Kontakt

Native Instruments

The industry-standard sampler. It uses the proprietary NKI format and no longer imports SFZ, so SampleStack cannot target it directly.

Kontakt is the industry-standard software sampler from Native Instruments and the engine behind a huge range of commercial libraries. Instruments are saved as NKI files in Kontakt's own proprietary format.

SampleStack cannot write NKI, and current Kontakt cannot read the open formats SampleStack exports, so there is no direct route between the two. This page explains the situation and the workarounds.

File format and compatibility

Kontakt could import SFZ in version 5, but that was removed in Kontakt 6 and is absent from current versions. Kontakt also does not read SoundFont 2 or Decent Sampler, and its NKI format is closed, which SampleStack does not export.

If you specifically need a SampleStack instrument inside Kontakt, the practical route is a third-party converter that turns SFZ into NKI, which is outside SampleStack. For everything else, one of the SFZ players on this site opens a SampleStack export directly, several of them for free.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Kontakt import SFZ?

Not anymore. Kontakt 5 could import SFZ, but the feature was removed in Kontakt 6 and is absent from current versions. Kontakt also does not read SoundFont 2 or Decent Sampler.

Can SampleStack export to Kontakt?

No. Kontakt's NKI format is proprietary and SampleStack does not write it. To get a SampleStack instrument into Kontakt you would use a third-party SFZ-to-NKI converter.

What should I use instead?

Export as SFZ and open it in a free player like sforzando or sfizz, or in Serum 2, Falcon, TX16Wx, or Bitwig, all of which read SFZ directly.

Related guides

SFZ instruments in SampleStack: what SFZ is and how to build one

What the SFZ format is, why it's a good default for multisample instruments, and how to create and export an SFZ from a folder of samples in SampleStack.

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All Instruments