Twisted Tools

Does anyone use Reaktor ensembles from Twisted Tools?

http://twistedtools.com/

I have been using one called S-Layer. It's amazing for making drums/sounds effects. I was wondering if anyone else was using it, or any of the others. They all appear to be completely suited for IDM. Some are for drum creation, sequencing, effects, mastering, sampling, etc.

Yeah, I like a lot of their stuff too and bizarrely I managed to have gotten most of their stuff over the years - S-layer and the new Ultraloop are the one's I don't have. And of the others I do have, the only one I've never really gotten into is the sequencer Colorflex - it's just too much of a pain to get up and running with and there's just too much guess work involved. I also have a couple of their sample packs - Analogue Microcosm and Metamorph - which I got as much for the sounds as for the MP16a and MP16d samplers that are packaged with them. Both are really good and if I found Reaktor's sample mapping a bit more intuitive they'd possibly even be my go to drum samplers.

I bought Metamorph but haven't tried the sampler that comes with it. I guess I should. I felt like I should have bought Scapes or Rolodecks instead. I am curious about Vortex. Do you use that one?

Vortex is OK I guess but it's probably the most basic of their ensembles. Basically, it's a six track granular sample sequencer with reasonably flexible modulation options. When I have played about with it I've found it to be more of a happy accident generator rather than something you would sit down to work with intent. If I'm honest I don't use all that much. I do think both Rolodecks and Scapes are really good - Rolodecks is much more immediate. Scapes perhaps a bit too much head-scratching and random tweaking but it's deep enough that it feels rewarding when you invest the time.

The S-Layer you mention does look quite useful but I think the stumbling block for me on that one is Reaktor's sample management and snapshot management - which is just too cumbersome. Maybe when Reaktor 6 finally makes an appearance I'll re-evaluate that.