What is the current status of the S88 Mk3 keyboard?

Omegan

Is it worth buying the keyboard? How has it improved over the last few months since its release?

MorrisEd

No updates save bug fixes since launch. Basically DOA. They keyboard is a waste of time for any non-NI software as it does not allow controlling midi at all (no template editor or ability to change onboard cc messages). Buyer beware. I bought mine and haven’t used it for lack of midi control, which I need greatly. I am getting by with an M Audio Oxygen Pro 32 and Akai Force, which are both awesome. NI is pretty much done for imo unless you are attached to their (very old now) plugins…and even then it is a web of installation and update nightmares that will leave you troubleshooting issues rather than making music. Sad to say, but I could never recommend entering this ecosystem to anyone that wasn’t already significantly invested.

JesterMgee

Well, what is worth it to one may not be worth it to another.

There has been little development for new features/function or improvements based on user feedback, but that is not at all unexpected. There is word that users may soon be able to create MIDI templates, but that's more of missing functionality than a "new feature". All the bugs and issues are still there (truncated text, missing sub banks, slow browsing etc)

I find the MK2 and the predecessor software to be worth it if you want a simple preset browser. Personally I don't think the current version of keyboard or the software is worth the cost these days but i'm not speaking for all. Some like it, others don't. The product itself is actually decent, it's just the usual lack of progression and the actual regression of features and ability that is killing it.

Mark Oxley

Speaking as a MK2 owner I wouldn't buy one at half the retail price right now and probably never will. No midi control, no play assist, poor DAW support and no Maschine integration. Sure, it has a lovely screen with pretty pictures of the selected instruments but it's largely useless regarding functionality. NI keep telling us things are coming but they've been repeating that for 9 months.

Keith Cocker

I think it's great. I had a Mk2 and bought the Mk3 on release - no regrets.

DunedinDragon

Had mine since January and it's been working great for me. Very dependable.

Simchris

have the S88 mk3 and S61 mk3 and work great

BIF

Hi OP:

I also have an S61 MK3 and I like it a lot. I'm looking forward to MIDI templates, which should have been in beta now for a couple/few weeks. MIDI Templates will actually be a new feature for me, because I never used them under MK1.

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The development team is/has been working very hard to bring us MIDI Templates, and we should finally see it sometime here in July. But the problem is that MIDI Templates had to be completely (or nearly completely) re-coded into KK Version 3 because it was left out for the launch. This feature is huge and complex, and so NI had to pull developers off of other teams to work on Komplete Kontrol.

Native Instruments insists that their metrics show that the user base doesn't use MIDI Templates, hence the company didn't include them on release. Whether or not the metrics are accurate or reliable is a point of disagreement between the forum members and the NI people. But what CANNOT be denied or argued is the fact that the MK3 launch was a bad one, and because of that, NI had to move personnel around in order to get this one feature done before the Summer Olympics…of 2036.

Surely there are other "also complicated" features of Komplete Kontrol that might need to be added too.

So now the cycle of patches and new (or re-added) features has slowed from 4-6 weeks to 8+ weeks. I'm sure the elongated update cycle is necessary due to the aforementioned complexity of the update, but end-users and customers just don't do well with the idea of having to wait for 2+ months for something that we USED TO HAVE in the old version…and then to wait another 2, 6, or 18 months for other things that got taken away from us. That has angered many customers, and rightly so.

This will no doubt slow down development in other areas of interest, at least on a temporary basis. Maybe Maschine? Maybe Traktor? Maybe in some of the instrument libraries? We don't know.

Would I recommend that you buy a MK3 here in July? No. Even though I have one and I'm happy with what we do have, I'm still waiting for Native Instruments to "move the needle" and make it right. That needs to happen before I would feel safe to recommend MK3 for other users.

I also am looking for Native Access to be made more reliable. My last few updates have gone well, but I still see a lot of posts from people who have significant troubles and failures. The process needs to be made bulletproof.

I'm also concerned about the number of people who have been hit with malfunctions of the MK3 hardware. Everything from "white screens" to broken keys and even to bricked units; those things are keeping me from considering the addition of an 88-key MK3 at this time.

We just need to see some successes. Some big successes. And I haven't heard ANYTHING from Native Instruments about having a plan to avoid future launch catastrophes. This debacle was unacceptable, and NI needs to know that a repeat can never be allowed to happen.

TLDR: I say you can buy an MK3 if you are a skilled PC or Mac person AND if you don't mind spending a significant amount of time and patience if you have trouble or if you need to send your unit back due to a defect. Otherwise, you should probably wait until September or October to see if we're getting timely software updates.

I sincerely hope that helps!

pgm

I have had the S88 mk3 since January. This is the first NI Keyboard that I own.
I find the keybed to be very nice and very playable, the polyphonic aftertouch works smoothly and the knobs feel nice. These are the features that I bought it for. All the knobs transmit MIDI CCs that you can map to the controls in your VSTs, and this is how I typically use it. But you cannot name the control on the big beautiful screen. It's obvious the hardware can do it.

It also works with Kontrol and then you get all the auto mapping, colored zone leds and browsing on the keyboard for VSTs that support NKS. As I was new to all this, I took me a while to figure out how this works, but it works well. As advertised Kontakt, can talk to the mk3 directly without using Kontrol as an intermediate.

Ohh and then there is MIDI 2.0, I haven't played with that yet, but this is another way that VSTs could use to map parameters. But this is still so new, so that are few product that support that out there.

So where we are now are with the mk3 is:
- Rudimentary support for traditional MIDI controller
- Support for NKS using Kontrol software
- Good support for Kontakt instruments
- MIDI 2.0, status unknown
- great hardware, and should be capable of anything.
- NI development speed: unknown

I've no idea where NI is going to take this, and what this thing is going to be. No noticeable (to me) features were added in the past six months. This should be the start of a long journey for NI adding and refining the software integration of this keyboard, or it may remain as it is. Safest option is always to buy based on the current functionality, and not on any vendor promises. That said, this thing has so much potential that it would be criminal not to develop it further.

BIF

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/163698#Comment_163698

"That said, this thing has so much potential that it would be criminal not to develop it further. "

You're right of course. But the user base also deserves to get back all the features that were taken away when the MK3 was being planned. The problem is, I'm not sure that even the best team can do both "feature remediation" and "new feature" development all at the same time, and/or all in a timely manner.

You'd need a few more delivery teams to get both done, and with every passing month, I worry that the private equity bosses will eventually tire of all the waiting for new features. And that's when everything grinds to a halt, and we get no old features re-added. Or even promised.

JesterMgee

"That said, this thing has so much potential that it would be criminal not to develop it further. "

We all said the same thing when the MK1 and the MK2 came out and waited for any signs of improvements or enhancements and well, it was barely developed more than a pre-teen in all those years so the bar's been set pretty damn low on what you should expect. Makes every tiny achievement all the more amazing just in the fact it was done at all I guess.