Help

We are a virtual instrument developer specializing in highly-detailed, exquisitely sampled, professional sample libraries. We’re widely known for our superior choirs and epic  percussion, finely crafted acoustic pianos, solo drums, ethnic and traditional folk instruments, and unique sound design and SFX libraries. Our products deliver more bang for your buck than you'll find anywhere else, with outstanding quality, exceptional value, powerful features, flexibility controls, customizable content and innovative sounds.

Click Here to send us an email if you need any help!

A sample library is a collection of sound clips ("samples")  that are programmed into a software framework that allows them to be played back realistically on a computer using a midi controller and or arranged in a midi sequence within a digital audio workstation ("DAW") environment. We record instruments, performers, vocalists and all sorts of objects that make cool noises and then chop those recordings into thousands of little samples. We then program them into a matrix with a scripted user interface and complex internal logic to control when and how the samples are activated, based on user input and a variety of other important run-time variables.

We primarily build our sample libraries for the Native Instruments Kontakt engine, a premium virtual instrument plugin. Many of our products are built for the free Kontakt Player system, and many of our products require the full retail version, which is typically priced around $399 through most major music software retailers. We use the Kontakt engine more than any other platform because it is by far the most technologically capable system with the widest user base. Our goal is to push the frontiers of realism, content depth, audio quality and user flexibility. We rely on Kontakt's advanced capabilities to make those efforts possible. 

Soundiron libraries are perfect for everyone who makes music on a computer, from professional film composers to students just starting out. We specifically tailor our libraries to meet the needs of working professionals in the film, television, advertising, video game, recording industries. But whether you’re a seasoned industry veteran or just a beginner, we commit ourselves to bringing all of our clients the same deep quality, outstanding customer service, incredible value and outstanding price points. With well over a hundred unique products in our collection, you’ll always find something to inspire your creations.

We primarily develop our products for the Native Instruments Kontakt open-format platform, so you'll need the full retail version of Kontakt to use many Soundiron instrument presets. However, we do offer a growing line of specialized "Powered By Kontakt Player" libraries that can be used in the free Kontakt Player. If you see "Player Edition" in the product name, you can use it in the both the free Kontakt Player and the full version of Kontakt. See our Kontakt Player section for compatible libraries: http://soundiron.com/collections/kontakt-player-edition-collection

And of course, you'll need a VST, AU, RTAS or AAX compatible host sequencer, such as Reaper, Cubase, Sonar, Reaper, Logic, Acid, Presonus One, FL Studio, Ableton Live, or Protools. Kontakt runs as a virtual instrument plugin engine in most major host sequencers. Our libraries are loaded as instruments into Kontakt.

We do offer a few of our libraries in other formats, such as Propellerhead Reason ReFills, universal SFZ for the free Plogue Sforzando Player and more. Just look for information on each product's page about the system requirements and formats supported by each one.

Try these helpful forums, blogs and websites for more information on using sample libraries:

https://www.youtube.com/user/SoundironAudio

https://www.kvraudio.com/

http://vi-control.net/community/

http://www.samplelibraryreview.com/

http://www.sonicstate.com/

Yes, we absolutely do. We have a full range of symphonic choirs, classical solo voices, a full symphonic brass collection, full symphonic winds collection, and orchestral chamber strings. Check out our Symphony Series, Choir and Solo Vocalist collection pages, and Hyperion Strings Micro to see your full range of options.

Yes! Check out our SFX category here: http://soundiron.com/collections/sound-effects

We also offer a few classic sound effect libraries with full Sound Miner metadata in BWF over at Sonniss

Oh hell yes! Check out our Drum and Percussion category here: http://soundiron.com/collections/drums-percussion

Yes we do. Check out our Iron Pack series and browse through our low-cost Micropak series for a variety of super low priced and easy to use sample libraries for Kontakt and/or SFZ that include lots of unique content and cool features.

That's our specialty. Check out our Experimental, Metal, Horror and Ambient categories to see our entire galaxy of creative virtual instruments and unique sound design tools.

You can browse through our instrument categories through the Catalog tab in the main navigation bar. When you find an instrument you like and click the “Add To Cart” button on its product page, you'll be taken to our shopping cart page. You can proceed to check out or press the “Continue Shopping” button to continue browsing our website. You'll still see your cart total displayed at the top of each page. When you're ready to check out, just click on that cart link you see at the top of the page to begin the checkout process.

Your personal access code and download instructions are delivered to you by email once your transaction has cleared, usually within just a few minutes. In some cases, delivery can take up to an hour, depending on your financial institution. Also be aware that some optional Payment options you can select in Paypal such as bank transfer and e-check may take longer to clear.

Our server will deliver your download email to the same email address that you used to place your order, so please make sure that your email address is accurate and that you don't have spam filter settings that might block the delivery email sent by our automated download server. Paypal users, please make sure that the email address associated to your Paypal account is current and accessible to you.

We offer Shopify Payments as our e-commerce provider. This system provides convenient, secure and private transaction processing with support for Visa, Master Card, Discover, American Express, Paypal, Diner's Club and JCB credit cards. Please be aware that some banks and credit card companies may not allow Paypal or Shopify transactions from overseas, depending on the country you are ordering from and your bank/card provider's online shopping policies.

If you have a Soundiron discount code that you would like to use during the checkout process, you'll find our Discount Code box near the top of the page when you get to "Step 2" of the checkout process. Then press the "Apply" button to activate your discount. That's also the page where you'll enter your payment information and decide whether to join our mailing list to receive Soundiron news, deals and stay up to date with any future updates and upgrade options for your purchase.

We offer a variety of bundles with ideal combinations of instruments. Each bundle includes a built-in automatic discount of 20% - 40% off or more the individual item price, depending on the bundle. You'll find all of our current product collection bundles listed here: http://soundiron.com/collections/bundles

If you're a studio, school, post production house, software company or any other organization in need of multi-user site licensing, contact us for a custom quote. We are happy to provide excellent low-cost institutional discounts for multi-user licensing.

The standard license you receive when purchasing items directly through our store only allows for a single user. You can install the library on each computer you own, but you may not in any way share our products with your peers, classmates, coworkers, partners or anyone else.

We do offer very attractive special site licensing and multi-user rates for studios, companies, schools, non-profits and other institutions that have a need for more than one user license. Just send us an email and we'll take care of you.

Contact us here: https://support.soundiron.com/

If you see an “Out Of Stock” message pop up for any item, that means the product is temporarily unavailable. We might be in the process of replenishing serial numbers, the product might be getting an update, or it may be a new product that hasn't been officially released yet. If you're interested in a product that appears to be out of stock, send us an email here: https://support.soundiron.com/

We are based in the United States, with offices located in Califormia. Currently there is no sales tax or VAT applicable to download products here in the US, so we do not calculate or charge sales or VAT taxes on download purchases in our shop.

All of our products are delivered by direct digital download only. We do not send physical media. We don’t collect sales tax, Value-Added Tax, import/export duties or other domestic or international taxes for Download-Only purchases, as these are classified as non-tangible digital goods.

If you are in a country that requires VAT, you can also order our products with VAT charges included from from one of our authorized retailers such as Best Service, Time And Space, Future Loops, Plugin Boutique, Propellerheads, Ableton, Crypton/Sonic Wire and many others.

Once your transaction has been processed, you'll receive an electronic itemized transaction receipt which serves as your printable invoice. You can also print your order confirmation page directly from your browser or log in to the account area of our site to view and print past invoices. If you need an pdf invoice prepared for you for tax or accounting reasons, we recommend CutePDF to allow printing your electronic invoice to a pdf file. We can also send you a pdf copy of your order invoice by request. 

Because we love each and every one of our instruments and consider them our own personal works of art, we make sure that none of them are ever left collecting dust. We try to update each product about every few years and whenever possible, we try to offer updates for free. Once in awhile, we'll add a significant amount of new material and features to a product that requires us to charge a bit for the upgrade, but we do our best to keep the cost of such upgrades and add-ons as low as possible. If you'd like to receive update and upgrade news for your products, make sure to click the "Keep me updated" option box on the checkout page before completing your purchase. You can register for our newsletter at the bottom of our home page.

When we send out product update or upgrade notices, we deliver them to the email address that you originally used when you placed your order for the item. If you don't receive an expected update or upgrade email, make sure that it isn't being blocked or sent to your spam folder. Just send us an email if you have any questions.

Our automated servers are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. When you order, your transaction is automatically processed and your download is delivered via email to the original email address that was used to place your order. This process usually takes just a few minutes, but in some cases can take up to an hour, depending on the payment method you choose and how quickly the transaction clears.

Soundiron's staff are located on the US West Coast. Our machines never sleep. However, we ourselves are human, so any emails or customer support requests that we receive during the overnight hours cannot always be responded to right away. We try to respond as quickly as possible to all emails, even on nights, weekends and holidays, but please allow up to 48 hours for support requests.

If you're a student or teacher at an accredited educational institution, we can offer you a 33% educational discount on all of our libraries and bundles. The discount can be used during most sales and events, but may not be combined with other discount codes or coupons.

To sign up for our educational discount program, just send us an email here. A valid student or faculty ID or other proof of enrollment status is required. Please Email Us for details, terms and conditions.

If you represent an accredited educational institution, we offer zero-cost site licenses for in-classroom use.

You can also find our products at a variety of authorized Soundiron partners and retailers such as Best Service, Time And Space, Future Loops, Plugin Boutique, Propellerheads, Ableton, Crypton/Sonic Wire and many others.

If you are purchasing from any 3rd party retailer, please see their pricing, store policies and delivery guidelines, as they may differ from ours. If you find our products in another store listed for a lower retail price, let us know and we'll beat their advertised price. However, be aware that this does not apply in the case of any unauthorized websites selling counterfeit or pirated copies of our products, such as so-called "OEM" dealers, Ebay listings or Craiglists ads, torrent sites or any other unauthorized outlets. Any products purchased from those sites are either fraudulent or pirated. Please feel free to  Email Us us with any questions about our authorized partners and resellers.

Once your payment has cleared, your order will be sent into our rapid delivery system and you will receive a confirmation email from us. You'll also receive a download email that contains your Soundiron installers, download codes, and step-by-step instructions on how to download and install your new library quickly. Your personal download code is a secure personal key to access your data. Your download code remains active if you ever need to download again, but all access is logged, so keep yours in a safe place and do not share it with anyone.

You will receive a download email that includes an installer and download code for each library purchased.

Here is a walkthrough on using our installers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXzIAJsNOuM&t

If you purchased a Kontakt Player library, after your installer finishes you will need to open NI Native Access and activate your serial number.

If you purchased a non-player library, we recommend using Kontakt Quickload:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w4I9WeP2v4

By purchasing a license for any Soundiron product, you accept the following product license agreement:

1. License Grant:

The license for each purchased product is granted to a single individual licensed User only. No unlicensed use is permitted. All sounds, samples, programming, images, scripting, designs and text contained in this product are copyrights of Soundiron LLC. This software is licensed, but not sold, to the licensed user by Soundiron, for commercial and non-commercial use in the production of music, sound effects, audio/video multimedia productions, live performance, broadcast, video game audio development or similar finished content-creation and production use. Examples of such productions include, but are not limited to, motion pictures, television programs, streaming audio and video, interactive games and software, radio broadcasts, advertisements and motion graphics.

For customer safety, security and fraud prevention, Soundiron LLC requires that all Users of our products be able to provide accurate and current billing and contact information at the time of license purchase.

Soundiron allows the User to use any of the sounds and samples in the library(s) they have purchased for the creation and production of commercial recordings, music, sound design, post production, or other content creation without paying any additional license fees or providing source attribution.

This license expressly forbids the use of any Soundiron library in the production of any commercial sample library, sound effect library or virtual instrument without our express written consent.

2. Transfer:

Unauthorized transfer, resale or any form of re-distribution is prohibited for any Soundiron product, or its constituent sounds or programming, through any means, including but not limited to re-sampling, reverse engineering, de-compiling, remixing, processing, isolating, or embedding into software or hardware of any kind, except where included as part of a multimedia production, rendered musical recording, performance or finished work of sound design. Licenses cannot be transferred, traded or sold to another person or other entity, without our express written consent.

3. Rights:

Soundiron retains copyright ownership of all recorded sounds, instrument programming, documentation and musical performances included within this product. All past and future versions of any Soundiron product, including any versions previously published or sold through any other entity are fully bound and covered by this agreement. The licensed User shall own the copyright to any music, sound design or other audio/video content they create through the authorized use of licensed Soundiron product(s).

4. Refunds:

All sales are final. Soundiron does not offer refunds, returns or exchanges. Once a product file has been accessed on the server or by any other means, the order cannot be cancelled, returned, exchanged or refunded.

5. Responsibility:

Use of this product and any supplied or associated software or data is at the licensee’s own risk. By installing the product, the User accepts sole liability and full responsibility for any direct or indirect loss or damages arising from the purchase, installation or any use of this product.

6. Terms:

This license agreement is effective from the moment the product license is purchased or acquired by any means. The license will remain in full effect until termination by Soundiron LLC. The license may be terminated if the licensee breaks any of the terms or conditions of this agreement. Upon termination, the licensee agrees to destroy any and all copies of the product and any of its contents at their own expense. Soundiron reserves the right to change this license agreement without notice.

7. Violation:

Soundiron reserves the right to prosecute piracy and defend this copyrighted work to the fullest extent of US and International civil and criminal law. Any person who shares, uploads, distributes or otherwise provides any Soundiron product to any person or entity without permission shall be in direct violation of the terms of this agreement and shall have all licenses terminated and all right to use any Soundiron product immediately revoked.

All sales are final. Soundiron does not offer refunds, returns or exchanges. Once a product download code has been activated, it cannot be cancelled, returned, exchanged or refunded. Many of our products are standard open-format wav-based instrument libraries, so there is no tedious activation required or cumbersome DRM. However, this means that once you download a product, the license is in effect and cannot be returned or refunded. We can’t allow reselling, re-licensing, trading or unauthorized license transfers of any kind without our prior written permission. By placing your order, you are signifying that you fully acknowledge your understanding that Soundiron LLC reserves the right to grant or deny any requests for refund, transfer or resale according to its own discretion. Please see our EULA or contact us directly for more info. If you have any questions about product features, content, compatibility or software/hardware requirements, please contact us before you place your order. We'll be happy to answer any questions you might have.

Contact us here: https://support.soundiron.com/

All credit card transactions are processed securely by Shopify Payments with 128-bit SSL encryption. As a necessary function of the product delivery process, Soundiron securely transmits only customer name, email and licensing information to our download delivery servers administered by and through Continuata Ltd. Customers may be contacted by us directly with information about product updates and other news from time to time. However, we do not share or sell any customer contact information to any 3rd parties for marketing purposes.

We can authorized license transfers between users on a case-by-case basis. This process includes a re-licensing fee and requires both the original owner and recipient to contact us directly for verification and authorization prior to exchanging the license. Users may not transfer the product data directly. We will handle delivery of a new license via download through our system upon approval of transfer. Soundiron reserves the right to deny license transfer requests for any reason, at its own discretion.

Please send us an email to begin the process: support@soundiron.com

Yes, our Iron Scores division provides high quality music licensing for placement in advertisements, film sound tracks, video games, television shows, radio, software and a variety of other commercial and non-commercial uses. We work with a huge number of composers, producers and songwriters that cover a broad range of styles and genres. Most Soundiron product demo music can be licensed on demand for only $49 per track (terms and conditions apply). So if you hear a Soundiron demo track that you'd like to use, just send us an email for availability and licensing terms!

Many of the composers we partner with are also available for custom scoring work, so if you hear a particular artist that you'd like to team up with for you next project, just let us know!

We do not recommend attempting to download any of our products with a dial-up or DSL internet connection capable of less than 1.5Mbit downstream. We also do not recommend downloading over a mobile or satellite connection with a data limit, as you may hit your cap quickly with some of our larger products.

Make sure before downloading that you have roughly double the disk space required for the product to allow room for unpacking and installation. The data comes as a compressed .rar archive download, which then must be extracted into the finished library directory. Once installation is fully complete, you can delete the downloaded .rar archives or you can store them offline as a backup. They are only necessary during download and installation.

No, your personal download access will not expire. You can always log in to your user account and navigate to the My Products area to grab new installers and re-download.

If you need to install the library a computer that isn't connected to the internet, you can download and install the library on a computer that is connected to the internet. Then move the library's entire folder to your offline computer, by using a USB stick, portable hard drive or a LAN connection.

Most of our libraries don't require any special unlocking procedure and are ready to use in the full retail version of Kontakt as soon as they're installed. However, we have a selection of specially encoded Powered-By-Kontakt Player format libraries that do also require additional serial number activation through the Native Instruments Native Access utility, which requires an online activation process. See the "Adding "Powered By Kontakt Player" Libraries Into Kontakt and Kontakt Player" section below.

Most of our Kontakt libraries require the full retail version of Kontakt 4.2.4 or later. However, some of our older products are compatible with Kontakt 3.5 and many of our more recent libraries require Kontakt 5.5 or later. We also have specially encoded and licensed "Powered-By-Kontakt Player" libraries that are compatible with the Kontakt Player engine and Libraries browser tab. You can see which version of Kontakt is required in the information listed in the description on each product's page, as well as the helpful info icons at the top of each page. Our Kontakt Player compatible libraries also have "Player Edition" in their title.

Mac users, please be aware that OSX has specific and very important Kontakt version requirements, depending on exactly which version of OSX you have installed on your computer. Since some of our products require certain versions of Kontakt, we recommend that you make sure that both your OS and Kontakt installation are kept as up to date as possible. You can also click this link to see which specific versions of Kontakt are compatible with your computer's specific OSX version.

Our Kontakt presets and user interfaces allow greater user control and more powerful scripted features than most other Kontakt libraries you'll find on the market, so we always recommend that you have at least a dual core processor, at least 3 GB of system ram, a SATA or SSD hard drive with plenty of free space and avoid using on-board audio chipsets to play back sound. A dedicated external audio interface are always recommended if at all possible. However, if you do use your system's built-in audio chipset, we recommend using ASIO or Core audio drivers for best results.

There is an important difference between the two main Kontakt instrument formats. Standard open-format Kontakt libraries natively have accessible sample files, editable instrument presets and do not require special installation or activation procedures. You simply need the full retail version of Native Instruments Kontakt to use them.

On the other hand, specially encoded "Powered-By-Kontakt Player" libraries have been specifically encoded and encrypted by Native Instruments to run in their more limited free Kontakt Player. The Kontakt Player is essentially a locked demo version of Kontakt. It can only read certain specially-formatted products that require activation with a serial number and Native Access. It cannot import wav files, does not support instrument editing, cannot read any instrument presets in the open format and has several other functionality limitations. From a feature standpoint, the open format has all of the same capabilities as the Player format, with the added benefit of user access and customization support. There is also an added licensing fee, longer production time and minimum MSRP requirement for all products encoded in the Kontakt Player format. Therefore, we have found that the Player format is not as suitable for many products as the classic open format tends to be.

Watch this quick How-To video to see an easy demonstration of how our instrument presets can be loaded into the full version of Kontakt, using the Files tab. Continue reading below for more details.

First, launch Kontakt in stand-alone mode or as a virtual instrument plugin/softsynth within your VST, AU, RTAS or AAX compatible audio sequencer. Next, view the Files tab in the Kontakt browser window. Use the directory tree displayed there to navigate to the place on your hard drive where you installed your new library. Open the "Instruments" sub-folder inside and locate any of the .nki or .nkm presets you'll find there. Click on any of them to load that preset. The instrument will load up. Once it has finished, you can assign the midi channel and audio output settings you prefer. It is now ready to play. You can load multiple instrument presets at once by following the same steps. You can assign each loaded preset to different midi inputs and audio outputs as needed, depending on your main Kontakt options settings.

You can also use the main File dropdown menu to load the instrument presets, or use the Kontakt Database tab and import the library's directory into your Kontakt database and Quickload Utility for faster loading and customizable preset organization. You cannot load open format libraries into the Kontakt Player or special "Libraries" rack tab, as those features are only accessible to encrypted "Powered-By-Kontakt Player" libraries. The Files tab, Database tab and the Quickload interface are the easiest ways to browse and load instrument presets that have been programmed for the open format.

Learn how to use Quickload here: 

Watch this quick How-To video to see an easy demonstration of how Powered By Kontakt Player libraries and instrument presets are loaded into the full version of Kontakt or the free Kontakt Player. Continue reading below for more details. This only applies to Player Edition libraries.

If you don't already have Kontakt 5 or the Kontakt Player installed, download the Free Kontakt Player (WIN / OSX) from the Native Instruments website:

https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/samplers/kontakt-5-player/

You will also need Native Access installed: 

https://www.native-instruments.com/en/specials/native-access/

Make sure all instances of Kontakt are closed and launch Native Access. 

It is a special program that is automatically installed by Kontakt. Once it is open, find the “Add a serial” button and click it. Copy your serial number from the download or serial number email we sent you after your purchase. 

This registration process is necessary to allow Kontakt and the NI Native Access to activate the product. 

You usually only need to do this the first time you add and activate this Library.

On the next screen after registering your serial number, click the Browse button to the right of the library name. 

This will allow you to select the folder location that you chose to install this library on your hard drive. 

Select the folder and then press INSTALL on the next screen to complete the process. 

Exit Native Access and launch Kontakt. Go to the "Libraries" tab in the Kontakt browser window, located in the upper left area of Kontakt window, just to the right of the "files" tab. You should see this library as a new tile in the Libraries window.

You can find the instrument presets by clicking the Instruments button on this libray’s tile in the Libraries window. 

You can also browse and load the included .nki presets using the Files, Quickload or Database browser windows in Kontakt, or through the main File load/save menu.

Please allow any current preset to finish loading completely before loading a new one. 

Be aware that standard open-format Kontakt libraries do not require Native Access activation and cannot be added to the Libraries rack. They can only be loaded in the full version of Kontakt, using the normal Files, Database or Quickload browser areas.

You can use the main File dropdown menu at the top of Kontakt to browse and load the .nki instrument presets located inside the "Instruments" directory with each Soundiron library. You can also use the Files tab in the browser window pane on the left side of Kontakt to navigate to the library on your hard drive. It uses a standard directory tree structure, but can just focus on Kontakt related content. Or, you can add the library's directory path to the Kontakt Database settings in the main Options screen. This will add the library to the Database browser tab and allows you to add the library to the Quickload utility for easy library organization and loading.

You cannot load any open format libraries into the free Kontakt Player or add them to the special "Libraries" rack tab, as those features are only accessible with encrypted "Powered-By-Kontakt Player" libraries. The Files tab, Database tab and the Quickload interface are the easiest ways to browse and load instrument presets that have been programmed for the common open format. Here is a video tutorial demonstrating the Quickload system for browsing and loading Kontakt instruments:

In the Libraries tab area of Kontakt, locate the browser module for the specific library you want to load. Now click on the "Instruments" button to open the preset menu. From there, locate one of the presets and click on it to load it into the main instrument window. Once it has finished loading, you can assign the midi channel and audio output settings you prefer. Some larger instruments may take awhile to finish loading, due to the large number of samples that need to be loaded and any scripting that needs to initialized. Once loading is complete, it is ready to play.

If you make changes to any of our main front panel instrument settings or customize the internal instrument or engine settings, you can save your presets for later use by clicking on the main File menu at the top of Kontakt and choosing "Save Instrument As". Then select a location to store your new custom preset and give it a unique file name that you'll be able to find and remember later. We recommend saving it to the same Instruments folder location that the original preset is located and simply add something obvious like "custom" to the end of the preset file name. This will store all current settings into your new preset.

You can also store specific settings for some of our advanced user interface systems to share them between different instruments. For example, the Arpeggiator system found in many of our libraries (often also called the "Uberpeggiator") has step sequencer table settings and other variables that can be imported and exported between instruments. These special internal presets are called nkp files. If you see a pair of diskette and folder icon buttons in any of our system panels, that usually indicates that the settings for that panel can be customized, exported and re-imported to other similar presets with the same features.

Our Reason Refill libraries require Propellerhead Reason 6.5 or later. All of our Reason ReFill products include the words ReFill Edition in their title.

To run our ReFill libraries in Reason effectively, we recommend that you have at least a dual core processor, at least 2 GB of system ram, a SATA hard drive with plenty of free space and avoid using on-board audio chipsets to play back sound. A dedicated external audio interface are always recommended if at all possible. However, if you do use your system's built-in audio chipset, we recommend using ASIO or Core audio drivers for best results.

Once download and installation is complete, you can just double-click on the ReFill file (*.rfl format)to open it up in Reason. Then choose which Combinator or NN-XT instrument patch you want to load. Once you've loaded an instrument, you're ready to start using the library

The universal SFZ presets included in a few of our libraries requires an SFZ Opspec 2.0 compatible software sampler, synthesizer or virtual instrument plugin. There are many free and commercial SFZ compatible sampler and synth plugins on the market, although they do not all support every standardized feature listed in the SFZ specification. We recommend Plogue's Sforzando Player for best results with our SFZ presets. It allows for many of the same advanced performance features that we integrate into the Kontakt versions of the same instruments. While the interface and controls are simplified, you’ll find many of the same core features. However, because of the format limitations inherent to SFZ and our primary focus on high-performance professional library content, we only can offer a few select products in the SFZ format, including our Iron Packs and Phonautograms libraries.

Download SFZ Player for free here: https://www.plogue.com/products/sforzando/

All SFZ presets require a SFZ compatible sampler or synthesizer plugin that supports all current version 2 standards and opcodes. We highly recommend the free Sforzando player by Plogue. It's available for Mac OSX 10.6 and up and Windows. Click Here for the Sforzando Player PDF USer's Guide

Locate the SFZ instrument presets (*.sfz format) located within the Instruments folder of the SFZ compatible Soundiron library you've purchased. There you will find the instrument programs that can be loaded into your the SFZ v2 compatible engine you have chosen. Many SFZ players support drag-drop loading and file menu loading.

In the Sforzando Player plugin, you can drag and drop the sfz presets directly into the plugin's program window or click the main File drop-down menu at the top of the plugin window to brose for the sfz preset folder within the library's main Instruments directory.

Many of our products include standard pcm wav format audio files. Most of our products are recorded in stereo at 24 bit / 48kHz, although some of our original libraries were captured at 16 bit and/or 44.1 kHz. Nearly every modern professional audio program in the world can load wav files, so even if you're not a Kontakt user, you can still enjoy our outstanding instrument and vocal sample content in an environment that works for you.

All of our "Powered-By-Kontakt Player" format libraries have been specially encoded to use the lossless proprietary NCW audio format, developed by Native Instruments for use in the Kontakt engine. The compression type is a data-compression system that does not alter the original audio fidelity at all. It only provides a reduction in disk space and loading requirements. Once the samples are loaded into Kontakt, the ncw files are re-expanded into normal full resolution wav audio, including the full ram requirement that comes with it. Because they are packed into encrypted nkx monolith files within the library, any of our NCW compressed products cannot be converted, extracted or remapped directly into other samplers outside of Kontakt.

We record with the following equipment exclusively: The majority of our products were captured on the Sound Devices 788SSD and/or Sound Devices 702 solid state recording systems. Some of our original releases were recorded on a Fostex FR2. Some of our experimental field recordings are captured on the Sony PCM D50. We use Neumann TLM 103 and TLM 67 microphones for all studio and hall recordings, with additional support on location for remote field recordings by the Sanken CSS-5, DPA 5100, Rode NT4, Shure SM57 and SM58 and Sony PCM D50.

We strive to provide brilliant audio quality and deeply detailed, nuanced and expressive recordings with all of our instrument libraries. We use years of experience and careful ears to guide our choices in microphone type, model, placement and recording location to bring out the very best potential in every sound we capture. Often that means choosing unorthodox environments and methods and deliberate preservation of the subtle flaws and human character in both the instruments and performances we record. Our goal is to harness and present the truth and raw beautify behind every sound, without wiping away the character, soul and natural detail in the name of "perfection". Our instruments live, breath and move and we truly believe that you'll feel that quality and energy will shine through in your mix.

All of our standard open format libraries come with full accessible wav format sample directories that we've organized and named as clearly as possible to allow you to import them into nearly any other wav format compatible audio program you like. You can reprogram them, remap them, customize them, edit them, compressed them and manipulate them in any number of ways. So even if you don't have Kontakt, you can still get an incredibly wide range of uses from our instruments.

The easiest way to use our samples outside of a plugin is to look inside the Samples folder inside one of our libraries and drag one of the sample files directly into your DAW. Most of our samples are regular wav files that can be manipulated, mixed and edited just like any other digital audio recording.

One exception would be our "Powered-By-Kontakt Player" products, also titled Kontakt Player Editions. They have been specifically compressed, encoded and encrypted into Native Instruments' proprietary Player format. The sample files in our Kontakt Player Edition products cannot be decoded or re-imported to any format outside of Kontakt.

Most of our instrument preset files are programmed for the standard Kontakt open format. Many of our Kontakt version 3.5 and 2.2.4 era products can be converted to other sampler formats using various tools such as Chicken Systems Translator, although most KSP script features and some instrument functionality is likely to be unsupported by your destination format and may require user customization.

A few of our libraries support the universal SFZ format, which is an evolution on the Sf2 standard. SFZ presets can be modified and loaded into a variety of different free and commercial software sampler and synth plugins that are available on the market.

Newer presets created for Kontakt 4 or later may not support conversion to other formats at this time and newer Kontakt scripting functionality may be locked and is unlikely to be supported in most formats outside of Kontakt.

Another exception would be our "Powered-By-Kontakt Player" products, also titled Kontakt Player Editions. They have been specifically compressed, encoded and encrypted into Native Instruments' proprietary Player format. The instrument presets in our Kontakt Player Edition products cannot be decoded or re-imported to any format outside of Kontakt.

Another exception would be our Reason Refill presets. They have been specifically compressed and encoded into Propellerhead's proprietary Reason Refill format. The ReFill presets in these products are not designed to allow conversion to other formats. However, our ReFills are typicaly included in libraries with standard Kontakt presets and wav samples, so those resources can be used to allow custom conversion and importing.