Samples: .ncw or .nkx to speed up Kontakt's instruments .nki?

Discussion in 'Kontakt' started by Highdom, Aug 27, 2017.

  1. Highdom

    Highdom Kapellmeister

    Joined:
    Oct 16, 2016
    Messages:
    391
    Likes Received:
    47
    I got the cracked version of Kontakt 5. I see I can export patches+samples from a .nki of a library. I have lot of space in my hard disk, so I am thinking about changing some of my NKI's samples (stored in compressed .nkx files at te moment) to ncw or wav.
    Does it increase instrument's loading in Kontakt?

    Thanks!

     
  2.  
  3. ddoctor

    ddoctor Kapellmeister

    Joined:
    Jan 9, 2016
    Messages:
    229
    Likes Received:
    52
    You have no idea what you are talking about. No one could answer even if they wanted. No big deal, we've all been through learning about Kontakt - it is a trip of despair because you mostly realize what you would really want is not possible or too hard. But to try to answer what you may be actually asking, loading time decreases significantly only when you (batch) resave the patches - nothing else would make much difference (except putting your instrument on an ssd).
     
  4. ddoctor

    ddoctor Kapellmeister

    Joined:
    Jan 9, 2016
    Messages:
    229
    Likes Received:
    52
    Oh, compressed .nkx and .ncw is the same. Also older libraries like chris hein guitars use .nkx extension even though inside them are .wav samples, so .nkx extension does not guarantee the samples are compressed.
     
  5. Highdom

    Highdom Kapellmeister

    Joined:
    Oct 16, 2016
    Messages:
    391
    Likes Received:
    47
    My easy question is
    IS KONTAKT FASTER WORKING WITH NKX OR NCW FILES? THERE'S NO DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO WAYS? THANKS
    Don't mind other technical shits please
     
  6. boogiewoogie

    boogiewoogie Platinum Record

    Joined:
    Sep 15, 2012
    Messages:
    477
    Likes Received:
    196
    No difference there. Only different between compressed and uncompressed samples. If you have a library in WAV, it is faster to compress it to NCW.
     
  7. Kloud

    Kloud Guest

    Best Answer
    NCW is NI's Proprietary format & uses lossless compression to reduce the size of the library up to about 50% on your HDD -> Less data needs to be read which speeds up loading times and lowers RAM usage :)
    Essentially they are compressed wave files. There is no loss in sound quality and they can be converted back to WAV :yes:
    NKC is a Kontakt Cache file -> NKC files go along with NKX files and just contain memory pointers to each file in the NKX monolith - Dont worry about these :)
    NKX files are encoded by NI and Kontakt monolith container files and host sample data combined & patch info NKX & NKC files are not directly loadable. Essentially they are Player files i.e add to library tab -> Compression utilised, Don't worry about these :)
    So in conclusion as you don't have the encryption key and don't really need to worry that much in this case about NKX , you really want to worry about whether batch compression of WAV -> NCW saves HDD space, speeds up loading times and lowers RAM usage & the answer is :yes: it does.
    Therefore whenever possible batch compress WAV -> NCW :) :bow::bow:
     
  8. ddoctor

    ddoctor Kapellmeister

    Joined:
    Jan 9, 2016
    Messages:
    229
    Likes Received:
    52
    Yes but .ncw uses more cpu resources. OP, I new you were going to feel insulted; I apologize. It is just that we see too many questions like these on this forum; don't know what to think about that. Again, apologies.
     
  9. Kloud

    Kloud Guest

    Impact upon CPU is negligible at best :) Has been tried & tested most users report no noticeable impact upon CPU :yes:
    When you consider the important aspects as far as Kontakt is concerned such as RAM & Diskspace the conversion to .ncw is of great benefit. Especially when you consider the small disc size of say expensive SSD which is often the way to go.
    How many time do you overload the CPU as compared to run out of RAM?
    Normally, extensive CPU can be attributed to internal processing within Kontakt itself i.e Number of Voices or Polyphonic effect processing on group level or extensive convolution FX :)
    When we consider the benefits i.e Huge RAM savings, Disk access & faster loading then conversion to .ncw is an obvious choice for the majority of users :yes: :bow::bow:
     
  10. Xupito

    Xupito Audiosexual

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2012
    Messages:
    6,956
    Likes Received:
    3,830
    Location:
    Europe
    On HDD compressed .nkx are faster than separated .ncw the more fragmented the drive is. Fragmentation leads to literally more distance between different samples and more access time.
     
    • Like Like x 2
    • Agree Agree x 2
    • Interesting Interesting x 1
    • List
  11. Kloud

    Kloud Guest

    Which is another reason to use SSD as although fragmentation normally imparted by file system occurs performance is not affected. Defragmentation a waste of time an actually shortens lifespan? What would the difference on SSD be due to or would there be none? :bow::bow:
     
  12. SineWave

    SineWave Audiosexual

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2011
    Messages:
    4,273
    Likes Received:
    3,371
    Location:
    Where the sun doesn't shine.
    "Defragmentation a waste of time an actually shortens lifespan?" - absolutely true for SSD, but not for HDD. It can actually prolong the lifespan as the moving parts need to move less on a defragmented HDD, especially if the files are big, defragmenting a HDD really helps. :wink: If you have a HDD full of samples you only need to do it once, anyway.
     
    • Like Like x 1
    • Agree Agree x 1
    • List
  13. JudoLudo

    JudoLudo Kapellmeister

    Joined:
    Jul 27, 2014
    Messages:
    438
    Likes Received:
    46
    hi there, I'd have a doubt: I need to chooes between downloading a library in NCW and downloading one in NKX. my questions are:
    - which one will take less space on disk (I cannot see the exact dimension now) and why?
    - which one will load faster and why?
    - which one is loadable in library tab?

    thanks.
     
Loading...
Similar Threads - Samples speed Kontakt's Forum Date
PsySeeD & Speedsound - Psy Fullon Loops and Samples Vol.3 Our Music Oct 27, 2012
How to Check Bit Depth of Samples in Kontakt? Kontakt 48 minutes ago
Selling E-mu and Digital Sound Factory samples Selling / Buying Today at 3:41 PM
Loops & Samples - Key andBPM Working with Sound Friday at 11:13 PM
favorite samples? Software Mar 13, 2024
Loading...