LinkedMusiciansLinkedMusicians LinkedMusicians
  • JOIN OUR SUBREDDIT!
  • Community
  • r/LinkedMusicians
  • FORUM ARCHIVES
  • BLOG
  • Resources
  • CURATED BEST DEALS
  • CURATED FREE PLUGINS & LIBRARIES
    • Best Free Kontakt Libraries
    • Best Free Virtual Pianos
    • Best Free Sample Libraries for Free Players
    • Best Free Virtual Electric Pianos
    • Best Free Cinematic & Orchestral Virtual Instruments
    • Best Free Virtual Synths
    • Best Free DAWs
    • Free Samples, Loops, Sound FX PowerSEARCH
    • Free Synth Presets PowerSEARCH
    • Best Free Effects Plugins
  • AUDIO PRODUCTION
    • Audio Production Tutorials
    • Mixing & Mastering Problem Solver
    • Glossary of Audio Production Terms
  • SONGWRITING / COMPOSING TOOLS
    • Songwriter’s Toolbox
    • The Interactive Circle of Fifths
    • Songwriter’s Dictionary
    • Scale, Mode and Chord Finder
  • MUSIC GEAR RESEARCH
    • MUSIC GEAR REVIEWS
    • FORUMS + SUBREDDITS SEARCH
    • NI INSOLVENCY HUB
  • QUICK GUIDES
  • MAGAZINES & PODCASTS
  • GAMES
    • Theory Master – Music Theory Quiz
  • LM MEMBER MUSIC
  • Other
  • COMMUNITY RULES
  • SUPPORT LM
    • How You Can Support LinkedMusicians
    • Make a Financial Contribution
  • LM MERCH
  • OUR STORY
    • THE LM TEAM
No results found
View All Results
LinkedMusicians
  • Login
  • Register
  • Opt-out preferences
  • Terms and Conditions

This Day In Music
July 23
  • No major events recorded for today yet. Check back tomorrow!

For the Love of Music

Join Our Subreddit!

Our conversation has moved from our Forums and Social Media Groups to the LinkedMusicians subreddit please join us there!

Latest Blog Post

  • [PB] Send/Return free pluginsJuly 2, 2026
Search Magazine Reviews FREE!

FEATURED MEMBER MUSIC
Citizen Regen

LinkedMusicians · Citizen Regen LM Mixtape
Melodicle word game

UPDATE: Melodicle is presently in beta and in between updates at the moment. A new release is coming soon for our first game made specifically for music creators!

🆓 🔥 8Dio Synthetic Shadows Cinematic Synth Kontakt Library reg. $39 FREE!

Forums › DEALS › Virtual & Physical Music Gear Deals › 🆓 🔥 8Dio Synthetic Shadows Cinematic Synth Kontakt Library reg. $39 FREE!

  • This topic has 4 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 3 months, 1 week ago by Kirean.
Viewing 5 posts - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • April 11, 2026 at 11:49 am #1000047272
    LinkedMusicians
    Your Friend
    • Topics Created 3,671
      • Early Adopter
      • Deal Curator
      @linkedmusicians

      PETER’S HOT TAKE: First, this is a  7.57GB Kontakt (full version) sample library that is temporarily free. So, if you like the demos, get it right now. Some of the 8Dio free libraries I’ve recommended have since gone back to paid, so be aware that this is not a library that will always be free. While this is targeted at cinematic composers, I still find it appealing for my purposes (I mostly stay in the rock, prog rock, folk rock, and singer/songwriter genres).

      Cinematic Synth Orchestra

      Synthetic Shadows is a library born in the shadow of a fully realized Synth Cinematic Orchestra: a synthetic library dedicated to bringing you analog and digital synths, to augment your existing compositions.

      Synthetic Shadows contains over 7,600 samples and has 13 different Hybrid FX categories, hundreds of multi-sampled analog & digital synths, plus 4 large synth drumkit banks. It comes with a wealth of different options, bringing you Downers, Risers, Boomers, Pulses, Droppers, Strikers, Growls, and a fully realized Synth Cinematic Orchestra.

      The library is built into our famous Hybrid Scoring Tools User Interface, which is a perfect complement to the Synthetic synths. It offers you many opportunities to modify and master all the hybrid effects. Synthetic Shadows is a package filled with pure inspiration: the only limit is your imagination!

      Kontakt VST / AU / AAX

      7,635 Samples / 7.57GB
      13 Hybrid FX categories & 4 Synth Master Drumkits
      100’s of Analog Synths & Hybrid Instruments
      Built Into Our Famous Hybrid Tools User-Interface
      Downers, Risers, Boomers, & Pulses
      Droppers, Strikers, & Growls
      20 Scoring Presets Out Of The Box
      Instant REVERSE, RANDOM, STACK, & CHAOS
      Delivered by Download
      Kontakt 5.8.1 Full Retail (or later) Required

       

      https://8dio.com/products/synthetic-shadows

      CURATED BEST FREE LISTS: Kontakt Libraries, Sample Libraries, Virtual Synths, Effects
      POWERSEARCH TOOLS: Synth Presets, Loops & Sound FX, Gear Reviews 
      FREE TOOLS: Mixing Problem Solver, Songwriter's Toolbox, QuickGuides, Scale, Mode & Chord Finder
      READ/WATCH: Mag Articles / Podcasts, Audio Production & Songwriter's Dictionaries

      4
      April 11, 2026 at 2:40 pm #1000047275
      fossile
      Member
      • Topics Created 1
        • Total Posts 27
        • Woodshedding
        • ★
        • Early Adopter
        @fossile

        i have a bunch of 8Dio stuff, and the nice thing is a lot of it can be used in their SoundPaint app vs solely in Kontakt. plus it looks like they’re planning on making more of their catalog available on SP because of the issues with NI… https://8dio.com/blogs/news/soundpaint-%E2%84%A2-vs-native-instrumets

        2
        April 11, 2026 at 3:10 pm #1000047276
        LinkedMusicians
        Your Friend
        • Topics Created 3,671
          • Early Adopter
          • Deal Curator
          @linkedmusicians
          On April 11, 2026 at 2:40 pm fossile said

          i have a bunch of 8Dio stuff, and the nice thing is a lot of it can be used in their SoundPaint app vs solely in Kontakt. plus it looks like they’re planning on making more of their catalog available on SP because of the issues with NI… https://8dio.com/blogs/news/soundpaint-%E2%84%A2-vs-native-instrumets

          Cool message, thanks for sharing that @fosille. I think it’s something like day 73 into the NI insolvency. Germany’s insolvency law only covers employees for 90 days (it doesn’t mean that NI won’t keep paying them, but it makes layoffs extremely likely for whatever is left of the company after any sell offs), so we’re likely to hear something soon.

          Developers are wise to have alternative plans — it was never a good idea for a developer to only be tied to one company’s sampler. 8Dio is in an especially good position during this time. I own A LOT of their sample libraries, some in Kontakt, some in the SoundPaint format. If Kontakt ends up in the hands of a company that makes it subscription only, I am certainly going to want to have every 8Dio library I own in the SoundPaint format. Of course, I’m hoping that Kontakt will continue as a perpetual license product. For anyone thinking that Kontakt is going to disappear, I don’t think that is very likely. It is the crown jewel of NI. And it’s critical to understand that NI isn’t in financial trouble because it had unsuccessful products, it is in insolvency because it went on buying spree and purchased a bunch of companies at a giant price tag relative to their funds, and the market came down, those companies were soon worth a lot less, and NI’s debt was enormous compared to its cash and value. It’s almost certain that Kontakt will still be around, but it may only be around as a subscription only product.

          Personally, I literally have hundreds of Kontakt sample libraries, so I am really hoping that Kontakt stays a perpetual license product. I have been following NI announcements and news with alerts — plus I already have a direct connection to their PR dept — plus I have AI  monitoring announcements. Basically, I’m taking my own interest in them and using it as a writer for our community. When there’s a new development, you’ll hear about at LM.

          As for our 8Dio libraries, they are one developer I have zero concerns about getting my libraries converted to another format if Kontakt ceases to be an option for me moving forward.

          CURATED BEST FREE LISTS: Kontakt Libraries, Sample Libraries, Virtual Synths, Effects
          POWERSEARCH TOOLS: Synth Presets, Loops & Sound FX, Gear Reviews 
          FREE TOOLS: Mixing Problem Solver, Songwriter's Toolbox, QuickGuides, Scale, Mode & Chord Finder
          READ/WATCH: Mag Articles / Podcasts, Audio Production & Songwriter's Dictionaries

          April 13, 2026 at 12:05 am #1000047350
          LinkedMusicians
          Your Friend
          • Topics Created 3,671
            • Early Adopter
            • Deal Curator
            @linkedmusicians

            This YouTuber I follow does preset playthroughs of synths and sample libraries. I always find it a good way to hear all of the presets in a sample library or synth, and the guy isn’t a terrible player like some of the folks that make these kinds of videos!

            CURATED BEST FREE LISTS: Kontakt Libraries, Sample Libraries, Virtual Synths, Effects
            POWERSEARCH TOOLS: Synth Presets, Loops & Sound FX, Gear Reviews 
            FREE TOOLS: Mixing Problem Solver, Songwriter's Toolbox, QuickGuides, Scale, Mode & Chord Finder
            READ/WATCH: Mag Articles / Podcasts, Audio Production & Songwriter's Dictionaries

            2
            April 15, 2026 at 7:41 am #1000047412
            Kirean
            Member
            • Topics Created 53
              • Total Posts 219
              • Still in the Garage
              • ★★
              • Early Adopter
              @kirean

              Nice. Didn’t have it.

               

              I hope if crap hits the fan with NI, that 8dio offers a really cheap way to move to Soundpaint. In the past the crossgrade prices haven’t been too enticing.

            • Author
              Posts
            Viewing 5 posts - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
            • The forum ‘Virtual & Physical Music Gear Deals’ is closed to new topics and replies.
            Copyright © 2026 B2B Digital. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links to help with the operating costs of the site. It does not change the price you pay compared to a non-affiliate link.
            Manage Consent

            As a social media platform that requires personalization to work properly, we depend on technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies enables us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, is very likely to adversely affect certain features and functions. In other words, the site won't work properly without your consent. 

            Functional Always active
            The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
            Preferences
            The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
            Statistics
            The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
            Marketing
            The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
            • Manage options
            • Manage services
            • Manage {vendor_count} vendors
            • Read more about these purposes
            View preferences
            • {title}
            • {title}
            • {title}

            Login

            Lost password?