STEP-BY-STEP GUIDES
Do I need Kontakt?
You don't need Kontakt. It's included with every library, and most people never open it.
Everything in the Kontakt Edition is already in the standard WAV files that come with the same purchase — same performances, same takes, same song kits. If you don't own Kontakt, you're not missing content and you haven't bought the wrong thing.
If you do use Kontakt, here's what it is and how to load it.
What the Kontakt Edition actually is
It's a phrase-based engine built from the same recorded performances as the rest of the library. You trigger and arrange real takes played by real musicians.
It is not a multi-sampled virtual instrument. That distinction matters more than anything else on this page, so to be direct about what it means in practice:
- You can't play your own melodies or chord progressions from a MIDI keyboard
- You can't improvise freely over a track with it
- You can trigger, rearrange, and edit the recorded phrases — which is what it's built for
If you're looking for an instrument you play, this isn't it, and neither is the WAV edition. Our libraries are recordings of performances, not instruments that generate them. That's the whole point of them — but it's worth knowing before you buy.
What you need to run it
The Kontakt Edition requires the full paid version of Native Instruments Kontakt, 5.6.5 or higher.
It will not load in:
- The free Kontakt Player
- Kontakt running as a standalone VST instrument
This catches people out regularly, and it's a limitation of how Kontakt licensing works rather than a choice on our part. If you don't have the full version, use the Multi-Format WAV edition instead — it contains identical content and works in every DAW with no extra software.
Loading it into Kontakt
- Unzip the Kontakt Edition download and move the folder wherever you keep your samples — an external drive is fine.
- Open Kontakt, either standalone or as a plugin in your DAW.
- Drag the .nki files straight into the Kontakt rack, or use the Files tab to browse to the folder.
There's no library registration and no Native Access step — these load directly as instrument files.
Trouble downloading or unzipping? →
If something won't load
Start with the version. Open Kontakt's About screen and confirm you're on the full paid version, 5.6.5 or higher. That's the cause more often than anything else.
If the version is right and you're seeing missing files or an error message, email us with the exact wording of the error and what you were doing when it appeared. A short screen recording helps more than a description — we can usually spot it immediately and send back either a fix or a walkthrough.
And if Kontakt turns out to be the wrong route for you, the Multi-Format WAV edition is already in your account at no extra cost. Plenty of people end up preferring it.
Not sure whether you need it?
Tell us which DAW you work in and whether you own the full version of Kontakt. We'll tell you straight whether it's worth downloading.