Razor, Skanner XT, etc., so I had to look around a bit to find out what exactly is included outside of the factory library, and there’s not a lot in terms of information on that front… Now, I got Reaktor as part of Komplete, as I mentioned earlier, so I also received the full complement of NI-made ensembles, i.e. Hell, someone even made an emulation of a full Buchla system, and it sounds way too similar to the real thing to be a free download. And since Reaktor provides great-sounding oscillators and filters from the get-go, even the more basic ensembles will still be perfectly usable. Obviously, there’s going to be some duds, but surprisingly, almost everything that I’ve downloaded is solid. Enter the Reaktor User Library, a catalogue of over 5,000 custom-made ensembles available for free download to anyone. With the ability to create your own instruments and effects comes the ability to load instruments and effects created by other Reaktor users. Groups of these modules can be organized into Macros essentially folders, which can be used to tidy things up as you go about creating the next Serum, which you swear will be the ultimate one-up on Steve Duda and everyone should have their wallets at the ready. Several modules are on offer here – everything from oscillators, mixers, and even the filter from NI’s own Pro-53, down to basic math functions for those who like to get down and dirty with their DSP. The interface for building ensembles is surprisingly easy to understand grey boxes with their respective inputs and outputs represent the various building blocks of your ensemble, which can be rearranged and connected as you please. I was even able to design a custom interface for my new synth, as Reaktor allows you to replace the visuals of just about every UI element with your own custom switches and dials(the background can also be replaced, for those wondering). Not bad, considering my previous attempt at making something with Max4Live ended with several late nights and plenty of seemingly-arbitrary gremlins forever haunting what I had made. Still, with a knowledge of synth structure and the wealth of tutorials available online, I was able to cobble together a basic two-oscillator synth, complete with switchable filter type, LFO with sync/retrigger controls and 3 possible modulation destinations, and poly/mono voicing controls with unison and detune. On that front, the Factory Library is a good place to start for less power-hungry options. Of course, CPU usage is going to suffer, given that you’re running all your plugins inside the coding environment(sorry, no ability to compile VSTs.), but it’s still possible to achieve great sounds from more conservatively-designed ensembles(the term for any instrument or effect made in Reaktor). Unsurprising, given the possibilities of such low-level signal manipulation. To my ears, Reaktors DSP sounds fantastic, and all of the NI-designed ensembles have quickly made it to the top of my most-used list. Having said that, I still think Reaktor poses an interesting value proposition. After all, at it’s core, Reaktor is still a coding environment, a la Max4Live. Obviously, this is a bit of a double-edged sword – given the nature of Reaktor, the majority of budding producers are likely to opt for something more user-friendly. For $199 when purchased individually, you’re getting a DSP playground with the capability to host damn near anything you could dream up. I’ll say it right now Reaktor is probably the best deal there is, as far as software synthesizers go. This is the first in a series of reviews I’ll be doing on the products included with Komplete 11 Ultimate. I was previously planning to pick up the standard edition of Komplete 12 upon release, but for only $100 more, 11 ended up being the better option. Recently, I had the opportunity to nab Komplete 11 Ultimate for $700.
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