A few years ago I bought a Muse Receptor along with Colussus,B4, and Kontakt 2. I had non obsolescense and pristine sound on my mind. Unfortunately, I didn't realize what a learning curve was ahead of me. I could use the B4'2 fine but the instruments in Kontakt were great but I couldn't figure out how to apply articulations, including delayed modulation convincingly. My Receptor has very few hours on it. I hate it that I was wrong and spent the money. OTOH, I think I will get back to it one day.

I just received an e-mail from NI that their software, including upgrades, is 50% off in June. The improvements in Kontakt 4 vs Kontact 2 is incredible, and includes new tools for articulation. I can get an upgrade for $75.

What do you think ?
Bernie

Go for it

The automation features of Kontakt 4 are way ahead of Kontakt 2, and you also get a much more efficient disc streaming system, as well as 100s of sample library’s (Including many free ones) available for it.

If you can upgrade your Receptor to a Quad core CPU and 4GB of Ram or more it will perform even better. (Assuming it’s not already at or above this level)

Bill

Hi Bernie, i own ALL of the NI software, 100% and i would tell you go for it
with no questions asked...i use Kontakt on a daily basis. You wont regret.

You two are heavy weights in this department and I appreciate your advice.
Bernie

I have just been informed that the update that I bought will not work on my Receptor without an overhaul to Receptor 2.

Is there any other solution, like a laptop, that will run Kontakt without latency problems ? Maybe it is not worth it, and chalk it up.

Bernie

No laptop can run Virtual Instruments with low latency on their own due to crap internal sound cards, however there are many external USB/Fire wire (Check to see what ports are available on the laptop) Audio/Midi interfaces available which will solve this problem. (Just do a quick Google search)

The rest is pretty much the same as a PC (Massive graphics power has little relevance with virtual instruments) so go for a spec that meets the requirement for Kontakt 4.

NOTE: It is unlikely that a laptop will have a HDD faster than 5400 rpm as standard, so you may need to upgrade it to a 7200 rpm drive (Their pretty cheap these days) if you have problems.

As you already have a computer, then providing it is in the same room, you can also use this to rum Kontakt 4. (Again you may need to upgrade your sound card)

Hope this helps

Bill

Thank you Bill
I have a Presonus Audiobox that provides great audio even from my netbook. I have a Dell Latitude D620. What is suggested besides a 7200 HD.

I just read about a Kontakt 4 player but haven't checked it out. I guess the bottom line is whether an investment in a laptop for VST's is at all prudent, however, if I knew what to get, it would be better than an outdated Receptor(2006) that I can't use.

I am not putting anymore money into the Receptor. I don't mind taking a laptop, and it is more versitile.

Bernie

Dave, something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-A52F-XT22-15-6-Laptop-Computer/dp/B004LO9HDC

would do a lot more then you can handle, together with your Soundcard that you have
it'll be very nice and pro, with no problems at all and very low latency.

Thanks Nedim
That looks doable.

Bernie