Komplete Kontrol S49 MK2 discontinued?

Toltemic

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/88869#Comment_88869

I was more focusing on the maschine aspect of kontrol series as that's a pretty big part of the parameters available, half the buttons don't work on its dedicated software? but if you have it mapped to your daw, then you lose the screens and browser. If you come from using it as a daw controller it's a weird design choice. If you come from maschine then it starts to make sense as they're pretty seamless between each other

but tbh I will be surprised if they continue with that ethos considering maschine, by the looks of it, is on hiatus

Toltemic

I was more focusing on the Maschine aspect of the Kontrol series as that is a big part of the design towards the keyboard. Half the buttons don't work on its dedicated software, unless its mapped to your daw but then you lose its pivotal feature- the browser. Its a weird design choice for such a flagship bit of kit when using it with a daw. However with Maschine- it's design speaks that's it complimentary

However if I was actually going to place bets, I'd imagine they'd ditch the Maschine integration as currently Maschine seems to be on hiatus atm

That design was only a pipe dream for maschinists, that jam is damn good for it does

nightjar

It's all fun to make some guesses... some more realistic, some more fantasy...

Hard to predict given all the internal changes with NI ownership and team rebuilding. What old strategies were scrapped and what new ones are being cooked.

Hardware is a bigger gamble than software when it comes to guessing what the market wants.

And what market demographic is NI focusing on with their keyboards for 2024??

BIF

The screen is right above the encoders.. just like current product. It is one long horizontal display that is currently showing a representation of the 16 encoders below it. It provides their labeling and current value in this example... 2 banks of Massive X macros.

There is no good reason to have encoders represented on a screen if the encoders themselves are RIGHT BELOW THE SCREEN.

That would be a huge waste of valuable screen space.

Now maybe instead you can put the numerical or percentage VALUES on the screens above the encoders, but this STILL REMOVES FUNCTIONALITY from the current devices.

I prefer my upgrade to "MK 3 anything" NOT remove functionality. Make the screens bigger and put more stuff on them, I say. Don't keep them the same size and "make up for it" by removing anything...'cause that's not better.

...what market demographic is NI focusing on with their keyboards for 2024??

"Old NI" may not have much to say about it. NI is not owned by NI. "Wait, what?" you say!

Yep, it's owned by a separate company that renamed itself "Native Instruments". But it ain't the old Native Instruments. Who knows WHAT they will decide to make and who knows if it will even be any good? Surprise!

Toltemic

Personally I wouldn't mind having extra options for nks to have different gui elements for parameter controls, for example massive have it's gui as a bottom strip for percentage reading, but that kontrol/maschine software implementation rather than hardware.

There is a good reason to supposedly have knobs on the screen, as the encoders are endless. Some people understand numerical readouts whilst others like visual readouts

nightjar

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/88880#Comment_88880

It makes perfect sense to have the screen mimc the encoders below.. the screen shows their current function and level setting. And mimicking the knobs graphically to convey this is very effective for intuitive use.

It's not about squeezing the maximum amount of information in the available screen space.. it's about smooth, intuitive, vision-friendly use.

BIF

Still no. The monitor on the computer can still show "pictures" of the knobs. I'm just not feeling it for pictures of the knobs on a very limited on-device screen. If I can override it with just the numbers, or a bar graph showing the information, then I'd be happy and would never need pictures of knobs that already exist on the device. Yeah, just let me override it, and we can both have what we want.

nightjar

Well actually everything you need/want to see can be on the computer monitor, so much like the A-Series, perhaps no on-device screen is really needed.

I'm actually ok with the A-series approach if the desktop GUI is designed with this in mind.

Kubrak

Yes, its great to fiddle with knobs on the lap and watching computer screen elsewhere. Top ergonomic. Really great for spine and musles in throat. ;-)

nightjar

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/88920#Comment_88920

If computer screen GUI is well designed for this concept, you don't need to look down very often.

Like reading sheet music and playing piano.

Kubrak

How many years does it take to play piano and read sheet music, well?

nightjar

This relationship of computer screen to actions performed on NI keyboard controllers is far simpler than piano and sheet music and can be become part muscle memory quite quickly.

Same type of spatial eye/brain/body activity.. but of a far easier nature.

It almost doesn't need to be learned.. if what is shown on computer screen mimics the look and layout of knobs and buttons.. it happens almost instantly and intuitively.

If computer screen presents this "replica" largely enough.. easier to read than the tiny text shown on the typical screen on the device.

Kubrak

OK, I prefer screen on instrument and do not have problem to pay for it. You prefer computer screen and save few bucks. It is hard to please all...

It is like with lawyers.... Three lawyers eight opinions.