SampleTank v. Kontakt 3

I'm on the fence about upgrading from Komplete 4 to 5 myself. I love the concept behind NI's products (especially Kontakt and Battery) but I am really tired of paying into a software package that is so consistantly buggy. Not sure if I can ween myself off of Battery though.

If Sampletank looks good to you, I'd say go for it just for the sake of stability alone.

If I was trying o decide whether to switch samplers or just get some new sounds, I'd just get some new sounds. There are plenty available for Kontakt and for Sample Tank. Does Sample Tank have some capability that Kontakt doesn't have?

Kontakt is more of a sample workstation, while SampleTank is more of a sample player. There are more sample libraries available for Kontakt than SampleTank. In fact, SampleTank as very few 3rd party sound libraries besides its own developer (IK Multimedia) Sonik Reality.

Last I checked, Kontakt can import/convert a variety of formats, such as EXS24 and Akai, for example, while SampleTank does not. Someone might correct me on this.

If you like the sounds SampleTank offers, then there's nothing wrong with getting it. Just understand that you're really buying more or less a sample player for its own library, and not a "sampler."

You didn't specify WHY you need to upgrade. Is there something lacking in Kontakt2 that makes you want to upgrade (other than the manufacturer pushing the new version at us)? I personally didn't see anything compelling about K3 myself. K2 does everything I need. Maybe all you need is an additional library instead of a new plugin?

Also, it took NI a few revisions of K2 to get it fairly stable. If you really want to upgrade to K3, I'd suggest waiting for the 3.1 version at least. NI does not have a reputation of stability in their early releases.

The only experience I have with Sampletank is the free version that came with PTLE. I wasn't impressed with the sounds, but I'm sure the full version is a lot better.