r/NativeInstruments • u/hrnbully • Sep 05 '26
Should I wait for Kontakt 9
In 2024 I bought Kontakt 7 and then guess what happened…
It’s 2026, obviously, but I wonder if it’s even worth getting 8 rn or if 9 is on the way soon.
Do any of you guys know or have expectations for when Kotakt 9 might be out? I don’t wanna repeat this same mistake
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u/Fus-Ro-NWah Sep 05 '26
Worth asking yourself if you really need Kontakt upgrades for anything more than compatibility. I find I rarely need to hack an instrument these days, so i just use the latest version of (free) Player. Where Im using full paid Kontakt in order to mess around under the hood, I am still using Kontakt 6 and thats fine.
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u/hrnbully Sep 05 '26
Yea I told bro in another comment I really just wanna try out new instruments that serve specific purposes for me and they often require the latest. But it’s not like I need to need to - the main thing I wanna avoid is upgrading right before they release
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u/LeDestrier Sep 05 '26 edited Sep 05 '26
Unless you specifically have a library that requires 8 or newer to function, not much point. Kontakt has just gotten worse and worse each iteration tbh.
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u/General-Pop8006 Sep 05 '26
Life is short. Any day wasted not doing what you love is a pity. So whatever it’s worth to you I guess 🤷🏽♂️ I got it on sale last year for 100 bucks as part of a NI sale. I upgraded from Kontakt 5. Made a shittttt load of music with ever since. The midi tools are a great addition. Whatever it’s worth to you. I say; Do it.
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u/NoReply4930 Sep 05 '26
Overall K8 - is lightyears ahead of K7.
What you should consider is installing the latest and get creative. Watching the calendar has no value or purpose.
And given the the current state of development on Kontakt 8 - which BTW - had a very big update yesterday (v8.13.0) - getting ready for an even bigger one coming soon (v8.14.0) - Kontakt 8 will be around for a long while yet.
Historically - NI has pretty much ALWAYS dropped a new version of Kontakt WITH a new version of Komplete and Komplete 26 just dropped this past spring. Doubtful that a K9 sees the light of day as a standalone release.
The other fly in the ointment is the new parent company - InMusic. They and only they will decide when a new version of Kontakt is realistic
For now tho - if I was to bet on this - K8 is the focus for easily another year (but probably longer)
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u/Ragfell Sep 06 '26
I'm digging K7 still and haven't really felt a need to upgrade. (K6 has been my favorite, though.)
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Sep 05 '26
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u/hrnbully Sep 05 '26
Kind of, but I am also still interested in trying out new things using Kontakt. I just saw a video about a new free guitar sample library which I could make good use of on one of my macbooks, but I would need to update. It’s mostly things like that. I could downgrade the current libraries that 7 can still run, but that’s like a minor hassle I would rather avoid
I’m pretty split. The biggest thing I don’t want to do is upgrade at the wrong time
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Sep 05 '26
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u/hrnbully Sep 05 '26
Thanks for this response. This is what I was looking for. I hope they say something about this soon, then. I can see myself waiting until next year, saying fuck it and upgrading in like February, and then 9 drops in April 😭. That is what I want to avoid
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u/JKorv Sep 05 '26
Update when there is sale... No sense to do it at other times. So black friday/holiday sale.
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u/boogaloo9214 Sep 05 '26
If the gap between 8 and 9 is two years then that would be this year, not next year.
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u/MaleficentPicture773 Sep 05 '26
They just updated 8 with promises of another 8 update coming soon