Output Exhale 2026: Vocal Instrument, Not Portal or Nectar

This Page Is Exhale. It Is Not Portal. It Is Not Arcade 2. It Is Not Nectar 4.

Stay here for Output Exhale as a 2026 vocal instrument: Notes / Loops / Slices, 500 presets, Kontakt Player, $199 list as printed on NI, KVR, and Sweetwater at fetch time. Do not use this file as an Output Portal granular-FX walkthrough, an Arcade 2 subscription workflow, or an iZotope Nectar 4 vocal-mix review. Portal is an insert effect. Arcade is Output’s playable sample subscription. Nectar is a vocal mixing suite. Those are related slugs.

Output founder Gregg Lehrman on KVR’s product blurb: they wanted a vocal instrument that was cool, creative, and modern, so they built it. Official page: three independent engines—loops, slices, or chromatic. MusicRadar 17 December 2015 and SOS March 2016 are the launch-era reviews. This September 2026 page is that Kontakt SKU still listed—not a claim Output shipped Exhale this month.^[1][3][5]

If you need granular chops on a vocal you already recorded, use the related Portal page. If you need a sample subscription browser, use Arcade 2. If you need rap/trap vocal mixing, use Nectar 4. If you need a free vocal suite, use Vocal Box. This file does not mix a rap vocal and does not lease one-shots.

List $199. Kontakt Player. About 10 GB. Verify Checkout.

KVR’s Exhale row: $199.00, output.com/products/exhale, powered by Kontakt Player (AU / VST3 / AAX / standalone via Player). Sweetwater’s product card: $199.00, playable vocal engine for Kontakt Player and Kontakt (full), 10 GB of raw material, 500 presets, snapshots for Maschine. Native Instruments’ English Exhale pricing page listed $199.00 in the search-indexed USD view; the live NI product page can show a local currency (this fetch also saw €199,00 on an NI storefront). Quote the cart you are actually in.^[3][4][2]

Launch-era street is not 2026 street. MusicRadar’s 17 December 2015 review listed $239. SOS March 2016 printed $238.80 / £158. Do not paste $239 as a live cart. Do not paste SOS’s 2016 dollar figure as today’s NI price.^[5][6]

Library size: Output’s key-features block says 10 GB raw material. Sweetwater repeats 10 GB. MusicRadar’s 2015 review said a diverse 9 GB library. NI’s English pricing snippet listed a 9.2 GB download and at least 4 GB RAM (8 GB recommended) with free Kontakt Player or Kontakt. Those three numbers do not match exactly. This page quotes all three and does not pick a winner—check the installer size on your account.^[1][5][2]

Notes, Loops, Slices. Four Macros. Engine Page.

Official: three independent engines—chromatic (Notes), looping vocal elements (Loops), sliced vocal phrases (Slices). KVR: all phrases, loops, and slices lock to tempo; four central Macro sliders unique to each preset; LFO and step-sequencer modulation; convolution reverb; Engine page for deeper shaping; smart tagging preset menu.^[1][3]

Sound on Sound (March 2016): factory list counted 200 Notes, 117 Loops, 100 Slices plus user saves; 12 category filter buttons (Dirty, Light, One Shot, Percussive, Electro, Creative, Pure, Heavy, Atmos, Looped, Complex, User). Main page: four large sliders, each up to six parameters. Engine: two Sources (tune, pan, EQ, ADSR, reverse, pitch), Rhythm modulators (volume, pan, filter, Talk, Saturate, Phaser), then insert FX—Pitch, Dirt, Comp, Tone, Delays, Reverb, Motion. SOS’s verdict: more synthesizer than sample library. Official marketing still says 500 presets; SOS’s 417 is a 2016 factory-list count. Do not flatten those two numbers into one law.^[6]

MusicRadar (17 December 2015): Note mode maps two independent sounds; Loop mode 40 banks of 13 tempo-synced loops; Slices mode 40 phrases sliced across 13 notes. FX Engine: wave- and step-based modulation sequencer, six modulatable effects, seven inserts. Macros on the Main screen can be enough without opening Engine. Verdict: inspirational vocal-based ‘synth’ for dance, electronic, ambient, and soundtrack—not a Vocaloid phoneme designer.^[5]

• Notes Chromatic / pad / one-shot playing from two sources. MusicRadar: one-shots, sustained pads, tempo-synced loops mapped across the keyboard.^[5]
• Loops Tempo-locked vocal loops. MusicRadar: 40 banks × 13 loops in the 2015 review. Official: loops lock to tempo.^[1]
• Slices Sliced phrases, REX-style triggering in MusicRadar’s 2015 pass (40 phrases × 13 notes). Play chops from the keyboard; do not confuse this with Portal’s grain insert.^[5]

On a Beat: Hook Chop, Air Pad, Tempo-Locked Phrase

Load Exhale as a Kontakt instrument, not as a mix insert. Trap/R&B hook: Slices or Loops, four macros for filter/drive/space, print a stereo stem so you are not carrying 10 GB of Kontakt in the mix pass. Pad: Notes mode, two sources, reverse + convolution on the Engine page (SOS). Keep the dry rap vocal on a different track—Nectar is the mixer, Exhale is the instrument.

MusicRadar: it is not a lyrics/phoneme vocal designer. SOS: non-lyrical, highly processed human voice, solo and ensemble. If you need a sung topline, hire a singer or use a different vocal library. If you need to granulate a vocal you already have, that is Portal (related), not this engine.^[5][6]

Output has sold Exhale expansions as separate SKUs. This page does not price them. Confirm the live Output/NI cart for the engine plus any expansion you actually need.

When $199 Is the Move. When to Skip.

Pay $199 if you want a playable processed-vocal instrument and you already run Kontakt Player. Skip it if you only need to mix a recorded rap vocal—that is Nectar 4 (related). Skip it if you want Output’s sample subscription—that is Arcade 2 (related). Skip it if you want to granulate audio you already have—that is Portal (related). Skip a second licence if a bundle you already own includes Exhale (NI has sold Output Essential Engines bundles that list Exhale; confirm the live bundle card).

Do not treat 2015’s $239 as today’s street. Do not treat SOS’s $238.80 as the 2026 NI cart. Run Kontakt Player’s own demo/trial path if NI still offers one on that product card, then buy from output.com or NI.^[3][2]

FL, Ableton, Logic: One Kontakt Instance

This checklist is a first load, not a vocal-production course. Confirm the live Output/NI installer if Player requirements moved after 2016.^[1]

1. Confirm $199 and disk size on the live cart
   KVR/Sweetwater/NI USD row: $199. Output says 10 GB raw; MusicRadar 2015 said 9 GB; NI snippet 9.2 GB download. Check the installer. You need Kontakt Player or Kontakt.^[4]
2. Pick Notes, Loops, or Slices before you design
   Hook chops: Slices. Beds: Notes. Tempo phrases: Loops. Filter with SOS’s 12 tags if the browser still exposes them.^[6]
3. Perform the four macros, then open Engine only if needed
   MusicRadar: every preset maps the macros; you can get value without the Engine page. Two Sources, Rhythm, then inserts if you are designing.^[5]
4. Print a stereo stem before the mix
   Do not leave a 10 GB Kontakt instance on the mix bus. The rap vocal chain is Nectar (related), not this instrument.
5. Stop before this page becomes Portal, Arcade, or Nectar
   Portal, Arcade 2, Grainferno, Nectar 4, and Vocal Box are related slugs. Exhale is the vocal instrument SKU only.

Portal, Arcade 2, and Nectar 4 Are Out of Scope

This article does not review Output Portal, does not walk Arcade 2, and does not mix rap vocals in Nectar 4. Those live on related slugs. Grainferno is an instrument that eats samples; Vocal Box is a free vocal suite.

As of Sep 2026, Exhale is the 2015/16 Kontakt vocal engine still listed at $199 on KVR, Sweetwater, and NI’s USD row. Recheck output.com and native-instruments.com if you are reading this after a sale tile.^[1][3]