How Maru compares
Choose the problem you need to solve. Audio plugin development and symbolic music representations need different comparisons.
Sample players
An open sampler you can play from a link.
Kontakt is the established home for commercial sample libraries. Maru Sampler is newer and smaller. A bank plays in the browser, and Studio builds one from your recordings with an agent.
| Capability | Maru SamplerFree, open sampler with banks you can play in the browser | Kontakt PlayerFree player for licensed Kontakt libraries | KontaktFull sampler and instrument-building environment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Playing an instrument | In the browser firstOpen a bank from a link and play it with on-demand audio, on-screen keys or a MIDI keyboard | Desktop app or pluginInstall the library, then load it standalone or in a DAW | Desktop app or pluginAlso opens libraries that are not licensed for the Player |
| Making an instrument | Studio, with an agentDrop in recordings, map them from their filenames, then refine with the agent or the mapping controls. Studio is in private beta | Not in the PlayerBuilding or editing an instrument needs the full version | Deep manual editorMapping, groups, modulation, effects and scripting for custom behavior |
| Releasing a library | Publish or export a bankA saved bank can be published for others to play, or exported as a ZIP with its audio and settings | Licensed through Native InstrumentsA library is licensed and encoded with NI before it runs in the free Player | Sell the files yourselfBuyers of an unlicensed library need the full version to use it |
| Bank format | A bank you can openSamples, mappings, presets and artwork that can be copied into Studio and edited | Kontakt formatsInstrument files open only in Kontakt, and Player libraries are encoded | Kontakt formatsInstrument files open only in Kontakt |
| In a DAW | Being completedThe sampler plugin will host banks in the DAW. Native bank delivery is still being tested for each host | EstablishedA widely supported plugin with years of host coverage | EstablishedThe same plugin as the Player, with editing unlocked |
| Playback engine | Core sampling featuresVelocity layers, round robin, choke groups, tuning, trim, filtering and envelopes. Aftertouch and MPE are in development | Whatever the library shipsThe full Kontakt engine, with the controls its author chose to expose | Very deepSeveral sampling modes, time-stretching, a large effects set and scripting |
| Custom interface | Bank interface or own pluginA bank can carry its own interface, or sampler components can become a separate instrument plugin. Both paths are still being completed | Inside KontaktA library brings a scripted interface that is shown in the Kontakt window | Inside KontaktAuthors script the interface; the result still runs in Kontakt |
| Main tradeoff | Early and openBrowser audition and agent-assisted authoring today, with a small catalog and DAW delivery in progress | Largest catalog, licensed entryThe standard for commercial libraries, with NI licensing between an author and the free Player | Powerful and paidThe deepest toolset, with a paid license and more to learn |
Kontakt has the larger catalog, a deeper engine and long host coverage. Maru Sampler's DAW delivery is still being completed, so check a release's listed formats before planning around it.