Kirean

Sounds like an insufferable person. (I kid, I kid)

https://www.sonokinetic.net/products/instruments/idiophones/

With how much plugins tend to nag, crackle and piss you off for various things, it's like she never left... (I kid, I kid.)

https://audioplugin.deals/product/sampletraxx-massive-3-in-1-winter-bundle/

I bit the bullet and gave it a go. I'm not a pianist by any stretch of imagination so my opinion on the instrument/sound aspect is less than zero. That said, the difference between 1926 and 1991 was surprisingly subtle, at least with default settings. 1991 seems to have a bit more bite and punch. I didn't find anything lacking compared to other piano libraries I've meddled with (mainly those that come with Native, such as Noire). However, I'll comment on the plugin part: Installation was painless, but you need to be online to download the samples via the installer (you can choose where the samples go). I think it downloads the sounds compressed and then processes them to their final form. Once you've installed the instruments though, you do seem to be able to activate & use the instruments offline without any issues. The instruments load really quick (compared to Kontakt) and I didn't run into any technical issues. Do keep in mind that my my playing isn't really putting a strain on the system anyway... I do share Pavlov's pov, as I highly prefer Kontakt myself due to trusting that platform a lot more than custom ones. But, based on this experience, I do get the feeling that Boz might actually give at least a small crap about the end-user experience as they don't seem to treat the paying customer as devil's spawn. Helps to ease the mind that the price of entry was on the cheap side too.

The full blown Piano Bundle is 25.98 bucks at Audio Deluxe w/ their cyber season voucher (applied automatically.)

Was almost gonna jest something like "Imagine if you paid the intro price..." but yeah, these are lite versions of the ones that just got released.

https://authentic-soundware.com/products/commodore Intro price $69 available until January 3rd. Normal price will be $99. Requires Full Kontakt.

If you spend $29 at McD alone, things turn into self-loathing. Kinda like when you check the total of this year's plugin purchases...

https://joeysturgistones.com/products/jst-maximizer JST Maximizer is normally $149. Add $5 on top of the $49 to get JST EQ (normally $99)

https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/products/jst-howard-benson.html

https://www.sonokinetic.net/products/instruments/indie/ New library: https://www.sonokinetic.net/products/instruments/indie-quartet/

https://audioplugin.deals/product/project-chaos-by-hybridtwo/

https://impactsoundworks.com/product/shreddage-3-hollomatic/ $139 which I guess is the intro price, otherwise $159 In before... ?

On VI Control the Sonokinetic guys said so.

It won't run out of keys as apparently Tutti Free is here to stay. Supposedly there will be limited freebies on a different day.

https://www.native-instruments.com/en/specials/komplete/audio-imperia-nks-offer-2023/

New Deal (Day 2): Tutti Free (Free) & Espressive €99 Edit: Also thanks for the comments. Helps me ponder things better.

I do wonder if all of these are necessary? And they're still missing Lite, Lite+, Standard, Pro Plus and of course Super/Mega/UltimatePak...

Since I haven't really played around with sample based libraries, how versatile are they in the end? As a person who is not too keen on (sample/)loop libraries due to fear of the end result sounding too similar with everyone else using the same thing, is that fear relevant with Sonokinetic's stuff? Seemed like almost every Youtube video I checked, the person was still throwing tons of instruments from other libraries on top to make things gel and flow better.

Was hoping you'd tell me. I only work here! Simeon made a video though.

https://audioplugin.deals/product/symphonic-ai-by-sample-logic/

Helps with impulse buying.

Guess they realized their glitch.