Lunaris 2, Unparalleled Pads

NEW: Lunaris 2.4 is released – it’s a free update for all users. See changelog at the bottom of the page.

For those seeking the best pads instrument on NI Kontakt, Lunaris 2 is the top choice.

For years, Lunaris has been the industry standard for synth pads. Lunaris 2 continues this legacy, focusing solely on pads, and pads only. From analog pads to digital pads, string pads, cinematic pads, 80s-inspired pads, immersive ambient pads to everything in between.

Explore deep space pads that take you to the outer reaches of the cosmos, rewind back to the 80s for some technicolor fare, and lose yourself among crystalline wavetable textures that sparkle like starlight. Sculpt and morph between the synth pads using the XY pad.

Whether you are a composer, electronic musician, or sound designer, Lunaris 2 packs enough to satisfy the most demanding of users, while providing an intuitive interface for those who prefer to just pick a preset and play.

Compared to its predecessor, version 2 improves and expands with sample drag and drop import, a freshly redesigned and larger interface, and the core sounds library is now brimming with over twice as many sound sources.

You will also find new effects, new features, and over 580 presets (all pads!) created by fifteen world-class sound designers, including Venus Theory, Electric Himalaya, Echo Season, Bigtone, Stephan Baer, Michael Oakley, Yuli Yolo, Gahrn Audio, Milisonics Lauge, Amphilium, Adam Pietruszko, S1gns of L1fe, State Azure and of course, Luftrum.

Users of the original Lunaris can upgrade to Lunaris 2 for $39. Lunaris 2 installs side-by-side with Lunaris as a separate product, therefore you can keep both instruments if you prefer.

Lunaris 2 is 13.7GB, made for and licensed to the free Kontakt Player, so you do not need the full version of Kontakt to use Lunaris 2. It will load without limitations in the free Kontakt Player or the full version of Kontakt v6.7.1 or later. No other software or purchase is required to play Lunaris 2. It can be loaded directly into any DAW, including Ableton Live, Logic, Reaper, Bitwig and Cubase.

Lunaris 2 is fully NKS compatible and is installed directly in Native Access. Just enter the serial key, click install, and Lunaris 2 will be downloaded and installed on your system.

Download the Lunaris 2 PDF User Manual and explore the instrument before buying. There’s a German version of the manual available here Lunaris 2 PDF Handbuch.

The original Lunaris (version 1) can still be ordered directly from Native Instruments.

Lunaris 2 $159

Lunaris 2 upgrade from Lunaris $39*

*The upgrade path is excluded from all sales and discounts. To upgrade, you must have a valid Lunaris license registered in Native Access. Lunaris 2 installs as a separate product, allowing you to run it side-by-side with the original Lunaris without overwriting your current installation. 

 

The Sound of Lunaris 2

 

Reviews

Future Music Magazine
Verdict 8.8/10

“The presets in Lunaris 2 are sonically excellent, but there is also much to offer those who want to delve further into sound design themselves. Lunaris 2 is an impressive and fine-sounding instrument…” – Bruce Aisher, FM Magazine, Issue 393

Sample Library Review

“Lunaris 2 is a pad-lover’s playground. With plenty of presets, tons of customization capabilities, and even user sample import Lunaris 2 offers just about any kind of pad you can imagine…” – Raborn Johnson, Sample Library Review

Sound Bytes Magazine

“I am impressed with Lunaris 2, both with the factory content, and with its possibility for creating new sounds. It has plenty of amazing pad sounds and a wide variety of styles, deep editing capabilities, and some stunning effects…” – David Keenum, Sound Bytes Magazine

 

What’s New in Lunaris 2?

Compared to its predecessor, version 2 improves and expands with sample drag & drop import, the most requested feature. It comes with a freshly redesigned and larger interface, and the core sounds library is now brimming with over twice as many sound sources.

Adapted from Bioscape, one of the new key features in Lunaris 2 is the creative and powerful motion recording function. This feature uses recorded automation to animate various instrument parameters over time.

You will find new effects to replace the legacy effects, such as Choral and Phaser, and a powerful dual Replika delay engine. The reverb is expanded with three times as many reverb types – ranging from small rooms to infinite lush plate reverbs.

Lunaris 2 comes with several new filter types, and a new control to adjust the sample start of each layer, to introduce a sharper transient on sounds which takes a while to evolve. This and much more, along with key tracking for the filter, amplitude, and optimized CPU consumption.

Lunaris 2 ships with 530 presets (all synth pads!) categorized by type and created by fourteen world-class sound designers, including Venus Theory, Himalaya, Echo Season, Bigtone, Stephan Baer, Michael Oakley, Yuli Yolo, Gahrn Audio, Lauge, Amphilium, Adam Pietruszko, S1gns of L1fe, State Azure and of course, Luftrum.

The User Interface

Drag & Drop

Lunaris 2 supports drag & drop. You can import your own sounds, synth pads or any other audio file and use them alongside the sound sources that come with Lunaris 2.

To import, just drag & drop any audio file onto the layer display. User samples will automatically be mapped to root note C3 and will be located in the User Sounds category. If there are loop points within a wave file, it will load with those loop points intact.

 

Layer Select

Notice the intended blue triangles to the left.

Pressing one of these selects that given layer. In addition, directly clicking on the layer number will also select that layer. The selected layer will now be in control of the envelope and filter settings.

The connection is shown via the lower blue triangle pointing inwards towards the control knobs.

Adjustments made to the ADSR envelope, the filter settings, tune, pan, or other controls, only affect the selected layer.

 

 

The XY pad and Motion Recording

Adapted from Bioscape, one of the new key features in Lunaris 2 is the creative and powerful motion recording function. This feature uses recorded automation to animate various instrument parameters over time.

This is a super creative way to inject motion and dynamics into your sounds. You can record the XY pad and freely crossfade between the sound sources. You can record the output of an inbuilt LFO or sequencer to affect different targets or gradually introduce effects such as reverb, the Replika delay, or distortion.

Choose different playback modes from forward, reverse, loop/stop, and ping-pong. Set the speed from normal to double or half speed, and make playback free running or retrigger from the start with each keypress.

The Motion Recording function is described in-depth in the Lunaris 2 PDF User Manual.

 

Modulation & Effects

Lunaris 2 contains four LFOs and four step sequencers, which can be used to shape the sounds. The modulation sources, and their destinations, can be recorded using the Motion Recording feature.

The effects in Lunaris 2 are replacing the legacy effects in the original Lunaris, with new effects such as the Choral and Phaser and the powerful Replika delay unit, based on the dedicated Replika XT delay plugin. The Replika delay contains five high-fidelity algorithms, and you got 2 x Replika delays in Lunaris 2, in a dual serial mode.

The Reverb is a highly realistic convolution reverb. Replicating the behavior of classic hardware units such as the L300, L224, and the BRT7. There are 37 reverb types to select from.

More in-depth information about the modulation and the effects are found in the Lunaris 2 PDF User Manual.

 

Lunaris 2 Specs & Requirement

✓ The premier pads instrument for Kontakt
✓ 530 pads created by world-class sound designers
✓ 13.7GB cinematic Kontakt Player Library (full version of Kontakt not required)
✓ Downloaded & installed in Native Access, just enter serial and click install
✓ 240 high-quality multisampled synth pads sound sources
✓ 117 sound sources of field recordings, synth transients and synth textures
✓ NKS ready for Komplete Kontrol and Machine
✓ Official Native Instruments third-party library

System Requirements:

Kontakt Requirement: Either the free Kontakt Player v6.7.1 and above or the full version of Kontakt v6.7.1 and above.

Windows:

– Windows 10 or 11
– CPU: Intel Core i5 or equivalent
– Memory: 4 GB RAM

Mac:

– Hardware: Both traditional Mac and Apple Silicon supported
– Operating System: macOS 10.14 (Mojave), 10.15 (Catalina), or macOS 11, 12, or 13.

Recommended: 16GB RAM and SSD drive for optimal performance.

Important: Lunaris 2 is incompatible with High Sierra (macOS 10.13 released in 2017) and versions prior to it due to their lack of support for Kontakt/Kontakt Player 6.7.1. For a comprehensive compatibility list, refer to this Native Instruments page.

Lunaris 2 requires temporary free space during the automatic download and installation. Make sure to have at least 42GB available for the installation process.

 

YouTube Reviews, Walkthroughs and Jams

Team Credits

Idea & Concept
Luftrum

Scripting
Simon Dalzell & Paulo Nunes

GUI design
Voger Design

Sound Designers
Venus Theory, Bigtone, State Azure, Himalaya, Echo Season, Sonic Underworld, Michael Oakley, Yuli Yolo, Claus Gahrn, Lauge, Keith Hersch, Adam Pietruszko, S1gns Of L1fe, Luftrum 

v2.4 – 2025-04-03

ADDED XY Pad now includes CC mapping via the CCX and CCY text fields above the pad, allowing direct control via MIDI CC
ADDED New 0.25x speed for the XY Pad motion, providing a slower playback option

BONUS State Azure has created 20 new presets for Lunaris 2, download them below. These presets are offered as a FREE bonus but require Kontakt or Kontakt Player 8.2 or later to load. Installation instructions are included in the download.

  20 State Azure presets

 

v2.3 – 2024-02-23

ADDED 50 new ambient and cosmic inspired snapshots in folder ’16. New in Version 2.3′.
IMPROVED Adjusted the UI-switching area to better align with the logo

 

v2.2 – 2023-08-30

ADDED Bipolar knobs for the bipolar controls such as the Tune, Pan, Env, and Key knobs.
ADDED New optional UI ‘Retro Moonstation’ drawing inspiration from the aesthetics of 1960s and 70s space travel and technology

 

v2.1 – 2023-02-24

IMPROVED Loading time of snapshots and sound sources are greatly improved
ADDED 50 brand new snapshots by Luftrum in folder ’15. New in Version 2.1′
ADDED Loading progress bar, to display the loading status of each snapshot
ADDED Sync option for the dual Replika delay effects