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You do realize that even for that build, the GPU is probably the least important factor, unless you need to render in 3D. ?

I used to feel that way. But I have noticed lately that some music programs and plugins with an active and animated GUI tend to make use of my GPU. So there's likely a case to be made for a discrete GPU in a DAW to enhance performance. Every time I see my GPU use percentage bump up, I'm glad that my CPU isn't bearing that extra graphic processing load and has a GPU to offload it to. Definitely do agree that they are way overpriced now, especially the high-end boutique models. I can typically build a PC for the price of one of those, LOL!

From the Cherry Audio Quadra user guide: "The Cherry Audio Quadra is a super-accurate and immensely improved emulation of the ARP Quadra synthesizer, originally released in 1978. It’s something of a unicorn instrument in that they’re rare, not only because ARP didn’t produce a lot of them, but also because many have been scrapped over the years as a result of their inherent unreliability. That said, the Quadra has developed something of a cult following because they were frequently used by Genesis keyboardist Tony Banks, and the late jazz legend, Joe Zawinul. And Quadras look super cool, in a here-come-the-neon-80s kind of way. (For the trainspotters, you can also find a Quadra wedged between Mickey Thomas's mustache and acres of leather in Jefferson Starship's impressively corny "Find Your Way Back" video.)"

Plus using Key Range specifies the MIDI note range that each section will respond to. When combining the Bass, Strings, Poly Synthesizer, Lead Synthesizer sections, the split and layer options are endless.

I'm not hardcore. Just a casual gamer, and I did spend $149.99 on an ASUS GeForce GTX 1650 two years ago. It does everything I need it to, gets insane FPS on classic games. And does very well on most games from the last 10-15 years, running on an i5-9600K. And I spent $129.99 for an MSI GeForce GTX 950 2GB GDDR5 around 6 years ago. That one is still working well on an older PC, a 3rd gen i5-3570K.

It looks like that was a Plugin Boutique exclusive that has vanished with the release of Komplete 14. But Thomann is still selling a boxed edition of Komplete 13 for $325 USD. That includes Absynth. https://www.thomannmusic.com/native_instruments_komplete_13.htm Consists of over 65 software instruments, software effects and 24 expansions Over 35,000 sounds Includes i.a. Guitar Rig 6 Pro, Super 8, Electric Sunburst, Butch Vig Drums, Cuba, Massive X, Kontakt 6, Session Strings 2, Absynth 5, FM8; Reactor 6, Battery 4 Seamless integration with machine and Komplete Kontrol keyboards Includes external USB hard drive with installation files and 25 Euro voucher for the NI Online Shop

But does it go to 11? ?

I don't think I ever spent over $150 on a graphics card...

Leave it to Paulo...!!! ?

Great one that is!!! ???

I think that Mr Clevinger was just trying to reassure his loyal users that he had nothing to do with the bad decision, and that he would have jumped at the chance to revisit Absynth if that had been NI's chosen direction. But since NI owns the intellectual property rights for Absynth, not much he can do about it... He has a business to run, and has moved on to Plasmonic and other future projects. I see that he had a need to get out in front of the announcement, in order to maintain as much credibility as possible. In the video it appeared to be more about him letting go than seeking leverage.

I hear you, as I have several of those synths and many others. I think Phase Plant is my newest on that list. From time time to time I have to remove some synths from my system that haven't been used in a long time and/or are redundant to my favorite ones. All in the interest of focus and space. But my basis is usually first asking if a synth is really unique in some way, and if I still feel that it inspires me. If it is, it usually stays on-board. Absynth is one of the keepers!

Yes, I have had Brian's Rhizomatic Plasmonic on my wish list since it was released. It sure looks like a killer synth! https://rhizomatic.fr/

By the appearance of the new Komplete "instruments" I agree with that statement. Not judging, but ease of sound selection for defined musical styles seems to be the priority for NI now. It is what it is, and that's the direction that the market appears to be headed in ...

This was shared in the Komplete 14 thread, adding it here in case it was missed... Edit: I just realized that the text link to this video was in the OP, but it wasn't obvious to me that link was for Brian's video. Oops!

Will wait for user feedback on the street as to how this applies to standard HD displays (1920x1024+), that are not 4k or above. Kontakt is still rather tiny even on HD displays.

What I got from a description I read is that means that the new preset browser is hi-DPI. Waiting for more info on the Kontakt instrument UI itself...

Some Iris 2 presets killed my 3rd gen i3 CPU (2012 era). Iris can be very heavy computation-wise. I had to set it aside for a while until I got a newer system, 6 generations of hardware down the road. But it is unstoppable now on my 9th gen i5 (2018 era), running at 3.7GHz, turbo to 4.6 GHz. So honestly, YMMV depending on your computer. But I would be surprised if it still had major issues with a recent CPU. There are some suggestions for CPU Optimization in the 2014 Iris 2 Reference Manual, starting on page 70, but are most likely not relevant for modern systems with enough CPU horsepower to handle the load.

I will be in if the GUI is resizable. Otherwise I will skip...

Wonder what the Kontakt 7 upgrade from Kontakt 6 will be priced at? I don't really need the Komplete 14 Standard upgrade for $199 just to get Kontakt 7.

Editing in the little blue window, the wave pool, is called "spectral filtering". The main idea with spectral filtering is that you can visually isolate only the frequencies in the waveform that you wish to be audible. The scribbling may not make much sense, but that is just an attempt at randomness hoping for "lucky accidents". Experimentation is rewarded! So you can easily select a portion of the audio spectrogram and only that part of the sound is instantly mapped across your keyboard. The whole idea for the Iris synth got started over 10 years ago when a dev (Dave Spiers - GForce Software) was playing around with an early version of iZotope RX audio editor that had the spectral filtering mode, and then imported the spectrally edited samples into several hardware samplers so that he could layer the results. Thus began the idea of bolting together several sampler modules in a software instrument ... details in the following interview:

This 3rd party plugin capability is apparently a game changer! I have successfully tried several mega FX plugins in Studiorack 14 and they loaded OK. Such as Kilohearts Snap Heap, NI Guitar Rig 6, IK MixBox, IK Amplitube 5 (not all running concurrently). But you can now set up these types of plugins in a single FX chain of your choice, along with the addition of other FX plugins as needed, and save them in one preset! Of course you could setup any plugins and route them as needed in most DAW projects, but these Studiorack presets would be portable between any projects or DAW that you have Studiorack plugin installed in, and accessible with just a click. And when using Studio One, the Studiorack seems to be load balanced and well behaved with several plugins active, as I do not see a single CPU core doing all of the work.

You can easily click for a free 2nd license. I did, and now have 2 of them in my account. This still uses the Waves shell, and as far as I know there is no way around that with Waves plugins.