TRAILS II BY FRACTURE SOUNDS
KK-ACCESS REVIEW
Fracture Sounds have just released a follow up to their 2024 library Trails, called Trails II.
While the title might not seem imaginative, existing users will undoubtedly know what to expect, and if you have never heard of Trails before, then by reading on, you will discover, the answer is certainly not lacking in imagination in any shape, sample, or waveform!
Trails II continues the explorative journey into sound design first started by it’s 2024 predecessor, but this time provides an all new fresh selection of source material to work with, along with some interface improvements, and a revamp of the granular engine.
Alexander Parsons the UK based TV Documentary & Drama composer has once again collaborated with the FS team to provide a cu rated collection of instruments, this time using Trumpet, Bass Clarinet, Saxophone, and the highly unusual Canna Sonora, a tuned percussion instrument consisting of vertical aluminium rods.
Alongside standard mic techniques, the instruments were also recorded in the presence of a Gong or a Thunder sheet, using contact mics, both of which are highly influenced by sympathetic resonance’s.
These captured metallised harmonics were then mixed and blended with the clean instrument sounds, as well as an additional modular & pedal signal chain, to produce end results that Fracture Sounds describe as ‘other worldly’.
As with the original Trails, the library also includes a separate synth preset, granular patch, and of course not forgetting Fracture Sounds own unique triple source of newly created Atmosphere layers.
This all adds up to a kind of audio theme park full of creative sound design possibilities that is musically flexible across multiple genres, let’s explore!
TECH SPECS
Trails II requires Kontakt 7.6 or above, either the full or free Kontakt Player version.
It is compatible with all versions of Komplete Kontrol hosting the above specified Kontakt editions.
The library requires 25.2GB of disk space for installation, more than double that of the first version.
There are 8 master Kontakt NKI preset files, which account for each of the included instruments along with dedicated Layer Blends, Granular, & Synth Textures.
There are also a further collection of 76 Kontakt snapshot NKSN presets, which represent some very fine examples of what Trails II is capable of creating.
DOWNLOAD & INSTALLATION
Trails II is downloaded and installed using Native access 2 following registration of the post purchase serial number within it.
Once finished, running Komplete Kontrol as either the standalone or plug-in version will add the library to your factory browser ready to use.
KOMPLETE KONTROL NKS PARAMETER MAPPINGS ARE AVAILABLE AT THE END OF THE REVIEW FOLLOWING THE MEDIA SECTION
ACCESSIBILITY
In true historic Fracture Sounds style, Trails II has all of the crucial controls assigned for NKS, so there is an assuredness that blind & visually impaired users will be able to make full use of the features.
There is also an accessibility toggle within the NKS mapping that can turn on & off the randomise keyswitch where applicable, and the instrument articulations themselves are also assigned as keyswitches.
From my observations Fracture Sounds do not appear to be saving presets in the NKS2 format as yet, at least the extended NKS view found on Kontrol MK3 keyboards where parameter types get grouped onto the soft function buttons do not at present appear to do so.
TRAILS II – THE ENGINE & PRESETS
There are some variations within the Trails II NKS mappings depending upon which of the master presets are loaded, and these correlate directly to how you interact with them.
The master instrument patches are:
Solo Trumpet Textures
Solo Bass Clarinet Textures
Synth Textures
Solo Saxophone Textures
Canna Sonora
Metallic Percussion
The additional master preset variations upon these are:
Layer Blends
Granular
And of course not forgetting those sound design snapshot presets, which are split into two folders:
Layer Blends (created using the main layer blend NKI)
Granular (created with the Granular master NKI)
Starting off with those core instrument presets, we have a total of 10 NKS pages available to us.
Beginning with master controls for Dynamics, Lo-Fi, Delay, Reverb, & Volume levels for the Raw instrument plus 3 Atmosphere layers.
There are then options to select our personal choice of Atmosphere layers, along with microphone adjustments for the Close, Room, Resonator, & Pedal levels.
The Lo-Fi and Saturation settings give you the opportunity to degrade the signal to your liking, with options such as Age, Warble, Hiss, Mechanical, and the useful Speaker Impulse Responses for a range of speaker types ranging from small to car stereo, through to Cassette, or turn it off entirely.
Delay provides all of the essential parameters you would expect to find, along with the option to sync to your DAW with various beat rates, there is even a choice between Modern or Tape styles, and a Ping Pong toggle.
The Reverb features the same selection many Fracture Sounds users will already be familiar with, the more standard Room Hall, etc, but also the excellent Lush or Shimmer, along with convolution reverbs and a selection of impulse responses.
Also rounding off the NKS mapping, are controls to make adjustments to certain articulations, which can vary depending upon the loaded instrument, and these are selected via a block of moveable keyswitches:
Emergence, Divergence, Flickers, Reflections, Blooms, Trills, Breathy Shorts& Gong, are just a handful of those you will find, each with volume, pan, attack, & release parameters.
TRAILS II ATMOSPHERE LAYERS
All of the instrument presets include access to the by now familiar Atmosphere layers, these 19 pad style sounds are derived from the original source recordings, and thus really do embrace the core sound and DNA of the instruments, allowing them to work as excellent underlying and supportive sound layers.
There are three layers in all, each containing the same content, which means you can mix and match between them to come up with many combinations of your own.
There is also a master Atmosphere Layers preset of it’s own with additional material, so you can use this singularly, or perhaps combine it with any other instrument of your choosing outside of the Trails 2 library.
This dedicated Layers patch also has a few more detailed tricks up it’s sleeve, with added controls for global ADSR of the 3 layers, per layer octave adjustment, filters, layer soloing, Syncable LFO, Stackable or Crossfading of layers, and the handy keyswitch randomise control found at the lowest octave, which will throw the dice at the layer sounds on those occasions when you might find yourself racing the clock or a little short on personal inspiration.
You do need to remember to enable this keyswitch via the NKS control with the Accessibility toggle found on page 3.
GRANULAR
One of the highlights of the original Trails library was the Granular patch, and again it is firmly in residence.
As with the first, rather than being a multi layered affair, it concentrates on a single selectable sound from the many you can choose from the Trails II sample pool.
We again get all the enjoyment of manipulating the sound at a granular level, meaning complete transformations are possible and high on the agenda here.
The Granular engine has received a bit of a tweak, and you can now sync the grain density to your DAW, this sync option is tucked away on the last page, so you can turn it on, and then pop back to page one to adjust your beat values.
Also on that last page again is the accessibility toggle, and just like the Atmosphere Layers preset, will randomise the settings for you, which is fantastic for getting some instant yet very useful results.
As mentioned earlier, there are some very well designed factory presets in the Trails II snapshots folder, divided internally within the library folder between Layer Blends and Granular.
It was not really obvious which presets were derived from which from the Komplete Kontrol browser, ideally there could perhaps be a prefix or suffix added to the title in order to easily differentiate between them.
Also, I did note that in the Granular snapshot presets that I loaded, the Density sync control did not appear to be assigned within the NKS mapping, despite being there in the master Kontakt NKI.
I looked at the host automation parameters within the snapshot, and it was there, so was able to turn it on, which then made the Density rates available to me back within the NKS page.
This is something that I feel sure could be easily addressed in a future update.
TRAILS II SOUNDS
Working with Trails II is a compelling and sometimes distracting process, I do of course mean that in a good way. If you enjoy the sound design process, then time passes rather quickly when experimenting with the many possibilities that the library provides.
The sounds are of great quality, sometimes light and airy, often dark, moody, magical and ethereal, they are strong enough to handle an emotive cue on their own, or perhaps add some unusual and interesting timbres in the background of a busier track.
Creative and musical flexibility are prominent traits throughout this library.
Do take time to checkout the walkthrough video, where detailed explanations of Trails II capabilities are demonstrated.
CONCLUSION
Trails II is a polished and very worthy follow up to the original Trails library, with more of the same enjoyable sound design workflow, and an entirely new pool of samples to experiment and work with.
With its rich compliment of factory presets, coupled with the useful ability to quickly randomise and create new material, the user has the option to spend as little or as long a time shaping sounds as they wish.
Trails II would be ideal for creating ambient, experimental, documentary,soundscapes, avant garde, and other multimedia productions, or really just about where ever your imagination can take you.The NKS mapping is intuitive and easy to work with,meaning Accessibility is at the forefront and very well catered for, with no shortfalls that I was able to discover during the course of the review.
Trails II is available from the Fracture Sounds website at the introductory price of £97.00 (regularly £129.00), offer ends 30th July 2026
Summer bundle discount prices are also available on the previous Trails library, along with other Fracture Sounds products.
Trails II – Product Page:
Trails II – walkthrough:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cUOG17VHj8
Trails II – User Manual:
https://fracturesounds.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Trails-2-User-Manual.pdf
KK-Access Trails 1 review:
https://kk-access.com/2024/02/22/trails-by-fracture-sounds/
KOMPLETE KONTROL NKS PARAMETER MAPPINGS
Main Instrument NKI
Page One
Knob 1 – Dynamics
Knob 2 – Lo-Fi
Knob 3 – Delay
Knob 4 – Reverb
Knob 5 – Raw
Knob 6 – Atmos Source 1
Knob 7 – Atmos Source 2
Knob 8 – Atmos Source 3
Page Two –
Knob 1 – Atmos Source 1 selection
Knob 2 – Atmos Source 2 Selection
Knob 3 – Atmos Source 3 Selection
Knob 4 – Atmosphere Intensity
Knob 5 – Microphone Close
Knob 6 – Microphone Room
Knob 7 – Microphone Resonator
Knob 8 – Microphone Pedals
Page Three
Knob 1 – Lo-Fi Amount
Knob 2 – Saturation
Knob 3 – Age
Knob 4 – Warble
Knob 5 – Hiss
Knob 6 – Mechanical
Knob 7 – Speaker IR Selection
Knob 8 – Unassigned
Page Four
Knob 1 – Delay Amount
Knob 2 – Delay Type – Modern, Tape
Knob 3 – Ping Pong: On/Off
Knob 4 – Delay time (Beat values or Seconds depending on sync setting)
Knob 5 – sync On/Off
Knob 6 – Delay Saturation
Knob 7 – Damping
Knob 8 – Feedback
Page Five
Knob 1 – Reverb Amount
Knob 2 – Reverb Type: Room, Hall, Shimmer, Convolution
Knob 3 – Size
Knob 4 – Damping (not applicable to convolution option)
Knob 5 – Modulation (not applicable to convolution option)
Knob 6 – Impulse Response Selection (choice of 8)
Knob 7 & 8 – Unassigned
Page Six
Knob 1 – Tightness
Knob 2 – Dynamic Range
Knob 3 – Keyswitch Range (for articulations)
Knob 4 – Unassigned
Knob 5 – Articulation Volume
Knob 6 – Articulation Pan
Knob 7 – articulation Attack
Knob 8 – Articulation Release
Page Seven to Nine – Articulations Continued (two per page)
Page Ten – Gong Touches (Articulation) & Interval Select
Knob 1 – Volume
Knob 2 – Pan
Knob 3 – Attack
Knob 4 – Release
Knob 5 – Interval Select: Smart, Minor 2nd, Major 2nd, Minor 3rd, Major 3rd
Knob 6 to 8 – Unassigned
Granular Instrument
Page One
Knob 1 – Intensity
Knob 2 – Mutate
Knob 3 – Density
Knob 4 – Grain Shape
Knob 5 – Envelope Attack
Knob 6 – Envelope Decay
Knob 7 – Envelope Sustain
Knob 8 – Envelope Release
Page Two
Knob 1 – Tracking Position
Knob 2 – Speed
Knob 3 – Spray
Knob 4 – Loop ON/Off
Knob 5 – Waveform/sample selection
Knob 6 – Reverse
Knob 7 – Sample Start
Knob 8 – Sample End
Page Three
Knob 1 – Delay Amount
Knob 2 – Type: Modern, Tape
Knob 3 – Time
Knob 4 – Sync On/Off
Knob 5 – Damping
Knob 6 – Saturation
Knob 7 – Feedback
Knob 8 – Unassigned
Page Four
Reverb Amount
Knob 2 – Reverb Type: Room, Hall, Shimmer, Convolution
Knob 3 – Size
Knob 4 – Damping (not applicable to convolution option)
Knob 5 – Modulation (not applicable to convolution option)
Knob 6 – Impulse Response Selection (choice of 8)
Knob 7 – Sync Toggle (relates to Density on page 1)
Knob 8 – Accessibility Toggle (Keyswitch for randomise feature)
(c) Chris Ankin
KK-Access.com
7th July 2026
KK-ACCESS – Our NON PEER PROFIT POLICY
KK-Access believe in integrity, and out of mutual respect for our blind & visually impaired readers we feel that we should not make profit from our peers.
Our product reviews always strive to be honest and unbiased, this is achieved because none of our opinions are influenced by financial gain or other incentives from a plug-in or sample library developer for which a review of their wares may be a subject matter.
Whilst such offers are appreciated, we do not publish or use affiliation links for any products under review on this website.
Disclaimer
The author can not accept any responsibility for subsequent purchase decisions made as a result of this review,or Any inaccuracies found therein. All opinions and product functions stated are based solely on information perceived as a blind user whilst using the product and/or gathered from official factual sources such as the developer, web or supplied product manual.
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.
E&OE
KK-ACCESS 