$80 😑 Muze bundle for Kontakt (full)

[daveiv]

https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/1-Instruments/55-Kontakt-Instrument/7842-Max-Neo-Bundle

Update: General consensus is these products aren't good quality. SampleTekk are recommended as decent alternatives.

Update 2: Some people who purchased the library are satisfied.

Edited November 9, 2022 by daveiv

[Steve K]

This deal appeals greatly to my sense of plugin gluttony.  It's  a smorgasbord of sound.   I feel like I have almost all of this ground covered many times over already.

Slightly better deal directly on the Muze site.  PB has Max + Neo for $80.  Muze has Max + Neo + EVO for $80.  Evo includes:

Muze Eclipse

Muze Enigma

Muze Exodus

Muze Kinetic

Muze Savage

Muze Quasar

https://www.muze.shop/en/index.php?route=product/product&path=69&product_id=139

 

[Craig N]

This is what I ended up reading before deciding not to invest in Muze last time I came across them

https://vi-control.net/community/threads/im-seeing-muze-instruments-everywhere.124426/

[Craig N]

If anyone has nice things to say about Muze though, please feel free to dispel any false assertions in that VI thread. But here's an example of how wacky it all seems. A video by Muze themselves, with comments turned off, showing their Acoustic Pianos library. If you want a chuckle, check out the included sounds of this "Acoustic Piano" library.  The first 30 seconds is a very basic piano sound, and after that... well, you be the judge. 

I can't help but wonder if they have found an appealing graphical GUI will deliver sales, regardless of what it sounds like!

My guess is they have just diligently sampled various patches on a keyboard Workstation at various velocity levels by creating a midi file that plays every note in the range at various velocities, and then wrote a tool that turns those samples into separate wavs, then load them up into Kontakt with a pretty but random UI. 

The piano at the start of this video is definitely no better than the piano sounds in the Korg Triton. In fact it sounds remarkably like the default piano patch that loads up with the Triton Extreme, just with a little bit more reverb on it. 

[daveiv]

15 minutes ago, Craig N said:

well, you be the judge. 

I don't see any evidence of stealing.

Let's don't call people thief.

[Craig N]

4 hours ago, daveiv said:

I don't see any evidence of stealing.

Let's don't call people thief.

I don't think the issue is stealing at all. 

It's not much different sampling a digital workstation like the Korg Triton (assuming that's what they did with the one above) than it is to sample an analogue drum machine like the TR 808, and I've got plenty of drum libraries. I've also got a gazillion emulations of analog and digital gear, and have recently started acquiring Acustica libraries which are samples of hardware of a different kind.

Just recently I bought the Hollow Sun VKS-20 Kontakt library which is based on samples of the Roland MKS-20 digital piano module. It's 322 meg on disk which is fantastically small for a Kontakt library. I almost felt ripped off when I saw how small it was. But conversely, we only have so much storage space. Someone else (Gospel Musicians or VGSG) sampled the MKS-20 module at 96khz in a 50 gigabyte Kontakt library. Do I want to dedicate 50 gigs to an MKS-20 sample set? Not really. I'd love it if Roland Cloud produced a 200 megabyte emulation of the MKS-20. 

But regardless of the size, I was talking about the quality and the sensibility of what is being sold. There's quality Kontakt libraries that are thoughtfully produced, and there's a whole spectrum below that all the way down to shovelware. I don't own any Muze kontakt libraries but when I see an "Acoustic Pianos" library featuring cheesy sounding workstation presets that have nothing to do with acoustic piano, I start to wonder what degree of quality and sensibility is going to be involved in their other instruments. At 700 gig to download and store such a collection, that's quite an investment. I don't even have that much SSD space!

Edited November 8, 2022 by Craig N
Correction VGSG not VGG

[Doug Rintoul]

Also check this thread:

https://www.vi-control.net/community/threads/who-knows-this-company-sonex-strange-pricing.79952/page-2

To paraphrase @daveiv: This bundle is just a waste of space, bandwidth, and carbon emission. I'd better spend that $80 on eight dozen kazoos.

Edited November 8, 2022 by Doug Rintoul

[daveiv]

8 hours ago, Craig N said:

At 700 gig to download and store such a collection, that's quite an investment. I don't even have that much SSD space!

Me neither. But @Steve K found their products useful.

The cynicism in that VI Control thread touched my nerves.

[Doug Rintoul]

2 hours ago, daveiv said:

Me neither. But @Steve K found their products useful.

The cynicism in that VI Control thread touched my nerves.

If you think VI-Control was bad,  check out the comments in this forum: https://audiosex.pro/threads/muze-instruments.58613/

Did @Steve K actually buy it? He just said that the deal appealed to his  sense of plugin gluttony, that it was a smorgasbord of sound. I have been to some pretty aweful smorgasbords in my time.

[PavlovsCat]

There have long been posts claiming this developer uses samples derived from other libraries in posts from regular forum members here, at VI Control and KVR.  Some have claimed to have analyzed the individual samples to ascertain that they are the same. The developer has operated under multiple names and engaged in some less than great practices under past names,  that I know myself to be true. 

However, I'll cut to the chase. I have downloaded three of the paid sample libraries this developer sells when they were given away as freebies and they shared in common that they were incredibly bloated file size for each library (8 GB or more) for what it was. Each library -- two were piano libraries,  one was a vibraphone-- was only one layer, like a Soundfont library from decades ago. So after downloading, listening and checking out each library, I deleted all of them. I don't want huge file size one layer instruments that sound terrible dynamically. 

If all of their libraries no on sale were suddenly offered free, I wouldn't waste my time, bandwidth or hard drive space for them. This developer just doesn't produce good quality libraries. I would consider them dodgy at best. I strongly recommend people avoid wasting their money on them. If someone is looking for high quality KONTAKT piano libraries that are inexpensive when on sale, I would recommend SampleTekk. 

Edited November 8, 2022 by PavlovsCat

[Fleer]

Yep, Sampletekk still rules for good and inexpensive  (though non Kontakt Player) piano libs, even used in Nord keyboards. And they still sell the only endorsed INIL library, as in 10cc’s I’m Not In Love. 

[daveiv]

3 hours ago, PavlovsCat said:

SampleTekk

3 hours ago, Fleer said:

Sampletekk

Thanks. I edited the post to include your recommendations.

[Doug Rintoul]

44 minutes ago, daveiv said:

Thanks. I edited the post to include your recommendations.

Sampletekk periodically has 80% off sales and sometimes 90% off sales for previous customers. The last 80% off sale I remember was last January. 

[daveiv]

4 minutes ago, Doug Rintoul said:

Sampletekk periodically has 80% off sales and sometimes 90% off sales for previous customers. The last 80% off sale I remember was last January. 

Oh, that's very generous. Any products from them you recommend?

[Doug Rintoul]

18 minutes ago, daveiv said:

Oh, that's very generous. Any products from them you recommend?

It depends on the sound you want. I really like the Rain piano. There is a thread on VI-Control that has a really good discussion on the pianos. For some reason this forum won't let me link to it, but a Google search should find it quick enough.

You can also check out Simeon's videos on the Sampletekk pianos. Be aware though, that @Simeon Amburgey could make a piano strung with rubber bands sound good. YMMV.

 

Edited November 8, 2022 by Doug Rintoul

[chris.r]

16 hours ago, Craig N said:

Just recently I bought the Hollow Sun VKS-20 Kontakt library which is based on samples of the Roland MKS-20 digital piano module...

Craig how do you rate the Hollow Sun VKS-20? I'm not bothered with small footprint, actually that's on bright side for me. But sound quality is in the first, playability a close second.

I have MKSensation from GM which sounds sensational and recently bought JX-08 boutique. Now I'm wondering over VKS-20  

Edited November 8, 2022 by chris.r
Sorry for off topic.

[Steve K]

9 hours ago, daveiv said:

... But @Steve K found their products useful.

 

Actually, I never used them.  Just thought it looked like a good bargain bin value and was tempted into exploring their site.   Some of it sounded good on the YT videos I checked out -- enough to pique my interest.

I am grateful for everyone posting their impressions as well as the VI-control thread. You all steered me clear of it.  I have a commitment with myself anyways not to spend more money on sounds -- I have more than I use at the moment.  Of course, I break that commitment regularly.

[Craig N]

1 hour ago, chris.r said:

Craig how do you rate the Hollow Sun VKS-20? I'm not bothered with small footprint, actually that's on bright side for me. But sound quality is in the first, playability a close second.

I have MKSensation from GM which sounds sensational and recently bought JX-08 boutique. Now I'm wondering over VKS-20  

The UI is very cleverly designed although it's so it's a bit small on today's monitors. Sound-wise it satisfied my urge for MKS-20 sounds for the time being, but I do wonder whether MKSensation or VGSG's samples in EP Heaven / Kontakt Gospel Sound Pack / iOS XL Pack (Soundfont) might offer greater fidelity. I can't help but think that VKS-20 would be a step down from MKSensation Xtreme just as a result of its age and the constant march forward in technology. 

I'm currently contemplating whether to buy Audiolounge's Rhodes Affair 3 Classic Blend which includes the MKS-20 and TX816 sounds. It's on sale at 50% off at the moment so $49.50 for the Classic Blend which doesn't actually include a Rhodes as far as I can tell, despite the name. The DI pack is the one that includes the Rhodes samples.  But I've got enough Rhodes for now between Neo Soul Keys, Famous E, Canterbury Suitcase, and Classic EP-88s. 

[kitekrazy]

Simple answer - No,

[PavlovsCat]

1 hour ago, Steve K said:

 

Actually, I never used them.  Just thought it looked like a good bargain bin value and was tempted into exploring their site.   Some of it sounded good on the YT videos I checked out -- enough to pique my interest.

I am grateful for everyone posting their impressions as well as the VI-control thread. You all steered me clear of it.  I have a commitment with myself anyways not to spend more money on sounds -- I have more than I use at the moment.  Of course, I break that commitment regularly.

I'm really glad to read you didn't buy that. I do feel bad for anyone who has bought this package. With regards to having more sounds than we can use, that's pretty much everyone in this forum! We  can all relate.