Dilemma - Thoughts Please - Replacing Obsolete S88 and A41

slojotaa

Hi

As I have stated, it has been a hell of a journey with this Mac Sanoma and the decision to stop supporting the S88/A41 M1. It hit me last evening that my travel partner (A41) is no longer the friendly little beast that it has been for me, due to this as well as my S88 M1. Here are my options, and reaching out to the community to render your opinions, to help me make up my mind.

1 - Trade in for mere dollars (tech. typical loss) both units for the M3, i.e. S88M3, maybe S66M3, and replace the A41 with a S41M3 for travel.

2 - Look for used M2 versions of both, however the obsolete strategy of NI/Komplete makes me cringe at the lack of support for their vintage stuff. May be back in the market sooner than the M3 versions, most certainly. I don't need machine at all, and sliders don't bother me, as I use the Mac/Ableton for most of it.

3 - Alternates to Komplete that allow the above, work seamlessly with Ableton, Komplete software etc. I am bought into the apple game here, i.e. bought Ultimate, etc., and want to be able to simply write music and stop messing with the technology. The tech., should enable me to do this, and it has been merely an inhibitor, finding out that no longer since Oct. do they support both controllers. Total bummer, and my opinion on this is obvious and no need to opine on it any longer. They aren't known for customer service, and the product obviously sells itself, but a lot of pissed off customer, and if an alternate is available, I would jump on it immediately!!!!, as a result.

4 - Finally, any other thoughts are most welcome for my consideration. Crowd sourcing this scenario is the best way to come up with the right decision.

Thanks all and make it a great weekend!

Kymeia

i don’t think the A Series is EOL as they are technically MkII products so still supported

I have an A25 and it loads the latest Komplete Kontrol fine

Kubrak

Switch to Windows. ;-) S88 MK1 works fine, just one has use KK below v.3.0.

Win is generally less compatibility problems than Mac. Most of current SW would still run on 15 year's old Win7. And most of 15 years old SW would run on current Win11. Not all, but most....

I do not claim everything is bright and problemless on Win, but comparing to Mac....

BIF

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/127097#Comment_127097

"Win is generally less compatibility problems than Mac."

I would, at this point, not recommend anybody to try to build a Windows DAW based on a 15 year old PC and Windows 7. I know, you said it that way for emphasis. And you're not wrong. Much.

But still, somebody needs to say it. Windows 11 likely will not install on any PC that is THAT old. And eventually, you'll need it to run Windows 11.

Most i5 processors will run a basic DAW, as long as you don't cheap out on SSD and memory. But here in Q1 2024, I would recommend keeping an eye on Windows 11 requirements. Make plans so that the future doesn't happen to you before you can happen to it.

Kubrak

I spoke about what Win compability is, comparing to Mac... It was not a recomendation to built and use obsolete PC.

But, if one buys current PC running Win10 or Win11, it will most probably run 15 year's old SW and will run most of SW that will be produced in next 10-15 years. So, current maschine and OS will run most of SW produced within 25-30 yearspan.

Also HW and driver compatibility is way better than on Mac. Not percect and 100%, but still much better.

Apple has advantage (and disadvantage) that there are only few well tested models (comparing to thousands and thousands of PC models) and if things work, there is higher probability for stable work without problems.

On PC, one may encounter that everything works fine for many people, but it does not work on certain PC made by certain manufacturer.... And reason is unknown and hard to find...

nobadmojo

does your S mk1 keyboard no longer work as before? If it does still work I wouldnt upgrade your keyboards at all for a while..until midi 2 gets better established. the mk1's are fine keyboards..they are NOT obsolete keyboards ..NI has just obsoleted them with their 'upgraded' software that doesnt even work so well with the new mk3 keyboards for many people. Your A series keyboard should work as before.

slojotaa

Great points all. I agree that waiting for the new midi protocol is probably a good thing, but when and I want to play music today, not in the future. Thus the dilemma. Great insights all, and that is what makes the community strong, respectful, solid inputs to questions.

JesterMgee

If you think it's obsolete because it doesn't work with KK v3, you ain't missing much there. In fact, switching to V3 causes you to miss a lot of useful features.