Utopia

For sound quality and based on what it is 5 stars. For all the stuff that's locked out on Play Series instruments, 1 star off.

Like most of the Play Series it's a (mostly) preset machine that allows you to tweak the parameters they give you and add some spice if there's an open FX slot. Excellent sound that you expect from NI. Lots of basic tweaks. Which means I'm glad it was free on promo.

All of the presets are (predictable) and designed as, I hope, jumping off points. Or for those newer to electronic noise, a guide to understanding the basics of Kontakt. For anyone used to Full Kontakt, the missing wrench tells the whole story- it is what it is. Many of the presets would be more interesting with polyphonic sequencing, as the "sequencer" is a functional programmable arpeggiator. Combined with the LFO it can get interesting. Otherwise, it's got some solid sounds that come nowhere close to adding anything new to the sonic lexicon.

I own Kontakt and while I appreciate their throwing the play series instruments at Komplete to make it look healthier, I give all the play series a chance and remove 95% of them. That is not to say these are bad products in any way. All the free sample libraries out there these days are a real gift. It would be nice if the sound designers put out something that didn't sound like yesterday's news. I mean come on, guys, Tangerine dream did most of this in the 70s, and what they didn't Roland put in a ROMPLER.