NKS technology seems cool and flexible, with a great support from plugin developers, and all that visual feedback directly on the keyboard. But all of those plugin control features get available only... only when you are using the S-line of the Kontrol keyboards, right? Neither A-series no M32 has the proper screen to support that convenience (bar that small nonsense from 90’s doctors’ pagers).
And even the smallest of them, S49, is still huge. About twice the width of M32, or some similar mini-keys keyboard from any other manufacturer (and seems like nobody except Native Instruments still is able to create NKS-compatible controllers with proper visual feedback).
The question is: when is the A-line/M-line of Kontrol keyboards is planned to be updated, with the properly sized? The people who want to control the sound more than to play the “full-size fully weighted keys with hammer action”, need their toy too.
I imagine something like M32 MK2, which gets the modern NKS 2.0 support, still has the mini-sized/synth-action keys, gets the MPE/polyphonic aftertouch for them (cause that's the bare minimum for a quality keyboard in 2023, no matter of the size), no light guide, two touch-sensitive strips as before, a single expression pedal support, transport keys as before, and... and the screen from S49 MK3, with 8 encoders and 8 buttons.
But that's “what I imagine”, not “what I dream of”. What I dream of, is actually a gateway into the NKS world for anyone who is more into the sound design and expression, than into piano playing. Something that I would call “Native Instruments Kontroller”. Basically, that same set of transport buttons/screen/8 encoders/8 buttons/large knob/whatever is needed for NKS... without the piano keyboard.
Sometimes people buy the smaller keyboard, or a “piano-key-less” controller, not because “they cannot afford a large full-sized 88-keys keyboard”. Sometimes they buy it, because they need a small mini-sized keyboard. Personally, I would happily pay a price, like, of an S61, to get a small M32-sized keyboard with a screen from S49/S88; and would pay a price of an S88 for a piano-keyboard-less controller; but I’m afraid I’ll skip even S49, due to its being so oversized.
