Review: Is Output Plugin Bundle Worth It?

Let’s talk about the Output Bundle, a collection of virtual instruments and effects that have been making waves in the music production world for years. But is it still relevant in 2025?

If you’ve ever heard a cinematic score that made your spine tingle or a bassline that shook your bones, there’s a good chance Output had something to do with it. But here’s the thing: Output is focusing more on their subscription service Arcade and not updating these plugins much, raising the question of whether they are still worth it.

The Output bundle has been a staple in music production for years, offering a mix of virtual instruments and effects designed to spark creativity. From crafting electronic beats to experimenting with hybrid sounds, Output’s tools have likely been on your radar.

I started using some of the Output units a few years ago, spending countless hours tweaking, layering, and getting lost in its sounds. For me, it has some unique tools that can transform a dull track into something dynamic and cinematic.

But, and it’s a big but, getting everything installed was a headache, and I have to tell you that the units are nice products and do have some negatives.

So, today, I’ll break down the instruments, effects, and my honest thoughts so you can decide if this bundle is worth your hard-earned cash or if you should look elsewhere.

Instruments In The Bundle

Analog Brass & Winds – The Future of Orchestral Brass

Brass, but not as you know it. Analog Brass & Winds combines traditional orchestral brass with gritty synths, ethereal textures, and deep modulation. It’s perfect for creating cinematic soundscapes, eerie atmospheric pads, or completely surreal, otherworldly textures.

• 500+ presets covering everything from traditional orchestral sounds to hybrid textures.
• Dual-layer engine lets you blend brass and synth elements for unique sounds.
• Syncs to tempo, meaning pulses and rhythms stay locked into your project.
• Dual arpeggiators for movement and rhythmic complexity.

If you’re looking for classic orchestral brass, this might not be for you. But if you want big, processed, hybrid brass textures, this one delivers.

Analog Strings – Hybrid Strings Reimagined

Analog Strings takes traditional orchestral string recordings and processes them with tape loops, synth layering, and deep effects. Instead of trying to be a pure orchestral library, it leans into hybrid scoring, giving you sounds that are part symphony, part-synthesizer.

• 500 presets covering string pads, pulses, and cinematic textures.
• Dual-layer engine for blending real strings with experimental elements.
• Built-in FX engine lets you process the sounds without needing external plugins.
• Smart tagging system for quick and easy preset browsing.

This isn’t a replacement for Spitfire or Orchestral Tools, but it’s a powerful tool for hybrid compositions and sound design.

Substance – Cinematic Bass Reinvented

Forget about traditional bass guitars, Substance is all about layered, cinematic low-end. It fuses synths, orchestral instruments, and deep sound design into a three-layer engine, creating huge, evolving bass tones perfect for trailers, electronic music, or soundscapes.

• 300 presets covering deep subs, growls, and processed low-end textures.
• Powerful 3-layer engine for blending different bass sources.
• Advanced arpeggiator and rhythm sync for pulsing basslines.
• Legato and monophonic modes for smooth transitions and expressive playability.

This is for producers and composers who want more than just a bass guitar or sine wave sub. Substance delivers complex, evolving bass textures that hit hard.

Exhale – The Modern Vocal Engine

If you’ve ever struggled to find a good vocal sample, Exhale might be what you need. It’s a playable vocal engine designed to create modern vocal pads, chops, loops, and processed textures. Instead of using raw acapella, Exhale lets you manipulate vocal tones into fully playable instruments.

• 500 presets covering everything from soft, breathy pads to chopped vocal phrases.
• 3 play modes with Notes, Loops, and Slices.
• Deep FX engine with custom macros for real-time tweaking.
• NKS compatibility is easy to use with Native Instruments hardware.

Perfect for adding vocal textures to cinematic scores or electronic productions, Exhale makes sure you’re never stuck searching for the right vocal sample again.

Signal – The Rhythmic Pulse Engine

Signal isn’t just another synth; it’s a rhythmic instrument designed to bring motion to your sounds. Whether you need pulsing arps, evolving drones, or driving sequences, Signal gives you a four-layer pulse engine to create complex rhythmic textures.

• 500 pulse instruments that evolve over time.
• 40GB of content, blending analog and digital synths with organic instruments.
• Looper, step sequencer, and LFO-based rhythms for custom movement.
• All pulses sync to tempo, making it easy to fit into any track.

Great for film scores, electronic music, and sound design, Signal adds instant movement and life to your productions.

Rev & Rev X-Loops – Reverse Sound Design

Reverse sounds are a staple in sound design, and Output’s Rev and Rev X-Loops take this concept further, giving you a dedicated instrument for crafting reversed pads, risers, and rhythmic loops.

• 1,000+ reverse instruments, including pads, loops, and effects.
• Four powerful engines to manipulate reversed sounds in real-time.
• Live recorded loops and perfectly timed rises for seamless transitions.
• Full FX suite with stutter, delay, filters, and more.

If you love cinematic risers, atmospheric pads, and evolving textures, Rev is an essential tool.

FX Units In The Bundle

Thermal – Multi-Stage Distortion Redefined

Distortion isn’t just about adding crunch; Thermal takes it to another level, allowing you to sculpt harmonics, movement, and dynamics in a way that feels musical and controlled.

Instead of just cranking up the gain, you can layer multiple distortion stages, tweak the mid-side balance, and even apply built-in modulation effects.

• 250+ presets covering subtle warmth to total sonic destruction.
• Multi-stage distortion for layering different types of saturation.
• XY control panel for real-time performance and automation.
• Mid-Side and width controls for stereo distortion sculpting.
• 9 built-in effects, including filtering, compression, and delay.

If you love fuzzy synths, aggressive guitars, or crunchy drum processing, Thermal is an absolute playground for distortion lovers.

Portal – Granular Synthesis Reimagined

Granular effects can be unpredictable, but Portal makes them musical and controllable. It takes any audio input, drums, synths, vocals, live instruments and warps it in ways that feel inspiring rather than random.

Instead of just slicing sound into tiny grains, Portal lets you shape, pitch, and sequence them in ways that always stay musical and usable.

• 250+ presets covering glitchy, ambient, and rhythmic effects.
• Circular visualizer to easily see and control granular settings.
• Tempo-synced grain delay, meaning everything stays in time.
• Musical pitch modulation for harmonically interesting textures.
• 7 built-in effects, including delay, filters, and master compression.

If you want to break a sound apart and put it back together in a totally new way, Portal is one of the most fun granular processors on the market.

Movement – The Ultimate Rhythmic FX Engine

Sometimes, a sound just needs more motion and that’s exactly where Movement comes in. It’s an FX plugin designed to add real-time rhythmic modulation to any sound.

Whether you want subtle pulsing or crazy syncopated effects, Movement lets you modulate multiple parameters at once, creating sounds that breathe and evolve.

• 300+ presets with a mix of subtle and extreme rhythmic effects.
• Sidechain, LFO, Step Sequencer modulation, all tempo-synced.
• Advanced sidechain modulation—control any effect dynamically.
• Built-in FX like filters, EQ, distortion, delay, and compression.
• XY pad for live performance, making automation more intuitive.

Great for electronic music, film scoring, or experimental sound design, Movement is a creative tool that instantly makes sounds more dynamic.

Interface and Workflow

Output’s plugins always look slick, and their design language is consistent across the board, so once you get comfortable with one, the rest will feel pretty familiar.

The overall layout is intuitive, with big macro sliders, clear labels, and minimal menu diving. They definitely want you to stay creative rather than get lost in endless tweaking.

Interface

One thing I really appreciate is the 4-macro control system in the instruments. Each macro is mapped to key parameters, so you can dial in a new vibe without thinking too much. It’s great for quick inspiration, though if you want to go deeper, you’ll need to dig into the advanced settings.

Preset browsing is another area where Output got it right. Instead of scrolling through a massive list, they use a tag-based system, which makes hunting down the perfect sound way faster.

Now, let’s talk about the FX plugins, Thermal, Portal, and Movement, as they have interactive XY pads, making them a blast to use.

You can grab, tweak, and automate them in real-time, which feels way more intuitive than messing with sliders. This feature alone makes Movement one of my favorite rhythmic FX plugins cause it just makes things come alive without much effort.

That said, the dark UI theme might not be for everyone. While it looks modern and polished, I’ve found that on smaller screens, things can feel a little cramped. It’s not a dealbreaker, but I wouldn’t mind a slightly more spacious layout in future updates.

Workflow

Well, for me this is the tricky par: Output’s instruments run inside Kontakt, and while that’s fine if you’re already in the ecosystem, it does have some downsides. Load times can be long, and if you don’t love Kontakt’s interface, you might find it annoying.

I’ve had moments where I just wanted to throw in a quick bass from Substance, but waiting for Kontakt to load made me reconsider.

The FX plugins, on the other hand, are standalone, making the workflow much more straightforward. Movement can instantly transform a static loop, Thermal makes distortion feel playable, and Portal turns basic sounds into something wild with just a few tweaks.

Despite some hiccups, Output’s workflow is fine in terms of speed and creativity. If you like hands-on sound design, these plugins let you get straight to the fun part without too much hassle.

First Impressions and Sound

Output plugins are modern, hybrid, and built to inspire quickly, but they also have quirks. Some became important steps in my workflow, while others I rarely touch.

Instruments

The first thing I have to tell you is that Output’s instruments are not designed for realism as they’re all about processed, hybrid textures.

Analog Brass & Winds and Analog Strings lean into synth-layered orchestral sounds, which makes them excellent for cinematic scores and electronic music but less useful if you need traditional brass or strings. The layering engine is great, but sometimes the sounds feel too processed out of the box, requiring extra tweaking to sit naturally in a mix.

Substance is one of the greatest cinematic bass instruments VST I’ve used, layering deep, gritty, and textured low-end in a way that feels alive. It’s not a one-trick pony either; with enough tweaking, it can fit into electronic, trailer music, and even some experimental hip-hop.

Signal is just as fun, though I sometimes feel like I need to dial back the movement, as it’s easy to go overboard.

Exhale is another strong point, especially for modern vocal textures, but I wish it had more control over vocal articulation and phrases.

While I love how instantly inspiring these instruments are, the Kontakt dependency is a pain. Long load times and the occasional missing sample issue made me frustrated more times than I’d like to admit.

If Output moved towards standalone VST versions, these would be even more powerful tools.

FX Plugins

Output’s FX plugins are where things really shine for me.

I love working with Thermal, as it’s one of the most flexible units I’ve used, letting you stack different distortion types and shape them in creative ways. It can do subtle saturation, but where it really excels is in gritty, evolving textures.

Portal is a great granular plugin, but it can be CPU-hungry. Unlike other granular effects that feel chaotic, Portal keeps things musical and playable, which is a huge plus. It’s ideal for warping drums, vocals, and pads, but I sometimes wish it had more granular control over individual grains.

I throw Movement on drums, pads, and even vocals, and it instantly brings them to life, adding movement. It’s hands down one of my favorite Output plugins, though it could benefit from a more intuitive modulation interface.

Unlike the instruments, the FX plugins don’t have the Kontakt problem, making them much easier to integrate into a session.

So, in the end, while these are great plugins, they do have quirks, and not all of them served me well. There are some great units to have, but as a bundle with some that I wouldn’t use, I’m not sure if it’s worth it.

Compatibility

The FX plugins (Thermal, Portal, Movement) are standalone VST/AU/AAX plugins, while the instruments (Exhale, Substance, Signal, etc.) require Kontakt to run.

This means you’ll need Native Access for activation and a DAW that supports Kontakt-based instruments.

System Requirements Table

Kontakt-based instruments like Substance, Exhale, and Signal are large sample libraries that can take time to load, especially on HDDs. An SSD is highly recommended to avoid long loading times if you plan on using multiple Output instruments in a session.

The FX plugins are much lighter, but Portal in particular can push your CPU hard, especially when using complex granular settings. If your DAW struggles with heavy plugins, freezing tracks or using lower-quality render modes can help.

Conclusion

After spending years with some of these plugins, I can confidently say that the Output Bundle is a mixed bag.

If you’re looking for realistic orchestral libraries or traditional synth emulations, this isn’t the bundle for you. But if you want modern, hybrid instruments and effects that push creative boundaries, Output delivers.

The instruments shine in cinematic, electronic, and experimental genres. They make it easy to get huge, textured sounds without layering multiple plugins, but the Kontakt requirement can slow things down.

The FX plugins are the real highlight, with Movement, Thermal, and Portal bringing new life to sound design. The only real downside is that some plugins are CPU-intensive, and a few feel too processed out of the box.

If you’re into film scoring, electronic music, or sound design, this bundle is a nice source of inspiration. The FX plugins alone are worth the price, and if you can work around the Kontakt quirks, the instruments offer unique textures.

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