Time Machine - Enabled Patches
Most patches in most collections are also available as special Time Machine-enabled patches. You can recognize these patches by their name, which contains “TM”.
Time Machine-enabled patches work the same way as their regular counterparts, but have one additional UI element. The TM Slider allows you to adjust the length of the samples in real-time. This lets you make staccatos sharper or shape a marcato to your desired length. The release samples are unaffected by these changes, so the natural ambience of the room is preserved.
We generally provide TM patches only for articulations where that functionality makes sense. For some special patches, primarily in the sound design realm, there are TM patches even for "long" and/or looping articulations. Note that these are for special use cases and you will rarely need to use a TM patch for looping articulations. Rule of thumb: Unless you NEED the TM functionality, use the Single Articulation patches!
It is advisable to use the TM slider within sensible limits. The extreme ends of the spectrum will yield results that are interesting for sound design, but have little in common with the original instrument. Less is more.
TM patches load the whole sample content into memory, so they take more RAM than their regular counterparts. You should only use them if you actually want to use the TM feature. Most of the time, the regular patches will suffice.
Also, the TM algorithm sometimes creates noises and can cause loops to pop. This is because Kontakt does not allow sample crossfades when TM is used. This is a limitation by NI and we hope they will address it. Again - only use the TM patches if you need the TM function.
Please note that Kontakt has a 32 voice limit for Time Machine. Avoid playing lots of notes simultaneously with the TM patches. Otherwise, you will very likely experience cut or dropped notes.
Note that there are no TM patches for Legato, Playable Glissando and similar articulations for technical reasons.