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Berlin Series (NKS ) VS Sine differences / Updates

Paul Jelfs

Senior Member
Just seen the sale with Native Instruments, and interestingly , owners of the Kontakt collection can download them via the NI 3.1 app -

I have the full range of the Orchestral series, SINE as well, but always prefered the Kontakt workflow, and approach.

It is difficult to workout what the differences are between sine and Kontakt, as I always thought Kontakt OT were dead ducks- but being programmed for NKS 2.0 , it seems maybe not.

So the "new " legato updates for Berlin Strings , are only still available on the SINE version ? Is that correct? Same with the Woodwinds.

The Brass is still to get an update - Still this is really strange that they are actively selling the Kontakt versions when they have been pursuading us to move to SINE last few years.

Any thoughts? Did NI and OT fall out, only to get married again ? Perhaps it is a Fleetwood Mac love triangle thing going on .... Does this mean Kontakt will be getting updated ?!

Sorry if these have been answered but I am out of the loop and it may cause me to start using them again if Kontakt will be actively supported.
 
It's interesting indeed. I'm exploring the possibilities to get this as an owner of many OT libraries, unfortunately, Sine only. A few months back, OT told me they wouldn't support the Kontakt version nor hand out any serial keys for them. Now NI support is trying to help but honestly, I'm not convinced as they responded on Komplete upgrade instead ;))) No reason why as I explained I am interested in Kontakt versions of my OT libs. Was anyone lucky following this path?

As an owner of S88 MK2 I'd like to have NKS support (even NKS 2.0) and the option to use the same license with a different player/workflow. However, OT closed the door for customers and I wonder if NI can change this. I understand they have their own solution and Kontakt is an extra cost and effort, but with how high the OT prices are... I'd be happy to pay NI an extra fee just to have multiple ways to use these libs though. But I'm not paying full or sale price to get the same thing.
 
The yearly cash injection from the NI sale of the old OT Kontakt versions is apparently big enough to forego the previous statement: “We are done with Kontakt and will only focus on SINE going forward” since just before every NI sale OT either updates the Kontakt versions in the sale or port a library from SINE to Kontakt as happened with Metropolis Ark 5 last year.
 
The brass actually HAS been updated in SINE. It was before the winds and while the legato update was decent, maybe not as strong as the winds and strings, there's also an extra FF layer and a few other improvements. At this point I consider much of the Kontakt libraries to be a step down. There are a couple of missing patches here or there but the only one that I ever find Kontakt worth reaching for is the playable gliss in the strings. While I miss being able to go under the hood in Kontakt or adjust the legato using the Pixelpoet trick, I just don't find myself needing to very much.
 
If you want to own both versions, the only way to do it is buy Kontakt, then upgrade to Sine for about a hundred smackers for each of string, brass, etc... although, OT have sometimes given free upgrades from Kontakt to sine versions if asked during the sale - this happened with the recent(ish) time micro / marco / special bows etc NI sale. Not guaranteed at all that they will this time.

Kontakt versions are frozen in aspic - no updates. I like them though, and havent upgraded my strings, brass, or woodwinds to Sine yet. Though, it's nice to know I can one day...
 
It's been confirmed in another thread that upgrades to SINE are free for this NI sale.

Someone asked OT about it.
OK nice! So this way you can have both versions... TBH not worth obsessing about - both versions are great and have their own pros and cons. You'd have to have a significant amount of storage to keep both on disk anyways...
 
Is there anything in the new version of Kontakt Berlin Strings worth upgrading for? I only rarely ever use it as it, since I greatly prefer Sine.
 
if I recall does the Kontakt Single Legato patches have 3 zones rather than the 2 of the Sine ?

Might be wrong there, but remember seeing 3 in the Strings.
 
if I recall does the Kontakt Single Legato patches have 3 zones rather than the 2 of the Sine ?

Might be wrong there, but remember seeing 3 in the Strings.
I think it's more complicated. Sine has five legato types, two velocity triggers, and two speed zones per velocity trigger. They are all assignable, so you can assign up to four different legatos per sustain articulation.

Kontakt seems to have three triggers for adaptive legato patches but it's not clear to me what the triggers are, whether speed or velocity.

I was actually interested in knowing what this Kontakt update actually updates. Is it worth doing?
 
Hi! I bought the Berlin Series Main Collections from Native Instruments. How i can upgrade to SINE?
 
Hi! I bought the Berlin Series Main Collections from Native Instruments. How i can upgrade to SINE?
Contact OT's support and let them know you want to crossgrade to the sign version. You will need to attach your Native Instrument receipt to your email.
 
I am using Pro Tools AAX and it may be an AAX issue as I know it was harder for OT to make an AAX version than VST/AU. However running Kontakt and SINEplayer side by side SINE is WAY more sluggish/more latency. Violins 1 sustains legato is lacking "bite" compared to the Kontakt version. The runs sounds more "whoosche"/blurry on SINE version. When playing certain notes with strong vibrato you can hear the SINE version first plays the no vibrato sample and then fades in to vibrato version. Also when playing with strong velocity on Kontakt there will be accented attacks, not with the SINE version. I have still loads of things to discover but initially the Kontakt version blows the SINE version away by far, my first impresssion. I am new to SINE needless to say. All above is regarding Violins 1 Sustain Leg patch.
 
I am using Pro Tools AAX and it may be an AAX issue as I know it was harder for OT to make an AAX version than VST/AU. However running Kontakt and SINEplayer side by side SINE is WAY more sluggish/more latency. Violins 1 sustains legato is lacking "bite" compared to the Kontakt version. The runs sounds more "whoosche"/blurry on SINE version. When playing certain notes with strong vibrato you can hear the SINE version first plays the no vibrato sample and then fades in to vibrato version. Also when playing with strong velocity on Kontakt there will be accented attacks, not with the SINE version. I have still loads of things to discover but initially the Kontakt version blows the SINE version away by far, my first impresssion. I am new to SINE needless to say. All above is regarding Violins 1 Sustain Leg patch.
As far as accented attacks, in Kontakt they made a patch that switched to accented attacks by velocity. In SINE all those same samples are there, but you need to put them together yourself with a polymap. These polymaps are extremely flexible and powerful. Just go to the Performance tab and hit more than one keyswitch at the same time. Hopefully in an update they'll add presets or patches like it. This video has been helpful to others here in the past:



And for latency have you looked at your buffer settings in SINE?

I've found it difficult to truly compare since things are very different between the two platforms. SINE might use more CPU but far less hard drive space, for example. Or you might not like the way the strong vibrato reacts anymore, but across the Mains the legato is better in SINE now. The choice between Kontakt and SINE seems to be very personal and depends entirely on the features and patches that mean the most to you, but it's worth reevaluating SINE every time it, or a library, gets an update
 
@44.1kHz it seems to be a steeper HiCut filter on SINEplayer (to avoid aliasing?). Sound is lacking hi-end. It is audible as well, comparing to the Kontakt version.
A slight disappointment actually. I have been in this situation before when they are porting sound libraries to a new platform. I can't remember which one, maybe EastWest when they went from Kontakt to PLAY. I am not sure...could be another library as welll... Berlin Series (NKS ) VS Sine differences / Updates Something is lost in translation...
 
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