How to Route Kontakt to Multiple Outputs in Ableton Live

When using multiple instruments loaded in Kontakt, you may want to route them to separate channels in Ableton Live. This is useful if you wish to use different insert / send effects or apply Ableton Live's volume and panorama controls to each instrument individually.

Note: These instructions apply to all recent versions of Kontakt. If using Kontakt 6, simply choose the plug-in labeled "Kontakt" and follow this guide.

Setting up Kontakt

  1. Load Kontakt into the first available MIDI Track in Ableton Live.
    Load_Kontakt_VST.png
  2. Once Kontakt is open, tick Outputs in the Workspace menu to make the outputs area visible at the bottom of Kontakt's interface:
    Workspace_Outputs.png
  3. You can add or delete mixer channels by clicking on the + or - buttons within the mixer.
    Click the + button to set the desired Quantity of output channels. In our example, 4 output channels are created (see screenshot below).

    Note: When you add or delete a channel for the first time, you receive a message asking you to save your project, and then to close and re-open your Kontakt plug-in.

  4. In the option Soundcard / Host output (see screenshot below), select the first listing named Kt st.1 [1] from the drop menu.
  5. Tick the boxes for these options:
    - Ascending output assignment
    - Delete existing channels before creating new ones
  6. Click OK to confirm.
    Output_Configuration.png
  7. If you wish to save your configuration as a template, click on the save output section preset as dialogue within the Presets / Batch Configuration drop-down menu.
    Batch_Save_Output_Preset.png
  8. If you wish to save this configuration as Kontakt's default output state, choose Presets / Batch Configuration > Save current output section state as default for, then choose the desired software or plug-in format (e.g. VST Plugin, All Formats, etc).
    Save_Default_Config.png
  9. Load some instruments into Kontakt. The Output menu of each instrument is set to the first available Kontakt output channel (st.1 by default). You can change the Output setting of an instrument by clicking the Output drop-down menu. This will display the other output channels available (e.g. st.2, st.3, and so on).
    Instrument_Rack.png
  10. Repeat the above step to route the outputs of the other Kontakt instruments to the desired channels.

Setting up Ableton Live

  1. Open the Mixer view in Ableton Live.
  2. In Ableton Live, create additional audio tracks to receive audio fromKontakt's newly created output channels. In our example, 3 stereo audio tracks have been created.
    Live_Audio_Tracks.png
  3. We must now configure the input of your first audio track (here named 2 Audio) to receive from the Kontakt output channel st.2 (by default, the first instrument track containing the Kontakt plug-in will receive audio from the Kontakt output channel st.1).
    In the first drop-down menu under Audio From, set the audio track to receive from the Kontakt plug-in (here named 1-Kontakt).
    Audio_From_1.png
  4. In the second drop-down menu under Audio From, select the respective Kontakt plug-in output channel (eg. Kt. st.2/-Kontakt, Kt. st.3/-Kontakt, and so on).
    Audio_From_2.png

    Note: If you do not see the Kontakt outputs listed in the field as shown above, save your Ableton project and restart it. The outputs should now appear.

  5. Assign the remaining audio inputs of the next audio tracks to receive from Kontakt in the same way.
  6. Set Monitor to In for each audio track so that Ableton Live can receive audio from Kontakt.
    Monitor_In.png

Now when you play an instrument in Kontakt, the audio is routed through the respective Ableton Live audio track that has been assigned.