Using Kontakt Effects as Plug Ins?

Hi,

Kontakt has some awesome built in effects, but as far as I can tell, they can only be used on Kontakt instruments.

Does anyone know if there is a way to either use the audio effects in Kontakt as plug ins in a DAW? Is there a way to set is up where you can send audio in real time to use those effects? That would awesome, and it would add a whole world of possibilities in my audio set up!

Thanks!

 

No, it's not possible. Kontakt's effects are really designed for use on Kontakt instruments. The effects are great, but they are also roughly on par with the stock effects that come with every DAW nowadays -- a delay, a verb, a few different compressors, etc. I bet if you look into your DAW, you'll find equivalents.

If you're a fan of the guitar effects in particular, you should look at Guitar Rig 5, which is its own beast.

 

I too was searching to see if this is possible and your answer isn't the best. The convulution reverb in Kontakt (for example) is fantastic with a ton of options not available with your DAW or third party reverb.

I have Reflektor (came with Komplete) but in comparison it uses too much CPU and I can be a lot more creative with the Kontakt effects.

This is quite a shame that NI don't allow us to use Kontakt as a VST effect...

I challenge you to get your DAW to do the Zipper Up Orven reverb from Kontakt.

 

I completely agree!

Just like we can use Guitar Rig as a plug in and use all of it's effects to liven up a mix and do things that would otherwise be difficult/ impossible, I seriously think that NI should update Kontakt to function as VST/ AU plug-in that could process audio through it's effects on the fly. Until that ability is added to Kontakt, I really don't see a reason to pay for another upgrade at this point.

 

This subject comes up all the time. While this is my personal opinion only, and I do not speak for the NI developers, I believe this feature request is unlikely to ever be implemented. It isn't the focus of Kontakt at all. It's a sample playback program with a nice hefty collection of effects you can put on samples, but it's not intended to be an effects processor. Every effect built into Kontakt is available in similar or better quality in other programs.

 

Kontakt really does have some astoundingly incredible effects though. As I pointed out before, I don't know of other software that can do anything like the Zipper Up Orven effect with its convolution reverb. If you could advise me otherwise that would be awesome.

To add, I am a Komplete owner and I'm still exploring, if you (or anyone reading this) knows if I can get similar effects results out of Reaktor I'd really appreciate any tips.

And that said, given that Kontakt does these effects on samples, it would actually be easier to make it an effect as all it has to do is replace the incoming sample data from a file with that from the audio stream of the DAW hooked into via the DLL.

Otherwise I have to say, I do love Kontakt, it's a great product and being able to use its effects on a DAW bus / chain would be absolutely fantastic.

 

Zipper Up Orwen? This is an IR sample that's freely available (it's not packed to K4IR.nkx). You can load it in any convolution reverb plugin.

On Windows 7:

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Native Instruments\Kontakt 4\Presets\Effects\Convolution\11 Unsusual Reverbs\IR Samples\Zipper Up.wav


Yeah, there's a typo in the install - "unsusual", not "unusual". LOL NI.

 

I read manuals, really I do, but it looks like you have answers.

I checked my Komplete products and it says reflector is a convolution reverb, any chance you could tell me how to use that effect in Reflektor?

Much appreciated.

 

I don't use Reflektor, but I presume it can load custom IRs. I bet the method to do this is exactly in Reflektor's manual.

 

Well, I don't know if NI really cares about what I have to say about Kontakt, but I do want to make it clear that I think it is really a great piece of software, and it really opens up a ton of new options when handling samples. However, I also think that adding more flexibility to the program never hurts, especially when it can become a go-to program for many of the basic effects (filters, compressors, tape effects, etc.). It seems like NI has done that with many of their exclusive programs by adding more and more functionality (like Maschine being used as a plug-in, and now adding multiple effects per sound, group, and even the master bus).

It would probably be CPU intensive on an older Macbook like mine, but I am willing to upgrade my hardware occasionally to keep up with the demands of cutting-edge audio software.

 

Most of Kontakt's effects can be found in Guitar Rig anyways...

 

Well, at least the Reflektor manual is only 12 pages long, 4 of them are irrelevant to the product.

Oh well, seems I can load a sample into it, I'll give it a try, maybe it's easier than I'm expecting it to be.

 

Interesting thread. Currently my DAW Sonar is scanning the 8 & 16 output variants of Kontakt into it's VST Audio Effects list and I don't know why. They are not useable there at all that way and it's aggravating that no one knows why this is happening.