays. none for the hardware experience. I have MUX and FL, both are excellent, but you can't make advanced and realistic control templates like you can here.

it depends on your workflow... if you program a lot of patches from scratch, and play a lot with FX and real-time automation then by all means keep Kore, but for plain browsing and slight tweaking, NKS does the job well enough. as for providing Kore functionalities, that will never be a possibility because it doesn't have programmable buttons - or fully programmable knobs, for that matter.

 

Thank you, this kind of answers my questions from the other thread.

So what about the morphing between instruments? I see that Akai Advance has that feature PLUS browsing, and they're not limited only to Native Instrument instruments. This might be handy because there are still some plugin makers who haven't gone to NKS standard .

The only thing that Akai misses is the color LEDs above each key, but that's exclusive to Konmplete Kontrol, and probably has patent protection.

 

Nope.

 

That's surprising, but could also be an opportunity for a manufacturer.

 

.NKS isn't really a standard, it's just an interface for making templates in KK with VSTs. technically there's little difference between KSD and NKS except that KSD is useful and well made and NKS isn't.

 

Well NI's keyboards aren't the first ones to have lights attached to the keys. Yamaha has educational keyboards with a very similar mechanism. Can't patent what's already out there.

 

Sure you can. You can (and probably should) patent or protect anything if there's some unique feature or function that differentiates your product from the rest of the market. I'll bet this feature has SOME protections on file somewhere.

 

There's nothing unique about LightGuide, though.

 

Kore morphing is not limited to NI instruments. I didn't know Advance had morphing, would be interested to know how it works, can't tell from their website (which is a FLASH hell and impossible to navigate) - I heard it wasn't that stable though

For me the most promising is NewSonicArts Freestyle (by the original dev who created Kore) - but still a way to go

 

Seems a lot of these "replacements" forget about Kore Morphing which IMO was one of the features I used the most. Thanks Kymeia for the Sonic Arts suggestion. It doesn't seem like morphing is available yet. What are the other main features do you use in Kore that you find missing in Freestyle?

I'm in once you can morph.

Kudos to JWH!

 

Oh lots still to be added - doesn't have morphing yet but does have snapshots which is a step in that direction. No preset librarian features yet and only support for VST2. But I think it is stable and actively being developed by someone who knows his stuff.

 

Just a quickie - happy to write nmore/answer questions if needed - VERY happy with Akai Advance; very flexible library system. No problems experienced so far.

 

Thank you for that update! I will be looking for sales on an Akai Advance 49.

 

The big problem for me is it's just very hard to find reliable actual details of the software host and what it can do or how it works.

 

I'm less worried about that. As long as I can save my downloads and not pay a subscription, I think it'll be fine.