Native Instruments just dropped a new version of Kontrol S Series (which comes in 49, 61, & 88 keys. I wanted to react to the news & give my honest thoughts.
*this isn’t an affiliate link*
Read more here: https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/keyboards/kontrol-s49-s61-s88/
Kontrol Series S video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVHecXz3ZqY
Feature video: https://youtu.be/Pxn_wP-3uiY?si=aJi3XEQEASit2MQT
source
It’s 899.94 after taxes
Already preordered s61 mk3
like I know its an upgrade but I still like the look of the mk2
Looks nice, but I'm still leaning towards the FLKey49 from Novation since I'm primarily an FL user. Where them faders at bruh?!
A review of something you don’t even own lol
Idk I feel like it cost to much for what it does. And it has to connect to software STILL??
Its gotta be for film composers 1st.
I'm going to stay with the MK2
MOTU Digital Performer has been out for years… definitely on the scene before DAW’s like Live and Fruity Loops.
Thanks, can it control the Maschine Software?
No MPE? Come on this is 2023. The after touch is cool but doesn't compare.
Pro Tools is the Sears n Roebuck of music production….. in other words they had their chance
Digital Performer is an OG DAW. You may not have heard of it because it is definitely more popular among classical composers than beatmakers.
New Maschine Coming, Maybe?😅
When I saw the trailer I was like "hell yeah this looks dope" but then I saw the price and man… maybe it's worth it on sale but I don't know… for a bit more you can get a Hydrasynth or Hydrasynth Deluxe and have a poly aftertouch keyboard with a whole standalone synth. I know that's not a fair comparison but it feels wrong to pay that much for just a midi keyboard essentially 😀
Also poly aftertouch is a feature that is a great buzzword but let's be honest: it's only important for a very specific kind of keyboard player. Look at how everyone is demoing the poly aftertouch. I guess if you do like ambient music or very slow music and hold one chord for an extended amount of time it's cool.
Also the screen looks very nice and the keyboard itself probably plays great, like all native instruments keyboards so far, but again that price feels too high for "just" a master keyboard!
Think mine got lost in transit…. 👀
this keyboard looks amazing but the price is crazy. I thought the arturia keyboard price would bring the new native instruments keyboard down but that was not truu
That Demon AI transform shit was dope
They totally missed out on everything that can be possible. 1. 16 drum pads. 2. It's not integrated with maschine. 3. No mpe. 4.the price is not worth it.
Maschine 2 and MPC are half DAWs and the only real purpose is to use them as the plugins. I like Maschine 2 better, but the MPC has some great features. They both need to work on their DAW, so others DAWs would then alone integrate their gear for them.
As others have mentioned, Digital Performer is a DAW that has been around for a few decades. I played around with it in someone's studio in the 90s but gravitated more toward Opcode Vision (incorporated into Apple's Logic) and Pro Tools. As a matter of fact, I think Prince is using Digital Performer onscreen in his movie "Under the Cherry Moon. Most people I know using it are film and game composers. To Digital Performer's credit, unlike a lot of other music companies like AVID or Moog, they are still independently owned and putting out versions.
No touch screen? Really? In 2023
What good is an onboard computer if you can’t standalone?
NI we wanted pads and sliders.. and Bring back the mk2 lights! Those are from the first MK gen
this was good. I enjoyed this
Luv the software got s88 mk2 but i would luv to see more nks especially for somebody like me a reasons studio user
I went standalone with the Force and MPC Live and haven't looked back from NI. Tried the Maschine Studio and never got the hang of it. The constant upgrades to the software and processing overhead on PC's just removed all the spontaneity and fun. Kraftwerk didn't need 10,000 presets to make great music and working in front of a PC is a huge drain on my creativity vibe. I used to have Komplete Ultimate from v7 all the way up to v11 and an S controller, but the Intel Mac swap over and problems with Big Sur, Catalina, and Monterrey finally helped me step away. Feels great making music again like on my trusty Roland XP-60 from back in the early 00's.
This is a clean looking controller, although with all that extra space I wonder why they didn’t throw some drum pads or some faders on one of the sides?
The thing I’ve always liked is the lights letting you know if you were to hit a wrong note as well as showing a lot of people how to play scales correctly.
It’s definitely something I could see the benefits of having especially for people wanting to learn proper playing techniques.
I’m a bit let down that they didn’t at least incorporate some kinda audio interface in it! I’m sure a lot of people would appreciate something like that.
Dropped support for Maschine!?!? So apart from the polyphonic aftertouch (which really is for a small niche of users) and the new screen this is a downgrade compared to MK2. Pay more for less ? Time to abandon Native Instruments , I believe.
So it no longer works with Maschine?
Yo what happened to your mustache 😂 it look crooked 🤣!!
I don’t need a display on a midi controller
I have a pretty question for you , I would like to make tuto beatmaking video with my smartphone but the song quality is very weak , what kind of machine or whatelse do you put after your master output on mpc live standalone for this quality on your great video ? best regard.
I think they FAILED! Lol sort of. Poly aftertouch, nice. Kontakt integration, nice. Of course.. It always looks nice. We get it NI. Y’all make very nice LOOKING ads and nice LOOKING gear. NKS is one of the best things to happen to plugins since sliced bread. However, that was on the last 2 versions of this board. What’s up with some nice standalone midi features? I got a hybrid setup, that’d be cool. This controller has so much headroom to be fire if they can truly follow-up with some great updates (i.e., Play Assist, some sort of sequencer maybe?, etc.) but I doubt it. NI is all over IG responding to this request from users, on some “stay tuned”, “not yet” ish. Lol bro. How you expect ppl to spend that type of bread on a promise. Bye. 😂😂 me personally, I have an MK2.. I likely will wait for all the hype beasts to throw it on Reverb and even so, the only way I’ll buy it is if they integrate better Daw control for Ableton and some decent stand alone features.
I’m glad they didn’t get you Ave! Keep it pure bro.
Akai Force or MPC Live 2 blows this away
They again dropped the ball.Should have been standalone…with Izotope Music Production Suite…SSD expandable to 4tb or 8tb. I thought that is why they did the Izotope merger🤦🏾♂🤷🏾♂ tuh