The Output Complete Bundle is most often stacked against the iZotope Music Production Suite, and that comparison tells you everything about who each product is actually for. iZotope gives you a mixing and mastering toolbox. Output gives you a sound design universe. If you want to fix and finish records, buy iZotope. If you want to build cinematic, textural music from the ground up, Output wins cleanly. Our verdict: at $849 this bundle earns its price for the right producer, and completely misses the mark for the wrong one.
The Complete Bundle collects Output's full catalogue of non-subscription instruments and effects: Analog Brass & Winds, Analog Strings, Substance, Exhale, Signal, REV, REV X-Loops, plus the FX trio of Thermal, Portal, and Movement. That's 10 products. You'll want Kontakt 5.8.1 or the free Kontakt Player before you launch a single one of the Kontakt-based instruments.
This is for composers, hybrid producers, and sound designers. Pop songwriters writing four-chord verses will be frustrated by it. Trailer composers will love it.
How It Compares Out of the Box
Against iZotope Music Production Suite, the difference is immediate. iZotope opens Nectar, Neutron, Ozone. You're thinking about signal chain, gain staging, spectral balance. Output opens Analog Brass & Winds and you're thinking about mood. These are products solving different problems at a similar price.
Against Native Instruments Komplete, which is the other natural comparison, Output loses on sheer instrument count. Komplete Ultimate runs to over 100 instruments and effects. Output gives you 10. But those 10 are purpose-built for a specific aesthetic: cinematic, modern, layered. Komplete is a library. Output is a sound palette.
We installed Output fresh on a session machine running 64-bit Ableton 12 and the activation process through Native Access was smooth. No quirks. No missing content. The 80GB total library size (larger than the advertised 28GB for Analog Brass & Winds alone) means you'll want a dedicated SSD before you commit.
Performance Deep Dive
We ran Analog Brass & Winds first. Its dual-layer engine lets you stack two separate sound sources with independent FX chains, then tie both to 4 macro sliders. We loaded the preset "Hybrid Horns Rise," pushed Macro 1 (mapped to filter cutoff and reverb size simultaneously), and pulled it back in real time during playback. The response was immediate. No stutter. No glitching at 128-sample buffer in Ableton.
Signal is the most CPU-hungry of the group. It runs up to 4 simultaneous pulses, each with its own arpeggiator, LFO, and step sequencer, all tempo-locked. We had 2 instances open on a mid-spec Intel i7 session and saw the CPU meter hit around 30% on that plugin alone. One instance sat comfortably at 12-15%. Don't run 4 instances on an older machine without freezing tracks.
Substance uses a 3-layer engine versus the 2-layer design in Analog Brass & Winds and Analog Strings, giving it extra harmonic complexity in the low end. Its 300 presets are fewer than the 500-preset siblings, but the bass-focused content is more specific. Monophonic and Legato modes make it actually usable for melodic bass lines, not just soundscapes.
Exhale brings 500 vocal presets across 3 modes: Notes, Loops, and Slices. We put a Slices preset under a hip-hop 4-bar loop at 93 BPM. The chop mapped cleanly to MIDI and auto-locked to tempo. Satisfying. The 10GB of raw vocal material underneath means the timbral variety is real, not just filter variations on the same sample.
Thermal, Portal, and Movement are the FX side. Thermal's 15+ custom distortion types and XY pad control make it genuinely fun for sound design on buses. Portal is a granular effect. Movement is an auto-filter/modulation tool. None of these replace FabFilter Pro-Q 3, Pro-C 2, or any surgical mixing tool. They're colour and motion processors, not corrective tools.
Where It Wins
The preset depth is brilliant. Analog Brass & Winds alone ships 500 presets with smart tagging, so you can filter by mood, tempo, key. We found a usable "Tension Pad" for a sync brief in under 90 seconds. That's a real-world win for composers on deadline.
REV and REV X-Loops are underrated. REV gives you over 1,000 reverse instruments across 4 engines. REV X-Loops adds 2GB of new multi-layered loops with 20+ categories. Together they cover transitions, risers, and textural beds that would cost serious time to build from scratch.
The macro system across all instruments is clever. Four sliders per preset, each mapped differently, means you can perform in real time without touching a single individual parameter. For live scoring or tracking ideas fast, that's a workflow that actually works.
Signal's 40GB of content including analog synths, digital synths, and organic instruments, all tempo-locked with up to 4 pulses simultaneously, is a production environment on its own. Coldplay and Rihanna sessions have used it. The sounds have that track record.
Where the Competition Wins
FabFilter Total Bundle ($899 at full price) gives you Pro-Q 3, Pro-C 2, Pro-L 2, Pro-R, Pro-DS, Volcano 3, Saturn 2, and more. Every one of those is a surgical, precise tool that makes existing audio better. Output's bundle makes new audio. If you need to mix and master records, FabFilter is the smarter purchase.
iZotope Music Production Suite wins on educational scaffolding. Neutron's Track Assistant actually teaches you why it's making an EQ move. Outpu
For pop songwriters, the preset library gravitates hard toward film and games. Presets come in hot: wide, layered, effects-heavy. Most need 3dB of attenuation and a high-pass filter around 200Hz before they sit in a verse without crowding the vocal. That's annoying when you're moving fast.
Who Should Buy Which
- ✅ Buy if you score for film, TV, trailers, or games and need cinematic textures fast
- ✅ Buy if you produce hybrid electronic music and want a signature sound palette with documented chart and sync placement
- ✅ Buy if you already have a mixing suite (FabFilter, iZotope, or similar) and want to add creative instrument depth
- ❌ Skip if you need mixing and mastering tools. There are none here
- ❌ Skip if you write radio pop or singer-songwriter material. The library won't serve you without significant editing on nearly every preset
- ❌ Skip if you don't own Kontakt 5.8.1 or higher and aren't prepared to install it. Most of this bundle depends on it
Score Breakdown
| Category | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sound Quality | 4.5/5 | 500-preset engines with multi-GB libraries; unique timbral character with real sync and chart credits |
| Value for Money | 3.5/5 | $849 is fair if you use 7+ components; overpriced if you're a pop producer who'll only open 2 |
| Ease of Use | 3.5/5 | Macro system speeds up preset tweaking, but 10 deep instruments with no guided mixing tools is a steep curve |
| Features | 4.0/5 | 10 instruments and FX with dual/triple-layer engines, dual arpeggiators, and tempo-sync across the board |
| CPU Efficiency | 3.0/5 | Signal at full 4-pulse load is heavy; multiple instances across a session will stress mid-spec machines |
| Overall | 3.8/5 | A specialist tool at a specialist price. Right producer: brilliant. Wrong genre: a frustrating shelf ornament |
Alternatives to Consider
iZotope Music Production Suite: The mixing-focused counterpart. If your sessions need Neutron, Ozone, and Nectar more than they need cinematic sound design engines, start here. iZotope Music Production Suite Review
Native Instruments Komplete Select: At a lower price point, Komplete Select covers synths, sample instruments, and effects with a much broader genre scope. Less signature, more utility. Native Instruments Komplete Select Review
Output FX Bundle: If you love the Output aesthetic but can't justify $849 yet, the FX Bundle gives you Thermal, Portal, and Movement standalone for significantly less. Great entry point. Output FX Bundle Review 2026: 5 Plugins Worth Buying
Spitfire Audio LABS + BBC Symphony Orchestra Discover: For composers specifically, Spitfire's combination of free LABS instruments and their Discover orchestral library covers a more traditionally orchestral palette. Less hybrid character, lower cost. Spitfire Audio BBC Symphony Orchestra Discover Review
At $849, the Output Complete Bundle is a serious investment in a specific creative direction, not a general-purpose Swiss Army knife. If you write for picture, build hybrid electronic records, or need the kind of textural depth that gets you a sync placement, buy it without hesitation. If you write verse-chorus-verse pop and your sessions mostly need better EQ and compression, walk away. This bundle won't fix your mix. It'll just give you more expensive sounds to mix badly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Output Complete Bundle require the full version of Kontakt?
No. All Kontakt-based instruments in the bundle are compatible with the free Kontakt Player, version 5.8.1 or higher. You do not need a paid Kontakt licence. However, you do need Native Access installed to activate the Output instruments, as Output's activation runs through that system.
How much storage space does the Output Complete Bundle actually need?
More than the headline number suggests. Analog Brass & Winds alone lists 28GB uncompressed (14GB compressed). Signal runs to 40GB. REV X-Loops adds another 2GB of uncompressed loops. Total across all instruments sits closer to 80GB once everything is installed. Plan for a dedicated SSD with at least 100GB free before you start the download.
Is the Output Complete Bundle worth it for pop and hip-hop producers?
Honestly, it depends on how much work you're willing to put in. The preset library leans heavily toward cinematic textures: wide, layered, and FX-heavy out of the box. For hip-hop producers, Exhale's vocal chops and Substance's bass engine are genuinely useful. For pure pop writers, the library needs significant taming before most presets sit in a radio-ready mix. We'd say check the Output FX Bundle first to test the workflow before committing to the full price.
How does the Output Complete Bundle compare to buying instruments individually?
Output markets the bundle as offering over 65% savings versus buying each component separately. Signal alone historically retailed for $235+, and the FX Bundle (Thermal, Portal, Movement) was priced at around $550 as a standalone package. Buying the Complete Bundle at $849 versus assembling all 10 components individually would cost significantly more. If you want 5 or more of the components, the bundle maths work in your favour.
