NI DAW?

Epona45

Does NI make any DAW programs? I know you have those soundless USB Midi Controllers like Akai and anothers.

Kubrak

NI has Maschine 2. There is never ending discussion, if it is DAW or not. One can make full song in it.

Some people use it so, some make just arrangement and export stems to DAW for mixing and mastering, yet anothers use it as a plugin in DAW they use....

Epona45

Ok. What is that Komplete? Is that just plugins or also a DAW program.

Kubrak

Komplete is name for bunch of plugins and content. It is not DAW.

The only "DAW" that NI makes is Maschine 2. And it is not part of Komplete bundles. You may get Maschine 2 only by buying Maschine row HW. Maybe there are also other paths to get it.

Mutis

Komplete is an euphemism. Maschine isn’t a DAW and doesn’t want to be it even it’s what NI probably needs.

Kubrak

Komplete was complete when it came. Then Ultimate was complete, then Ultimate CE became almost complete. One day Ultimate CE Ultra will be complete. Things change as time passes.

---

Apple also had M1 Max. And later M1 Ultra came.... So, what? Maybe one day there will be M2 Hyper...

Mutis

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/21121#Comment_21121

Komplete is just marketing and I was joking.

About Apple maybe you mixed topics… idk

Reefius

At NI's development pace, if they would start working on a DAW today we would all be long dead before it gets released.

JesterMgee

In this flooded DIY bedroom producer market, the last thing we need to set floating down the bloat river is yet another DAW, especially from a company that appears to be drowning in just maintaining macOS updates for their current software. You can take your pick from literally hundreds already, some completely free ones are very capable.

The Native Instruments Eco System is more of a "creative box" of sounds, devices and effects with Maschine as a way to fiddle with your sounds to create ideas or Traktor as a way to perform live if you are a DJ. The issue with offering a DAW is everyone is different and some like linearity (like Pro Tools/Cubase/Logic), some like Non Linear (Like Ableton/Bitwig/FLStudio) and some like to just pretend without really doing anything (Garage Band)

As mentioned, Komplete is just a "brand tag" which began as kind of saying a "Complete bundle" in terms of the instrument bundles. It is certainly not a statement in the case of Komplete Kontrol that it can "do everything" even tho many read it as this, only to find out some of the simple things you would expect such as being able to load multiple instruments, or being able to even add flexible assignments to pitch/mod wheels etc are just not possible. It's still a great platform but far from a "Komplete" solution for controlling your session

Kubrak

@Mutis

Komplete is just marketing and I was joking.

About Apple maybe you mixed topics… idk

Komplete is just marketing, and Max, Ultra, Hyper, .... is also just marketing. (Max is max, there cannot be anything more. Yet Ultra came. And one day maybe Hyper, or whatever...) (As well as Komplete is complete and there is not more than that. But Ultimate, U CE, ... came later...)

Mutis

In that terms Pro is worst than max or ultra. iPad pro wasn’t Pro from desktop POV. You got Affinity Design apps juicing the potential but not Photoshop full version (IDK if finally come something on par with Affinity).

It’s marketing strategy and depends on POV. For me Komplete means full but I was joking about there isn’t a DAW in that package which seems a common wishlist at this forum (and old) but also regular users rejecting that idea. NI had teams isolated (Maschine from Traktor almost) but users asked over years about some kind of integration. Serato studio is similar approach to Maschine but feels more a DAW (downsized vs Ableton) due their strategy and approach (implementing some mixtape features from old partnership with Ableton) and learning from some mistakes in the past (but maybe with the same technical debt as NI related to AS).

So about OP question NI hasn’t a “DAW” but Maschine can do certain task as you pointed. Why users still keep asking about NI DAW and why Maschine or other proposal is getting that place is a mistery. Once again maybe iZotope will take care of that side…

https://youtu.be/XZAH_vf10So

It’s not a DAW but a complement but also is something NI hasn’t in any form. Could they expand Maschine until they can use it instead Logic at that ad? Let’s hope future is even better and crossplatform.

PK The DJ

Probably best to just forget about the DAW argument and trying to categorize/tag the product.

Can you use it to create music? Yes. Job done.

danwade/

I always wanted a DAW from NI. The hardware is top notch and even though they are a hardware/plugin company, my wishful thinking yearns for a well thought out DAW that utilizes their plugins, with seamless integration with the NI hardware (I own both Maschine MK3 and Komplete S49). The DAW topic comes up all time, year after year.

For me, it has always been about, working with one major system (DAW), where I originally started with Maschine and wound up becoming a clip maker vs. arranging songs. Having a DAW that integrated seamlessly with the hardware I use, and in same eco system would have saved me a lot of time. Instead I pounded through many long videos and tutorials on Ableton and Logic. Mind you, this has been years of frustration.

That said, Maschine has gotten a lot better with exporting stems and midi (especially to Ableton - but just kill the time sigs after export). But still.... with some decent firepower, if NI took on the DAW market and was serious about making a quality product, I think it would be a game changer. Corporate wise, they seem to be making some changes by looking at their job openings (I monitor their career site from time to time to see what roles they are looking for and where we "might" see improvements - as well as this blog). But... I'm not holding my breath.