NI Komplete 7 Elements – Gearjunkies Review

Last week Native Instruments released KOMPLETE 7. With 24 KOMPLETE Instruments and Effects, this 90 GB package is bursting with more than 10,000 production-ready sounds for all styles and genres. KOMPLETE 7 features renowned flagship products like KONTAKT, GUITAR RIG and the redesigned REAKTOR 5.5 plus all-new instruments and effects from Native Instruments and brands like Abbey Road and Scarbee. For some users this package can be a bit ‘over-whelming’. This bundle contains so much and is so elaborate that some users just wouldn’t be ready for this huge instrument package. They would be much more ‘at home‘ with a ready-to-roll package. And that’s where KOMPLETE 7 ELEMENTS comes in!

THE KOMPLETE LIBRARY
This software bundle with over 12 GB and 2,000 premium sounds from the KOMPLETE Instruments and Effects collection covers all production styles. These 2000 premium sounds can be played through the four included content players (REAKTOR 5 PLAYER, KONTAKT 4 PLAYER, GUITAR RIG 4 PLAYER and KORE 2 PLAYER).

With a vast array of KONTAKT instruments, including ABBEY ROAD drums and VSL orchestral instruments, as well as stunning REAKTOR ensembles, GUITAR RIG amps and effects and the best sounds of the legendary synths MASSIVE and ABSYNTH, this collection is a fully equipped and ready-to-roll production suite.

READY TO GO
When I got the DVD’s (two), I couldn’t wait to get them installed. With 12 GB I thought this would take a while but surprisingly that went pretty fast. I guess, because of my fast system (I7) this helped a bit as well. After that the usual activation through the NI ServiceCenter and there I was … ready to go!

My weapon of choice (DAW) is Steinberg’s Cubase. After starting it up, you select your ‘player’ and browse through the huge amount of sounds. And it is that simple. (As it should be of course!) Native Instruments doesn’t call it a ready-to-roll production suite for nothing!

Some might say ELEMENTS is the Light version of KOMPLETE 7, but I think that this description doesn’t do it justice. Yes, you get less, but then again the price of KOMPLETE ELEMENTS is 99 Euro, where KOMPLETE 7 is priced at 499 Euro for the full version. And again, looking at the user that doesn’t need or want a large amount of VSTi’s to choose from and focuses more on the sounds, I think ELEMENTS is a very good deal.

SOUNDS
This isn’t really a review per se. More like a closer look. I am not gonna tell you what the individual sounds sound like. What I can tell you, is that they match the great quality I am used to from Native Instruments. Like I mentioned before all sounds are really ready for use from the start. All players have to ability to change some parameters so you can edit the sounds. For me personally that is enough. I can tweak sounds enough without going deep into the ‘sound design issues’.

To give you an idea of what you would get with KOMPLETE ELEMENTS the official demo sounds (the clip below) gives you a very good idea.

Still want more? There are sound demos of all instrument libraries here.

Eric Thoolen

 

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