What is going on with NI

ArmandoPrini

Why is NI dropping support for older Macs.. Mojave.. That requires a complete overhaul of expensive studio hardware.. Sample libraries should not be dependent on hardware.

I am very sad that I can no longer upgrade in the Mac world.. This doesn't apply to PC hardware and I can only assume that NI is working with Apple to force us to upgrade hardware.

Milos

Unfortunately, it does apply to PC as well.

Speaking from experience, since I have Windows.

You know what they say:

Adapt or die.

Not literally tho.

You know what I mean.

ArmandoPrini

This is not the reality.. many musicians that are involved in major productions have no desire to adapt and are very focused on creating music. NI is adapting to the nonsense instead of providing better music based solutions. THINK a bit before you buy into the craziness. If acoustic instruments found themselves in the same crazy hardware upgrade conundrum..would we be enjoying their sounds . Software instruments need to have that same longevity. You will find that musicians are reverting to embedded musical instruments where they can be used to create music.I afraid the sample instrumet industry needs a retooling. Have a look at the business model adapted by Vienna Symphonic Library .. that makes sense.. expenses but from a musicians perspective it has value. NI products are amazing and I admire there ability to sample fine instruments.. I know NI has the technical strength to provide superior sampled instruments. Please consider providing the sample players that work on a wider compatibility spectrum. Have a look at Pro-Tools AVID's hunger for hardware upgrades have resulted in a major problem and stand to become a dinosaur as they continue to drop in their market share. NI will Im afraid see the same fate .. THINK and I encourage a revist of the corporate strategy. My sense is that NI is already expeierncing a decline in market share.

Milos

Yeah.

But to be honest, it happens the same with the modern music scene for nearly every genre.

Especially with rock music.

Back in the day, nearly every band had a unique sound, creative-sounding snares, diverse vocals, creative use of effects etc.

Now, every band has overly compressed, electronic-sounding snares.

You can barely hear the distortion on a guitar for the sake of playing it safe.

The vocals and the lyrics sound like they were sang and composed by ChatGPT.

I understand you, sir.

I feel your pain.

ArmandoPrini

Yes.. its not good.. and I'm very concerned were music is going. The youth I'm involved with dont favour that sound. In fact they love the early rock music and its simplicity and creativity.

Thanks for your understanding but I think the tie of over produced music is ending..

Milos

No problem.

Again, it is true that music needs to be high quality, but that doesn't mean you need to produce an overly compressed generic music for the sake of producing.

I have experience with composing and mixing for years and still experimenting with different ways of mastering the mix to this day.

It doesn't always have to be too compressed.

In fact, there are compressor plugins that have the dry/wet knob, which allows you to have a properly compressed and great quality of the track while retaining the raw emotion from the original sound.

DunedinDragon

There comes a time in any operating system or working software program whether it's on PC's or running on the largest mainframe or server farm that, in order to provide better services to answer consumer demands and to limit maintenance costs on older systems, they need to be upgraded. You, as the consumer, need to be aware of this progress and prepare for the day when you will need to update your critical software.

I'm still on Windows 10, but I know the day is coming when I will face the probability of this happening and I'm thinking about how I will make this transition in a way that doesn't disrupt my operations. That's going to depend on all of the vendors I use and Microsoft giving me a sense of comfort that their installed base is not experiencing catastrophic problems that would impact my operations. I'm getting closer to that and am preparing to move to an updated main computer at some point to facilitate that transition.

But if you consider the things you do now to be "mission critical" to your life it's up to you to prepare for it. No one else.

ArmandoPrini

Yes I get but we are talking about musical instruments.. not operating systems. So if you own a guitar costing you an amazing amount of money and one day you need to change the strings and wow the new strings no longer fit on old guitar. You need to purchase a new guitar to fit the new design of strings. DOES that maje sense to you..?

Yes I agree that computer are subjected to upgrading by seriously do we need it? Im talking about consistency and reliability around musical instruments. NI like so many sound based computer products perhaps need to resort to more stable OS.. New OS features rarely impact the capability to create sound.. The foundation of great sounds are in the sampling process.. sample players do very little to alter the sound..

Its a very annoying paradigm you are also falling subject too the hunger pockets of harware suppliers. Asa musician I would rather spend money on quality samples..

nightjar

I am glad that NI pushes things forward.

I want a music production ecosystem that leverages the latest technologies.

I do not want new capabilities held back by too much adherence to old tech.

ArmandoPrini

Yes I appreciate their initiatives.. But I am a software developer and would like to know exactly why kontakt 7 wont run on Mojave.. Its just a sampler player.. there is a way to create a version that will run but I have a feeling NI and Apple are in bed together to promote Apples hunger for hardware sales..

ArmandoPrini

I am expecting that the future for Apple's business model will collapse as classs action suits arise to tackle the beast. Yes their hardware is amazing and I will also need to eventually as my hardware wears out .. But that should be my choice not Apples.. You seem to be buying into the craziness of Apples business model. Would you be happy if the auto you own suddenly stops one morning because there is a software upgrade that is incompatible with the current version of your auto.

lord-carlos

Could you still keep using the old version of kontakt?

ArmandoPrini

I can but cannot upgrade the ultimate collection .. it needs  kontakt 7.. so I'm no longer a valued cosumer of future NI upgrades until I purchase new hardware.. Does that seem fair to you?

lord-carlos

On first look it sounds fair to me. But I don't know too much about mac, kontakt and your workflow to have a strong opinion on it.

nightjar

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/123139#Comment_123139

I assume that NI is trying to be fair to the broadest user base possible. And users that want to embrace new capabilities at a pace within a competitive marketplace are likely a larger part of the future user base.

nightjar

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/123124#Comment_123124

There are useful new capabilities in the dashboard software that runs on later year models of the car I drive.

My older car still runs fine with its older hardware and software. And the same is true of a users older computer and the music software that is compatible with it.

I wish my car could do some of the things that a 2024 can do.. but I don't believe that the manufacturer needs to limit features of new cars just because I wish my older car had them.