DYSTROPIA BY HEAVYOCITY
KK-ACCESS REVIEW
It’s that spooky time of year once again, and the industry are rolling out there related wares in a bid to capture the imagination of those creating for the Halloween, horror, SciFi, supernatural, &thriller genres.
The latest release from Heavyocity holds it’s head way above the crowd, and manages to bring it’s own unique brand of post apocalyptic misery to the season.
Having always had a penchant for the dark side of scoring in their sound design, it is good to see that they have here unreservedly embraced these leanings with this their latest release, Dystropia!
There is plenty of contemporary sounding cataclysmic content here, in fact it is the ideal cinematic material that would sit comfortably for scoring anything from Terminator, Fallout, Walking dead, or any more general end of world type compositional shenanigans you care to think of, or as the name implies dystopian Drama.
TECH SPECS
Dystropia requires Native Instruments KONTAKT or KONTAKT PLAYER (version 7.10.5 or higher.
It is compatible with all versions of Komplete Kontrol that are running the above Kontakt specifications.
The library requires 9.9GB of disk space,and uses the NcW compressed file format for the sample content.
There are 2 master NKI files, one for the Dystropia designer, and another for the Dystropia Menu preset.
There are also a further generous 381 Kontakt NKSN snapshot presets in various categories that derive from those master Dystropia Designer and Dystropia Menu NKI’s.
DOWNLOAD & INSTALLATION
Dystropia is downloaded and un archived using the Heavyocity Portal, which is a relatively straightforward process, save for a little bit of OCR (Optical Character Recognition), guesswork, and finger crossing with the unlabelled buttons, but nothing too daunting.
The second part of the process is really just a case of using the same serial number to authorise the library within Native Access, and then locating the library folder on your system to confirm installation.
Komplete Kontrol will then scan Dystropia into your factory database upon launch, where it will then be available to use directly from your Komplete Kontrol keyboard, or Kontakt if using a Kontrol MK3 with it’s direct integration.
FULL KOMPLETE KONTROL NKS PARAMETER MAPPINGS ARE AVAILABLE AT THE END OF THIS REVIEW FOLLOWING THE MEDIA SECTION
ACCESSIBILITY
Dystropia uses the same user interface as Oblivion and Gravity 2, so unfortunately this means, and as previously noted, this restricts us from any detailed sound design possibilities directly via the NKS system.
This is somewhat of a shame, as undoubtedly much of the appeal of Dystropia from a creative perspective would be the ability to select, layer, and shape your own choice of sounds from the extensive included sample pool.
The browser that allows sighted users this level of interaction is a mouse driven GUI, to which blind screen reader users will not have access.
This will similarly also be the case for the more advance features, such as the modulation sequencer, macro selection, and extended effects controls.
Although Dystropia is NKS2 and Kontrol MK3 compatible, access to any extended parameters beyond those of the pre-mapped NKS template, does depend upon what controls have been made available by the developer within Kontakt for host automation.
Here the Kontrol MK3 would otherwise have been able to auto map them to the hardware knobs using it’s extended parameter edit view.
To this end, I did find that the layer tuning controls showed up, but still no ADSR, or other useful parameters.
Despite this, we can at least appease ourselves in the knowledge that heavyocity have been generous with supplying 381 presets, which in one way or another should cover all of the Dystropia sample pool.
DYSTROPIA – ENGINE & CONTROLS
Dystropia has 3 mixer sound channels available in the designer based presets, which can be mixed, panned, & tuned directly from the NKS hardware.
We also get pre-assigned macros, LFO controls, Filter, the omnipresent and now classic Punish & twist section, along with traditional EQ, Delay, & Reverb.
I did think it a little strange that the LFO section had a sync On/Off switch assigned to a macro, to allow the user to change from free running Hertz values to tempo synced beat values, but there was not the same switch for the modulation section via NKS control.
The Dystropia designer as the name infers is the best place to attempt sound design, using the mixer you can tune any of the 3 channels to plus or minus 48 semitones, which can radically alter a preset from it’s default start point into something quite different.
Play around with some of the other NKS parameters, and although somewhat rudimentary in comparison to having full UI access, these can still yield some useful results that will give you a sense of having personal ownership over a sound.
The Dystropia Menu based presets feature essentially the same NKS mappings, however they do not include the mixer section. This is I believe due to these presets being intended as a well deserved showcase for the Heavyocity sound designers rather than the user needing to make any radical changes.
DYSTROPIA – PRESETS
With so much content available within dystropia, Heavyocity have made an excellent job of categorising the presets for the different sound types into understandable sections.
For the Dystropia Designer we have:
Cue Creators, Pedals & Pulses (straight timing), Pedals & Pulses (Triplet Timing), Alarms (Straight Timing, Alarms (Triplet Timing), Rhythms (Straight), Rhythms (Triplet), Pads (Tonal), Pads (Atonal), Glitches & Noise, Melodic (Decaying), & Melodic (Sustained).
The Dystropia Menus patches feature the following:
Rhythmic (Straight), Rhythmic (Triplet), Sustains (Tonal), Sustains (Atonal), Textures & Scapes, Events, & Combos.
You will need either a Komplete Kontrol MK2 or Kontrol MK3 series in order to find these specific categories, as A-series & M32 controllers do not support the banks or sub bank categories in the browser.
It’s not all bad news though, as for those particular KK hardware owners, the presets themselves are well named in a sensible manner, so you can expect to find presets such as Reverses (Atonal 2 Bar), Reverses (Tonal 1 Bar), which clearly describe what they do.
On that topic, where any presets happen to mention bars, Kontakt does a fantastic job of syncing to your DAW tempo using it’s Time Machine Pro algorithms.
You can increase or reduce the tempo significantly either way, and the presets will then start and end as described, with an appropriate natural fadeout tail where necessary.
DYSTROPIA – THE SOUNDS OF DREAD
The entire dystropia library is awash with a wide range of sounds that typify this broad range of related genres, yet they still succeed in achieving a high level of uniqueness.
Cue builders is great for, well building cues, and contains some really atmospheric almost self contained soundscape material.
Just loading up the preset called ‘creepy Entry’ to my ears, unfurled a shadowy world of background percussive knocks and creaks, overlaid with an eerie intermittent feedback sound, and an underlying disturbing low rumble.
Experimenting with muting the separate layers I found provided useful variants, for example the percussive sounds of channel 2 performed at differing pitches gave me everything from the baritone bowels of an alien infested spacecraft, to the dark unnerving corridors of a haunted mansion, complete with a spooky grandfather clock.
All this is my own interpretation of course, but the point being is that as always with Heavyocity products like this, is that the sounds invoke strong imagery in your mind, which I think in turn can work very well to provide extra cerebral fuel for audio creativity.
There are a plethora of equally well crafted presets throughout the entire Dystropia library, comprising combinations of dark strident analog synths, organic textures, all topped off and coated with enough dirt, grit, and grime that if it were outside the context of an instrument review, would demand a thorough spring clean!
PEDALS, PULSES, & RHYTHMIC CONTENT
There is also a plentiful supply of tempo synced Pedal & Pulse and Rhythmic presets both in the Designer and Menu sections. These are superb for adding everything from tension or up tempo action thrills, and are helpfully available in both straight and triplet meters, which offer users greater flexibility.
These presets provide bass and melodic material, along with a range of some more mechanical and atonal noises, such as the eerie alarms.
PADS
With Dystropia It’s not always entirely about the discordant sound of the apocalypse. As Dystropia also has some great sounding pads lurking within. Granted they do veer toward brooding and melancholic in their nature, but equally serve as ideal levelling companions for the other rather more disturbing content.
Decaying, Geiger Tones, Invisible Glow, Last Hope, Oracle, & Voyager are all outstanding, with their widescreen and cinematic appeal. These would be well placed to work for the portrayal of those big sky opening title shots, or in picture scene changes.
KEYSWITCH TONAL SOUNDS
Dystropia has a good number of combo presets, where single samples have been assigned to their own individual key on the keyboard.
Singular or multiple keys can of course be held down to play at the same time , but in addition Heavyocity have allocated keyswitches at the low end of your keyboard so that these otherwise single samples can also be pitched and played to work with your project.
As ever I would highly recommend checking out the official Heavyocity walkthrough and preset content linked in our media section to evaluate for yourself just how good Dystropia sounds.
CONCLUSION
Dystropia is without doubt a library worth adding to your workaday compositional toolbox if you do intend to write or score for any of the styles or genres highlighted in the introduction of this review.
The distinctive sections and content tagging will enable you to quickly find the material you need for the job in hand.
Whether it be a Trailer, Cue, or Thematic track, there is plenty of meat on the bone here to inspire you to create and compose a gritty end of days dystopian epic right out of the box.
Dystropia is available from the Heavyocity website, For a limited time, Heavyocity is offering Dystropia for $119 (reg. $149). In addition, owners of Oblivion or Gravity 2 will get an additional $20 off with registered serial. Offer ends October 31st, 2025.
Dystropia Product Page:
Dystropia – Product Overview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufHoYkHeFhA
Dystropia – Preset Playthrough:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HA1M38SUo8
Dystropia – Demo Track:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lpiiyS9LW0
Dystropia – User Manual:
https://heavyocity.com/Downloads/Dystropia_UserManual.pdf
KOMPLETE KONTROL PLUG-IN EDIT NKS CONTROL MAPPINGS
Dystropia Designer & Dystropia Menu mappings are identical, except the menu presets do not have the mixer page
Kontrol MK3 keyboards may include additional controls via the extended NKS view, however these should still be present through a DAW parameter list for host automated controls
Page One – Macro Controls
Knob 1 – Macro Amount
Knob 2 – Modulation On/Off
Knob 3 – Modulation Amount
Knob 4 – Envelope
Knob 5 – Tone
Knob 6 – Drive
Knob 7 – Motion
Knob 8 – Space
Page Two – Macro LFO
Knob 1 – Macro LFO On/Off
Knob 2 – Sync On/Off(Hz)
Knob 3 – Rate in Hz or Beat Values (dependent on sync status)
Knob 4 – Spread
Knob 5 – Envelope
Knob 6 – Tone
Knob 7 – Drive
Knob 8 – Motion
Last Page of Macro (Page 3 on Kontrol MK3) Knob 1 – Space
Page Three- Mixer
Knob 1 – Volume Channel 1
Knob 2 – Pan Channel 1
Knob 3 – tune Channel 1
Knob 4 – Unassigned
Knob 5 – Volume Channel 2
Knob 6 – Pan Channel 2
Knob 7 – Tune Channel 2
Knob 8 – Unassigned
(Channel 3 controls continue on next page for Kontrol MK3)
Page Four – Punish & Filter
Knob 1 – Punish On/Off
Knob 2 – Punish Amount
Knob 3 – Bass
Knob 4 – Response
Knob 5 – Tone
Knob 6 – Filter On/Off
Knob 7 – Cut
Knob 8 – Resonance
Page Five – EQ
Knob 1 – EQ On/Off
Knob 2 – Amount
Knob 3 – Low Gain
Knob 4 – Low Frequency
Knob 5 – Mid Gain
Knob 6 – Mid Frequency
Knob 7 – High Gain
Knob 8 – High Frequency
Page Six – Compressor
Knob 1 – Compressor On/Off
Knob 2 – Threshold
Knob 3 – Ratio
Knob 4 – Attack
Knob 5 – Release
Knob 6 – Make-Up
Knob 7 – Mix
Knob 8 – Unallocated
Page Seven – Modulation
Knob 1 – Modulation On/Off
Knob 2 – Rate (Hz)
Knob 3 – Amount
Knob 4 – Feedback
Knob 5 – Width
Knob 6 – Mix
Knob 7 & 8 – Unallocated
Page Eight – Delay
Knob 1 – Delay On/Off
Knob 2 – Time 1/1 to 1/32 (Including Triplets)
Knob 3 – Feedback
Knob 4 – Quality: Low, Medium, High
Knob 5 – Tone
Knob 6 – Level
Knob 7 & 8 – Unallocated
Page Nine – Reverb
Knob 1 – Reverb On/Off
Knob 2 – Pre-Delay
Knob 3 – Size
Knob 4 – Damp
Knob 5 – Modulation
Knob 6 – Mix
Knob 7 & 8 – Unallocated
(c) Chris Ankin
KK-Access.com
17TH October 2025
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About the Author
Based in Buckinghamshire, England, Chris Ankin has worked as a freelance review writer and contributor with articles published in Sound On Sound, Home & Studio Recording and ST Format Magazines.
He has also successfully worked extensively in and around the music, recording, film Soundtrack scoring, Game & media composition, the creative arts, Charitable trusts,publishing, music streaming and property investments since 1982 whilst continuously and deliberately managing to evade any mainstream recognition under his own name by the use of various pseudonyms.
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