Native Instruments has announced Kore (Mac/Win), a hardware/software system, which the company refers to as a Universal Sound Platform. Kore operates both as a stand-alone instrument host and as a VST and AU plug-in, but it has a wealth of features that make it unique.

By integrating all VST- and Audio Units-based software instruments and effects into a single, unified interface, Kore gives you increased control over your plug-ins, whether they are Native Instruments'' instruments and effects or third-party products. The included USB 2.0 hardware controller and interface is meant to provide a consistent interface, no matter which instrument or effect you're using.

Addressing the issue of large sound libraries in software synthesizers and samplers, Kore has an integrated database that lets you search according to musical categories, such as genre, articulation, or texture using embedded metadata. Kore comes with categorization data for each of the 11,000 presets from all of Native Instruments' software instruments and sound libraries.

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