March 2024 – a community update from our Chief Product Officer

Simon_NI

@OliverGross great question.

Yes, we have decided to focus on Traktor Pro over Traktor DJ. Maintaining two entirely different code bases makes little sense - and the number of people who actively use Traktor Pro is nearly an order of magnitude more than Traktor DJ. People don't like to switch from one software app to an entirely different one (understandably!) -- so we're putting all our energy into Traktor Pro as that's what most of our customers are using and thus where we can have the most positive impact.

I was not around when the decision was taken to build DJ2, but in my 15+ yr experience in technology, it's nearly always better to build where your users are than try rather than start again from scratch, have to maintain two codebases for years, and force your users to pay a switching tax.

cc @von Bordwehr

Simon_NI

@von Bordwehr

Yes, we are actively trying to solve the browser flickering problem, but it's proving challenging to do because of the software development framework we use, and the root cause being deep in the stack. But we're working on it.

We won't have high-DPI yet, but there's a new visual design later. To get High DPI we need to move to a new UI software framework, which will take some time.

Simon_NI

@Warempel

Sorry to hear that you're considering moving away from us.

Yes, I understand it's frustrating that Maschine is not yet Sonoma compatible -- but that update is coming very very soon. Maschine is one of our most complex software products which is why it took longer than any of us would have liked.

Maschine integration is coming to the Kontrol Mk3. It just wasn't there at launch because we decided to prioritise the Kontakt integration (which is what most customers really wanted). We haven't taken any functionality away from Kontrol Mk2 owners -- that still works with Maschine.

Maschine software is on version 2.18 now -- the 18th minor version! - so we have been investing in keeping Maschine up to date. Although I appreciate not at the pace you would have hoped for. And as I mention above, we're working on a long-overdue update for Maschine software.

The main reason we've been slower here is that we've had to put a lot of our software development capacity into the totally new architecture that underpins the new Kontrol Mk3 -- this is a total and complete re-write of how our hardware works and how it communicates with the desktop software. It enables many cool things to some, but as a result, we had less capacity to invest in improving Maschine. With the Kontrol Mk3 now launched, we can start building ON this technology rather then building IT!

Simon_NI

@Jojo123 thank you for sharing this and yeah, that sounds like a helluva frustrating situation - I'm sorry you had to go through that.

I'm passing the feedback I get on this thread down to our product teams to see if we can address the root causes. It should not have to be an frictionful as your experience.

The KK Logic bug is frustrating -- Apple introduced a bug into Logic around the same time KKv3 was released - and my understanding is that we're entirely dependent on them to fix it.

But your point around accessing older versions of our software as a backup is a legit one. Thanks for sharing and sorry, again.

Simon_NI

@nightjar

Kontakt going beyond sampling is something I've been advocating for a while now. The name itself "Kontakt" is conceptually perfect for the hopeful inclusion of physical modeling... virtual objects coming together to vibrate, resonate and inspire our sonic wanderings. And manipulating these virtual objects with an expanding family of Kontrol devices.... my musical heart beats faster just thinking about what might be coming.

I'm afraid I don't want to reveal anymore about what's coming at this stage as it's still in active development with many decisions yet to be made.

What I can say is that we don't think of Kontakt as "a sampler" -- it's an instrument development and distribution platform.

Yes it started as "a sampler", but it really is a platform for developers (including NI) to create and distribute amazing instruments. There's nothing that says that should be limited to sample-based instruments. In fact, there are many Kontakt instruments (example, example) that look and sound like synths -- even though under the hood they're being created using samples.

So, more to come here in time - but I'm excited that we're working on ways to increase the sonic breadth of the instruments that can be built in Kontakt.

It's true that the vast majority of Kontakt users just use it to load and play instruments. But the reason they do that is because there's a (relatively) small number of (awesome!) builders who create and distribute amazing instruments (and another group of people who like to tweak them) -- and by building new capabilities into Kontakt, instrument builders will have new tools to create new kinds of instruments -- which will expand the catalogue of sounds that our customers can find within Kontakt.

Simon_NI

@Calagan Native Access 2 is working well for the vast majority of people. Yes, there are some issues on some systems -- and as I mentioned, above we are working identifying and fixing those as we find them.

But we have hundreds of thousands of people actively using NA2 to manage their NI software. Very few people now use NA1 relative to those who use NA2.

Simon_NI

Hey folks - I just wanted to say a huge thank you for your involvement and engagement in this thread.

I found the tone of the questions phenomenally constructive, even when many of you were clearly expressing frustration with your experiences. There are other forums where the tone of the conversation can go downhill very quickly. This thread made me want to do more of these, not fewer.

I also learned a lot about what's top of mind for you all (Native Access instability, frustration with lack of meaningful progress on Maschine and some other areas of our software portfolio).

I can't promise we can fix everything -- we have a broad software portfolio - and fewer people working on some areas that we perhaps did in the past. ALSO the big investment we've just made into the platform inside the Kontrol Mk3 should pay dividends over the next few years as we start to build on it.

But the fact you are all here, and the fact you clearly care so much is one of the things that makes it a privilege to work at NI.

Thank you.